prodigal stitches

Well, I didn`t expect to have anything to report so soon but then earlier this week, some of my prodigal stitches have returned to me and I could not be happier! :D Lookee what Postie`s turned up with:

I am so thrilled to have these two back! I loved working on them and I also loved the way they were made up for the photo shoot. So now I`m going to find (or make) a cushion to fill Amanda Gregory`s bunny cushion cover (from Gold 109 - you can read more about how it was made here) and I also need to find a hoop big enough to frame the sunflowers the way you can see the picture in Gold 113. I have stitched quite a few Durene Jones designs (you can read my blog post about this sunflower picture here) and have enjoyed every one of them, from cards to BAPs, from bold colours to traditional Christmas charts - so it`s a special delight, and the perfect ending to this gift-filled week, that my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cross-Stitch-A-to-Z) got a Like from her - how awesome is that?? Every time I think of it, or look at my stitchy goodies, I can`t stop grinning - all in all, an unbelievably good week! ;) Happy stitching, everyone! 

doll`s house - Cross Stitch Collection 247-9

It seems the larger my projects are getting, the less frequently I visit my blog, not to mention others`. I`m currently working on a HAED for one of the magazines - which, as far as blogging is concerned, means I`ll see you again around... July? However, even though weeks go by between my posts, here`s my latest work recently published - an this one is a whopper too.

As you can see, it is also a Maria Diaz, and another 3-parter, like Santa`s Journey was back last year. What`s new this time is that Collection decided to use some of my 5-hourly progress photos; it was interesting to try and remember how I was getting on at certain stages now, months later, but I discovered I managed just fine. And I`m especially honored that they also put a wee piece in about me, the stitcher:

The 5-hourly photos are not in sequence - hence the slightly false impression that the ground floor can be completed in 30 hours... it took a bit longer than that, lol! The whole house took 170 hours, so I had 34 progress piccies by the time I finished - I thought I`d better string them together in a `movie` to save everyone some scrolling time ;)

However, I also have some close-ups that will not be featured in the magazine, so only the handful of people who still come and visit my stagnating blog will see them - a world premiere for all (both?) of my followers! So here`s the grand tour of the house, from room to room:

Thank you all who are still checking in here from time to time; as I said, I`m obsessively stitching, e.g. now a HAED, after which I want to start my own Starry Night - I love Van Gogh and bought this HAED chart over 3 years ago now, I think it`s time I did something with it. It`ll be nice when I can post progress pictures as and when I`m working on something! ;) Oh, and some pieces that I stitched last September are finally getting published in April, so I might see you sooner than I thought after all...?