Pay it forward and a challenge

Hi everyone! 

This post has been doing the rounds on facebook:

"To start this year off in a loving way I'm participating in this Pay-it-forward initiative: the first five people who comment on this status with "I'm in", will receive a surprise from me at some point in this calendar year - anything from a book, a ticket, a visit, something home-grown or made, a postcard, absolutely any surprise! There will be no warning and it will happen when the mood comes over me and I find something that I believe would suit you and make you happy. These five people must make the same offer in their FB status and distribute their own joy. Simply copy this text onto your profile (don't share) so we can form a web of connection and kindness. "Let's do more nice and loving things for each other in 2014, without any reason other than to make each other smile and to show that we think of each other. Here's to a more enjoyable, more friendly and love filled year, bless you all."

I'm offering it here to 5 followers as I don't have many crafty friends on facebook. Just leave a comment on this post to let me know that you'd like to be involved.

I'm glad the Great British Sewing Bee is back on our screens. Did you see the black and purple nightgown? I also can't forget the mint polka dot sleeveless top. 

I was zig-zagging some fabric this morning ready for a couple of cross stitches I had in mind and my other half has challenged me to finish Trio of Poppies before I start anything new. Challenge accepted. I'm sure you can guess what I'll be working on this IHSW. 

Sorry this is a text heavy post but I haven't got any photos to share yet. 

Lovely fabric

The other day I visited a local fabric shop and was pleasantly surprised at the range of lovely fabrics they had. I'll certainly visit again, here's what I bought:

I'm planning to use fabric below as the outer for Studio Cherie's Travel Duffle pattern which requires quilting but I'm unsure if I can quilt this fabric (the only label was the price tag but it has a bit of weight to it) and if so how do you think it should be done? I've never quilted before but I think just going around the postcards might be the best idea.

I've also completed a very small partial page finish on Tiny Treasures Kitten 2...wondering if I could shoe horn this into the crazy challenge as one of the goals was a HAED page.

January IHSW 2014

I can't believe we're already at that point in January! Would you believe it I have my first finish? It was part of the Crazy January Challenge 2013 ;)

Here's where I left off before the weekend:

Gorjuss Laundry Day 16.01.14

Voila! My first finish of 2014...

Gorjuss Laundry Day finished 20.01.14

This picture doesn't do the fabric justice, it's meant to be a nice blue. The fabric is DMC's 14 count blue marbled aida, I thought it worked well as a sky.

Speaking of the Crazy January Challenge, for this year I was unable to start 15 in 15 days due to study commitments. I'll start working on them soon, I plan to work on a wedding sampler first.

December IHSW

I can't believe it's the last one this year! These past few months seem to have flown by...

This weekend I decided to concentrate on Gorjuss Laundry Day as she is stitching up fast. Arms are finished along with the teddy bear and her face. All that's left is her hair, socks and all the backstitching.

Gorjuss Laundry Day as of 22/12/13

I've added a page at the top for the Crazy January Challenge 2014. I can now show you the final item that was kept secret. It's for Steph from Show and Tell.

Front

Back

The chart was a free one for Facebook fans of Dragon Dreams. The front is not straight, I couldn't find my cutting mat so just had to do my best with scissors. I enjoyed making this :)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

Pre-IHSW

I'm slowly getting back my stitching mojo.

Here's an ornament I made for an exchange:

Cute little owl from a cross stitch magazine

 Today, I did some more work on Gorjuss Laundry Day. Her legs are finished and her arms are half done.

Gorjuss Laundry Day 19.12.13

I have also partly worked on HAED TT Kitten 2 but will wait for a decent amount of progress on that and the Trio of Poppies before I grab photos. There's just one more finished project that I can't show you until it's reached it's recipient. Have a lovely weekend!

December TUSAL

Unfortunately there's not much to show for this month's TUSAL but I do have a few finishes to show you :)

First up was for an ornament exchange on the cross stitch forum. This design can be found in The World of Cross Stitching Issue 209.

There was also a birthday card for my other half. This Margaret Sherry design which came as a free kit with an issue of the World of Cross Stitching.

Last but not least is Tatty Teddy Graduation. It may be a bit late but it was still received with love and appreciation.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out in the end. There's one more exchange piece that I'll be able to show you next week. Now all I need to do is try to get two more Christmas themed smalls done and then the plan is to just work on whatever takes my fancy.

November TUSAL

Hello everyone :)

November TUSAL

It looks like my stitchy bug is slowly returning. I've finished two small cross stitches which I can't show you just yet but I did make this bookmark for Steph's birthday...

Hopefully, I'll have more to show/say to you next time. Have a lovely weekend!