Just Nan SAL - January

Welcome to my January post for the Just Nan SAL organised by the lovely Zeb.

I'd also like to say a big hello to all my new followers :D Thanks for joining me on my stitching adventures. The Grow Your Blog party was such fun and I have lots of lovely new blogs to read :3

So, on to my update!

First, I had to decide on which design I was going to stitch. Last year I managed to collect quite a few charts - here is what I had to pick from...

All samplers except for 'High Hopes'.

In the end I went for 'Queen of the Needle' as if I remember correctly, this was the first Just Nan chart I collected. It was love at first sight *lol*

I have decided to stitch on 28 count Zweigart cashel linen in pastel pink. Originally I was going to use Jobelan Honeysuckle pink which I had got as a Christmas gift, but decided I wanted to stitch on linen instead. I really did consider getting Au Ver A Soie threads, but it would have cost about £80...and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. The guilt would have been unbearable. So I am using the DMC equivalents.

I wanted to try and make this last for the whole year so that I would have something to update with each month, so I thought that I would aim for one band a month. There are 14 bands! Oh noes! Some bands are really tiny, so I could try and do two or more of them in a month. Ideally I'd like December to be free of any actually stitching on this so that I can take my time adding the beads and charm.

I think it's about time for a photo, no?

Band one complete :)

When I took this out of the frame to take the photo I realised that I had stitched on the fabric the wrong way ^^; So when I've finished I'll have quite a bit of leftover fabric that won't really be big enough for anything useful. I must stop getting myself so excited with new starts *lol*

And here is a nice angled shot. I think the colours are so pretty. I really enjoyed working with the perle thread too. I hadn't used it before so I was a bit worried I would make a mess, but I'm really pleased with how it's turned out ^^

I've had a look at a few of the other SAL posts...and there are so many pretty stitches! Quite a few small ones too that I will have to add to my collection!

If you would like to know more about the SAL or would like to join in the fun, all the details can be found here.

♥

A new start!

So, all those claims I made about not being a serial starter... 

Riolis has a range of kits called City Cats - one design for each season. I thought it would be a nice idea to stitch each one and then either put a new one up for each season or to have them all in a row. I've wanted them for a while so when Christmas came around I asked for one! It would be a start to my collection and would be a surprise as to which one I got. Well, I was very spoiled and received all four!

I decided to start with Winter as that is the season we're in! I think it's been a pretty mild winter (I think I've gone and jinxed us all there...) but the past few days have been getting a bit of a chill to them, so I feel it's very fitting to be stitching this design now.

I started this on...Wednesday I think. As of Friday, this is where I'm up to!

It doesn't look like much and it feels like it's taking me ages to get anywhere! I don't know which 'direction' to stitch in.. I think that stitching quite a few samplers recently has affected my stitching flow or something ^^;

This is the second Riolis kit I have stitched and I just love the thread provided! It's a non-divisible fluffy thread that makes your stitches all fat and soft to touch :D

I hope to crack on with this over the weekend.

♥

Grow Your Blog!

Hello and welcome to Grow Your Blog 2014!

This event is hosted by 2 Bags Full.

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Welcome to my blog 'Back on the wall'.

I am from the north-west of England and I love, love, love to cross stitch! I do also like to try out new crafts (currently in a battle to conquer crochet...) but my main passion is for cross stitch.

I started my little blog as a place for me to chart the progress of my cross stitch projects so that is what the majority of my posts are about :) 

I am currently working on about ...seven... projects...oooh that makes me quite panicky to type that..will I ever finish them all?! Last year I became something of a serial starter as I can very easily become over excited about new designs that I simply must start right away! This year I aim to be a bit more sensible and try to reign in my new starts. So far, it's not going too well *lol*

My stitching used to be a very solitary pastime, but since I started blogging and found the wonderful stitchy community I have participated in a few 'social stitches'. Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching hosts some great blog-hops that are a great way to get involved and meet new stitchers. I also like to take part in SAL's (Stitch-A-Long's) and I am participating in two this year - the Just Nan SAL and the Frosted Pumpkin's Once Upon A Time Sampler SAL. 

Last year, I came to the Grow Your Blog party a bit late, but I found so many lovely blogs to read! And that is one of my favourite things about blogging - reading other blogs! The stitchy community is full of lovely, friendly people who are such an inspiration and offer such encourgement. They are also pretty bad enablers. Seriously, before blogging, my stitching and my stash were under control. Now? There's simply no hope for me :P

So, if you like my blog and you'd like to follow my stitchy adventures please follow my blog! You can also follow me on Bloglovin' - both of the links can be found on the sidebar. If you do decide to follow, please leave a comment below so that I can find out more about you and your blog :)

Thanks for visiting!

♥

Once Upon a Time Sampler - January

Welcome to my first Once Upon A Time Sampler post!

I'm going to update once a month once I've finished the block for that month.

This month we have Snow White and the Seven Dwarves!

Apologies for the absolute awfulness of these photos!

How cute!!! That's all to say really ^^; It was a really enjoyable stitch. I started off by stitching all of one colour, but I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere so I switched to stitching motifs and I flew along ^^

I very arrogantly proclaimed 'I will stitch all the border first!' ...but it's too much! I have decided that I will stitch the border as I go to break it up.

I am using the recommended threads (DMC and Weeks Dye Works), which has reconfirmed how much I love WDW's ^^

I am not using the recommended fabric, which was Dubloon by Picture This Plus. I would have had to order the fabric from America so I don't know if I would've got it in time for when the first chart was sent out and I wanted to be able to start stitching right away! So, after much deliberation I made a decision! I went for a Polstitches fabric :3

28 count opalescent linen in Heirloom *___*

It is the most beautiful fabric!

The crappy photo doesn't do it justice!

I wonder what next month will be?

*excited*

♥

First finish of 2014!

I've never stitched anything for my boyfriend. It's not for want of trying...

Many times in the past I've tried to find a chart, or make one myself of something he would like. I really tried quite hard to make a chart for a bobblehead from Fall Out 3...but it was disastrous D:

After seeing the cute Gandalf stitch at Serendipitous Stitching I thought I'd have a mooch at PixelPower...and I found a free chart that would do just nicely.

It's The Dude from The Big Lebowski :)

I decided to make it into a coaster so that he could use it for his desk at work. I had to change the layout of the quote and stitch it over-one to make it fit. I'm really pleased with how it turned out as I epically failed at the maths a few times ^^; My boyfriend really likes it too.

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I spent some time today preparing the fabrics I'm going to use in my SAL's, so I'm pretty much good to go! I hope to start work on my Just Nan chart tomorrow. I can't wait to share the fabric I have for the Frosted Pumpkin SAL...it's brilliantly beautiful *__*

♥

Looking ahead to 2014!

Hello 2014!

What crafty goodness do you have in store for me this year?

I've never been one for making New Years Resolutions - Kevin's recent post over at Cabbages and Kings, perfectly sums up my feelings so go and read it! He puts the point across much more succinctly than I could ever hope to.

I do however, have some things that I'd like to do in 2014, and I also have some definite plans.

♥    I will be participating in two SAL's this year. Sort of. The official one is the Just Nan SAL which I am quite excited about :D In 2013 I managed to amass quite a collection of Just Nan charts so hopefully the SAL will help me work through one or two. I'm going to aim to stitch just the one (lots of new stitches to learn!) so if I manage to complete it and maybe even start a second that will be a real achievement. The second SAL is semi-official. It's a self-imposed SAL if you like. Just before Christmas I treated myself to this with the aim to stitch a block a month. However, Christmas Eve, procrastinating on the internets, I came across this! The Once Upon A Time Sampler..Gaaahhhh. So yes, I'll be stitching this now instead :D Super exciting as each month will be a surprise xD The first chart is out on 10th Jan and I can't wait!

♥   I am going to do my very best to stop being a serial starter! I have three things on the go already, not including the Mystic Stitch or the two SALs...and I'm getting myself a little stressed out by it all ^^; So, this year, I aim to not start something new unless I have finished something or I get an all-encompassing desire to stitch something. *eep*

♥    I want to start by saying 'props' to all you stitchers doing the 'Stitch from Stash' this year! I get panicky just thinking of only having $25 to spend a month *flails* I can spend £20 on crafty magazines a month alone...so I think it's really cool if you are embarking on this challenge and I wish you luck! This year, I aim to be more sensible with my crafty spending. I have gotten into a silly habit of seeing/buying a chart that I like and then buying all the materials that I need to stitch it. In one of my baskets I have 'kits' that I had made up in January 2013 that didn't even get looked at until I was having a tidy up :( So I aim to only buy the materials when I know I definitely want to stitch something. This should be made easier by point 2 ^^

♥   In 2014 I will bloody crochet something. If I don't do this I will be furious with myself.

♥  I would like to be more active on my blog. When I was compiling my 2013 review post, there were some months when I only made one post and that's pretty damn poor. I also want to keep more up to date with comments and such. I often forget to comment or reply and I'm very sorry about that ^^;

♥   This year I won't be participating in the TUSAL. I was really rubbish at posting my jar and it always felt like a chore to take the photos :( I will still collect ORT's though as it's a fun idea. Now that 2013 is over, what shall I do with the contents of my jar? Originally I had planned to use them to stuff a biscornu as I've not stitched one of these yet...however I decided on something different. I love how in Victorian times, they had curiosity cabinets filled with....curiosities. I would love to have one some day filled with lovely weird crap *___* So I decided to start my collection with a 'Stitching Specimen Jar'....

Aaaand I think that is enough!

I want to thank everyone who reads my blog and for all the lovely comments I receive - they put such a smile on my face so thank you very much! Also, thank you to all the other bloggers and stitchers out there - I love to read your blogs and see what you're stitching. You're all lovely and such an inspiration!

I hope 2014 is a wonderful year for all! Good luck in whatever it is you do!

Best wishes ♥

Hayley

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