June WIPocalypse - Summer or Winter

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

The focus of my WIPocalypse will be my "15 in '15"which are 15 charts I want to stitch in 2015 (following on from my "11 in '11", "12 in '12", "13 in '13" and "14 in '14" - imaginative, eh?)

Over the last month I have stitched four of my 15 designs, and completed 2, which brings the total of finishes to six!

The first finish was one you have seen before, Just Nan Haunted Pumpkins Tree:

Stitched on 28count Chocolate Orange evenweave from Crafty Kitten

Then I completed another block for the Primitive Hare Hallowe'en Cubes:

Jolly Ghost stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen

The next finish was the Kingfisher which will be an end of term gift for the Small Boy's class.  There are two teachers and three TAs although he only has close contact with one teacher and one TA.  But it made sense to make something they can hang on the classroom wall rather than individual pieces.  I'm intending to add the word KINGFISHERS on it once I have the frame chosen so I know how much space I have!

Stitched on 28 count blue evenweave

This is part of a design by Anchor which was a free gift with World of Cross Stitching magazine.  It was charted in Anchor shades which I have some skeins so I used the colours where I had them and subbed DMC where I didn't.  The backstitch was a pain because so many blocks were split to make the sketchy effect.  This is relatively easy on evenweave but would have been awful on the recommended aida.

Having completed the end of term gift for one school I thought I should continue with the gift for the other school.  There is one teacher and three TAs there so a class gift is again in order.  They will also get wine and biscuits/chocolates to share too.  Expensive business this schooling!  Thankfully the Large Boy is now at High School where the teachers get  nothing except grief off the parents LOL.

This is one of a set of four designs from Joan Elliott's book Bewitching Cross Stitch.

I started it back on Day 16 of the DUCJC in January and here is where I left it then:

And here it is after two more days of stitching:

I am using a 28 count opal evenweave called Robin's Egg by Silkweaver.  It is big enough to stitch all four design, the others are Hope, Dream and Imagine.  I like the idea of doing one for the Reception class for last year and the other two for the next two years at school.

Measi usually sets us a discussion topic too:

June – Do you find yourself more productive with stitching in summer or winter?

Hard to say really.  I don't log my actual hours stitched and a lot of finishes in one month doesn't necessarily mean more stitching.  January was a good example of that, stitched madly every day and not a single finish!  Work is the biggest hurdle to my stitching time.  Not the full days because I take a piece in with me for lunch break but the five hour days mean it gets squeezed out in favour of all the other things I usually do during the school hours.  December is the worst month because of the extra Christmas shifts combined with the extra Christmas chores and activities.

School holidays are good for stitching.  We get up half an hour later than usual but have the whole day to potter around.  So maybe August is my best month.

You may have noticed that the season does not affect my stitching themes!  Any time is the right time for Hallowe'en.  Of course my Blog Hops do reflect the seasons - Advent for Christmas, Easter in the Spring and the Summer Postcard for the Summer!

Nice segue there.  The theme this year is Pets.  All you need to do is email me a photo of something you have stitched on this theme plus a little message about what pets mean to you.  Once I have a few I will start emailing them to the participants who will display them on their blogs.  The Blog Hop lasts all Summer so don't worry if you don't have anything suitable stitched yet.  I'm going to be finding some freebies online to inspire you.  Today I have chosen two pet bird themed freebies from Kissy Cross.  She also has a lovely Christmas Budgie freebie too.

Kissy Cross - birds out of cage

Kissy Cross - budgie with bell

May TUSAL Post

It's TUSAL time again!  For those of you new to blogging, the TUSAL is a project run by Daffycat, click on the button on the right hand bar for more details.

Here is my ORTS jar posing with the current stitching project:

 

 

This month my jar is seen from above, posing with Elizabeth Shephard.  I stitched most of the rose motif this weekend including the lovely splashes of red.

 

I also added some turquoise to the Kingfisher who was in my previous post:

 

 

This is stitched on blue evenweave but it seems to be difficult to get a good colour match in a photo.

 

I was invited to link up this post with the Super Mom No Cape's Monday-stitchery-link-party-#6.  So that's what I am doing.  Super Mom hosts this link up every Monday so if you want to see what everyone else is stitching it's a great place for newbies to blogging.

 

I mentioned the Summer Postcard Blog Hop last post.  Some of you have taken part in Blog Hops before but quite a few people haven't.  So for those of you who haven't done a Summer Hop before, here are some guidelines:

 

The theme this year is Pets (either one you own or would like to own)

You find a piece that you have stitched on the theme of Pets and take a photo of it (it could be an old piece or one you make specially for the blog hop)

You email me the photo along with a message about what your pet means to you (or would if you had one)

I collect them all and then start emailing them to other participants.  They will post the photo on their blog along with a link to your blog and hopefully we all make new friends!

Obviously I need some photos as soon as possible to start the hop.

It will take place over the whole Summer with one photo going out each week.

The deadline for photos is the middle of August.

 

If you'd like to join in, leave a comment.  If you have any questions, leave a comment.  If you have a suitable photo already, then email me now!

 

Finally, the 8000th comment on my blog was left by Gominam of Stitch Niche.  Unfortunately, she is a "no-reply" blogger so I have left a comment on her blog asking her to contact me.  If I don't hear from her I will randomly choose one person from comments 7900 to 8000 to receive a little something.  I always do this every 1000 comments but somehow forgot to send something to the 6000th commenter which was Kim. Thankfully we have pdf charts which can be sent in a twinkling of an eye.  Before I could say "Paypal" the pdf of Pretty Little London was winging its way across the ether from Satsuma Street to Kim.  Phew, conscience saved! 

 

 

 



Gifted Gorgeousness May Link Up Post

  

For newbies, this is my first year long SAL.  Click on the picture above for the full details.

We will be posting and linking up on the 15th of each month, because it is 2015.  Should be easy to remember.

Looking back at April's post I seem to have achieved alot in the last month!  Most of which you have already seen so I will focus on the pieces I haven't shown so much.

First up is Elizabeth Shepherd by Scarlet Letter, she was a gift from Nicola:

Stitched on 30 count linen

I have scheduled Elizabeth for each IHSW hosted by Joysze from Random Ramblings.  IHSW is the third weekend of every month; this weekend!  So I will be picking her up again tomorrow.

My most recent piece is a Kingfisher by Anchor.  This will be an end-of-year gift for the Small Boy's teacher.  Each class is named for a different aquatic bird and the Reception class are Kingfishers.  (The Nursery Unit are ducklings which is so cute!  The oldest Year group have blossomed into Swans).

Stitched on 28 count blue evenweave

The other gifted pieces you have already seen are Trick and Treat, Tudor Rose, Winter Typography, Haunted Pumpkins and Marley was Dead:

  

  

And now over to you - Here is the place for you to link up so we can see what Gifted Gorgeousness you have been stitching so far this year.  Please use your name or your blog name in the field NOT the words "May Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month.  

And link to the actual post, not just your blog.  

Thank you.  I can amend links if you make a boo-boo though.

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We have another Giveaway this month, thanks to the lovely Stitching Noni.  She is donating this Shepherd's Bush chart:

All you have to do is leave a comment after you have linked up and say something clear like "Yes please include me in the draw"

Finally, since it is May it seems like the perfect time to launch the Summer Blog Hop.  I started this one in 2012 when the theme was a Holiday Postcard, see this post for the list of participants and links to their posts.

2012 Summer Postcard Blog Hop

The next year I decided we'd have a Staycation and asked people for pictures on the theme of Home:

2013 Summer Postcard Blog Hop

2014 saw pictures on the theme of Gardens being posted:

2014 Summer Postcard Blog Hop

This year the theme will be those valuable members of our family - our pets.  All I need is a photo of a stitched picture featuring a bird or animal or other lifeform that you may keep as a pet.  Plus a little message about why you have chosen this particular picture.  It could be an animal you actually own (so Vickie will send me a lovely poodle picture from her large collection) or it might be a animal you would have if only your partner wasn't allergic to fur!  Once I have a few photos I will start emailing them to the participants who will then show them on their blogs.

A Fistful of Finishes

One advantage of the DUCJC was that I now have rather a lot of started projects which don't take much to finish them off!  So although January was a washout for actual finishes, they have been coming thick and fast in the last month or so.

So fast in fact that I haven't blogged about them all here!  All three of these have appeared on the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL blog so some of you may have seen them already.

First up is a design I received in a Giveaway from Gaynor of Stitchers Anon.  She gave me a free choice from her website and this was my favourite because I love the book:

Stitched over one on 28 count Platinum linen.

Shown with my scissors for scale.

This was a nice quick stitch, even over one.  It only uses a couple of colours so is ideal as a travelling project, I did most of the border in a lunch break at work.

The next design was even quicker, just one day!  This is for the May theme for the Ornie SAL which is Pumpkins:

Stitched on 32 count Lavender evenweave

This was a Just Nan freebie, I think I downloaded it from JCS's website but I can't remember.  It's been sat in my files for ages anyway.  I love those little top hats the spiders are wearing.

And now, the Big Finish:

Stitched on 28 count Chocolate Orange evenweave from Crafty Kitten

This is Just Nan's design Haunted Pumpkin Tree, the chart was a gift from Mouse and the fabric from Shebafudge, both for my Birthday last year.  I started it in October, did one day for the DUCJC and then picked it up again this month to complete.

The pumpkins took so long, there are five different shades of orange in them and each one is slightly different so you need to pay close attention to the chart.  Once they were done the colours went really quickly.  The black backstitch was the most fun because it made each character come alive.

The heart charm came with the chart.  There are four of these designs in a series called Charmed Heart Trees.  This is most definitely my favourite.  I may or may not buy any of the others,  I am undecided and there are more Just Nans higher up my list!

Here are some close-ups:

Just to prove it's not all finishes around here, I've been working on two WIPs:

Anchor Kingfisher, the fabric is blue evenweave

The Goode Huswife Book of Spells

on 40 count Jewel Butterbeer

Finally, the next post will be the Gifted Gorgeousness Link Up on the 15th.  We will be having another Giveaway, this time a chart donated by the lovely Stitching Noni.  So sort out your GG projects to be in with a chance.

DUCJC 2015 - completed!

The DUCJC is a very special challenge in memory of a very special lady.  SoCal Debbie was a prolific stitcher, blogger and commenter.  Sadly she passed away very suddenly last year.  One of her favourite challenges was the CJC:

CJC = Crazy January Challenge, one new start for the first 15 days of January

UCJC = Ultimate Crazy January Challenge, one new start for all 31 days of January

DUCJC = Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge, stitch 31 projects one per day for January

Linda Stitchin' with my Furbabies organised this all via a FB group.  Thankfully Linda is not making us all attempt the SDUCJC (Super Duper Ultimate Crazy January Challenge) or 60 starts throughout January and February which she did with Debbie in 2012.

I did it!  I stitched 31 different designs on the 31 days of January!  Here is a little collage of them all:

And details of the final four days you haven't seen before:

Day 28 - Anchor - Kingfisher (designer not credited - how rude of them!):

Stitched on 28 count blue evenweave.

I am only stitching the bird from this design and giving it to the Small Boy's teacher and TAs at the end of the year.  All the classes in his mainstream school are named after water birds and the Reception Class are Kingfishers so this will look good on their wall.

Day 29 - The Sweetheart Tree - Tudor Rose:

Stitched on 32 count Light Mocha Belfast Linen

I used DMC 223 for the border instead of the Caron Waterlilies which I don't have.

Day 30 - Nora Corbett - J is for Joanne:

Stitched on 32 count Love-in-the-Mist Murano evenweave by Crafty Kitten

Day 31 - Madame Chantilly - On the Beach:

Stitched on 32 count Kynance evenweave by Sparklies

This was a WIP I started last year to be a Birth Sampler for my cousin's baby.  Thankfully I noted the thread changes on my blog because I could not remember what they were when I picked it up again!  The colours listed are nothing like the cover picture.  Much more dull and muted so I am changing quite a bit.

A few stats -

8 WIPS

23 New Starts

5 Gifts for other people

22 Gifts from other people

Fabrics Used

25 count eveweave - 1

28 count evenweave - 10

28 count linen - 2

30 count linen - 1

32 count evenweave - 5

32 count linen - 9

35 count linen - 1

40 count linen - 2

stitched over 1 - 6

So right now I am stitching away On The Beach because it's nice to OAAT again!  I did enjoy the challenge more than I thought I would once I got over the first few days on wanting to continue with each project.  Moral - save your favourites until last.  It was a good idea to spend the time in December getting everything together in one place.  It was also a good idea to keep a list of the fabrics too.

My plan now is to stitch on the 15 which are in my WIPocalypse "15 in '15" and then fit the others in around them as we go through the year.  I also want to Giveaway a few charts as part of my Gifted Gorgeousness SAL so watch out for those posts throughout the year.

Would I do this challenge again?  I will have to see how many I manage to complete this year.  If I have several left I won't want alot more new starts in 2016 so I may just rotate the unfinished projects.  On the other hand it is a good way to actually start some much-wanted designs which have sat in my stash for too long.  We shall see....

Finally, I will be hosting the annual Valentine's Day Blog Hop this year.  See this post for more details.  Just send me a photo of your lovely stitching to be sent to another blogger on Valentine's Day,  I've added the Heart to my sidebar, please feel free to copy it onto your blog to link back here.