New Stash!

Well, what a welcome!  Thank you dear stitching friends.

One of the bonuses (or should that be a downside?) of reading so many of your lovely blogs is that my stash, which I used to think was a bit extravagant, looked like the poor relation of some of your stashes!  So when I finally decided to splash out on something I had wanted to stitch for a while (more of that later) I went a bit mad and ordered quite a lot of other things as well!

The new stash was delivered yesterday.  It was very exciting.  The parcel was delivered by DPD.  Yesterday morning we received an email to say that the parcel was being delivered some time between 10.34 and 11.34 am, by Pim the driver, and that we were delivery number 42.  The boys and I followed Pim's progress around our home town via the internet.  When the website showed at 11.02 that Pim was on delivery number 41, we opened the front door to look out for him.  We almost had the red carpet out!

Here are some photos of the new stash...

all together now.....

this one made me chuckle....

Christmas is my favourite time of year.....

such true words.....

more gorgeous Lizzie*Kate goodies...

At last, a Bothy Threads Cut Thru!

I love Bothy Threads and have a couple of their kits already in my stash, but have always steered away from the Cut Thru designs as they look very detailed and difficult.  I have quite a stressful job and like to stitch to relax, so I didn't really think they were for me.  I am happy to report that we unpacked the kit yesterday and I have actually started it (the toy room on the upper side of the house on the right) and it is a lovely stitch!  The kit is actually provided twice, once with all the cross stitches on minus backstitch, and once with all backstitch which gives the finished picture all the tiny detail.  I'm so glad I took the plunge.  I've joined the Bothy Threads Monday SAL with Linda and Debbie so I don't know if I'm cheating stitching on a Thursday but just in case I won't post any progress pics until Monday!

My youngest son (D aged 4) and I had a funny exchange about the kit:

D: Will you finish it today for me?

Me: No, it will take me a long time.

D: Will you be dead when you finish it?

Me: No, but if I die before I finish it, will you finish it for me?

D: No, I will throw it in the bin.

How's that for motivation?

Until next time

Justine

New beginnings...

Hello and welcome to Justine's Cross Stitch.  I hope to share with you my stitching finishes, WIPs and UFOs and stash.  I may even join a SAL or two!

I've been stitching for 25 years now (I'm 41 before you ask).  My mother gave me my first kit - an old Anchor tapestry kit of squirrels which was an unwanted gift.  I thought I would be bored...

I quickly moved on to larger and larger tapestries and from there it was a small jump to cross stitch.  I dabble very occasionally in crochet and knitting but there's nothing like those little Xs for me!  Apart from a break when I had my boys, now aged 5 and 4, I've been stitching ever since.

But I've always been alone.  I've had friends who have dabbled a bit in stitching (how can you dabble and not get hooked?!) but have never known any serious stitchers.  Until a few weeks ago when I idly searched for cross stitch blogs, never realising how many stitching sisters and brothers there are out there!

So, I'm here to share my projects with you.  I sincerely hope you will welcome me into your stitching world.  I feel like I have lots to catch up on!

Here's a picture of my oldest UFO: Holiday Village by Dimensions.  Do you think I will be able to finish it by Christmas?

And here's my most recent finish, from Cross Stitcher magazine:

Until next time

Justine