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Saturday 15 October 2011

Famous Cities mini competition and a new SAL

This month's World of Cross Stitching magazine came with a little Christmas booklet of designs by Maria Diaz and some Madeira metallics to stitch them.  There is a lovely range of 10 city skylines each with Santa's sleigh and some reindeer above them.  9 of the cities are London, Edinburgh, Sydney, Barcelona, Hong Kong, Rome, Liverpool, Glasgow and Paris.  Can you guess what the 10th one is?  No prize for this bit, it's just for fun; the answer and the competition are at the bottom of this post.

Here is my progress on Joan Elliott's Green Goddess.  You can really see the curve of the design starting to show.  There are two gaps where the dragonflies will go, they are partly stitched in metallics so I'll leave them until later.

The new SAL is from the fantastic Gift of Stitching online magazine.  I found this magazine a while back via various blogs.  They were offering 3 issues for $3 which was too good to resist so I signed up.  The magazine pops into your email box at the beginning of each month full of tempting designs.  They are very keen on part works (encourages people to keep buying each issue!) which is great because it makes the larger designs easier to stitch.

I saw a post on Kathy's Blog A Stitcher's Heirlooms about her indecision regarding which project to start next.  I said I wanted to start My Lovely Sewing Tools myself and we went from there.  If you'd like to join us pop over to Kathy's Blog and let her know.  We're also posting our progress on FB if you're a member.  Just search for Gift of Stitching and their page comes up.

I decided to use the DMC conversion as I don't have any Valdani threads.  They are £2.29 each from SewandSo which isn't the most expensive thread but I am supposed to be on a stash diet until Christmas!  I used my Willow Fabrics' voucher to treat myself to some 40count Newcastle linen.  The service was great, I had a glitch on the computer so phoned up the old-fashioned way, had a nice chat with the lady about the project and my fabric duly arrived, nicely packaged and labelled.  It was £13something for a FQ plus P&P so not the cheapest but not bad, and the service was good.

Here is my progress after one evening.  I've started in the middle as I always do.  This is actually Part 3c of the chart.  The charts start at the top left of the piece but I like to start in the middle.  I've used an anonymous variegated thread for the darkest red.  The label is long gone but it came from my now closed LNS.  One strand is about the same as 2 strands of DMC so where the chart calls for one strand I will use the DMC 315 they recommend.



The finished design will be a sampler with various sewing tools (as the name suggests!), the alphabet sprinkled across the sampler and some buttons and charms added.  I'm enjoying stitching on the 40 count, it doesn't feel small at all.  In fact I had to measure it to check it really was 40 as it seemed bigger.  There is some over 1 stitching which looks amazing and is quite tiny.  I'm quite accustomed to 28 over 1 but that's the smallest I've tried.

Back to the competition.  The 10th city is .......Coventry.  Yes, Coventry.  Not New York or Dubai or San Francisco or Rio de Janeiro or even Cardiff (2 from Scotland but nothing from Wales or Ireland?  I detect some favouritism, Maria!).

So the mini competition question is:

1. For my overseas followers: Have you even heard of Coventry?  If yes, then tell me a fact about the city.  If No, then say No and make something up!

2. For my UK followers: Have you even been to Coventry, or been sent there?  If yes, then tell me why, why on earth?!!  If No, then tell me something you do know about the city.

3. For anyone who lives in Coventry: please don't be offended, I'm only teasing, please tell me something wonderful about your city.  If you can't think of anything then tell me why you haven't moved!

The small prize will be a stitched City Skyline of your choice from the booklet (you don't have to have Coventry).  The winner will be plucked at random from all the commenters who mention Coventry before Saturday 22nd October.

22 comments:

cucki said...

hello dear, your joan elliot stitching is looking so lovely so far..keep it up dear..
i really love your new sal..i so much wanted to do it..i will check for that mag just now..
and i think conventry is a city in the county of west midlands in england..i think so..
keep well dear and happy stitching xxx

Kaisievic said...

HI Jo,

Your green goddess is coming along beautifully and I particularly like the autumn leaves on your blog.

The new start looks good, too.

Now to the mini quiz question. Now, I know that Lady Godiva rode through the streets of Coventry sometime in about the 12th century, I think, to protest her husband's harsh treatment of the people of Coventry. I think that she was Anglo-Saxon and he was Norman (but I might be wrong on this - I am doing this from memory rather than cheating and looking up the internet). The people of Coventry, out of respect for what she was doing for them refused to look at her and stayed indoors, except for Peeping Tom who did "peep" and had his eyes gouged out as punishment. That is where the expression "Peeping Tom" for someone who spies on people in a sexual manner comes from. Sorry, for the lengthy reply but that is the history teacher in me. I have Lady Godiva on my wish list at HAED - I might have to buy her now that they have a sale on.

By the way, sorry I didn't reply to your last email re A Dark Alphabet - I think that I will go for a book - otherwise I will end up with another large project to frame. I must get started on it someday soon but I have to work out how big to make each page of the book.

Anyway, sorry for the very lengthy comment (that is a History teacher (or ex history teacher) for you!

Lots of stitchy hugs, Kaye xoxox

Caitlin @ Naughts Cross Stitches said...

I love that Joan Elliott design that is one of the ones I am thinking about doing down the track.

I'm in Australia so never been to Coventry. Does it have a convent?

lanybleu said...

I know you have a canal, but never been to coventry.
I am wanting to start the new Sampler in TGOSM too.

Freddysmama (Kirstin) said...

LOL, Coventry? I've read all about "Being sent to coventry" in my British school stories. The actual place? Don't know a thing except it's the origin of the phrase :)

The Outgoing Introvert said...

Your stitching progress is gorgeous!! As far as the quiz ... not to sure about that one so instead of cheating and googling it, I will wait and see! LOL

gracie said...

I really want to stitch the SAL from GOS but it will have to wait until after the holidays. I have heard of Coventry but knnow nothing about it....but...when I lived in Rhode Island USA we have a Coventry there. A quiet lais back sort of city. What a fun contest!

Blu said...

Green Goddess is looking lovely!

I'm Canadian, and I think Coventry is that British city that Churchill(?) received intelligence about in WWII but didn't do anything and it ended up being bombed. I think

Christine said...

Your Green Lady is looking wonderful. I've never been to Coventry, but presumably it has a distinctive skyline? I know it has a modern cathedral because the old one was destroyed in the war, but that's about it I'm afraid

Rachel said...

Green Goddess is looking wonderful! I do like those greens. :)

I really like that Stitcher's Tools sampler you are doing already. How cute are those scissors!!

As for Coventry...I am in the US and can honestly say I have never heard of it! If I had, I surely don't remember, lol. I am definitely not creative enough to think of something to make up about it either, haha. :)

Hannah - City Stitcher said...

haha brilliant. Me and my boyf have been laughing about this since I got my WOCS earlier this week, london...milan...Coventry!

I don't think I've ever been to Coventry...if I have I don't remember. Coventry is the UK's 9th largest city (thank you fact fans) and as far as I am aware does not gave a distinctive skyline.

ps mags in the post yesterday, sorry for delay, work a nightmare this week x

Susan said...

Great progress on your Green Goddess. I was tempted by the TOGS SAL, but I have so many other projects that another WIP is not needed. Coventry? Lady Godiva, heavily bombed during WWII, and something about bicycles. No, I couldn't tell you how I know/remember any of that. I tend to have a random access memory type brain and you never know what's going to pop out!

The Knitting Cross Stitcher said...

Look forward to watching your sampler progress.

Sally said...

Your Green Lady looks lovely Jo and I love your new start.

P. G. said...

Great idea for a giveaway!! I'm from Canada and have not heard of Coventry. I'm sure it's a wonderful place to visit, perhaps it's the first place in the world to serve scalloped potatoes.

Thanks

pamgrouette@gmail.com

cerato said...

I would love to enter in your giveaway.
I´m form Spain and I Know that the famous London black taxis (the "Hackney Carriages") are manufactured by the company LTI in Coventry.
Hugs

pdeisidro@vodafone.es

Jan Gartlan said...

I love your Green Goddess. I live in Australia. I have heard of Coventry probably from UK television. The only fact I know about it is that it's a city in England. I would love to learn more about it though of course!

geeky Heather said...

I live in the States...I've heard of Coventry...kind of...and that leads me to my fact: Coventry Carol is the spookiest Christmas carol I know!!

TammyK said...

I simply love Joan Elliott designs. Great progress :)

Ewa said...

I have never heard of Coventry... but it makes me think of convents. Do a lot of nuns live there? Love the sampler! Those scissors are just adorable.

sarams1987a said...

ziet er heel mooi uit, prachtig

mvg Sarah

Chris said...

Your stitching is beautiful and stitching 1 over 1 on 40C wow!
I have lived in Coventry from 2006 till this May year... and I am thinking for something nice to say about it?? Earlsdon is the area to go for a pavement cafe coffee on a saturday morning and the librarian at Stoke Library is lovely! Ball hill has 6 charity shops and nice to mooch around! And Walsgrave Baptist church is very friendly. This is my personal experiences of Coventry, I didn't like living there, but the things I have mentioned made it livable!
The Cathedral is beautiful unfortunately in the last year it was decided to charge a fee to look round, sad but I suppose necessary.
Happy Stitching
Chris x