Back to normal?

I reaaaaaaaally need to go back to regular blogging. I was really (?) good at blogging once a month.
Oh well.

Last week I went to my framer and picked up...... Train of Dreams!!
It is beautiful if I may say so.

I worked a bit on Butterfly Wood, I almost have a page finish! Finally, after a year:

Permin Sampler has seen more activity! Every week I'm at the Stitch 'n Bitch, having fun. Last week another stitcher joined our group! She's not into following patterns and cross stitching, but she just starts and follows her needle! So creative..
However, I'm very proud of how the sampler looks like!

Update Permin Sampler 5

My last update was two months ago, where did the time go?


Since the last update I have worked hard on restoring my work-life balance and my stress levels. The therapy has helped tremendously and I am stronger than ever. I only have a couple of appointments to go. I am grateful for the opportunities my employer gave me to work on myself.

Life is slowly returning to a new normal. I took a few weeks off and we are enjoying the time together. We love to hang out on our new sofa!

In September, Girl2 will move in with us. It will end an emotional journey but will start a new one! Pre-puberty anyone?

In the mean time I have been stitching a bit on the Permin Sampler. Butterfly Wood has been neglected the last months.

I've also joined a Dutch Facebook group dedicated to stitching the Dear Jane! Dear Jane originally is a quilt designed by Jane Stickles and is very famous around the world. Someone translated the quilt to a free cross stitch pattern and it is now a huge hit in the Netherlands!
I haven't started it yet, I'm still thinking about colors and stuff. I really like a rainbow Dear Jane. (picture taken from fiddletails.com)

After I finish the Permin Sampler, this will be my new Stitch 'n Bitch project!

Update Butterfly Wood 9 and Permin Sampler 4

Goodmorning!

Lots has happened these past weeks!
1. Girl2 celebrated her 11th birthday. Together we baked a chocolate cake from scratch (first time for me!) and it was a success. Dad (the Mr) and stepdad organized her party and everybody loved it. I was so proud of the Mr!
2. I started therapy and I am working hard in restoring the balance in my life. It is not easy, but I feel that this is the right time for me.
3. We ordered a new sofa, one that can fit two adults and two teens. Am so excited about that!! Only thing I need to order now is a wider arm for my workstand (the armrests of the sofa are much wider).

I did cross stitch too but not very much. Look at all of my butterflies!!!

And don't you just love this sampler? I must confess this one got lots more attention than Butterfly Woods. It is a quite Catholic sampler I think, with the Lamb of God:

It's time for my lunch now. This weekend's weather forecast looks promising (very warm!) so I can't wait for it!

Untill next time!

Update Butterfly Wood 8 and Permin Sampler 3

Goodmorning!

So I got up early today. Girl1 was awake and was enjoying herself tremendously in the big bed of daddy and Liesbeth but we weren't too happy about that LOL. So now I am downstairs with her, watching children's tv. Daddy's still in bed. Lucky him haha.


Children's tv is kind of boring so this is the perfect time to upload my pictures and write a blog post!

First: Butterfly Wood. I finished the first 4 pages...

and started the next one:

The Permin Sampler has been calling my name often. It is hard to put it away after my weekly Stitch 'n Bitch night!!

That's it for now! Enjoy this Sunday (the weather here is looking lovely!) and see you next time!

Update Permin Sampler 1724 2

This week I got a bit stressed out at work. Basically I fell apart. Sigh. So I went home and told my temp boss (my real one was on a business trip) that I wouldn't be at work for the rest of the week. I am so thankful he understood why and agreed with me! In the almost 10 years I have been working I have never had a bad review or taking sick days, so I do have a lot of credit.
So this week I have done some soul searching and have been taking care of me. It's hard but I'm ok. This is a wake up call for me. I'm going to change some things in my life. Step by step. I will get there.

Yesterday was my weekly Stitch 'n Bitch. It was nice to be there. I worked on the Permin Sampler. I confess, since I took the last picture I worked on it some more. I finished all the pink, the light green of the basket and all of the dark green. Yesterday I worked on the grey green (the grapes). This morning I took a picture:

I really like working on two very different pieces!

No update for Butterfly Wood. Nina asked me if I'm getting to the big butterflies yet. Unfortunately not! I am working from left to right, so the next 4 pages (my frame shows 4 pages) will be trees. I don't think it's a lot of confetti (here's to hoping!) so I hope to be flying through these pages.

Untill next time my friends!!

Update Butterfly Wood 7 and new start: Permin sampler 1724!

Hello dear readers, long time no see!

It's not like I didn't do anything the past two months. I just didn't feel like updating. There's still lots going on here. It's not something I'd like to share online, especially since we're still in the middle of it.

Anyways, back to stitching!
I'm in love with my floor stand. It is the best tool I've bought in a long time, seriously!
So what have I done?

I've nearly finished the 4th page of Butterfly Wood:

Every Wednesday I'm going to the Stitch 'n Bitch club. I absolutely love it. In the past few months I worked on small things, cute things. Nice but Sampler 1724 by Permin was calling my name! Yesterday night I took up my needle and started the darn thing! It came with a lovely linen, I forgot how nice it is to work on linen!! It is also nice to work on something completely different than a HAED.

Well, hopefully my next update will be sooner!!

Almost there.... and plans for the future!

I am so so close to the finish of Train of Dreams!!

I am already thinking about the next BAP I am going to tackle. I have two in my stash calling my name. Basically they are the only BAPs in my stash LOL, I try to keep my stash as small as possible.

The first one is Butterfly Wood by David Penfound. Yes another HAED. I believe I have been talking about it before:

I have ordered all the floss and fabric (18ct Ivory Aida by Permin of Copenhagen) for it. I was thinking about using pre-gridded Aida from DMC but I could only order a huge amount that would cost me more than 100 euros! Since I am happy with the 18ct Aida by Permin of Copenhagen I am using for Train of Dreams (color: Stone Grey), I decided to order from Permin again. I also ordered a new floss box. This morning I printed the pattern. I am almost ready!

The second BAP is this sampler from Permin of Copenhagen:

This was a gift from my MIL, the fabric has a rust colour. Since the fabric and floss are included, the only thing I still need to order is another Q-snap frame!

I have joined a local Stitch 'n Bitch group. They come together in a pub every Wednesday night. So far I have met only two members and they were very nice! Unfortunately the pub is a bit dark so I cannot work on my HAEDs. I still have some little freebies from a magazine to work on, so that's what I do on those nights! Since the sampler uses a lower count fabric I hope I can also work on the sampler during the meetings! I will work on Butterfly Wood at home.