Hello again! Amazingly I actually have something to show for my IHSW update this month!
As I mentioned in my last post I started a new project on Friday. This is a bit of break with what I have recently been stitching. For the last year or so I have stitched cards and quilt squares with the odd pillow thrown in the mix, but generally all the designs have been cute, cats, or cute cats, or kids designs...
Now for something a bit different to the norm - dare I say a bit more grown up!!
Since I have started blog stalking I have been drooling over all of the beautiful designs that other very talented people stitch, especially those that stitch the Chatelaines. These designs seem to sing to me when I see them and I have so often thought "one day". I even went so far as to buy 2 mini's last year at the Craft Show, but still haven't got the courage up to start one....
What if I stuff it up - another UFO I do not want - that drawer is almost bursting as it is!
Well, that was up until last week!
Last Tuesday I was blog stalking and eventually wandered over to
Martina Rosenberg's Chateleaine website - as you do - to see what was there. You see I had remembered that she has small sized freebies on her website so went sticky beaking... I have looked at these before but this time I thought -
"what I am waiting for.... just pick one and do it!" So I picked one, printed it off and immediately placed a web order with
Colours Down Under for the speciality thread and beads that I knew I didn't have, and the rest they say is history! The speciality thread and beads
(along with other things I just had to buy - $1 charts!!!) arrived in the mail on Friday morning
(fantastic service from Jo at Colours Down Under), I then went through my DMC threads and raided the fabric stash to see what evenweave fabric was lurking in there.... normally evenweave doesn't get much of a chance to come out and see the light with me, but I think it was very happy to come out and play as so far it is behaving very nicely! I have no idea what it is except that it is 28 count... but it is cream and that was good enough for me!
Friday afternoon was spent kitting this little lovely up and luckily I was only missing 4 threads which I was able to pick up from Handcrafters House on Friday night. Isn't it always the way - it doesn't matter how many threads you have there is almost always one that you have to buy for the next project!
The first couple of tentative stitches were done before I rushed out to meet Hubby for the Colour Workshop in Midland, and then it was full steam ahead on Saturday and Sunday afternoons - or when Oscar kitty let me stitch that is!
And this is the result - my first attempt at a Chatelaine!
 |
This is an idea of what it should look like when finished...
Small but perfectly pretty in every way! |
I know it's only little but I feel so grown up! I think that this little design is a good stepping stone for me to come out of my comfort zone and try something different. The speciality stitch in this design I can do and there is only a small amount of beading. So if I can keep the momentum up and finish this I believe I will have gained the confidence to try one of the designs that I bought last year!
Don't worry I will still be doing all my other stitching.... after all I have cards to stitch for the Craftbubble Crazy for Kitties birthday exchange due in May and June; I have my next Cool Cats (Winter) to stitch and I have also signed up for the Summer Exchange for the MS Lovers Blog; and I have just signed up for the Christmas Card exchange on the Margaret Sherry Yahoo group.... so lots of stitching on the horizon - just as well because as we all know "Winter is Coming".
Sorry, this has turned out too be a bit long winded.... but that is my update for the April IHSW. Yeah, a successful weekend of stitching. If you want to see what everyone else has done over the weekend, drop in on Joyce's post on this month's
IHSW and click on the list of links! There is lots of visiting to be had!!
Til next time, happy stitching.