*waves hello*

[Flan]

Hi there.

I'm Marianne, and live in Essex (although I'm originally from Kent), with my husband, and occasionally two stepkids, I work as a Quantity Surveyor, and have recently discovered cross stitching, which I love.

Found this place purely by chance, but looking forward to chatting with other people who share the passion

[Skattiekat]

Hi Marianne,

Welcome! I found the site yesterday and have already discovered what a lovely bunch of ladies (and man) are on here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I know I'm going to.

Would love you to let us know what you like to stitch and what you're working on at the moment.

Mary Anne

[Mabel Figworthy]

Hello Marianne (and Mary Anne) from another Marianne (well, it's my third name ).
Welcome to the forum -- I hope you'll jump right in and show off your work and give advice and ask whatever you're not sure of and above all enjoy your visits here!

[SusanF]

Hello Marianne and Mary Anne and a huge welcome to the forum. Join in, chat and show us your stitching in progress - not that we're nosey or anything

[RosemaryH]

Hi and welcome to the friendliest, most informative and positive forum that I have ever been on.

Rosemary

[mags]

Hello Marianne and welcome

And welcome to the world of cross stitching You have certainly come to the right place. Hope you enjoy the forum, we do have a lot of fun.

Let us know what you are currently stitching and we'd love to see pictures if you are able

[sammy_v]

Hi welcome to the forum, hope to see u around and about the forum.

[Jess03]

Welcome! Hope you enjoy the forum, can't wait to see some of your work!

[Busy_B]

Welcome! Hope your enjoy yourself here.

[Rose]

Hi Marianne I am so glad that you have found us. This is a great site, we have a large group of stitchers that have many different styles and levels of experience and yet everyone has the ablity to teach the others.

Hope you come around and enjoy this site, we love to share.

[Kute Kitty]

Hi Marianne, welcome, I just joined here myself and so far have found it to be a wonderfully friendly and welcoming site, everyone's great and I'm sure you'll have a great time here

[CarolinaGirl]

Hello and welcome!

[agi]

Hi, and welcome from Hungary! I hope you will enjoy the forum and come often. We love it!

[Flan]

Thank you all for the lovely warm welcome

I'm only on my fourth project, as I started cross stitching earlier this year - I've always enjoyed knitting and crochet, and a very nice lady called Gilly gave me the cross stitch bug, via another forum.

My first cross stitch was a 'Bang on the Door' messy baby, for my dear friend who recently gave birth to a little boy, then I did a Hydrangea, and a 'No. 1 football fan' for my husband. They're all in my knitting bag though, as I haven't got a clue how to get them framed and looking nice...

I'm currently working on my largest project so far - a big Bagpuss! I've run out of a couple of the threads though, and had ordered some to complete it, which is a real disappointment, as I haven't had this problem with other cross stitch kits, but now I find I'm short of a pink shade!

I've gathered loads of new kits, and have so many to get through, but most of them are cats I'm cat mad! Once I can work out how to post piccies small enough, I'll get some on here

Thanks again, this really seems a lovely place

[Angel]

Your projects sound lovely! Welcome to the forum.

[~threadbear~]

Hope to see your projects soon, they do sound lovely. Welcome to the forum, I hope you have lots of fun here.

[nicgoss]

Hi and welcome to the forum

[charmagne_capalad]

...and welcome! Happy stitching!

[Serinde]

And a warm welcome from the West of Scotland.

[Flan]

Thank you, you are all so lovely.

And Serinde - I'm heading up to the West of Scotland for my holiday in just under four weeks- I rent a cottage in a village called 'Aultbea' between Gairloch and Ullapool. It really is a very beautiful part of the world, and you are lucky