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Showing posts with label Antique Christmas Trees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Antique Christmas Trees. Show all posts

Monday, 23 January 2017

A Flurry of Finishes

I have absolutely loved stitching OAAT on the 12 Days of Christmas but since I met my goal for this month, which was completing the Partridge block, I have craved a finish.  So here are two!

The first one is the JBW Antique Christmas Trees small that I showed as a new start in my previous post:

stitched over one on 32 count white linen

I stitched this using the DMC conversion but changed the letters to 3721 as they were charted in white which just disappeared into the fabric.  I think they were supposed to represent snow.  Those are French Knots in the bunny's rather over-sized bobtail!

Just to show the scale, here is another photo with some small coins from various countries:

L-R 1 penny, 1 pfennig, 5 centimes, 1 cent

The second finish was the project I was stitching immediately before I started on the 12 Days of Christmas.  It got abandoned over Christmas but has now been completed:

Fox Forest by The Workbasket  

stitched on 32 count Light Khaki linen

This is much better photo of the fabric colour


Again, I used the DMC conversion, tweaking things to suit.  Some of the conversion colours were a little strange, more khaki than fox-coloured.  I also zig-zagged the border instead of stitching two solid lines!   There are more Forests in this series so I will have to keep an eye out for them.  This is my first finish from my 17 in '17 WIPocalypse list, so a great start to the year.

I also have an FFO - Fully Finished Object.  I aim to dedicate Sundays to finish-finishing projects when I am not working a Sunday.  This one is Just Nan's Counting Bats which I stitched for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog last year.  It is a very long, thin design so I stitched two pieces of fabric to the sides so it would fit a standard photo frame:


The fabric is the same that I used for the Hallowe'en Cubes so they co-ordinate nicely.  It took ages to hand-sew the fabrics together because both cotton and linen fabric had to be absolutely straight.  It would have been so easy to start to get off the straight line.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart

Finally, we have the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop coming on Valentine's Day.  If you would like to take part, all you have to do is send me a photo of something you have stitched which is suitable for a stitching friend.  It could be a heart, or a pair of cute creatures, or the word "love" or anything which warms your heart.  Really anything you think a fellow stitcher would like to receive in her email Inbox.  I will then email you a photo to post on your blog on Valentine's Day.  Everyone then hops around trying to find out where their photo went and who is the Secret Sweetheart!


Friday, 20 January 2017

My Dearest Darling,

That partridge, in that lovely little pear tree!  What an enchanting, romantic, poetic present!
Bless you and thank you.
Your deeply, loving Emily

12 Days of Christmas (Correspondence) - John Julius Norwich



I completed the First Day of Christmas from the 12 Days of Christmas by Joan Elliott.  I started the borders on 12th December 2016 and I stitched on it every day for the 12 Days of Christmas as part of a Challenge on the Stitch Maynia FB page.  Since then I have been focused on finishing the Partridge for this month.  I did have a little break to fit in my Hallowe'en stitching though.

The plan is to stitch the borders each evening when my son is in the bath and return to Block 2 in February.  You can see where I stitched each block for a decreasing number of days for the challenge!  Block 12 only got stitched on the final 12th Day whereas Block 2 got stitched on every day from the 2nd onwards.

stitched on 32 count white evenweave

I showed the first Hallowe'en design in my GG post and here is the second Hallowe'en design for the year:

stitched on 32 count Lime Green Murano

It's the Moon which forms the O in Hallowe'en for the design Happy Hallowe'en from Imaginating.  That fabric is so much more lime green in real life!

Having finished my SAL stitching for the month I decided to start a little small which I've had for ages.  Antique Christmas Trees by JBW.  This was a gift or giveaway prize from someone at some point.  I know I didn't buy it myself but it got separated from the card which came with it and filed in with Random Charts.


I'm stitching it over one on a scrap of 32 count linen which was tucked in with the chart.  I'm using the DMC conversion.  The suggestion for the border is very pink and not at all like the picture so I decided to make the alphabet darker pink instead of the barely visible white.  I think the idea is that the white is the snow under the tree but it wouldn't show on my white fabric.   I might stitch this again, over 2 on a blue or grey fabric using the white.  It's a nice quick design anyway, that is just 2 afternoon's stitching there.

I have been continuing with my 10 Stitches a Day project which is Just Nan's Spring in the Square.  Here is a collage of the 20 days so far:


You can really see how the piece grows each day.  Some people have said that they would find it difficult to stop after just ten stitches.  That's where my personal challenge comes into it - seeing how early can I get my photo posted!  Every day I try get it posted earlier than the day before. Or not!

Finally, we have the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop coming on Valentine's Day.  If you would like to take part, all you have to do is send me a photo of something you have stitched which is suitable for a stitching friend.  It could be a heart, or a pair of cute creatures, or the word "love" or anything which warms your heart.  Really anything you think a fellow stitcher would like to receive in her email Inbox.  I will then email you a photo to post on your blog on Valentine's Day.  Everyone then hops around trying to find out where their photo went and who is the Secret Sweetheart!

Just for inspiration, here are some freebie heart designs from around the internet.  Most of these could be stitched in a week so plenty of time for the Hop.