April Stitch from Stash and Pie

Another very good stitchy month for me.  A large percentage of the month was taken up with the Easter Holidays so between holiday and lieu time I only worked two full days and one 5 hour day.  Add in two train journeys for uninterrupted stitching time and it was a good month.

Here's the pie for the month:

As you can see I got my full fortnight on the Discworld Mappe and saw a lot of progress particularly in the backstitch.  Here's where it was at the start of the month:

And here's where I am now:

stitched on 32 count Murano custom-dyed by Sparklies

First of all I worked on the Widdershins hand and banner as well as the red/white border.  Then I placed the leaping fish:

After that I moved inland and filled in the Agatean Empire followed by a whole lot of backstitched coastline

Next month I am going to start with the turtle flipper on the left hand side and work my way across the landmass to the right of the page.

I managed to get my full fortnight in with two days to spare so I decided to stitch some more on Gathering Eggs by Nora Corbett.  I got a LOT of turquoise skirt stitched:

stitched on 32 count Vintage Country Mocha linen

So that's the stitching.  What about the spending?  Well, most of my money went on train tickets so it was a low-spend month.  The only thing I spent money on was my Just Cross Stitch subscription which was US$ 22 plus US$ 10 postage which converts to £ 24.39

JCS sub	24.39
Total	£24.39

Finally, I did find something I was tempted by, this is a design by Stone Street Stitch based on a Neil Gaiman quote and featuring open books makes the leaves of the tree.  Maybe next month

Stone Street Stitch - Bookhouse

March Stitch from Stash and Pie

March was a good stitching month, I hit all my targets and reached all my goals.  I am probably going to have to rework my rotation to fit in some of the other projects on my 19 in '19 list.  The original plan was 7 days on my Chatelaine and 14 on the Discworld Mappe.  Leaving 7 - 10 days per month for everything else.  Which would be great if I didn't have to work full days most weeks.  Even one full day per week knocks my stitching days down.  I usually manage to do 30 minutes on a Just Nan small but that's it.  So next month I am going to choose a different project instead of the Chatelaine and see how that works.

Here's the pie for March anyway:

Of course I did spend 3 days stitching the moon on my Enchanted Alphabet.  Maybe the bats will be quicker this month?

My Discworld Mappe was a fabulous success story this month.  14 really good days of stitching saw the project go from here:

to here:

stitched on 32 count Murano custom dyed by Sparklies

I stitched all the words on the crest, all of XXXX next to the crest, moved across to the Counterweight Continent on the left and stitched a lot of the red/white border as well as its backstitch.

The whole blank area in the middle needs to be filled in with 677 next time:

Once I have filled that in and done the backstitch lettering and features I will move the left and start on the next directional arrow.  

Here's the cover photo with the pages noted that I have stitched so far:

I did buy a few bits and pieces this month but none of it actually counts against my Stitch From Stash budget.  Magazine Subscriptions are exempt, as are finishing materials (the charms) and of course Mr. Linky is a blog-purchase not a stitching item.

March
Cross Stitcher sub	£8.72
Mr. Linky	£3.91
Charms	£14.65
Total	£27.28

Finally, I will be hosting my Annual Easter Treasure Hunt on Good Friday the 19th April. If you would like to take part this year, just leave a comment here. The week before Easter I will send you a letter of the alphabet which will form part of the mystery phrase. On Good Friday you will post that letter along with a photo of something seasonal that you have stitched (could be Easter or Spring or just something cheerful and sunny or floral). We all hop around like little bunnies to find the Mystery Phrase!

February Pie and Stitch from Stash

If January felt like it had 93 days, the February had about 12!  It's just whizzed past.

My planned rotation is 1 week on Chatelaine, 2 weeks on Discworld and the rest of the time on Christmas, Hallowe'en and a "19 in '19" project. 

Here's the February Pie:

Because of work and February being only 28 days long I didn't quite get the full 14 days stitching on Discworld but I did reach my target.

Here's where is was at the start of the month:

And here's where it is now:

I completed the whole of the banner, the second heraldic hippo and the top part of the country XXXX.  All backstitched too.

stitched on 32 count Murano custom dyed by Sparklies

You'll notice that I finished the banner despite running out of that shade of pink last month.  When I ordered the threads for this project I ordered the darker pink not the lighter.  So that skein accounts for my entire Stitch from Stash spend this month!

February
1 skein DMC	£0.95
Total	£0.95

Yes, that is what we pay for a skein at our LWS (Local Wool Shop) who luckily sell DMC as well as wool.

Finally, I made nice progress on my current Just Nan small; Fairy Roses.  Added another colour to the roses, 3 lighter shades to go:

stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

Time for January Pie

It certainly feels that way some years!  Anyway, we have finally reached the end of the month so it's time for pie and budgets.  Pie first:

I am very pleased with my pie this month, it looks exactly as I planned - 2 weeks for Discworld, 1 week for my Chatelaine and the rest of the time on smaller projects including the Christmas and Hallowe'en SALs.

This is where the Discworld Mappe was last time I stitched on it in 2018:

and here's where I am now:

I could have finished the banner but it turns out that I ordered a skein of the darker pink not the lighter pink when I was stocking up on threads for this design.  So I moved on to the island instead.  The island is called XXXX (or Fourecks) and is the Discworld equivalent of Australia.

"when Death requested a book about the dangerous creatures of XXXX from his library, he was subsequently hit by a large pile of books consisting of the various volumes of "Dangerous Mammals, Reptiles, Amphibians, Birds, Fish, Jellyfish, Insects, Spiders, Crustaceans, Grasses, Trees, Mosses and Lichens of Terror Incognita", the total books going up to Volume 29C Part 3, while a request for information about the harmless creatures merely produced a note saying "Some of the sheep"."

Here is the total of the design stitched so far.  I started in the centre and worked upwards to ensure the dyed circle was in exactly the right place for the circumference of the Disc.  The darker blue represent the Deep Space the enormous world turtle Great A'Tuin is swimming through.

stitched on 32 count Murano custom dyed by Sparklies

Next month I will stitch another Heraldic Hippo and complete the banner.

I am doing Stitch from Stash once again.  This will be my 5th year so far.  I did the original blog versions in 2014 and 2015, skipped 2016 as it was my Big Birthday year then signed up for Stephanie's Facebook version in 2017, 2018 and now 2019.

Here is this month's spend:

January
Cross Stitcher sub	£8.72
Mrs Peggotty Queen	£5.20
Total	£13.92

I needed the Queen of Hearts as I will be starting her as soon as I finish Alice & the Flamingo.  Mrs Peggotty happened to be having a 20% off sale this week so I grabbed a bargain!

Finally, don't forget the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop coming up on Valentine's Day.  I think I've posted about it enough now for everyone to be aware it is coming soon but just in case you haven't signed up yet - read a previous post and find out how to take part.

December Pie and Stitch From Stash

It's Old Year's Night and time for a reckonin' as they say!

My previous post showed my finishes for the year - 27 - the lowest total since I started this blog.  But I did spend quite a lot of time on 2 BAPs which will be my focus for 2019.  The Discworld Mappe and my Chatelaine Gardens of London.

First of all, here is the Pie for December:

Far too much time on the 12 Days of Christmas for such a small project but I was working several of those days and there are a load of colour changes.  This is the reason why it took 44 days in total to complete on top of the 4 days I spent on it last year.

The Rosewood Manor Festive Quaker Tree is this year's 12 Days of Stitchmas project.  Each day I start a new ornament from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Specials 2001 to 2010.  I put one length in the new start and then spend the rest of the day on my Festive Quaker Tree.

On Day Five I stitched Dragon Dreams' Peace on Earth from 2001 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree:

On Day Six I stitched Just Nan's A Little Joy from 2002 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree:

On Day Seven I stitched The Sweetheart Tree's Christmas Joy Bellpull from 2006 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree:

I am confident that I can complete the Festive Quaker Tree within the 12 days.

Let's have a look at the Annual Pie Chart now:

A little difficult to see but the top four projects were:

The Discworld Mappe - 44 days

Just Nan 12 Days of Christmas - 44 days

Gardens of London - 36 days

Mrs Peggotty's Alice - 31 days

I stitched Alice every day last year but she only features on the pie if I don't stitch anything else that day.

If I'd done the pie by designers then Just Nan would have been top with 89 days and Donna Kooler second with 50 days spread over the Zodiac and Leonore's Wedding Ornaments.

How did the spending go last month?  Very well, thank you.  Another zero spend month!

December
nothing	£0.00
Total	£0.00

I also tallied up the spend for the whole year:

Magazines	£66.32
Charts	£111.25
Fabric	£56.45
Threads	£18.03
Other	£26.98
Total	£279.03

That figure is £50 down on last year and is pretty much saving on magazines.  I cancelled two subscriptions last year.  I spent more on charts and less on fabric and threads.  Hopefully next year will be even lower.  I have everything I need for my two BAPs except the beads for the Chatelaine and it's going to be a long while before I need them!

Finally,

Have a very Happy Old Year's Night

and a very Peaceful New Year's Day

November Pie and Stitch from Stash

This month's stitching pie has been dominated by 2 projects which were my Focus for a Finish; Just Nan's Haunted Autumn Mouse in a House and Joan Elliott's September Fairy.

Here's the full pie:

Here's the Mouse and the House in case anyone has been asleep through the last couple of posts and not seen it!

Despite spending 15 days working on the September Fairy I still haven't finished her which says a lot about the length of some of those days - very short on stitching time!

Here is where I picked up her on 14th November, 2018:

And here is where she is now:

But not the whole thing because I am close to a finish!  I have to complete the backstitch and add some beads.  There are also two little stitches in the moon that need the top leg completing, ran out of thread at the last minute!

So she will be another finish this weekend.


Stitch from Stash was very successful:

November
nothing	£0.00
Total	£0.00

No money left from my Birthday funds and not spending anything until Christmas.


Finally, it's so very nearly time for the Advent Calendar Blog Hop!  I will be putting the post up tomorrow morning and starting the Countdown to Christmas.

October Pie and Stitch from Stash

It's the end of Dark October and time for a quick resume of what I actually stitched.  A very successful month as it turned out.

I'll show the Pie first and then go through the various designs.

I used the Tiny Decisions app to choose which piece I was going to work on each day.  Nora Corbett's Raven got a lot of love.

Here's where she was at the start of the month:

And here's where she is now:

stitched on 32 count Nebula by Crafty Kitten

A similar success story for Just Nan's Autumn Mouse House.  From here:

To here:

Plum Street Sampler's Brew Ha Ha became a finish:

stitched over 1 on 32 count Platinum linen

As did JBW's Smiling Jack-O-Lanterns:

stitched on 32 count Platinum linen

AND Jardin Prive's Happy Hallowe'en Night:

stitched on 32 count Cognac linen

I even managed to get half a gate stitched on my Lavender & Lace conversion of Enchanted Alphabet.  Can you tell where the gate came from?

I have a lot to report for my Stitch from Stash update too.  Fortunately, it all comes under the heading of Birthday Money.  I made a delayed trip to a needlecraft shop in Great Yarmouth with a friend who works in a school.  So it had to be during half term!  I use this needlecraft shop to order the Just Nan charts but this was the first time I'd actually visited.  We were there so long, the owner made us a cup of coffee each!  Here's my haul:

a nice offcut from a piece of Polstitches fabric

2 charts, both seasonal.

All 4 Indigo Rose Seasonal Samplers.  

I stitched part of the Autumn one for a Round Robin a few years back

The Just Nans from last month!

And here's the spending total.

October
Cross Stitcher sub	£8.72
Kingsland chart	£2.65
JABCO Autumn	£6.99
Indigo Rose x 4 seasons	£23.96
Polstitches fabric	£7.50
Total	£49.82

Finally, I shot a little video of some of my Hallowe'en display.  Hope you are able to upload and view it OK.

September Pie and Stitch from Stash

The Tinies project and planning for Dark October totally changed the face of my stitching in September as the Pie will show.  I focused on the Tinies and then moved onto 12 Days of Christmas to clear the decks for Dark October.

So here's the Pie:

Exactly half the month on those Tinies which have now been mailed off to my friend.  Maybe a sneak peek of one of them won't hurt?

Oh, there's two of them there!  You'll see the rest pretty soon.

Stitch from Stash was much healthier this month too, after last month's splurge.  I only bought two things, both from Just Nan.  You'll see them on my Birthday Round-up post when I do that.

September
JN Mouse	£11.99
JN Cube	£12.99
Total	£24.98

Finally, it's nearly time for the spookiest Hop on the Blog - the annual Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop.  For this one, you send me an email or leave a comment saying you would like to take part.  A few days before the end of October I will send you an email with a letter of the alphabet.  On the 31st you must make a blog post featuring something spooky you have stitched (or crafted) and your letter.

I will list all the participants on my blog and we all hop around collecting the letters to form the spooky phrase - report back to my blog and leave a comment to win a prize!