May Plans

This year I want to focus on 2 larger pieces and then spend the rest of my stitching time on the series I have started.  The order I stitch them in is going to be determined by the WIPGO Board.  Jessie-Marie calls two numbers each month and those will be the projects I stitch that month. 

In April the numbers 4 and 10 were called.  These related to Nora Corbett's Evanora and Cricket Collection's Summer - two new starts!

I made great progress on lots of black for Evanora:

stitched on 28 count evenweave from an unknown dyer

By contrast, Summer had lots of white and light colours:

stitched on 32 count Wandering Ivy Lugana from Silkweavers

For May, the numbers 5 and 19 were called.  These relate to Mirabilia's Fairy Idyll and Nora Corbett's Zodiac Girl.

I didn't have a lot of stitching time the first two days of May so I decided to spend the time on Fairy Idyll as I could just pick her up and resume stitching.

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

Once I had time to get the fabric ironed and choose the colours I was able to start my fourth Zodiac Girl - Scorpio:

stitched on 32 count Scorpio evenweave from Sparklies

Once again, I am using the fabric from Sparklies that has the same name as the chart.  Scorpio is more green than it appears in this photo.  This is the mock-up from The Viewer:

Finally, my evening projects for May will be my annual Just Nanathon.  Started in 2018, I stitched a different Just Nan small every evening throughout May.  The following year I stitched each one on the same day.  As I complete them I either start a new one or stitch the previous day's for another evening.

I have stitched four so far this year:

 

 

April Stitch From Stash and Pie

  It's time for Pie!

I had two new starts for my focus pieces this month.  First up was Evanora from Nora Corbett:

stitched on 28 count evenweave from unknown dyer

Then I moved on to my second new start - Summer from Cricket Collection:

stitched on 32 count Wandering Ivy Lugana from Silkweaver

I managed to complete the first three letters this month, just all the motifs to add to this half now.

Here's my evening pie:

You can see the projects in my Smalls post from Friday.

Finally, Stitch from Stash, a big, fat zero this month!

April TUSAL

        

It's TUSAL time!  

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current project:

This is Summer from Cricket Collection.

stitched on 32 count Wandering Ivy Lugana from Silkweaver

Finally, we are approaching Summer days on my Temperature chart, you can really see the days lengthening now:

April WIPocalypse Favourite Fabric

         

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 "24 in '24" for last year.  For 2025 I have decided not to attempt this.  I want to focus on 2 larger pieces and then spend the rest of my stitching time on the series I have started.  This month I stitched on 2 of them, both were new starts.

First up was Evanora from Nora Corbett, sister to Claire who I stitched last year.  I'm using the same unnamed fabric. 

stitched on 28 count evenweave from an unknown dyer

The second new start is Summer from Cricket Collection.  I stitched Spring last year:

stitched on 32 count Lugana in Wandering Ivy from Silkweaver

The fabric is a pale mottled green I was given several years ago.  The charted fabric is a pale lavender but this is summery too and the colours look good in real life.

I'm planing to stitch the first three letters this month and the next three next time it comes up on my WIPGO Board.

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

April – Let’s talk fabric – what is your go-to fabric dyer, your preferred type, count, colour, etc?

Here's the totals for my current WIPs:

14 count Aida - 3
22 count Hardanger - 1

25 count evenweave - 1

28 count evenweave - 4

30 count linen - 1

32 count evenweave - 3

32 count linen - 2

35 count linen - 1

So evenweave is my favourite fabric and 32 count is my favourite count!

I do prefer 25 or 28 count for stitching over 1 or for stitching on black but for most things 32 count will be my go-to choice.

I do like the higher counts for the chance to make things smaller and only use one strand.

Out of the 3 Aida projects, one is my oldest WIP, one is the Temperature SAL on Aida banding and the other is a cover kit I started on a whim.

My current favourite dyer is Sparklies due to Chromatic Alchemy going out of business.  There are a couple of UK dyers whose group I belong to on Facebook who dye a batch of fabrics and offer them up which is a good way of getting a range of fabrics.  

To be honest, as part of Stitch from Stash, fabric is the one area I really can cut down on spending.  I have plenty of fabrics in both 28 and 32 count in a variety of popular colours already.  I want to use those older pieces instead of stashing them.  Hence the Silkweaver for the Summer piece this month.

April Smalls

  

         

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Rachel

For my Smalls stitching this year, I will be stitching the 12 Days of Christmas from Annie Beez.  They don't take long which then gives me time to stitch some blackwork or another small from my list.

Here's Day 4:

stitched on 28 count black Jobelan evenweave

I want to stitch all my Just Nan smalls next month for my annual Just Nan-athon so I started Day 5 this month and I'll finish it in June with Day 6.

Here's the progress so far: 

Finally, here are Days 1-3:

April 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.

This year I am attempting International Hermit and Blackwork.  I do love blackwork and have a couple of projects I want to try fit in to my rotation without being on the WIPGO Board.

My main blackwork piece is the Halloween Blackwork from The Steady Thread.  It went from here:

to here:

stitched on 32 count tea-dyed linen

This is the part I worked on over the weekend:

On Sunday morning I continued with this year's Temperatue SAL.  Just a very simple column of colour for each day.  Charting the lows for the night time and the highs for the day time.

stitched on 14 count Aida banding

Finally the next IHSW will be 16th - 18th May 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.

Gifted Gorgeousness April Link-Up Post

   

Welcome to the April 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.

None of my daytime pieces have a gifted component so I can't share them today, but fortunately my evening piece does.  This is, as ever, Annie Beez's 12 Days of Christmas:

stitched on 28 count black Jobelan evenweave

Here are the two I FFO'd already, along with Day 3 from last month:

This one isn't a gifted piece but I'll be stitching it on the 13th of every month for Dark Thirteen so you'll see this every GG post too.

This is Halloween Tiny Town from Heart in Hand Designs:

stitched on 32 count Tobacco Belfast linen

(excuse the washed-out colours, this is what natural light does!)

I'm using the DMC conversion for this one.

Finally 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 "April 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 Fully Finishing Fun for April

 

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).

Last month I finished the first one of my Annie Beez 12 Days of Christmas stockings.  Pleased with my success I finished a second one this month!

Here are Days 1 and 2 together with the Day 3 stitching:

Finally, here are the backs.  I'm going to alternate between the two fabrics.

Finally, I am undecided whether to attach some trim along the top or not.  It does need a little hanger but I'll wait until I've finished a few more.  I hope to do at least one per month...

Fourteenth Blogaversary Post

 

Today is my 14th Blogaversary, another year of blogging fun with our community.

So, here are the stats:

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14 years

1513 posts

711 followers

24,129 comments

2,309,094 pageviews

WOW

This time last year I was working on a selection of small to medium sized pieces and as predicted, they are all finishes!

Circle Cross - Art Nouveau Zodiac Tarot Cards - Finish

The Steady Thread - Tree of Life Temperature SAL - Finish
Cottage Garden Samplings - The Swans - Finish
Cottage Garden Samplings - Halloween Sampler - Finish

Cricket Collection  -Spring - Finish
The Primitive Hare - Hocus Pocus Cabinet - Finish

La Broderie - Quiet Hour Sampler - Finish

Cottage Garden Samplings - Partridge in a Pear Tree - Finish

This did slow down progress on my larger WIPs.

Chatelaine Gardens of London went from here last April:

and this is all that was added!

Mirabilia's Fairy Idyll grew from here:

to here:

Bothy Threads 12 Days of Christmas went from here:

to here:

I'm making good progress on my oldest WIP - Art Nouveau Head by Craft Collection.  From here last April:

to here:

On the list of current projects this year I have:

The Steady Thread - Halloween Bookshelf

My own design Temperature Chart

Heart in Hand - Tiny Halloween Town

Susan Penny - Winter's View

Nora Corbett - Evanora

Annie Beez Folkart - 12 Days of Christmas Stockings

How about you?  What's been your greatest achievement over the last year?

Finally, a Happy Birthday to my Blog's twin - Susan from Yellow Flower Meadow!