Seasonal Houses

Tonia of OakHaven Designs hosts a Seasonal House SAL for members. These designs are small, fun and quick to stitch. I stitched mine individually, to be finished into scissors fobs. Designs were stitched on 32ct Belfast using DMC threads. I had to change the fabric for Winter House because the white house did not show on the Belfast linen. Thank you, Tonia, for this fun SAL. I really enjoyed the stitching.

I joined HoE For The Birds Exchange recently. We can stitch any design as long as there is a bird in it. I chose a freebie by Carole D. Love this design, I had stitched it twice. Design was stitched on 28ct Cashel linen using DMC 335 and 3021. I am so glad that my partner, Lisa S, loves the pin cushion. The picture of the pin cushion was taken by Lisa.

The next picture is an update of my Eiffel Quaker. I am almost halfway with the stitching, really love the colors I have chosen. This design is by Nathalie of Jardin Prive.




I love French designs. The two designs below are charted by Dany of Danybrod. Both designs are for pincushions, one round and one square. The square one is only half done, don't you love the colors?




I had started another small project, "Simple Joys" by LHN. This design calls for crescent colors and WDW threads, very pretty colors. This should be pretty quick stitch, I hope to finish it soon.




August the 9th is Singapore's National Day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!

Thank you for visiting my blog. All comments are appreciated.

Happy stitching and take care!

Hugs,
Ellen

Flowers Show And Some Small Finishes

I took my mum to the Flowers Show last week. Here are some pictures.











I have not been stitching much since my last post. There is not much progress on my big wips, I had been stitching for exchanges and smalls.
I was in a Swap hosted by Nina. This is what I stitched for my partner Su. Picture was taken by

Su, she is very good with photography. She also stitches beautifully.

The theme for this exchange is French designs. I stitched for her a freebie by Les petites croix de Christine and finished into a pin pillow. Design was stitched on 32ct Belfast linen using DMC threads. Using the same backing fabric for the big cushion, I made her another smaller pin cushion. I was very happy that Su likes these cushions together with the goodies I sent her.


I love this scissors case when I saw it in blogland. I stitched it on 32ct Belfast linen using Nina's thread, Cherry Coffee. The chart came with a skein of turquoise silk but I decided to try Nina's hand-dyed threads. Lovely colors, please visit Nina's blog to see her beautiful hand-dyed threads.

Stitching is done but I have yet to do the finishing, hope to get it done soon.


I stitched another small, this it is designated for my next box topping. It's a freebie by Liselotte. Again, I stitched it on 32ct Belfast linen using DMC variations 4025.

Another small was stitched and finished into a pin cushion but I cannot show yet because it is for another Exchange. Will post when my partner receives it.


Here are pictures of progress on my Spring Quaker SAL. Very slow progress, I am only on page 5.


The SAL is currently on page 14. I have a long way to go to catch up.








Thank you for your visits and comments.

Happy stitching and take care!

Hugs,
Ellen

My First Round Box and Two Finishes

It is a month since I last posted. I have two finishes and lots to share.

Here is my first round box. I started with a small one. It was hard work making a round box, it took me about 6 hours to make this one. I am pleased with it and this will not be the only one. The angel is a freebie, sorry I lost the link to the site where I found the design. It was stitched on 28ct evenweave hand-dyed by Joan of Sapphire Stitching.

I have two finishes to show, one cross stitch and one hardanger. The hardanger doily was a design taken from Hardanger Craft Journal. I stitched it on 28ct Bluish Grey Monoco. This doily showcased the lacy edge, a more delicate and prettier edging than the normal buttonhole edging.

I really love this cross stitched piece titled A Fleur De SAL. This design was a SAL hosted by Valerie of Talons Aiguilles in 2009. I missed the SAL last year. I wrote to Valerie because I really wanted to stitch it. She was so kind to send me the charts, thank you, Valerie. I have not decided on the finish yet, maybe another box?

Stitched on 32ct Belfast Linen using DMC 469, 470, 3687 and 3689

As promised in my last post, here is a picture of my wip - Spring Quaker SAL. I am way behind, still on page 3. The current SAL status is page 9. I am stitching this piece on 36ct Cream Edinburg linen. I have changed some of the colors, using various shades of green instead of one solid DMC 987 for the whole design. I am loving the progress of this SAL.



On the Exchange Front, I had sent and received my exchanges for the Summer Exchange hosted by Becky SC. Here is what I stitched for my partner, Conny. Pictures were taken by Conny, she is a better photographer than me. I stitched "Spot of Summer " by the The Drawn Thread and finished it into a pin pillow.



Sorry, Conny, I stole your pictures.

For the same Exchange, my partner Raffaella stitched this pillow for me. It is BBD's Summer Iris. I love it, it was 100% handmade and truly a labor of love by Raffaella. She also sent some goodies - a chart from my wish list, DMC threads for this chart and two spools of trims. I love them. Thank you, Raffaella, for a lovely exchange. Raffaella does not have a blog.

In the Early Christmas Exchange hosted by HoE, these ornaments were what I sent and received from the partners. I stitched this red ornament for Amy. The design is a freebie by Claire of Gazette94.

I received this BBD's ornament from Cindy, can't wait to hang it on my Christmas Tree. Thank you, Cindy, for this lovely ornament. BBD is one of my favorite designers.



Thank you, friends, for visiting my blog. All comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy stitching and take care until the next post!

Hugs,

Ellen

Happy Dance and Update

After 14 months of stitching, I finally reached the finished line. Here is my Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler. It is stitched on 32ct Belfast Linen using DMC variation 4210. I had personalised this sampler with the family names. I enjoyed stitching this sampler, thanks to Hazel for hosting this SAL. The blog posting each month urged and encouraged me to stitch on this sampler every month. Every stitch counts, no matter how small a progress I had made month after month.





I had won a giveaway gift from Dovile of Lithuania. She has a beautiful blog and she stitches beautifully. Have a look at this gift!



Dovile stitched pansies and finished them into a sketch book. I love it and will treasure it. Thank you, Dovile, for this beautiful book and the goodies.




Next, I want to show you this gorgeous cushion cover I received from Bernadette. This is the HoE LHN/CCN Exchange. She stitched LHN Needlework and finished it into a cushion cover. Her stitching and finishing are perfect. I really love the fabrics she used for the cushion.


This picture show the details of her stitching, isn't it beautiful?



Remember in my last post, I mentioned that I had started another two new Quaker projects. Here are the two pictures of what I am stitching, the Contest Sampler and the Spring Quaker Sampler. Both Samplers are designed by Martina of Wiehenburg Samplers.



I have started on the Contest Sampler. My color scheme for this sampler is chocolate and turquoise. I stitch it on 36ct linen using DMC 598,938, 3809, 3910 and 4030. I have decided to start the Spring Quaker again, didn't like the green I used. Will show picture of progress in my next post.



Here is May's update of my Oakhaven Month SAL. We are almost half way through this SAL and I am loving it. This is a quick and fun SAL.



More boxes to show you. The stitched pieces are Love Grows by Oakhaven Designs and a Freebie by Blackbird Designs. I had stitched them some time ago but had just finished them as boxes. This is a lovely way to showcase my stitching. I am still having cartonage lessons, next project will be a round box. I love the fabrics that my teacher provided for the boxes.




This is quite a long post. I will end here and save the rest for my next update. Thank you for visiting my blog. All comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy stitching and take care!

Hugs,
Ellen