All posts tagged embroidery

Garden Shed – stage 13

Here is my SAL update on the Cut Thru Garden Shed cross stitch kit. Designer credits are here. If you need a reminder of how it’ll all turn out in the end, you’ll find a photo in this post.

This is where I was up to last time. No idea why the background is so blue.

Here’s my next splodgy square. The raincoat and brolly are complete. That’s easy to see………but what’s that in the middle?

It’s much clearer now. Did you get it before scrolling down?

I’ve been doing a few jobs around the house and garden lately and I’ve been talking to my 14 healthy sunflower plants every day. I would’ve had 15 if the stupid wood pigeon hadn’t attempted acrobatics on top of one plant. He snapped the top six inches off, including the flower bud! Anyway, this morning I went for my usual wander around the garden and found one of the buds was opening. Sunflowers make me smile.

As you can see, it’s a very healthy specimen. It isn’t fully open yet but it’s looking good so far. This is a small variety called Helios Flame. It stands about 30 inches tall. I’ve got all the plants in a bed quite close together and haven’t needed to stake them yet. I’ll see how they go as the flowers open because they’ll be quite heavy. Hopefully the seeds will develop and the birds (pigeons are not invited) can have a feast. Do you have a favourite, easy to grow flower? If you have any suggestions I might give them a try next year.

Please enjoy the latest SAL project updates from the rest of the group by clicking the links below. We live all over the world so you may need to allow for time differences. Posting takes place every third Sunday, local time. Our next updates will be posted on the 21st July 2019.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Clare, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon

About the SAL

This SAL (Stitch Along) is slightly different to other SALs in that we don’t all stitch the same design at the same rate. We choose ONE unfinished project, or ONE new one, and show progress of its completion over a series of three weekly updates. There are no deadlines and no set amount to stitch. The result is that the space in our drawers full of WIPs (works in progress) is gradually being freed up to store lots of new crafty goodness. It’s surprising how much motivation I’ve gained from being in this SAL. If you’d like to finish a project you’ve left unfinished for a while, or start a new one with us, you can join us by leaving a request in the comments below or sending me an email. The address is on the right of this page. I’ll send you a few simple rules to agree.

Garden Shed – Stage 12

Here is my SAL update on the Cut Thru Garden Shed cross stitch kit. Designer credits are here. If you need a reminder of how it’ll all turn out in the end, you’ll find a photo in this post.

This is where I was up to last time.

Gardening is becoming one of my favourite pastimes so far this year. I was worried about my sunflowers last time and I’m pleased to report that they’ve all survived the slugs and snails who’ve been having a party here every night due to all the recent rain. Their fun and games is being curtailed by the hedgehogs who are being very well fed this year! So far, the wood pigeons have also left the sunflowers alone. Hurray! Anyway, I grew loads of flowers last year with great success so I’m trying a few veg in a new raised bed this year. I can feel a courgette glut coming on already.

All the gardening means I didn’t have lots of time to cross stitch but this was an easy square to do so I met my target again this time. Here it is.

This is how it looks with the back stitching completed. Every shed needs a warm stove.

Both Connie and Debbierose are taking a break from the SAL for a while. Hopefully they’ll be back soon. Please enjoy the latest updates from the rest of the group by clicking the links below. We live all over the world so you may need to allow for time differences. Posting takes place every third Sunday, local time. Our next updates will be posted on the 30th June 2019.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Clare, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon

About the SAL

35 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on June 9, 2019 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch, Cut Thru Garden Shed

Tagged Bothy Threads, cross stitch, embroidery, SAL

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on June 9, 2019

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2019/06/09/garden-shed-stage-12/

Garden Shed – Stage 11

Here is my SAL update on the Cut Thru Garden Shed cross stitch kit. Designer credits are here. If you need a reminder of how it’ll all turn out in the end, you’ll find a photo in this post.

Last time I’d reached the half way point.

It spurred me on to get the next square done quite quickly. There were some fairly large blocks of the same colour and not too much counting to do. You can probably already guess there’s a sunflower even though there’s no detailed back stitching yet.

There you go. Back stitch completed. Look who’s been hiding 🙂

Gardening is still holding my interest and stealing crafting hours at the moment. What a way to waste time in the fresh air! The appearance of the sunflower in this update is a coincidence. I’ve just planted a load of sunflower seedlings outside today. I’m hoping wood pigeons don’t like to nibble sunflower plants or they’ll be doomed. I think they’ll be big enough so they don’t get attacked. Bees and birds will be welcome visitors when the flowers pop but no wood pigeons thank you very much! Time will tell if the little plants survive.

Please click the names below to see what all the other members have been up to in the last three weeks. We live all over the world so you may need to allow for time differences. Posting takes place every third Sunday, local time. Our next updates will be posted on the 9th June 2019.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie, Clare, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon

About the SAL

32 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on May 19, 2019 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch, Cut Thru Garden Shed

Tagged Bothy Threads, cross stitch, embroidery, Garden Shed, SAL

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on May 19, 2019

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2019/05/19/garden-shed-stage-11/

Garden Shed – Stage 9

Here is my SAL update on the Cut Thru Garden Shed cross stitch kit. Designer credits are here. If you need a reminder of how it’ll all turn out in the end, you’ll find a photo in this post.

This is where I was up to last time.

Here is the next bit to the right. It’s a bit wishy-washy but you can probably guess some of the items before the back stitch has been done.

Here it is with all the back stitching done. There’s now some hand tools, a clock, a dibber, a pot of pencils and a radio. All essential items for a shed!

When the next stage is done I’ll be half way to a finish. I feel like I’m just plodding along with this project. Half an hour here and there and it’s growing without any effort at all.

Steph and LucyAnn are taking a break from the SAL for a while but their blogs are still well worth visiting in the meantime. Come back soon ladies!

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie, Clare, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon

About the SAL

28 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on April 7, 2019 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch, Cut Thru Garden Shed

Tagged Bothy Threads, cross stitch, Cut Thru, embroidery, Garden Shed, SAL

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on April 7, 2019

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2019/04/07/garden-shed-stage-9/

Garden Shed – Stage 7

Here is my SAL update on the Cut Thru Garden Shed cross stitch kit. Designer credits are here. If you need a reminder of how it’ll all turn out in the end, you’ll find a photo in this post.

This is where I was up to last time.

The next section is fully stitched so it was quite a lot to get finished in between other projects this time. I’m trying to stick to my plan. Time will tell whether I can keep up the pace. Here’s the next wishy washy square which looks even worse than usual because the photo was taken in poor electric light.

Here it is in daylight with the outlining.

The only critter to join in this time is the dangly spider ugh! I’ll keep stitching to the right for next time.

Welcome to Sharon who is joining us for the first time today. Please click the names below to see what all the members have been up to in the last three weeks. We live all over the world so you may need to allow for time differences. Posting takes place every third Sunday, local time. Our next updates will be posted on the 17th March 2019.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie, Clare, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon

About the SAL

47 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on February 24, 2019 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch, Cut Thru Garden Shed

Tagged Bothy Threads, cross stitch, Cut Thru Garden Shed, embroidery, SAL, stitch along

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on February 24, 2019

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2019/02/24/garden-shed-stage-7/

Garden Shed – Stage 6

Here is my SAL update on the Cut Thru Garden Shed cross stitch kit. Designer credits are here. If you need a reminder of how it’ll all turn out in the end, you’ll find a photo in this post.

February already? How did that happen? It’s been rather chilly up north these past few days but still lovely and sunny. No snow so far, hurray!

On with the SAL update…

This is where I was up to last time.

I’ve now done the next section on the far left. Here it is so far without the back stitch done. Lots of splodgy stitching.

This is how it looks after the back stitched detail has been added. Much better!

I’m not keen on how the cat seems to have only half a face but I checked the chart and the original kit photo and that’s how it’s supposed to be. I’m really liking all the little critters that keep popping up in this design. I’ll be continuing along to the right for the next update.

Welcome to Carmela and Jocelyn who are joining us for the first time today. Please click the names below to see what all the members have been up to in the last three weeks. We live all over the world so you may need to allow for time differences. Posting takes place every third Sunday, local time. Our next updates will be posted on the 24th February 2019.

About the SAL

52 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on February 3, 2019 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch, Cut Thru Garden Shed

Tagged Bothy Threads, cross stitch, Cut Thru Garden Shed, embroidery, SAL

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on February 3, 2019

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2019/02/03/garden-shed-stage-6/

Getting Ready – Happy Dancing!

Woohoo! It’s finished at last! This Design Works kit is from an artwork by Ronald West.

This is where I was up to last time. There was still quite a bit to do but me and Claire wanted to finish at the same time so we made a run for the finish line together.

There was a lot of stitching to do in this section but it was plain sailing with so few colours in the blackboard. I got that done much faster than I’d expected to.

There wasn’t too much back stitching to complete either. Just the writing on the board and a few outlines but it does make a difference.

Here’s the finished result. As you can see, it’s off the frame so you can see the whole picture now.

It’s been a fun project to stitch but I really didn’t expect it to take almost a year to complete. The first post for this one was dated 8th October 2017. Maybe if we’d realised it would take that long, we would’ve chosen something else.

One of the best things about this project was the price of the kit which was only £5. Total bargain! I’ve done a few Design Works kits now and they’ve all been great quality. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy more (especially in a sale).

It’s been great fun working on this at the same time as Claire because we could chivvy each other along. I might not have been so motivated if it hadn’t be for her and the rest of the SAL members who’ve been so patient, watching it grow so slowly. Thanks for all the encouragement folks!

The best bit about finishing a project is that I get to start a new one. I think a few SAL members will be starting something new this time. Me and Claire have both looked in our stashes and we’ve decided to do different projects for once. I bet you can’t believe it LOL. We’ve tried to choose something of similar size and hope to finish together as usual but the kits we’ll be doing are very different.

This is what I’ve pulled out to start very soon. I’ve had it in the drawer for ages and it’s time it saw the light of day. I love the Bothy Threads Cut Thru Designs. The original design was by Amanda Loverseed.

I’ve made a working copy of the chart and chopped it up like I did for the last project. I’ll be sticking to the same method of stitching a square at a time. It helps to motivate me. This one is worked on 16 hpi aida so it’ll be a little finer to stitch than the last one. That suits me.

I’ve already stitched two of the Cut Thru series and have a few more in my stash. I know, I’m very naughty but when I see a bargain I can’t resist. The ones I’ve already done are the Narrowboat…

…and the Camper Van.

They were both fun to stitch and I think the Garden Shed will be too. I’ll be starting at the top so there won’t be too much stitching to show next time as a lot of that section is unstitched sky. It’ll give me a chance to get used to stitching 16 hpi again and also time to do other things. First I need to catch up with all the other blogs and see what everyone else has been up to over the last 3 weeks.

Please hop around the rest of the lovely SAL blogs by clicking the names below. We live all over the world so you may need to allow for time differences. Posting takes place every third Sunday, local time.

Our next updates will be posted on the 21st October 2018.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Tony, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie

About the SAL

56 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on September 30, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch, Cut Thru Garden Shed

Tagged Amanda Loverseed, Bothy Threads, cross stitch, Cut Thru Garden Shed, embroidery

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on September 30, 2018

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2018/09/30/getting-ready-happy-dancing/

Getting Ready – Stage 16

Hello everyone,

Another three weeks has flown by! My SAL project called Getting Ready is from a kit by Design Works. The picture is part of an artwork by Ronald West.

This is where I was up to last time.

Here’s where I’m up to now. The middle section is all finished and there wasn’t a lot of backstitch to do.

I’m hoping to have this project completely finished in time for the next update. The top left corner will be the rest of the blackboard and some backstitched writing so there won’t be many colour changes. No problem!

I’ve already chosen my next project so that’s the best kind of motivator for me. As you know, I made a working copy of the chart for Getting Ready and then chopped it into 12 equal sections. I found it easy to work that way, concentrating on stitching one square section at a time. It’s been motivating me to finish each part. I’ll definitely be using that method again next time.

Our next updates will be posted on the 30th September 2018.

About the SAL

37 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on September 9, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch, Getting Ready

Tagged cross stitch, Design Works, embroidery, Getting Ready, Ronald West

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on September 9, 2018

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2018/09/09/getting-ready-stage-16/

Getting Ready – Stage 9

Good morning everyone,

Time for another update on the SAL project today. It’s from a kit by Design Works based on part of a painting by Ronald West.

This is where I was up to last time.

This is where I’m up to now.

Those peach coloured splodges will become faces with a bit of backstitch. I hope to square off this section and get the backstitch done for next time.

We’ve got two new members to welcome into the group this time. Megan is a very talented artist and she’s recently opened her own Etsy shop. Timothy was with us until October last year and he’s now rejoined the group.

Please use the links below to see how we’re all progressing on our chosen SAL project. We live all over the world so you’ll need to allow for time differences. Posting takes place every third Sunday local time.

Our next updates will be posted on the 6th May 2018.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina,

Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Mary Margaret,

Heidi, Connie, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Tony, Megan, Timothy

About the SAL

37 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on April 15, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged cross stitch, Design Works, embroidery, Getting Ready, SAL

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on April 15, 2018

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2018/04/15/getting-ready-stage-9/

Getting Ready – Stage 8

It’s time to show an update on my SAL project again. The picture is called Getting Ready from a kit by Design Works. This is where I was up to last time.