Theme-a-licious Looking Backward and Forward IX

Theme-a-licious is hosted by Heather of It's Geek to Me

Each month Heather thinks up a theme for us to stitch to, or in my case, a theme to somehow shoe-horn my existing stitching into, no matter how tenuous the link!

This was the theme for September:

Sampler September

Whether you're stitching the alphabet over and over (and over), starting your own band (sampler), or marking some spots, this is your month!

This most definitely was my month!  I love samplers.  First of all I stitched the September Alphabet Kitty in autumnal colours:

Then I spent the majority of the month stitching a new start, Just Nan's Autumn Typography:

This is stitched on 32 count Tobacco linen using a DMC conversion from the charted GAST.  I also changed the squirrels to red squirrels and stitched them over 1 to match the crows.  And I substituted the word Awesome for one of the Autumns, just because Autumn is Awesome!  The picture below is actually a better representation of the fabric colour but the threads are better on the top photo!

I then felt in the mood for Trick and Treat by Prairie Moon.  I only intended to stitch for a couple of evenings while I waited for the Mirabilia chart to arrive.  But I ended up doing a full fortnight I just loved it so much!  here is how it looked prior to this month:

And here it is now:

See what you can achieve when you OAAT?  I have stitched the whole height of the piece now.

During the day I have been stitching two challenge pieces; one is a secret for Anna the Stitch Bitch and the other is for the Needlecraft Haven.  I hope to have them both finished soon.

And onto the next month which is

Opulent October

It's time to don your tiaras and bring the bling! Stitch on projects with sparkly fibers, beads or charms.

The Mirabilia RR definitely comes into that category.  Not really sure what else does though.  Neither of the challenge pieces have bling, or any of the ornies I have lined up.  So maybe it will just be Mirabilia Month!

Finally I'm starting to think about next year's targets and challenges.  My "14 in '14" mainly.  Should I add the monthly challenges into that?  I chose smaller projects this year hoping to finish a few more but once again Round Robins and other obligation stitching took up more time than I'd allowed for.  Oh well, most of the fun is in making the list not working through it LOL.

Ornament SAL September Update

This is the Ornament SAL hosted by Stitching Lotus

I have three different ornament challenges running this year, the JBW Alphabet Cat stitched in a different colour scheme each month, the Dragon Dreams 12 Dragonlets of Christmas, a FB exclusive and the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL blog.

Here is my little Autumn Leaves Alphabet Kitty for September, complete with acorn pin courtesy of Shirlee:

And here is a Little Dragonlet Dancing for Number 9:

I have realised that I haven't stitched the red 9 yet but I was rushing to go out this afternoon and thought I'd finished!

I haven't yet stitched a Hallowe'en ornie although I did chose one which is a start!!  I have also just started the Needlework Haven Challenge piece today too.  Most of this month has been taken up with a lovely Autumn Typography.

Talking of which, I had a little fun competition when I showed my finish.   What was the change I made? (apart from the squirrels I told you about).  Not the easiest thing to spot but four of you did notice it.  It wasn't the charm (that was included) or the beads (they were included too).  Look closely at this photo and see if you can tell now:

Do you see it now?  The vertical word in the middle of the photo says "Awesome" instead of "Autumn".

I allocated playing cards to each of the four eagle-eyed spotters and the Large Boy picked a card.  Congratulations to

SouthpawStitcher 

If you send me your address there will be a little something in the post sometime.  I am hideously behind with my mailing which I do intend to catch up with very soon.  Or you will all get caught up in the Christmas post!! 

Finally I'm starting to think about the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop so you should be too.  For newbies, here is the link to last year's Hop so you can see how it all works.  I'll do a sign up post very soon.  I just wanted everyone to be on the look out for suitable designs.

September WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi of Measi's Musings.

The main focus of my WIPocalypse this year is my "13 in '13" a list of 13 projects I want to complete in 2013, click on top tab for the list.  And I am pleased to announce I actually stitched on one of them this month!!

Here is Prairie Moon's Thine is the Trick and the Treat:

That is two days' progress.

And here is the whole thing so far:

I have now reached the bottom right corner so you can see the full height of the piece.  I'm stitching over 2 on 40count linen using DMC 310.  Because I'm using two strands I'm getting great coverage but I'm missing off all the quarter stitches.  They just look lumpy.

I was able to pick this one up again because I finished Just Nan's Autumn Typography!  Happy Dance time!!  Here are some photos:

Close-up of the over 1 animals:

 And the moon in the corner:

And one with a flash to show the fabric colour better:

So, time for a little competition.  I made a couple of changes, most notably making the squirrels red and stitching them over 1 having recharted them myself.  And I changed one of the pumpkin's colours too.  But there is one larger change I made.  Can anyone spot what it is?

Clue - it's not a colour change and you don't need to look at the original design to be able to guess at my personalisation.

I'll make comments so they have to be approved before posting and do a little draw next Thursday if anyone gets it right.

I celebrated my Birthday this week and received some lovely cards and presents from family and friends alike.  I'll save the photos for the next blog post but here is a picture of my cards all hung from the ceiling beams as it's the only place the Small Boy can't reach them!

Finally, you may have spotted that I don't post photos of myself or the boys on this blog.  It's open to the world at large and I choose not too share our family photos.  But here is what I would look like if I were a Lego Mini-figure, as created by my brother as my Birthday card:

Those of you that have seen photos of me will be able to confirm it is a very good likeness.  Apart from the pleated skirt.  I don't think I've ever worn a pleated skirt!

Theme-a-licious September Update

Theme-a-licious is hosted by Heather of It's Geek to Me

Each month Heather thinks up a theme for us to stitch to, or in my case, a theme to somehow shoe-horn my existing stitching into, no matter how tenuous the link!

This is the theme for September:

Sampler September

Whether you're stitching the alphabet over and over (and over), starting your own band (sampler), or marking some spots, this is your month!

This is a nice easy one for me, no shoe-horns required this month.  The first piece I finished was the September Alphabet Kitty:

Apart from Andie's Mirabilia RR the only other thing I've worked on this month so far is Just Nan's Autumn Typography.  This is so close to being finished, there is probably only one evening's work left.  So rather than spoil the finished result I thought I'd make a nice jigsaw for you all to do.

Simply print off, cut out and rearrange!!

 That was a rather short and sweet update so I thought I'd share some of my winnings with you.

The first to arrive was a giveaway from Drea Dear for her 6th Blogaversary.  Yes, 6th!  Appropriately enough she found my blog through the Theme-a-licious.  She has designed and stitched this lovely Irish Blessing sampler herself and even hand-dyed the fabric herself too:

The original draft of the sampler can be found here, you can see the changes she made!

Andrea also included a new chart she has designed and personalised with my name, plus the DMC threads to stitch it and this gorgeous piece of fabric she hand-dyed.  Apparently both pieces are dyed using leftover wine which is very different.  This one is a little bit more purple in real life, sort of a bruised plum colour.  I love it.

The next Giveaway was from Stitcher Anon to celebrate a Creative Crafting Blog Hop.  Gaynor offered a number of different prizes for the different crafts and I won the Cross Stitching prize!  This is her photo of the prize because I haven't taken one myself/

As well as these goodies I also received two of her brand new series of  "Little Maids in a Row".  The first two are Pretty in Pink and Boo-tiful in Black.  Ms Black is perfect for me!  Many years ago I attended a "Colouring Workshop" where they look at your skin tone, hair colour, eyes etc and decide what season you are.  I am a Winter which means one of the best colours for me is black.  My friends did laugh when they heard that.

Radient in Red and Graceful in Green are coming soon.  To keep up with all the new releases you need to look on the website Stitcher Anon or the FB page.

Finally Nicola and I are in discussions about the Scarlet Letter Year blogs.  Everyone wants them to continue, me most of all because I will never finish my sampler before 20th Feb 2014!  We've been talking about a Gallery after someone mentioned samplers they had stitched prior to the start of the blog.  It will also give us more time to interview some of the leading lights of the Reproduction Sampler World.  Here is the list so far if you want to learn more about these stitchers and most importantly of all - Is Nicola the only person that forgets her glasses are on the top of her head?!!

INTERVIEWS

 (conducted by Nicola and edited by Deb)

Barbara Hutson
Margaret Chess
Ellen Chester
Bethany
Carol Sims
Fran of C Street Samplers
Deb Thread Gatherer

Sleepy September

Here is the piece that gives today's post its title, Andie's Mirabilia Round Robin with Dreamers as the theme:

And some close-ups so you can see the bling:

And one of the whole piece so far:

The top space is empty for Andie to stitch Sleeping Beauty, then it's followed by The Dreamer stitched by Orchid Julie and Sleeping Princess stitched by Karen Stitchy Woman and finally my Lilly of the Woods.

I posted this piece off to New Zealand last Friday expecting it to take a week-ten days to arrive.  I got an email from Andie on the Tuesday saying it was there!!  Less than 3 working days to cross the world!!  Amazing.

Also for September I had the JBW Alphabet Kitty for September:

The charm for this month is a lovely acorn pin I received from Shirlee some time ago.  The fabric is a tan 28 count evenweave and the thread is a Stef Francis variegated.  I was going for an Autumn Leaves effect.

And talking of Autumn, here is my latest progress on Just Nan's Autumn Typography:

Not too sure about that bright orange in the row of leaves under the large Autumn.  They look a little like Chinese words rather than leaves.  I'll see how it looks at the end.  I have a boring border to stitch and the squirrels plus another crow then it's all done.  I like it alot!

Finally, as more people move to Google Plus, I wonder if they are aware that their email does not necessarily follow them there.  I've had comments from people that used to have emails attached to their profile but now appear as "No-Reply".  So if you've moved recently and haven't had an email response from a comment you've left me then that is why.

Final Summer Fling and Autumn Progress

The Summer Postcard Blog Hop was a great success and I included the full list of participants in the previous post to this one.  A few kind people sent me two pictures to choose from so I thought I'd so a Final Fling and show them here.    Click on each photo for a link to the sender's blog.

First is Christine's Welcome Home Banner:

I love the variegated blues and whites in this piece.

Next up is Debbie's Cottage, she says Hi, Stitcher!  I wish my home was surrounded by beautiful flowers like this, but since I don't have a green thumb, I can stitch French knots instead!

 And thirdly, and finally until next year, we have Joyce's Beacon of Hope by Thomas Kinkade:

Which cottage would you prefer, the country cottage with all the flowers or the lighthouse cottage by the sea?

I have two finishes this week but can't show either as they are both for other people.  But I can show my Autumnal progress:

This is a Just Nan design which I'm stitching using DMC alternatives to the charted GAST.  I'm trying to get all the letters in place first although I have stitched some of the leaves and acorns for placement.

Finally, I'd like to share a lovely blog.  As well as following my fellow bloggers I also follow a few "professional" blogs including the Plum Street Samplers blog.  Paulette had just made a great post with some amazing photos taken during her recent trip to the St. Charles Market.  I love the idea of taking over a hotel with all our favourite designers, with each one having a room to "set" with their beautiful works of art.  How many times have we heard "This looks so much better in real life"?  The market is the perfect time to see the pieces in person.

September TUSAL

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 September's ORTS jar getting very full now, pictured with Joan Elliott's Wizard from the 2013 Diary and a new start.

I finished Andie's gorgeous Mirabilia Round Robin and as I don't have the chart for the next RR yet I decided needed to make a start on some of my ever-increasing stash pile.  I acquired quite a few Just Nan patterns during this year so thought I would stitch one of those.  It was a tie between September Song and the one; Autumn Typography.  This won because I figured I could then justify buying the other three seasons once I finish it!

Here is a picture of my progress so far:

I'm stitching on a 32 count linen from Willow Fabrics called Tobacco.  Now I am cross because I just went to their website to check the colour (I also bought Cognac at the same time) and found they have reduced the prices even more than when I bought the fabric!!  £4.50 for a half metre is the most incredible price for linen in the UK.  It's over £20 full price.  I paid £6 and was well pleased two weeks ago.  Actually I paid £2 plus postage because I had a £10 voucher from Cross Stitch Collection so I really can't complain too much.

I'm using a conversion from the charted GAST to DMC I found Stitches 'n' Things website.  It will be quite different but I can't justify buying all those GAST just to use half a length on one word.  I love the little over 1 crow and have recharted the squirrels to be over 1 too.  I'm going to make them proper Red Squirrels not the grey tree-rats charted.  What colour are squirrels where you live?

I was having a look through the box of stash my friend gave me at the beginning of the Summer and found this great catalogue from 1996:

It's the first catalogue from a company called Hanging by a Thread.  I wonder if they are still going LOL.  Seems like they still are here.

I also found this sweet little ribbon embroidery kit.  Does anyone do ribbon embroidery and would you like it? It includes the vase button and all the ribbons too.

Finally the Summer Postcard Blog Hop is at an end.  The penulitimate card was sent from Joyce to Lili then Lili's card was "sent" to me.  Here is the card Lili sent:

Lili says "This design is a freebie from The Little Stitcher (There's no place like Home).  It is the first piece I have stitched with the theme "home" ;)  I have returned home from my vacation time and is always nice to come back to my "place".

And here is the full list of participants this year:

Summer 2013

My card goes to Debbie at Debbie's Cross Stitch

Debbie's card goes to Christine at The Alchymyst's Study

Christine's card goes to Lynn at Kearnel's Korner

Lynn's card goes to Clare at Aimetu's Stitching

Clare's card goes to Vickie at A Stitcher's Story

Vickie's card goes to Julie at Julie's Stitchyknitty Journal

Julie's card goes to Penny at Larkspur Lane

Penny's card goes to Astrid at Dragon Stitches and Stuff

Astrid's card goes to Cheryl at Today I Found...

Cheryl's card goes to Laura at For the Love of the Needle

Laura's card goes to Evalina at This and That

Evalina's card goes to Joyce at Joyce's Love of Life

Joyce's card goes to Lili at Stitching Basket

Lili's card comes to me here

Thanks to everyone who took part and everyone who left comments on the various blogs throughout the summer.  I hope you discovered some "new-to-you" blogs while you hopped.  

The next Blog Hop is the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat secret word so be ready to dust off your spooky stitches for the sign up later this month.  Which, incidentally, is my Birthday month.  Just saying.  Not hinting for cards or anything.  But email cards would be gratefully received in this time of austerity and high postage costs!!