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

♥

Mystic Stitch - Page 1 complete

Woop woop! Page one of my Mystic Stitch chart is complete!

Yaaaay!

Well, page one and a bit of page two as the last column went over onto the next page.

I'm so pleased with how this has turned out. And I really enjoyed working on it too. It got a little stressful when there was 900 colours in one square D: But yes, woohoo!

Now that I have completed one page I am going to take a break for a little while. It's going to sound a tad dramatic...but I don't want to suffer burn out with it. And ideally I'd like to stitch it in complete page blocks.

♥

2013 - My year in stitches

I wonder how much stitching I have managed to do in 2013?

These are all the things I have stitched, or finished stitching this past year ^^

Flower Fairy card - cover kit from a magazine

Cat card - chart from Cross Stitch Crazy

Riolis kitten kit

'Welcome to Counted Threads' - kit from the Cross Stitch Guild

Blackwork Welcome sampler from Itch to Stitch magazine

Home is where the cat is - The New Berlin Co.

Sampler tote from the Cross Stitch Guild

Keyring kit and bumble bee badge both from CrossStitcher magazine

Bird House Sampler from Cross Stitch Gold

Antique Animal Sampler from Elizabeth Designs

Owl keyring kit from CrossStitcher magazine

Fairy Tale book by JCA

Stag tote from What Delilah Did

Vintage rose kit from Mollie Makes

Spooky the Cat from Just Cross Stitch Halloween Special 2013

Jackalope from Storyland Cross Stitch

Berlin Roses cushion front kit from Anchor

Ring O'Roses from Laa Laa Land

Laurence the Fox from CrossStitcher Magazine

**I think this was from The World of Cross Stitching**

Wow! A lot more productive than I thought! Let's hope I can do just half as much in 2014!

♥

Feeling nostalgic

So, the other day I was trying to think of a way to make my stash a little tidier and not as spread out around the house...which resulted in me just looking through all my stash and dreaming of one day having the time to actually stitch it all ^^

I also 'found' my three UFO's. Even though I'm turning in to something of a serial starter I actually only have three UFO's, something I'm quite proud of. One is of Disney's Stitch (just need to do the background) and one is a HAED QS (so much to do!). The one that bothers me the most though is a design from Mystic Stitch...

When I first started getting seriously into cross stitch a few years back, it seemed as though everyone was stitching a HAED. I mean everyone. I didn't really follow any blogs back then, but the forum sites that I visited were full of HAED threads. It felt like you weren't a proper stitcher unless you were stitching, or had stitched a HAED. It was like a rite of passage. So I looked at the designs on offer...and none really appealed to me....what was I to do?! I also had the problem of no printer! So I would have to buy a physical chart and have that sent to me. It was as if the fates were conspiring against me. I would never be a true stitcher.

I finally came across a site that not only offered printed charts but would also 'kit-up' the chart for you. However, I could find still find no HAED designs that really appealed to me...and the thought of how much of a commitment stitching one of these was was a tad daunting... I did find a design that I liked though...it was by Mystic Stitch but it was still suitably epic.

It arrived and I stitched and stitched and stitched my little heart out for months and months and months and this is how far I got...

It was so disheartening :( It was also very messy on the back and the front wasn't that great either. I didn't have enough stitching experience really to take on something like this. But it has always played on my mind that I just left it and never even made an effort to stitch more...

So I decided that now was the time. I had another look at it...and it was just too messy to continue...I found stitches that I had only worked one arm of the cross and some of my stitches were not all going in the same direction..oh it was just horrible! D:

There was more than enough fabric for me to start over, and I was going to grid it all out and work just one 10x10 block at a time...but I found some magic guide aida that was sale....so laziness won out (as always...)

I've been stitching for maybe two weeks? And this is where I am :)

Not too shabby eh? It's also a lot neater and much more enjoyable that when I originally started it ^^

I will probably finish the first page and then work on something else for a bit so that I don't get bored with it.

♥