In which Some Old Finishes Finally get some Love.

As the title says, we all have old finishes stored away in our stash chests (or wherever) just pining away for some love.

The first piece is a very old cover kit from Cross Stitcher magazine issue 39, January 1996.  It was a lovely peacock bookmark which has lived in a box ever since.  When Calamity Jr made the 1000th comment on my blog I decided it would make the ideal gift for her.  I used a piece of the fabric samples I acquired last year to cover a bit of board, then stuck the peacock on with double sided tape.  I bought these lovely peacock cards from the local craft shop, they're for card-making and have lots of gold on them.  The piece of braid was the handle from the fabric sample book.  Waste not, want not!  I glued a piece of card on the back to finish it off,  Voila!

Do not adjust your set - this photo IS on the huh.

Close-up!

Calamity was absolutely over the moon with her gift which made me very happy too.

The second elderly lady in need of some attention (the peacock being the first, not Calamity!) is this one:

Just Nan - Winter Romance stitched on 28 count linen.

I stitched all four of these at the turn of the century (21st not 20th!) and they have languished in a box every since.  I got four frames for my birthday and fully intended to get them all up last Autumn.  One down, three to go!

This is the most beautiful piece in real life, probably my favourite of the four and the first of them that I stitched.  The colours are more vibrant now it's been backed and mounted.  I have fallen in love with it all over again.

I'm on a Just Nan roll now, I charted my part for Kathy's Band Sampler this afternoon and started a small last night - Spring Peepers.  These are both part of Fan Girl February on Theme-a-licious.

The third old lady is Madame Muriel, the Travelling Granny.  She's been a little quiet just lately I'm afraid.  I did have a couple of plans for her but real life has the annoying tendency to get in the way!  So my current plan is to try take her somewhere vaguely interesting during Half Term week and then make plans for her to be on her merry way.  Do not ask to host her yet - wait until you see her rider!

Finally, here is the current state of play on A Dark Alphabet.  It is now too big to fit on my scanner so you only get the bottom half.  There are four more blocks completed since I last showed you.  Phantom is based on the Lon Chaney phantom rather than the Andrew Lloyd-Webber one that I am more familiar with.  Maybe that's why it's not my favourite block.  The Queen of the Night is amazing, the tiny witch is so cute and the skeleton is just crazy.

You can see how close to finishing we are, only 7 more letters and the personalisation block to go.  The Large Boy and I have ideas for all the remaining letters except for X.   We are stumped.  He wants Ectoplasm to be spelled Exoplasm so we could have that.  The right hand border will have another column of stitches, I just got bored!

I did attempt some tiny Queen Stitches for Q but did 4 sided diamonds with one vertical stitch.  That is the only drawback to stitching over 1, the speciality stitches either don't work or are just too fiddly and don't show.  On the plus side it's a manageable size (A3) and I love the delicate look of over 1.  It's a 28count evenweave.

Commenting on Comments

Thank you for all your lovely comments!  I thought I'd better respond to a few:

MJ left some comments on my Picasa photo albums (see right for link).  I replied there but wanted to add some information about this sampler she liked.

The design came from magazine called "Needlework" from Future Publishing.  It was in the October 1998 issue and I must have really liked it as I stitched it straightaway as you can see from the date!  JMM were my initials then.
It was designed by a reader called Sally Hesketh who was a big fan of Tudor and Elizabethan history.  This was her first attempt at designing a C17th inspired piece.  I have googled her and found a Band Sampler in the current issue of Just Cross Stitch by a designer of the same name.
Maybe MJ has seen her work before which is why it looked familiar.  The article says she visits the Fitzwilliam Museum and Montacute House in Somerset for inspiration so maybe this piece was based on a more famous sampler?

Mouse asked about the LNS which is closing :-(  It is the Work Box in Timber Hill, the ironical thing is - they just won an award in WOCS for best regional shop in East Anglia!

Gillie - glad to hear you know "my" city too.  I worked there for 17 years and loved it, sometimes I wish I'd bought a house there instead of my hometown.  But I'm close to my parents which is good for me and the boys.

Glad you all liked hearing about Strangers' Hall.  It's great to revisit places from your childhood with your own children.  It's one of the things I enjoy about being a Mum, sharing books and places with my son.

Final pic for today, the Cover Kit from Cross Stitcher 239:

It isn't finished because I have sent it off to a friend so she can stuff it herself (easier to post flat!).  The stitching was nice and easy but I do NOT enjoy sewing these things together.  Especially the felt.  I find it very hard to keep my stitches nice and even.
Once again thanks for your comments and followings.  I'm trying to return the following favours so if I'm not already doing it then please put a link to your blog and I'll track you down!