The Bookshelf is finished
I got some more stitching done tonight and finished The Bookshelf. I love how this design turned out on the 40 count fabric. And working with just one strand is a lot easier than working with two. Here's how The Bookshelf turned out:

And of course I needed to put in a few stitches in Spot of Coffee as well. This design is just as addictive as the coffee it praises.

I think that I'll be able to finish this before Friday when the shop is open. It'll be nice to show it to the customers.

I gave in to temptation......
And started Spot of Coffee by Little House Needleworks. This is so much fun and soooooo easy to stitch. I have made considerable progress this evening. The picture is after about 3 hours of stitching. I'm stitching it on 28 count Vintage Cashel linen which is wonderful. I converted the threads to Venus and love it. This will certainly be a quick finish. Maybe I can bring it into the shop when we're open this Friday and Saturday. I still need to finish my one exchange gift, the other is all ready to mail.

Apart from the stitching I went through my leaflets and selected the designs I would really like to stitch one day. My idea is to make a seperate file for this and then when I want to start something, I can look through this file first. Also, if I want to kit something up, I can go through the file. Apart from this hopefully helping me to get more done, it is also a lot of fun. Maybe I'll never be able to stitch all these designs, but at least I'll have fun going over them.

I still need to do a part of the metallic thread on The Bookshelf. I have half of it done, now the other half. I told myself I could stitch on Spot of Coffee tonight, but tomorrow I'll finish The Bookshelf. Not to mention my exchange gift. After these two are done I think I'll go back to BC's The Barnyard. The second installment doesn't look overly complicated and I'm all in the mood for some easy stitching.

Also a picture of Miss Murphy. This comes from not making your bed in the morning. She escaped to the bedroom and cuddled up beneath my comforter.

Almost done
I have been quitte busy today. I finished one of my exchange gifts. As this was the first time I'd finish something like this, I made a model out of regular fabric. Took me two tries but then it worked. I will send off the model to a friend of my mom's. Once the gift is received I will share a picture here.
Then I proceeded with The Bookshelf. This is on my April list of goals but I won't get it done completely. I just need to do the gold metallic. Here's how it looks now:

I wonder if you will be able to see the metallic in the picture. Guess tomorrow will show that.

I have Spot of Coffee all kitted up and will probably put in the first stitches tomorrow. It's not as if I don't have anything else to stitch on, but I love this design and think it's a quick stitch.

Tomorrow I will finish the other exchange gift. I "just" need to stitch the initials and put it together. Should be nice to do that while having my morning coffee. I wanted to finish HIHN's Harriet as a cube but my mom still has the batting so I guess that'll have to wait till a next time. But I can finish my mother's day gift so that it will be all wrapped up for next week.

A picture to share
This is my second update today, but I wanted to share my progress on The Bookshelf. It's going a little slow as the 40 count is a bit harder to see but I still very much enjoy it.

I still hope that I can finish it this month.

Weekend: a new stitcher and exchange gifts
Mood:  bright

My trip to The Hague and Delft was great. I really enjoyed spending time with my stitching friends. We had a lot of fun discussing the business, our stitching plans, new designs and everything else that came up. The weather on Saturday was beautiful, very sunny. We had a BBQ in the evening and could sit outside till 8:30pm. Quite unusual for the Netherlands at this time of the year.

In the train I didn’t get to stitch as much as I planned. A little girl came over and asked me what I was doing. So I explained cross stitch to her and she then showed me a pillow she had made at school out of a jeans. It was cute but needed some embellishments. As I didn’t have any buttons or charms with me, I offered to stitch her initial. It turned out that I didn’t have a nice alphabet with me, so I told her I’d stitch her name. Turns out her name is Anna-Marie. So, in about 20 minutes I stitched like crazy and got it all done just before she had to change trains. She really liked her name tag and who knows, she migt become a stitcher one day.

I managed to get both my exchange gifts stitched and do part of the finishing for one. All I have to do now is stitch the initials and the year. I will use next weekend to do the finishing. It’s a bit close to the deadline, but at least then I can pull out the sewing machine and leave it on the table.

Tomorrow I will cut my fabric for Mouline Rouge and I may even be tempted to put in the first stitches on Wednesday. I think this will be a lot of fun to work on, though I’m still rather impressed by it’s size (364 x 364 stitches).

Quick update
Tomorrow I'll have more news on my weekend but I wanted to share the progress on Himmel und Holle. I have been working on it Friday and today and love how it's coming along. The blocks that I'm stitching now are really soothing for the brain.

Stitching rotation
I always thought that a stitching rotation wouldn't work for me. I'm more of a "I'm in the mood to stitch...." stitcher. The past two months I have made a sort of rotation schedule which seems to work. I have set goals of what I'd like to accomplish that month and adjust my stitching rotation accordingly. This still leaves me free to stitch something that I am in the mood for or to start a new project. I don't think I could work with a schedule of x hours on one project and then moving to the next.
As for actual stitching, yesterday evening I worked on both exchange gifts. One is almost done, the other I have to restitch. I hadn't allowed enough fabric for the finishing. I'll keep the one I stitched yesterday and turn it into a card. Tonight I will start again and this time will make sure I have enough fabric LOL. The finishing is new to me but it looks very doable, so I'll give it a try.
My mom is bringing my fabric for Mouline Rouge over tomorrow so somewhere during the weekend I'll share a picture of the fabric and the silk I selected. I think it'll look stunning. And the AVAS 100/3 will be a pleasure to stitch with. It is a single thread but slightly thicker than one thread of a skein. It's also twisted so that it gives a lovely sheen to your stitching.
Then I have to get back to The Bookshelf. I am so close to finishing this that it would be nice to write it down as an April finish. Himmel und Holle will go with me in the train, I can work on the squares surrounding the center piece. I can easily stitch in the train, just not on 40 count.

No picture today
I have no picture to share as I stitched on one of my gifts. It is coming along nicely. I usually don't like to stitch something twice, but I may have to do this one again for myself. It is mostly a funny piece. Makes me smile everytime I see it.

The itch to start new projects is quite overwhelming at the moment. I have several projects that need my attention for this month, but my mind keeps wandering off to the projects I would love to start. So slowly I am kitting up some projects that I hope to work on in the near future.

And since I can always be dreaming, here's a list of the projects I would love to start:

1) Long Dog Designs / Mouline Rouge
2) Indigo Rose / A Fair Little Girl
3) Indigo Rose / Catherine Agnes
4) Little House Needleworks / Spot of Coffee
5) Little House Needleworks / Plant Kindness
6) Chessie & Me / Pear Row Pincushion
7) Chessie & Me / Alphabet Pumpkin
8) Carriage House Samplings / Houses of Hawk Runs Hollow
9) Carriage House Samplings / Live Life with the Creatures on silk gauze

What surprises me is that these are mostly large projects and I have a tendency to stitch smaller projects. Maybe my taste is changing.

A quiet Sunday
I didn't stitch that much today, there were other chores to do. Though the livingroom is completely cleaned up now, I still have 3 small drawers to go through. It'll take a while to get that done but I hope that by the end of the week all is settled. Then I can venture into the study/stashroom.

I did some more work on Himmel und Holle and love how it's coming along.

I will work on an exchange gift later today as I want to get it finished. I love these exchanges but the pressure of having something ready by the mailing date is sometimes a little overwhelming. I really like what I have done for exchange gift no.2 and need to rethink no.1. I read on Danielle's blog that she went over her free charts and came up with a ton of ideas, so maybe I'll do the same.
I picked up some of the supplies I need for 2 Indigo Rose charts. The first one is Catherine Agnes, which I saw in person and then someone on the Internet was stitching it on black and it is stunning! I would love to do it on black, but know that it is not as easy as on a light colored fabric. Then there is A Fair Little Girl. I have loved this sampler ever since I saw it first a couple of years ago. I don't know if I will ever be able to finish it, it's rather large for my taste but considering how much I love it, I should give it a try.
Then there is Mouline Rouge which is also a great design. I have a piece of Lakeside Linen, it's a 40 count Graziano linen and it might be perfect for this project. I will stitch it with soie surfine as the linen is rather densely woven and other silks are too thick to use. I picked a kind of moss green color to go with it and will need to stitch a little to see if it works out the way I have in mind.

A new project
Yes, I know, I shouldn't start yet another project. I have more than enough projects on the go. But this one has been screaming at me ever since we got the kits and charts in so tonight I decided to put in the first stitches. This is Himmel und Holle (Heaven and Hel) by Der Feine Faden. It's a German designcompany and this design is done by Karin von Winterfeld. She uses variegated DMC and the design is solidly stitched.

I didn't get that far, but these are the left two center motifs.

The total design will measure 5 x 5" or 12 x 12 cm. It's fun to stitch, the variegated DMC is something I haven't used in ages. I will bring this with me next weekend when I'm going to visit a friend and will spend about 5 hours on the train.