Chirp!

 We have returned from spending a glorious (but quite chilly) week on Dartmoor, Devon.  We did lots of walking - I think Lola was pleased to get home she was exhausted! And I of course did lots of reading, the best book being Richard Osman's new book 'We Solve Murder' I highly recommend and as a bonus the hero of the story lives in my area (The New Forest) so lots of references I knew.  Richard Osman has such a great eye for funny details and he is spot on!  And of course some sewing got done too.

The third bird in Sue Spargo's series 'Chirp' was finished.  I used a couple of new stitches in this one.  But here is a list of all the stitches used

Couching, chain stitch, closed fly stitch, oyster stitch, colonial knots, star stitch and bullion stitch!

And she joins the rest of the flock.

I had prepped bird number four but the odd thing is I can't find it anywhere.  So I will need to prep bird five and hope the other one turns up!

We have had the grandchildren since Friday (they go home today) so no stitching has been done but it has been a lot of fun having them around.

I will try to link up with Kathy for slow Sunday stitching but if I can't have a lovely stitchy Sunday!

Rooster, cars, chirp!

 It's been a good week despite not being able to access my emails for nearly the whole week (didn't realise how much I relied on them!)  But all is good now!

I've made good progress on the Rooster from Satsuma Street and have finished the stitching.  All I need to do now is find time to give him some shape so at least he looks more like he should.

I have also finished cutting out all the vehicles and signage for Joshua's car quilt.  It took some doing and nearly 1.5 metres of Bondaweb!  The next stage will be assembling each car and attaching to the main fabric.  That's another big job.

At my class on Monday I got some stiches added to Bird number three.  When he is complete I will list all the different stitches I've used (two new ones already)

Some of the others in the group also started a bird or two.  It looks like there were lots of us making them but four of these are mine!!

It was good fun and we all learnt new stitches!

I will try to link up with Kathy tomorrow for some slow Sunday stitching but DH has a hospital appointment so that will take up a good part of the day.  But what ever you do tomorrow have fun!!

Cross stitch, cars and birds

 It has been a mixed week, weather wise with torrential rain and beautiful sunshine!  But that is just typical of the UK.  So apart from some gardening and walking the dog I have managed to achieve quite a bit on the sewing front.  Firstly I've made great progress on my funky chicken (rooster to be exact) from Satsuma street.

I've made even better progress on cutting the pieces for Joshua's car quilt.  I've used a metre of bondaweb already and had to go and buy another half metre.

That's another 21 vehicles cut out!!

and I have prepped my third bird from Sue Spargo's book Chirp ready for my sewing class on Monday.  I know several of the ladies from my group have also now bought the book so there might be a few of us making them this week!

For slow Sunday stitching tomorrow I hope to get some more cross stitch done with the aim of finishing it this week.

Cross stitch and cars!

 I've managed to put a few more stitches into the Satsuma Street project.  The mirror image seems to be a bit easier to do.  Not sure if its because I've got the hang of the pattern now or I'm using a slightly different approach.  Not that it matters how I do it of course as long as I enjoy the stitching!!

This isn't the most recent picture but it does show some progress!  And for slow Sunday stitching I will carry on with this.

Yesterday I got into town and bought some bondaweb to start this project for Joshua.

I've had the fabric for a while, including background, backing and wadding!  Just no time to start, although I have made several cushions with three cars on before now. This is going to be a big project with each car and component having to be free motion stitched.  He will be three in November so I hope to have it finished by then.

I also bought a 5" charm pack of Tula Pink Free Spirit fabrics (spots and stripes) and yesterday I started on vehicle one (the instructions recommend making all of each vehicle in one go to stop repetition of the same fabric)

This is going to be fun!!

Hop on over to Kathy's blog to see what other people are working on today.

Dresden Seaside Village

 I've had a fun couple of weeks finishing my Dresden Seaside Village quilt, and I must admit I've had a huge amount of fun with it!!

I wasn't sure whether to hang this up or have it as a table topper.  I've opted for the table, I have limited wall space.  Looking at the photo I think I might have to machine a spiral in the middle circle to flatten it out a bit.  Someone from my sewing class made her grandson a Halloween version and has bats, cats and witches flying round the outside.  I admit I am very tempted to do one like that!!

I've just started the new cross stitch pattern I got from Satsuma Street, hopefully next week for slow Sunday stitching I will have something to show.  In the meantime hope on over to Kathy's blog and see what others are stitching today!

Chirp and Time for Tea

 Its been a week of very mixed weather.  We've had hail, sleet, wind, rain, freezing temperatures and today the sun is shining!  Which meant walking the dog today was lovely, cold and very muddy, but doesn't the sun shining lift the spirits?

It has also been a very productive week on the crafting front. This has been due to having someone in relaying our patio, which meant apart from walking Lola I've stayed around the house (you know what it's like, making tea and coffee and supplying endless biscuits!)  And my DH has been away for a couple of days.  He is back today and the dog and I have missed him!

Here is the second bird from Sue Spargo's book Chirp.

There have been some tricky stitches on this one.  Palestrina stitch on his tail, double cast on stitch on his head and pistil stich on his wing.  There is also Y stitch, chain stitch, French knots and running stitch.  I've really enjoyed working on this little chap and am looking forward to starting bird three.  Here are the first two birds together.

I also finished the binding on Time for Tea and it's on my bed. (although I do turn it over at night because Lola likes coming up for a cuddle and there is way to much light fabric in this one!)

For  slow Sunday stitching I will be completing the binding on my Dresden seaside village.  This shouldn't be too challenging it is only 24 inches square!

Hop on over to Kathy's blog to see what others are stitching today.

Dresden Seaside Village and Chirp!

 Tomorrow I have my craft class (it only seems like a week go I was there!)  It will be a chance to carry on with my Dresden Seaside Village.  I spent this week sorting out the windows and roofs of each house and beach hut.  It took ages to do!  But I like the layout of it very much.

All the pieces have bondaweb but I still need to decide how I'm going to secure them.  I will probably take a selection of coloured thread and decide tomorrow!

I also trimmed my 'Time for Tea' quilt and I'm using the backing fabric as my binding by folding it forward and stitching it down.  I've never done this before and was super careful cutting the wadding away and avoiding the backing fabric.

Despite this I managed to snag quite a large piece of fabric - grrrrr!  And of course it was exactly on the fold.  But I managed to repair it and I have completed three sides of the binding and the label is attached.  Today after doing a short spell in the garden I will hopefully get it finished!  If you have read my blog before you will know it is my least favourite part.

I also got a chance to prep my second bird.

Hop on over to Kathy's Blog for some more slow Sunday stitching