Still plodding along with Taj Mahal Mandala

Hello my lovely stitchy friends :)  I hope those of you that are in the US are keeping warm in the very very cold weather you are experiencing and are hopefully safe and not snowed in too much.
Looks like you are all in for another super cold winter this year.  The perfect weather to stay in side and stitch! Unlike here as we enter  our summer we have just experienced a weekend of  very high temps of around 40oC or 104oF, makes for very sticky stitching weather.

I've been plodding along nicely on Taj since my last update and have made a heap of progress. slowly working my way through the middle section.
The detail in this design is simply  magnificent. I can see why many stitchers become hooked on Chatelaine's they are a challenge but a magical feast for the eyes as they develop.

My progress as of  14th November 2014

As you can see I have almost stitched a quarter of the middle square plus the left hand Taj Mahal is taking shape. The colours are simply glorious and I have really enjoyed learning some of the specialty stitches that I have never done before.  I worked some of the woven scotch stitch in the lattice type border around the middle square recently. While it  took me a little while to get my head around it, eventually with a little help from google and some tips online  I got there in the end :) I hopefully will get some close up shots next time I take some photos. 

Happy Stitching everyone, 

Deb

Passione Ricamo Mystery SAL 04

Has anyone else signed up for the Passione Ricamo Mystery SAL?  Titled Under the Moonlight.
Yep I've been naughty.. added another WIP to the pile!  Well when it is started in November.

Oh where am I going to find the time? It is not like I dont already  have a gazillion charts I want to stitch. Oh well at least I'm having fun and staying out of trouble haha.. just spending more on stash than I should. Good job I didn't do this years sewing from stash challenge :)

Ok Enabling alert going out here... you have been warned.  For those that do not know about the new PR Mystery Sal you can find details here.  http://www.passionericamo.eu/page2ingl.htm and the PR facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/487004097986116/


It starts very soon on November 3rd so you still have time to sign up if you give in to temptation like I did.

I'm currently awaiting my fabric from http://www.colourcascadefabrics.com.au/ plus my beads and metallics are on their way too.  I've never done a mystery Sal before so this is a new experience for me.

Happy Stitching everyone,
Deb

Taj Mahal Mandala Garden - 6 parts done 6 to go.

I can't believe it has been well over a month since my last update.  Since my recent finishes I have been steadily working on Taj again. I've completed 6 parts of my 12 part chart and slowly moving into the middle section.

I say slowly as I have taken to wasting more time playing computer games than stitching some nights.  While the will to stitch is strong.. getting butt of chair is not so I end up spending more time than I intend on the computer each night.  

This was where I was up to before

And this was my progress as of the 14th October.

I thought I would share this with you all. I saw this in my emails this morning.. sums up cross -stitching perfectly lol

Happy Stitching everyone, 

Deb

Not 1 but now 2 finished - Diet Kitty 2 finished!

After having a marathon finish on Maggie the Mess Maker earlier this month I decided to pick up an easy project before concentrating on Taj Mahal Mandala Garden, as my main focus piece.

So I decided to work on Diet Kitty 2 seeing as I had him almost half done.

Before this month I was up to here on him 

And now, he is finished and awaiting framing with Diet kitty 1. 

The fabric looks white in the photo he is actually stitched on  28ct miracle mint Lugana which I swapped for the aida that came in the kit. 

Diet kitty 2 - Started January 2014 - Finished September 2014

So very happy to have not 1 but 2 happy dances of late it has been a long time between finished until this month. 

Happy Stitching everyone, 

Deb

Finally a finish for the year!

Phew finally I find five minutes to be able to share with you all that I finished Maggie!!!!!  Yes finished.  At 12.02 am on the 6th of September!

Life has been so hectic since I finished that I haven't had time to share the news until now. My first finish since 2012 and what a finish!  The photo is not the best I was very bleary eyed at 12 am lol.

Maggie the Mess Maker - Dimensions Kit

Started March 2011 - Finished September 2014

Happy Stitching everyone, 

Deb

August 2014 IHSW

Twisted Band Sampler was the WIP of choice for this weekends stitching.  While the weather was wet as predicted here in Brisbane over the weekend, with the very much needed rain. I didn't managed to get as much stitching time in as I was hoping.

Friday night I ended up crashing in bed at 8pm too tired to stitch,  so Saturday I had grand plans once the housework was done. I did managed to get a few hours done on and off during the afternoon. It is slow going stitching on 32ct black. Then around 5:45pm we lost power for a few hours due to a car hitting a power pole near us. Impossible to stitch on black by torch light. I did consider it quite a few times lol.

Sunday saw more progress and even though I did not get as much done as I had hoped I did managed to finish the 2nd band, completely stitch the 3rd band and start the 4th one.

Now back on to Maggie for the rest of the month. Inching closer and closer to a finish. 

Happy Stitching everyone, 

Deb

Marvelous Maggie update.

Welcome to my  new followers,  I hope you enjoy reading my updates and I always look forward to hearing from you all :)

Would you believe I have been sitting on a Maggie update from the beginning of the month. How slack of me! So a quick update just to show you the latest  progress photo as there will be another one at the end of the month.  I spent all of July working on Maggie and have kept going for this month too.

Last update Maggie looked like this

As of the first of August she now looks like this

I have made a heap more progress since this photo and I am hoping I get all the stitching finished this month. Fingers crossed!

Don't forget this weekend coming is IHSW. It is suppose to rain here in Brisbane all weekend so it is a perfect weekend to sit and stitch! I am planning on doing a bit more on Twisted band sampler this weekend. 

Until after the weekend

Happy stitching everyone, 

Deb