All posts tagged handmade

Cirque des Triangles – Stage 1

Hello everyone,

The last three weeks have flown by. I’ve been very busy Spring cleaning and decorating for a while, so there hasn’t been a lot of spare time to stitch but this one is difficult to put down once I get started. The design is by Ink Circles and it’s called Cirques des Triangles. The chart is very clear and easy to follow. I’m stitching on white 16 count aida fabric with DMC shade 4030 variegated thread. Just look at those lovely colour changes in the thread at the bottom of the first photo. Me and Claire are stitching the same design this time but we are going to get very different results because of our fabric and thread choices.

Please take a look at how everyone else is progressing with their projects. Just click on the names below and you’ll hop over to their blogs. We live all over the world so you may need to allow for time differences but we post local time, every third Sunday.

Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Susan, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Catherine, Wendy

Our next updates will be posted on the 12th March 2017. See you then!

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.

New England House – Summer

Good afternoon everyone,

I hope you are enjoying a lovely, relaxing, crafting Sunday. I’m so excited because I’ve just finished the 3rd New England House. This has been such a quick design to stitch by Bothy Threads.

Here’s how it grew, quarter by quarter, and the final photo also includes all the back stitched details.

Eagle-eyed readers will notice that the bottom left bird box moved between the 4th and 5th photos. It wasn’t until I did the backstitch that I realised I’d stitched the box in the wrong place so it had to be unpicked and stitched again.

That’s three down and one to go so I hope my sister hasn’t been out shopping for frames yet. It would be nice to have Winter stitched up quickly and then she can display them all together. There’s a lot of white stitching on the Winter design plus some shiny thread and a few beads so it could take longer than this one to finish.

This is actually my second cross stitch finish of the year so far. I can’t show you the first one until 29th January because it’s my SAL project and we only update every three weeks. I put the finishing touches to it yesterday.

There’s plenty of cross stitch Happy Dancing going on here. I wish I could say the same for patchwork. My machine probably thinks I’ve ran away! I can’t remember the last time I switched it on.

36 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on January 15, 2017 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch, New England House

Tagged aida, Bothy Threads, craft, cross stitch, fabric, handmade, House, interior design, New England, Summer

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on January 15, 2017

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2017/01/15/new-england-house-summer/

Next To Go Stage 11

Hello,

It’s been a very busy three weeks here but I’ve still stitched quite a lot this time. This is how far I’d got for the last update.

Now, I’m up to here 🙂

So, that’s the top of the wall and the greenery behind, as well as the rest of the second dog and the background finished. I’ve had to scroll the bottom part around the frame so I could work at the top left, so you’ll have to wait to see it all together at the very end. The way things are going, this project could be finished by the end of January.

The kit is from the James Herriott Collection.

Steph is our new SAL member this time. I’ve just read a few of her latest posts. She’s up to all sorts! Is there a word meaning more than prolific? Anyway, I can’t wait to see which project she’s chosen for the SAL.

Please also take a look to see how everyone else is progressing. Just click on the names below and you’ll hop over to their blogs. We live all over the world so you may need to allow for time differences but we post local time, every third Sunday.

Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose,Christina,Susan,Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph

Our next update will be posted on the 8th January 2017. Yes, 2017!

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 an unfinished project, or maybe a 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 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.

39 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on December 18, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch, Next To Go

Tagged aida, Border Collie, craft, cross stitch, Cross-stitch, embroidery, fabric, floss, handmade, interior design, Needlework, SAL, Sewing, thread

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on December 18, 2016

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2016/12/18/next-to-go-stage-11/

Next To Go Stage 10

Good morning,

Here is a progress report on my SAL project. This is how far I’d got in the last update.

Here’s where I’m up to now.

Can you find the bit I’ve done this time? No? well, it’s all along the very bottom of the picture. Lots of lovely thread changes. There was actually quite a bit of work in this part and all of the foreground is finished now. I’m going to stitch the rest of the dog for next time.

The kit is from the James Herriott Collection.

Helen is our new SAL member this time. I can’t wait to see what she’s been up to.

Please take a look to see how everyone else’s projects are progressing. Just click on the names below and you’ll hop over to their blogs. We live all over the world so you may need to allow for time differences but we post local time, every third Sunday.

Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose,Christina,Susan, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen

Our next update will be posted on the 18th December 2016. One week before Santa’s visit!

About the SAL

42 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on November 27, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch, Next To Go

Tagged aida, Border Collie, craft, cross stitch, Cross-stitch, embroidery, floss, handmade, interior design, Needlework, SAL, Sewing, thread

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on November 27, 2016

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2016/11/27/next-to-go-stage-10/

Next To Go Stage 9

Good morning,

It’s SAL time again. This kit is from the James Herriott Collection and this is how far I’d got in the last update.

I’d hoped to have finished the second dog for today but it wasn’t to be. Here’s where I’m at now.

All that remains to be stitched is the top of the wall, the dog handler’s head, shoulder and elbow, the second dog’s head and some more foreground. I’m going to complete the foreground next and then all the other more interesting bits will bring it to life at the end.

Cindy is our new SAL member this time. She’s chosen a huge cross stitch project to finish.

Don’t forget to take a look to see how everyone else’s projects are progressing. Just click on the names below and you’ll hop over to their blogs. We live all over the world so you may need to allow for time differences but we post local time, every third Sunday.

Claire, Gun, Carole, Wendy, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose,Christina, Susan, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy

Our next update will be posted on the 27th November 2016 🙂

31 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on November 6, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch, Next To Go

Tagged Border Collie, cross stitch, Dog, handmade, interior design, Sheepdog

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on November 6, 2016

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2016/11/06/next-to-go-stage-9/

Lighthouse Bookmark

Good evening everyone,

My lighthouse loving friend got a little surprise today. She gave me this kit a while ago because she was having a clear out and had no intention of ever doing cross stitch again. Lucky me!

As you can see, the kit has a lovely clear chart and it only took me a couple of evenings to stitch and finish it into a bookmark for her. The aida fabric is quite a rustic grey beige and there’s still enough left to make at least one more bookmark. I simply backed it with dark brown felt and pinked the edges.

This was a perfect kit to fill a couple of chilly nights up north. I’m sure there’s another lighthouse themed cross stitch kit in the huge pile Lin gave me 🙂

Bell Rock lighthouse has a very interesting history. You can read all about it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Rock_Lighthouse

14 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on October 26, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch

Tagged aida, Bell Rock Lighthouse, bookmark, craft, cross stitch, Cross-stitch, embroidery, floss, handmade, lighthouse

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on October 26, 2016

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/lighthouse-bookmark/

Next To Go Stage 8

Hello again,

Another three weeks have disappeared and it’s time to show a progress update on my stitch along project. This kit is from the James Herriott Collection and it was given to me by my lovely friend Lin. She was having a clear out and I was a very lucky girl! Anyway, this is where I was up to last time.

This is how far I’ve got this time. It won’t get any wider than this.Next time I hope to have the other dog more or less finished. You can see that I’ve already got the legs done. As is usual for me, I’ve changed the pattern! I won’t tell you what I’ve done just yet, in case I want to pull it out, but I’ve made an executive decision and I hope it’ll work.

Margaret is our new SAL member this time. Her blog is full of gorgeous hand made items. She’s mastered a whole host of crafts so I’m looking forward to seeing what she’s chosen to make or finish first. Don’t forget to take a look to see how everyone else’s projects are progressing. Just click on the names below and you’ll hop over to their blogs. We live all over the world so you may need to allow for time differences but we post local time, every third Sunday.

Claire, Gun, Carole, Wendy, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose,Christina, Susan, Kathy, Margaret

See you on the 6th November 2016 🙂

36 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on October 16, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch, Next To Go

Tagged aida, craft, cross stitch, Cross-stitch, embroidery, floss, handmade, interior design, Needlework, SAL, Sewing, thread

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on October 16, 2016

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2016/10/16/next-to-go-stage-8/

Next To Go Stage 7

Hi everyone,

It’s time for a SAL update today. Last time my Next To Go cross stitch looked like this.

I promised to work on the dog handler’s jacket for this update and I’ve now completed another page of the chart. You’ll have to wait until later for his head and shoulders to appear. Here’s where I’m up to now.

The next part will be from the bottom right upwards. There is also more foreground across the bottom of what is already stitched but I’ll just keep going one page at a time. The kit is from the James Herriott Collection.

Don’t forget to visit all the other blogs that are members of this SAL. We live all over the world so please allow for local time differences when looking for their updates today. Click the names below to see what they’ve all been up to. There’s something for every taste.

Claire, Gun, Carole, Wendy, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Susan, Kathy

If you want to join the group, leave a comment below or send me an email. You’ll find the address at the right of this page. I’ll send you a few very simple rules.

Our next update will be on the 16th of October 2016. See you then!

31 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on September 25, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch, Next To Go

Tagged aida, craft, cross stitch, Cross-stitch, embroidery, fabric, floss, handmade, interior design, Needlework, SAL, Sewing

Posted by Sewing Beside the Sea on September 25, 2016

https://sewingbesidethesea.wordpress.com/2016/09/25/next-to-go-stage-7/

Next To Go Stage 6

Hello again,

It’s SAL update day today. I’ve been going up the wall this time….literally.

In the last update it looked like this.

Now it looks like this.

I’ve decided to finish this page of the chart before stitching further up so there’s still the top of the stones and some shrubbery left to do on the wall when I turn the page. I’ll be starting the sheepdog handler’s jacket next. The colours in the top photo are more accurate. The latest photo was taken at dusk.

Don’t forget to visit all the other blogs that are members of this SAL. We are all stitching different designs and we live all over the world so please allow for time differences when looking for their updates today.

Claire, Gun, Carole, Wendy, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Susan, Kathy

If you want to join the group, leave a comment below or send me an email. You’ll find the address at the right of this page. I’ll send you a few very simple rules.

Our next update will be on the 25th of September 2016.

23 Comments

by Sewing Beside the Sea on September 4, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Cross stitch, Next To Go