Cross stitch Wednesday

Told you I'd finish it this week... Now it needs to be pressed and a frame found - not sure where it's going to go, but I will keep it rather than give it as a gift, as the kit was originally given as a gift to me...

Here's where it stood last week:

And now, as they say, for something completely different. I debated quite a bit which project to work on next, as I have one or two standing by (or perhaps a few more than that). Finally, I decided on this one, which is a real departure for me - or at least, for what I've been doing lately. It's a much more traditional piece, with lots of colours closely entwined and yes, a fair amount of backstitching. Because I know I will get a bit bored of it at times, I am going to alternate weeks with the Beach Huts I was working on last summer, which are partly stitched. (Can't find a photo of it in its current state of progress, but will update one in a week or two.)

After a few days of stitching, here's how it looks:

Yes, it's a project which is going to take some time to complete!

Cross-stitch update

Nearly done. Of course, the border will take a while, though I'm about a third of the way around I guess. I've the word Contrary to do, a few more bees and butterflies and a couple of other bits and pieces, but it should be done soon - hopefully before next Wednesday's update (Wednesday seems to have turned into my cross-stitch update day by default - not sure why, but there it is...).

Cross-stitch update

Not a huge amount of progress this week - I did get some of the border stitched, which does take longer than it might seem. And the sun. I've been quite tired in the evening, though, so haven't been stitching as much. Oh well, next week perhaps I'll get more done!

How does your cross-stitch grow?

More progress has been made - I've even started a little on the border (decided I'd start now, because it's not going to be the most interesting part to stitch, so it will do better a little at a time). Below is where I had got to last week at this time...

...Garden Grow

At some point, of course, the rest of the words will get stitched, but for the moment, there's still good progress - the roof of the shed finished, the grass completed (where it looks like a bit missing, a watering can will sit), the start of the sunflowers and bird table... I'm hoping to make even more progress when I get my new glasses, which will have varifocal lenses, so I won't have to keep looking under the bottom of the glasses to see my close-up work (I usually cross-stitch while watching telly and my distant prescription makes it hard to see the cross-stitch).

Cross stitch update

Making progress. This is about two weeks on from last time (below).

New cross stitch

This was a mother's day present, so it seemed appropriate that I start it straight away after finishing Winter. Given how fast the beehive was to stitch up, I'm hoping the whole thing won't take too long - there's no tedious filler like the snow in the last piece (there's a row of grass, but it's not very high, so it shouldn't take too long). The shed is the biggest single thing, and it's going fairly fast. After this one, I really should get back to the beach huts - it would be nice to finish that (the last photo I seem to have on the blog doesn't show the piece as up-to-date as I know it is - for instance, I'm sure I've started a second hut! - anyway, if I go back to that once Quite Contrary is finished, I'll be sure to show a progress update on it.)