Theme-a-licious November Update

November's Theme is Nail It November - What's lying around that's so close to being finished you can't stand it anymore? Get to it and finish it!

As I said, I haven't really got anything close to finishing but have got Round Robins to stitch this is a tricky one for me.

Apart from nailing the frog to a tree I did complete my block for Debbie's Joan Elliott Round Robin.  This was also the last piece I have to stitch on this Round Robin series.  The pieces are now heading back to their original owners.  So that's that nailed!

Just for fun here's a recap of all the designs I stitched for this Round Robin.

First piece was for Jacqui, I chose an Oriental Lady:

Jacqui's theme was simply "Your favourite JE Design".  I thought it'd be really nice to stitch something different to the usual fairies and angels.  I love Joan's oriental designs so this was a great chance to stitch one.

Next up was Butterfly Fairy for Karen's piece:

Karen's theme was Fairies and this design fitted beautifully into the space.  This was a popular design and two other people also stitched her for other pieces in the round!

Third to arrive was Melva's unseasonal Christmas themed piece:

Four of the boxes were intended for the small Angels and four were a free choice.  I loved this Lady in a Fur Hat from one of the Christmas leaflets Melva included in the parcel.

Michelle's piece was next to arrive and I stitched a lovely unicorn:

Michelle's theme was Fantasy.  She had stitched the bubbles from the Bewitching book and said we could choose from the four designs in the book or from our own stash.  Interestingly nearly everyone choose animals for this piece (and one Butterfly Fairy).  That's one of the things I love about Joan's designs - you are not limited to pretty ladies, there's a huge range of choices.

Stephanie's piece came along in September:

Stephanie had taken the design "Fairies in the Garden" as her starting point and re-charted it into several leaf shaped extracts.  She had charted more than the participants in the RR so even though I was the penultimate stitcher I still had plenty of choice.  I thought this little guy looked like my Small Boy examining a flower in our garden.

And finally, here's the piece I just finished for Debbie.  I chose the gorgeous Sweet Pea Fairy for her.  

She asked for Fairies, Angels and Goddesses.  Originally I thought of Winter or Poppy.  But Winter faced the wrong way and Poppy wasn't blingy enough!  Luckily Joan releases so many new designs  I was able to find the perfect Fairy in the guise of Miss Sweet Pea.

Here's another picture to show the beading a little better:

I'm being Mrs Mean of Mean Town and not showing the whole piece until Debbie has seen it first-hand.  As the piece is completely done I think that's only fair.  It was mailed off on Tuesday and should be with her next week sometime.  As soon as I hear I'll let you know!

My piece based on the original six flower fairies is on it's way to Jacqui, the final stitcher.  Once she has completed her fairy it will return to me to finish the centrepiece.  I didn't want to bead it before mailing.  Then it's a trip to the framers (perfect Christmas present) and a big old Show-and-Tell on here!

Finally, the cover gift with World of Cross Stitching magazine in December is a Joan Elliott Diary with 12 designs throughout the year.  Facebook has been alive with chatter about it and I have agreed to run a SAL all next year!  There is a post on the Joan Elliott page for people who need a Magazine Fairy Godmother to ensure they get a copy of the diary so if you need one then pop along and find a friend!  I'm already getting two extra copies and our WHSmiths don't stock many so I don't want to make a promise I can't keep.