Another LHN finish
I put in the final stitches on Spot of Coffee this evening. This was so much fun to stitch. I have no idea yet on how to finish it. Maybe LHN will come out with another coffee sampler and I'll just wait to frame them in the same style.

Now that this one is done I will have to think of which other project I will kit up. I would like to finish my lunch project before I start anything new. It is so easy and tempting to start something new, but in the end there are only so many hours that you can stitch. My lunch project is well on its way to being finish and I might want to wait till the new LHN Daisy Lane Cottage arrives so that I can start that one. I would like to stitch this one and finish it into a little wallhanging and put it on the door to my livingroom.

I am also working on a surprise for a friend. It's a new design and I hope it'll work out the way I have it in my head. It feels good to be back at the drawing table.

I did it!
I gathered all my courage and made a start on Mouline Rouge by Long Dog Designs. For me this design is HUGE. It's 364 x 364 stitches and must be the largest project I have ever started. I will be taking it slowly with this project, probably stitching on it every Sunday evening. The picture below is after roughly 2 hours of stitching. It is the upperright corner of the design.

I use 100/3 silk from Au ver a Soie and the colornumber is 524. It is a really deep burgundy red color and I love how it shows up on the 40 count antique white Newcastle linen. The total project will be 45,5cm x 45,5cm.

I am almost done with Spot of Coffee. I made a mistake in the outside border and of course didn't find out till I was working on the last side. I just need to add a couple more stitches and then this one is done too.

Annemiek

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.