I promised myself that this year I would not have a mad panic with stitching and finishing Christmas ornaments so I stitched one in January (which remains stitched but unfinished) but in February I was much too busy with the pre-stitching of my class and my flu didn't help much either! Now that I am fully recovered from the flu and I have finished the class pre-stitching I couldn't decide what to work on next so I decided to stitch February and March ornaments and the above is February. The pattern is a freebie from Log Cabin Needleworks and can be found *here* (scroll down a little). I have stitched my version in HDF Gigi's Christmas thread on 40ct antique white linen.

A sure sign of Spring is my sweet little tortoise Tommy awakening from his long Winter sleep. He still has to go back in his box overnight but once the nights get warmer he will be able to stay out in the garden 27-7. I gave him a warm wash and bathed his eyes and he was ready to roam the garden checking out his usual haunts.

And now news of a new blogger! Buttons 'n Bows is my friend Sue's blog. Sue is a fellow member of our Stitch-n-Bitch group so without further ado go *here* and say hi to Sue and welcome her to blogland. She not only does the most wonderful quilting but she stitches too so bookmark her for future visits so as not to miss out on seeing her beautiful work. Welcome Sue!

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For 2012 I am aiming to stitch an ornament between each project so I do not have the last minute panic I had this year. I was still finishing this one on Christmas Eve!

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As you can see we had more snow overnight. It snowed on my birthday last year too. No plans for today except to put a few stitches in Jane Rees.

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These three little red and white ornaments are winging their way across the pond to their new owners. I think I can post them safely without spoiling any surprises as I know that two recipients do not read my blog and the third? Well maybe! I hope they like them. They are stitched on 48ct blanc cassé Gander linen with HDF Perfect Red 6207. The pattern was a freebie online pattern which I found in my freebie folder. If anyone has more information about it please let me know. I'm sorry about the poor pictures but it's another dark and gloomy day again today but click on it and you will be able to see it a little better.

Sew Golden is coming along slowly but surely. I still have more ornaments to finish but I am trying to do one or two a day so I don't get bogged down by them. I am looking forward to getting back to stitching Jane who has been sadly neglected since my trip.

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And a gift from dear Angela (no blog but who should have one to show off her perfect stitching and finishing). Angela was looking for coloured floss rings and I offered to send her some. She said she would send me some silver ones in exchange but, not only did she send the rings, she enclosed these 'extras' too - four delightful charms (she knows that I love keys) and two bundles of ribbons. She suggested that the white ribbons would come in very handy for a finish of Sew Winter - how right she is - such beautiful snowy white ribbon conjures up a winter finish! Thank you Angela for your kindness and generosity.

I also received another package - an early birthday gift - which I am saving to open on 'the day' - not too long to wait now. Where has the past year gone to?

Once the ornaments are finished, Sew Pink is the next design to be released, maybe next week? This will be followed fairly quickly by Sew in Love for those of you who are looking for something to stitch for that special Valentine.

I understand that there are some of you out there who would like to purchase my designs but are unable to do so because you do not have paypal. I am happy to accept either GB Pounds, US$ or Euros by snail mail but at your own risk. Please contact me for further details - my email address can be found on my profile.

A big thank you to all of you who have supported me in my venture into the designing world.

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I heard from Wendy Jo that my re-stitch of her Christmas cracker has now arrived safely with her. Poor Wendy Jo was disappointed that the package I mailed to her at Christmas went astray so I offered to re-stitch either the cracker or make her something different and she chose the cracker. I do like stitching these tiny needlerolls so I am looking out for another suitable pattern to make some more.

My hand has been quite sore since the removal of the two outside stitches so I am not looking forward to getting the last one out on Tuesday. I managed to do some ironing this morning using only my left hand ... now if only I could master the hair straighteners... 

Still no more stitching so I have been reading and took my book into the garden in the warm sunshine. This afternoon we are going to Justin's house with eggs for the children.

A Happy Easter to all

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I have also stitched another gift but this needs to be 'finished' which I hope to do either later today or maybe tomorrow. And then I shall work on Beatrix Potter until my surgery. It's not long now - just over a week and I am getting a bit nervous. Silly really as I know exactly what to expect although this time I will be having a local anesthetic as opposed to a general that I had last time so I will be wide awake whilst they carry out the procedure. I need volunteers to call round and dress me, brush my hair and help around the house! Ok don't all rush ... 

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No, it's a White Exchange! When Su and I decided to do an exchange I thought long and hard as to what to stitch for and then I remembered that she had said how much she liked the pink and white pincushion (here). As this is one of my favourite pincushions, which I enjoy both stitching and finishing, the decision was made but now what colour to use? I had just finished my whitework Christmas Snowflake ornament for the 2009 Christmas Challenge (here) and suddenly the choice was made - a whitework pincushion! It's a CA Wells' pattern and stitched on 35ct white Brussels linen with DMC white perle 12 and AVAS Blanc Optique silk floss; the ribbon is a 7mm white silk. To complete the 'white' theme, the extras I sent were, of course, white! I apologise for the poor pictures - I would love any tips of taking pictures of whitework stitching although I sure Su will put great photos on her blog! Maybe I should have waited and stolen (umm - borrowed?) her photos? 

Yesterday I stitched for 4-5 hours on my chosen pattern from the Miniature au Point de Croix book. I am stitching 1*1 on 40ct (I promise to use the 50 or 55ct next time) using HDF OMG Red 1149 and OMG (no pun intended) it's gorgeous - would you like to see? I will work on it again this afternoon so, hopefully, I may even finish it today! I have no idea what I will do with it once it's finished but I am thinking I will hem-stitch it. 

I still have my cold. Despite swigging cough medicine before I went to bed, I coughed for most of the night and hence slept in late this morning. I am now late with the chores so I need to get off the computer without my daily 'blog read'. Hopefully I will catch up later.

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Yesterday I finished my mistletoe ornament for January for the 2009 Christmas Challenge. I have not shown the back as this is where I will be putting my Charland mistletoe charm when it eventually arrives from the US. It is stitched on 40ct flax linen with DMC 926 and 3813 and put together using white Dentelles 80. The round pearl beads that I already had in my stash were just right for the mistletoe berries. I am very happy with this ornament and I am selfishly keeping it for myself!  

I am not stitching today as I have caught some bug or other and have a sore throat, a bad headache and a blocked nose. In fact I'm going back to bed!

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On December 13 I mailed six gifts to the US. To my knowledge only four have arrived. I have no idea of what has happened to the other two - what is it with the postal system? I'll own up that I missed the deadline by a couple of days for mailing in time for Christmas, but surely they have had plenty of time to get there now? One missing package contained one of the tiny Christmas Crackers (see here) and a birthday gift and the other the above pincushion with Swaroski crystal and pearl pins. Still, ever the optimistic, they may eventually arrive and if they don't I will re-stitch! The pincushion is a CA Wells' pattern and is stitched on 35ct white Brussels linen with white perle no 12 and a pink AVAS silk floss although I cannot remember the shade number. 

Still no luck with the Charland mistletoe charm but a thank you to all those who searched their stash and/or contacted their LNS. I guess I will have to wait for the one I have on order but in the meantime I will 'finish' the ornament and stitch the charm on later.

It's dull and gloomy yet again. Will the Summer ever arrive? Will I ever see sunlight again? Will I ever sit out in the garden and feel sunlight on my face? I'm SAD!

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I hope you have all had a great Christmas - I know I did. We spent Christmas Day at our daughter's and today we spent at our son's house. I have eaten far too much so it's now back to my healthy eating plan as I do not want to put back on the weight I lost! Before we came home this evening we drove around looking at the Christmas lights. The above display is alongside a river and is really pretty. Usually the house on the bottom right hand corner picture has a snow machine going but we must have missed it tonight. Yes, I know some of you have the real stuff but it's ages since it snowed here so we have to rely on a machine.  

I have found time to stitch and yesterday I put the final stitch in Hannah Beeby although that's not quite true as I have now decided to hem stitch it, so you could say there are a few more stitches to go in! I also made a start on my section of Rowyn's QFRR and part-stitched on a private exchange. No pictures to show as I want to complete the hem-stitching on Hannah before I show her again although I will take a picture of Rowyn's sampler either tomorrow or Monday. I am planning a new start for the New Year but I am undecided as to start Beatrix Potter Quaker sampler or to start my re-stitch of Merry Cox's Diminutive Sewing set. Both are kitted up so it could be either although I am completely changing the alphabet on the MC project so I will see how this goes. And I really have to decide on something to stitch for my blogoversary draw too so don't forget to check back for the draw posting!

We have visitors coming tomorrow so I don't expect to get any stitching done tomorrow.

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In the meantime the return of Hannah Beeby ...

Last night should have been our Stitch-n-Bitch usual meeting but instead we went out for dinner to celebrate, not only the upcoming holiday, but also my pending birthday! I am ashamed to say that although I took my camera with me, it stayed in the depths of my bag and never saw the light of day (or should I say 'night'?). We went to a Thai restaurant in Sandwich and after a delicious meal - I had chicken and cashew nuts with noodles followed by coconut ice-cream served in a real coconut shell - we went back to Caroline's house for coffee and gifts. There I was met with a large box and some smaller packages and a helium 'Happy Birthday' balloon. The box, which was from all of my fellow Stitch-n-Bitchers, contained Abigail Colby's Workbasket by Primitive Traditions which, as those of you have read my Wish List will already know, has been on the said List for ages! I received not only the chart but the basket too so I am in dilemma as I want to start it - Now! But ... I need to finish Hannah Beeby and I also have some upcoming exchanges that I need to work on first. The smaller packages contained a beautiful glass drop with a tiny fairy on a dragonfly from Sue, a lovely quilted bag from June, a Moulton Brown candle (which smells heavenly) from Sylvie, lots of skeins of Vicky Clayton silk threads from Caroline and lastly, a teeny (it's only about 1" long) beaded pea-pod scissor fob from Lynn, who unfortunately could not make the dinner as the date coincided with her work Christmas do. Thank you all for these gorgeous gifts, I am blessed to have such wonderful friends.   

We also exchanged Christmas gifts but we always save these to open on Christmas Day so more about these at a later date but, suffice it to say, that stitchy friends buy stitchy gifts and we all like stitchy gifts don't we?

Tomorrow (my actual birthday) Ken has the day off so he is taking me to Bluewater (which probably means I get to choose my own present - yippee!) I have seen some beautiful black Ugg boots and a leather jacket and ... shall I go on?

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