May WIPocalypse Most Joyful Project

        

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.  Since 2011 I have chosen a number of projects to focus on that year, starting with my "11 in '11" and increasing to "23 in '23" for this year.  This month I stitched on 4 of them and had 1 part finish.

5. Carriage House Samplings Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow

8. CCN Halloween Village Flower Shop

13. Mani di Donna Halloween Stitching Basket

18. Circle Cross Blackwork Tarot

The full list can be seen here - WIPocalypse and "23 in '23"

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss too:

May – What project brings you the most joy and why?

Answer - All of them!  A number of people have commented how much they enjoy the variety of projects I share and I think that is the key to enjoying your stitching.

I start each month with the over one solid stitching of Hawk Run Hollow and before that can get boring I have completed my two weeks.  Then I get a chance to either stitch one of my part works or an older WIP so I feel I am getting progress on those.

In the evenings I have my Smalls, this month has been the Just Nan-athon but in previous months I have been stitching the Amanda Butler houses.  

In between I have my Blackwork Tarot, I tend to pick that up at the weekend just for an hour or two but it's quite quick to progress compared to cross stitching,

If I had to pick one, it would probably be the Blackwork Tarot because I always want to keep going with that one!

May Smalls

    

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

Because I am focusing on my BAPs again, I won't have so many smalls this year but I do have a couple of series with small components so I will share them this month.

The first is the Blackwork Tarot by Circle Cross.  I have finished Air:

stitched on 28 count sky blue evenweave from Silkweavers

and made a start on Water:

My next collection of tiny items is the Potion Bottle Temperature SAL from Stitch It Picasso.  

stitched over 1 on 25 count tea-dyed evenweave

Finally, it's time for my annual Just Nan-athon! I used this to take part in Maynia in previous years. I stitch on a different JN Small each day.

Here are the first 25 projects, I'll be stitching number 26 this evening:

May IHSW

  

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

As usual, I worked on Friday so the only thing that got stitched that day was my Just Nan-athon piece which I will show with the others in a collage:

On Saturday I continued with my spooky conversion of CCN's Main Street.  This was the Flower Shop:

stitched on 32 count Charcoal Slate Murano from Sparklies

Unfortunately I had to work on Sunday too but I did manage a bit of time on Water from the Circle Cross Tarot:

stitched on 28 count sky blue evenweave from Silkweaver

Finally the next IHSW will be 16th - 18th June so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook. If you don't do Facebook then you can check in here by leaving a comment on my post.

May TUSAL and Stitching Library

            

It's TUSAL time!  

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current project, CCN Main Street Spooky Conversion:

stitched on 32 count Charcoal Slate Murano from Sparklies

This was the Flower Shop, can you guess what it is going to become?

What's on my Shelf?

This is a feature I'm going to include on my TUSAL post until I run out of books! I started a Page on my Happy Dance blog for my Stitching Library and realised what a huge task it was so decided to break it down to one book per month. For the next four years...

Title: Sampler en Rouge et Blanc

Author: Isabelle Vautier

Publisher: Mango Pratique
ISBN: 9782842705046

The text in this book is all in French, but that's OK because it's mostly self-evident what they are saying!

For example: Manoir aux Chats - Cat Mansion

That design is the reason I bought the book, and it's stitched in my favourite DMC 115

This one is Traditions en Rouge - Traditions in Red

Here we have Abecedaire Champetre aux Lapins - A Country Alphabet with Rabbits

Bienvenue sous la Neige (Welcome to the Snow) is shown in two colourways.
Red and White or DMC 115.  They also show a Blue and White version.

Just for a change Etude Ethnique - Ethnic Study - is shown in Brown and Ivory

The final one in the book is Marquoir Plantations - Plantation Sampler and could easily be stitched as small ornaments.

There are a lot more designs in the book, these are just a few of my favourites.

Finally, it's IHSW so I hope you are finding some time to Hermit and Stitch.  Come back and share a post with us on Monday on your blog or in the FB group.

Gifted Gorgeousness May Link-up Post

    

Welcome to the May Gifted Gorgeousness link-up. The link-up date continues to be the 15th and I will keep the link-up open until the end of each month so you have plenty of time if you are late posting.

The format remains exactly the same, there is a list of rules on the main sign-up page if you want to check what is required but basically anything connected to the word "gift" is allowed, whether it was a gift TO you or is a gift FROM you.

Once again, for the first fortnight my focus has been Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow.  The plan is to stitch this for two weeks each month until it is finished.

"Steaming" along nicely with Block 11, so close to finishing it.  

stitched over 1 on 25 count Cassia Rose evenweave from Chromatic Alchemy

I am continuing with my Dark 13 project which is Mani di Donna's Halloween Sewing Basket.  The plan for this one is to stitch it on the 13th of every month.

stitched on 32 count grey linen

Now it is your turn to show us your Gifted Gorgeousness for the month.  Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "May Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month.  And link to the actual post, not just your blog.  It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.

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Finally, it's May so it's time for my annual Just Nan-athon.  Here are the first 14 designs I stitched on.  Some of these are gifts too:

Finally Fully Finishing Fun for May

    

Hosted by Rachel the Ten Hour Stitcher

This SAL is designed to motivate us all to do something with that box of Finished pieces instead of just storing them under the bed.  We will all be linking up on Rachel's blog on or after the 10th of each month (10 Hour Stitcher - 10th of the month).

This one has been hanging around for some time because I couldn't decide whether to frame or scrapbook it.  I couldn't get into my cupboard where I keep my frames so I decided it had to be scrapbooked!

Look at this lovely ribbon I used to trim the design:

Never throw anything out, it may come in useful!

Two Lizzie*Kate designs together.  The smaller one was stitched over one in just five days back in 2018.  The larger one was stitched over two back in 2015.

Both charts were gifted from blogging friends so it's nice to have them finished together.

Finally, I have a part-finish,  The third element in the Circle Cross Tarot SAL.  This one is Air and joins Fire and Earth:

stitched on 28 count sky blue evenweave from Silkweavers

The People Chose Embellishments

   

This SAL is all about what you want to see on the blog.  I asked for suggestions for themes from followers of my blog and then put them up to the members of the IHSW Group on FB to vote for their choice.  We are currently working our way through the choices.  This is what was chosen:

May - Embellishments

June - Rainbow

July - Abstract

Embellishments can be anything from a few beads or ribbon to lace or charms.  Some designs can be more embellishment than stitching, such as this design from Hinzeit:

Just a simple border, the five letters and then the charms are the focus.  I did add the words along the bottom which say "Claus is coming"

A more recent finish was Nora Corbett's Virgo where I used a variety of beads and sequins to make a realistic necklace for her:

Just Nan uses a lot of charms in her designs, many of the smalls were designed as free gifts when you purchased the charms.  It does mean that I have to use my imagination and stash sometimes when I don't have the original embellishment pack.

The aptly named Charm Garden

This is another Just Nan that has a beautiful lace trim I hand-sewed all the way round.  Royal Blossoms also has beads to embellish the design:

My last one for today is this lovely design from Stitcher's Hideaway called Hear the Sea Call.

I embellished it with little ivory fish and real seashells:

Now it's over to you. All you have to do is make a post on the theme of Embellishments, mention The People's Choice SAL (you can copy the picture I used at the top of this post and in my side bar) and my blog.  Please link up using the URL of the actual blog post, not the home page of your blog. I look forward to seeing what you all post.

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Finally, I need your suggestions for the next poll.  Anything, no matter how obscure, weird or random will go into the poll.  Keep the theme suggestions to a single word or two - so you could have Cats, or Green, or Holidays, or Warmth etc.   Really anything which could be illustrated in cross stitch.

April WIPocalypse, Stitch from Stash and Pie

       

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.  Since 2011 I have chosen a number of projects to focus on that year, starting with my "11 in '11" and increasing to "23 in '23" for this year.  This month I stitched on 7 of them and had 1 finish.

2. Kustom Krafts Little Snapdragon

5. Carriage House Samplings Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow

13. Mani di Donna Halloween Stitching Basket

17. Stitch it Picasso Temperature SAL

18. Circle Cross Blackwork Tarot

21. Amanda Butler Belfast Houses - Finish

22. Amanda Butler Cardiff House - Finish

The full list can be seen here - WIPocalypse and "23 in '23"

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss too:

April– Give us five projects in your stash right now that you’d really love to start – and why you haven’t yet.

This is a great question!  First of all, why haven't I stitched whatever my five are going to be?  Very simple - I've been focusing on Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow for the past two years in order to get that done in a timely fashion.  I was going to continue with a focus project for next year but noticed it will be "24 in '24" so have decided to pick 24 different new projects from my stash - 12 medium and 12 small - to be worked on 2 per month as decided by the WIPGO Board.

I went through my stash and added all the designs I really really wanted to prioritise and then sorted them by size.  This list will change over 2023 but will be finalised by the end of December.  At the moment the Top Five are as follows:

Stitchy Princess Alice in Wonderland

Life in Stitches Aslan

Maria Bravko Life in the Shire

Primitive Hare Hocus Pocus Cabinet

Cottage Garden Samplings Halloween Sampler

None of them are very big and all should be doable in a month if I focus on one project.  There are also at least another 24 projects on the reserve list!

Now it's time for Pie:

I stitched my full fortnight on Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow again.  Here's where I started the month:

Here's the progress on Block 11:

And here's the whole piece:

stitched over 1 on 25 count Cassia Rose from Chromatic Alchemy

So far the number of days is:

Block 7 - 13 days

Block 6 - 16 days

Block 2 - 19 days

Block 3 - 20 days

Block 4 - 15 days

Block 1 - 19 days

Block 5 - 25 days

Block 8 - 15 days

Block 9 - 27 days

Block 10 - 31 days

Block 11 - 15 days and counting

I moved on to Little Snapdragon after that and have completed all the green in the top half of the chart and the three darkest greens in the bottom half.  Next time I will finish the greens, there are 6 or 7 medium and light shades, and then blues and purples for the flowers.  A finish could be in sight!

Here's my Evening Pie, showing a quick finish for the Cardiff House and the rest of the month on my Temperature SAL.

Finally, Stitch from Stash and a lovely Zero spend!  All my money is going on papercraft at the moment...