February Smalls SAL

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Heather from Stitching Lotus

This year I am going to have two monthly challenges:

1. The Primitive Hare Hallowe'en Cubes SAL with Giovanna

2. The Hallowe'en Ornie SAL themed blog.

Last month I started the letter H for the cubes which I finished this month and then added the A cube too:

Stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen

The theme for the Ornie SAL was skeletons.  I found it rather tricky to find a good skeleton pattern and had quite a hunt for a freebie I knew existed somewhere on the internet.

I could find the picture on Pinterest via Google Images but no-one ever bothers to credit and link the designers there.  So frustrating!  Eventually I found the chart on the Casa Cenina website.  Hooray!

Here is the Dancing Skeleton on his own, this would make a great ornie by itself:

And here is the completed piece:

Cuore di Hallowe'en by Savoir faire Vailly

Stitched over one on 32count Cognac evenweave

DMC B5200, 310 and 740

When I had finished stitching I showed it to my son and said "It's a skeleton, some ghosts and some long legged beasties, I think".  He was the one who realised that the black shape is actually a skeleton cat.  Sometimes you can be too close to a piece to see it!

I also stitched a Birthday card for my friend Nicola.  Together we run the Scarlet Letter Years Blogs and more recently, the Scarlet Letter FB page along with Krista.  Each year I stitch a different red letter N for Nicola's Birthday.  Here is this year's:

N by Broderie

Stitched over 1 on 32 count Antique White linen

The Broderie website is a French site which offers two freebie charts per week.  After that you can usually buy them for 1euro.  I try to visit once a week to download the free ones!

Finally, I made a small start on a new SAL.  Linda from Stitching with my Furbabies has several of the Satsuma Street Cities among her many WIPs and she suggested we SAL with one.  I chose London as it is my capital city (I also have Paris and Italy, which is not actually a city but came as a set of three).  Here is my Tuesday start:

Stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

Some New Starts

I think I have Startitis!  The first start this week was for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog.  This is a Jaunty Fox freebie called Fence Cat.  Actually it's just a fence so far!!

Then my friend told me that her daughter-in-law had given birth and decided on the baby's name so I could start her Birth Sampler.  I downloaded the characters from the Nursery theme they are using and charted them and also found a nice font to convert to cross stitch for the name.  It's Slavic.  They are English and have no connection but liked the name and the meaning.  I liked the meaning too so I had to include it.  I think it's nice when a name has a special meaning.  Started stitching this week too.

 Then Sophia's Round Robin finally arrived!  She's designed a beautiful Celtic themed Rainbow for us to stitch.  I'm the last one so I have 2 shades of yellow.  This is one evening's stitching, it's really important to carefully count the first couple of pieces because if you make a mistake here and copy it through the whole thing goes to pot:

Not a start, but a progress picture on my Scarlet Letter Sampler for Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year Challenge. I'm stitching an English Transitional Sampler on 35count linen using AVAS for the first time.  I thought the coverage was lovely but the thread wasn't lasting very well.  Then I re-read the instructions - "on 35count use 2 strands" (so far so good) "of cotton".   oops.  Last sentence "use one strand of silk throughout".

Luckily this is all the outline for the band.  I've stitched those little circles in one strand to see how they look.  There will be other little circles in different colours then lots of satin stitch and stem stitch to fill in.

But I do have a finish to show you:

Another Red Letter, this time a freebie from this French website Broderie.  They offer 2 charts a week free then they can be purchased for 1Euro.  It's worth checking the site once a week to grab the freebies.  I have the whole alphabet, a lovely calendar and a set of 12 Zodiac Signs.  The N is stitched over 1 on 32 count evenweave.  I sent Nicola a little parcel of redness!  Various red things including some cute scissors and a JBW Monogram chart, all wrapped in some red fabric with a red ribbon.

Finally, I'll be hosting an Easter Treasure Hunt again this year.  For this Blog Hop you need to sign up and agree to post a Spring or Easter themed picture on your blog on Easter Sunday along with the letter of the alphabet I will give you.  The letters will spell out a seasonal phrase.  So if you'd like to be a Picture Poster then please leave a comment or email me if you're a "no-reply" person.