Rest Time

Hooray and hurrah, I have a lovely long break from my exams! The Drama went very well on Tuesday evening, and the History exams the following day went quite well too. We'll just have to wait till August to see if the examiners agree with me. There has been some progress on the stitching front. Here's Charlie . . .

He is coming along, just in a slow and steady sort of way. I decided to start a new project this week, introducing my red work sampler . . .

The design was originally featured in a recent CrossStitcher magazine and was designed for children. But I thought I would give it a go using only DMC 115 and see what it turned out like. If I like this style, I can then progress to more intricate red work patterns, but this is me just trying out a new area of cross stitch. I am hoping this will be a fairly quick stitch, seeing as I'm only using one type of thread.

I have spent the morning sorting through all my stash and trying to put it in some kind of order. I found little cover kits I forget I even had so I might spend time this afternoon making a few of those up. I am having this day at home, just relaxing and indulging in some hobbies, but then it's back to the books for me! I've got half term next week so that will give me plenty of time for revision, blogging and the odd bit of cross stitching too :)

Happy Stitching!

Stitching in the Sunshine

This past week hasn't been very good for blogging but I have managed to get some stitching done. In fact, I have a finish to share!

Margaret Shelley Hedgehog freebie
Started: 23/4/10 and Finished: 23/5/10
I enjoyed stitching this little cutie, although the shades of pink and grey were very similar. So since I have a finish, that means I can start a new project very soon. Enter the latest issue of CrossStitcher with the All Our Yesterdays design. I've got my fabric sorted as you can see . . .

Daisy Hill Designs is an eBay shop and I would highly recommend it for fabric. The price are very reasonable and the service is fantastic, me and my sister both use it. As soon as I get all the threads sorted, I can begin my latest design, and continue work on Charlie of course. He has been out this week, but not enough for a photo - maybe next week!
This week has been so busy with drama and history revision, but it will all be over by Wednesday. Then there will be a bit more free time before my next set of exams.

I hope you all have a wonderful week in the sunshine (hopefully!),

Definite Progress

Some how my Sunday report has turned into a Monday report, but I guess that's how life goes sometimes! I've been having a busy few days what with study leave and drama. Drama seems to be taking over my life recently and I don't really like it. Oh well, the performance is next week, so it will hopefully be all over after that. I have been finding time for my stitching. I even stitched the other night whilst reciting some of my Biology model answers. Multi-tasking success! Here is my work on Charlie . . .

Quality of pictures is not great, that would be the fault of an enormous rain cloud that arrived just as I was taking the photos. Anyway, the ark part is now officially complete, although it is missing the back stitch, so now it's onto Charlie and his animals. Do you ever find that as soon as you get the bulk of the stitching done, the rest seems to go much quicker? That's what I've discovered on this design, I'm hoping it won't be too long before Charlie is finished and framed, ready for his pride of place on my wall.
Also these past few days, I have done a little bit more work on MS Hedgehog. I've put all the threads in a thread organiser because despite it just being a cover kit, there was a few shades of grey to tackle. Putting them in an organiser has made the whole process of changing thread a lot easier.

My first exam is tomorrow and it's General Studies. It's pretty easy so no revision is required. That meant I could spend the day with my friends, eating hot dogs and reading magazines in the *brief* sunshine. A blissful day. Got History and Drama performance to come so I'm not sure when my next post will be. Hopefully sooner rather than later!

I hope you all have a wonderful week,

Study Leave Soon!

After such a packed weekend, I have little to show on my stitching. I did however enjoy a trip out to Winchester University that has a very impressive Student Union - clearly the most important part! I got to know a little bit more about the course I'm thinking of studying too, so that was a bonus. The fair was fun too, but it would have been better if the sun was shining. Still, we ate hamburgers and won on some of the tombolas so it was a nice day out. But since I've been so busy, there is only a small amount of progress on Charlie . . . (apologies for the angle of the picture, I was trying to avoid casting a shadow!)

I do, however, have three sessions of babysitting this week so will hopefully get much more done in that time. Although, I might have to replace some of my stitching time with some revision, since the first exam is only a week away! I'm quite lucky though because most of my exams are fairly spread out - I've only got one in the first week of study leave :)
But yes, since I am soon to be taking my AS level exams, I'm afraid my stitching will suffer. Hopefully I will have a decent progress report by Sunday.

I hope you all have a wonderful week,

Busy Litte Bee

I have had a rather busy week this week, what with babysitting, schoolwork and now the drama rehearsals are in full swing. I have made time for some stitching though, I find it relaxes me after a night of revising. I have been working on my little Margaret Shelley hedgehog which is now looking like this . . .

The white parts I have stitched don't really show up on the photo so I have actually done more than you can see! I'm not sure how I will finish this one at the moment. Maybe in a card since it's a fairly small design. In other stitching news, there has been more progress on Charlie . . .

The ark is so close to being finished now, then I get started on the animals and then little Charlie himself. I do enjoy working on this piece because it's mainly blocks of sepia tones but has got rainbow highlights to give the design a splash of colour. I think Charlie will have to go up on my wall when he is done.
The results for Head Girl were today and I didn't get it. I came second, with only one vote in it. Annoying indeed but there's not really a lot I can do about it. Plus the girl who did get it is a close friend of mine so I can't find it in myself to be bitter when I know she will do an excellent job.
I've got a busy few days ahead of me now as we're going to look at Winchester University tomorrow for their open day, then it's our local village fair on Sunday which I'm going to with my friends. Here's hoping for a nice day!

I hope you have a lovely weekend,

My First Finish!

Well, not my very first finish, but it is the first completed design since I started blogging. Yes, after what seemed like days of back stitching here is Solo!

I got the kit from a recent craft show and stitched him using the threads and aida provided. I would warn anyone that is thinking of doing this design, that if you don't really like back stitching, pick another character! Although the end result is quite good, it was tricky following the chart and putting in tiny stitches. As I mentioned before, I am hoping to turn Solo into my first ever pin keep. A project like that may have to wait though, until I have the time and money! I finished Solo last night, so managed to put a bit more work into Charlie. He is the next design I would like to finish soon . . .

I found that I didn't really need a hope when stitching Solo, but I'd be lost if I didn't use one on Charlie! There's not really that much progress here, but I have got two nights of babysitting ahead of me so hopefully I will be able to showcase some better progress after that. The voting for head girl is tomorrow, I have a biology test, got to go to the gym and I'm going babysitting. Busy few days for me then!

I hope you all have a lovely week,

Hello Charlie

No picture for Solo today as he is so close to being finished, I don't want to ruin the surprise. I didn't post yesterday in hope that I would finish him in time for today, but the back stitching is taking longer than I thought. It's the most complicated back stitching I have ever done, piercing aida blocks and stretching from half a block to four blocks. The chart isn't as clear as it could be so it is taking me some time. Hopefully, some time next week I will be able to show you a completed Solo!
Meanwhile, to give my eyes a rest from the tricky back stitching, Charlie came out to play. He's been in hiding for awhile since I was preoccupied with Solo, but I managed to put a few stitches on last night . . .

Margaret Shelley hedgehog has also come along a bit but I forgot to take a picture of that one. I've got some Biology revision to do this morning, and then I will be able to pick up my needle for a bit before we go out to dinner. Since it's a Bank Holiday and my family rarely have time off altogether, we decided we should have a meal out tonight. I hope you enjoy the holiday as much as I will.

Happy stitching,