Theme-a-licious Looking Backward and Forward XI

Theme-a-licious is hosted by Heather of It's Geek to Me

Each month Heather thinks up a theme for us to stitch to, or in my case, a theme to somehow shoe-horn my existing stitching into, no matter how tenuous the link!

This was the theme for November:

No-Xs November

What can you make without making an X?? Blackwork, hardanger, embroidery, needlelace, and the list goes on! Don't panic...you can even backstitch for the month!

Not a very successful month for sticking to the theme I'm afraid!  I did finish the Mirabilia for the Round Robin.  She has lots of beads and some backstitch so that's OK.  I mailed her off to Rachel who now has possession of the piece so I'm happy to show it on here.

This is the piece I stitched; Titania, Queen of the Fairies

and a side angle to show the beads and fabric sparkle: 

And the whole thing, Rachel has not quite finished the beading and the Kreinik on her piece or added her name:

From left to right we have January Garnet Fairy, Adia, Fairy Idyll (Lenna's colour conversion) and Titania.

Heather and I did have a little discussion about how small an X had to be before it became eligible for No X October!  So here are some small Xs:

This is the JBW Alphabet Kitty for November, stitched on 28 count black over 1.  The theme is 5th November Fireworks Night so there are lots of splashes of bright colours and some stars in the air.  I couldn't find a firework charm or any fabric so I'm going to stitch some ray stitches on another piece of black and use that as the backing.

Next month's theme is:

Detritus December

It's the end of the year...are there some projects you thought you'd have done by now? Let's take a walk down memory lane and start the new year with a clean plate.

This is quite a good one for me as I have two giveaway prizes to stitch and a Hobbit Challenge piece to finish too.  As well as finishing off two of my year-long challenges; the JBW Kitties and the 12 Dragonlets of Christmas.

Finally, the Advent Calendar post is all set up to run from midnight tonight, Vickie is our first poster so I'm looking forward to seeing what she shares with us all.  I bet there's a poodle somewhere in the post!  I just love Henry and Mabel.  I have my supplies for MY advent calendar all ready to make it up tomorrow:

Aren't craft goodies fun?

Ornament SAL November Update

This is the Ornament SAL hosted by Stitching Lotus

I have three different ornament challenges running this year, the JBW Alphabet Cat stitched in a different colour scheme each month, the Dragon Dreams 12 Dragonlets of Christmas, a FB exclusive and the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL blog.

I stitched the 11th Dragonlet of Christmas right at the beginning of the month, so here he is:

He's a Piper Piping!  Bonus points for anyone who can identify the tune he is piping.

The JBW cat got left to the end of the month and I haven't quite finished him yet, so I don't spoil the surprise here is a "top of the head" scan:

That fabric is actually black jobelan.  Bonus points for anyone who can guess the theme this month.

I haven't stitched a Hallowe'en ornie (yet) because I've been concentrating on my Little Stitcher's Advent Calendar.  So here is the second part of that:

Cutesville!  Gingerbread men and little bunnies (or maybe hares given the length of their ears?).  The fabric is 32count Belfast in Vintage Grain as Shirlee asked me about it.  The colours do show up nicely.  The chart calls for a Vintage 32 count but not one that I had and I did have Grain.

I have bought the supplies for my finishing idea for this Advent Calendar while in town today, all I need is some velcro tape, some double sided tape and I'm ready for making up just in time for the weekend.  I promise to Show and Tell as soon as I get started.

Finally, as soon as I finish this post I will be sending out the dates for the Advent Calendar Blog Hop so watch your inboxes if you signed up.  There is still one place left if anyone wants to be in, just drop me an email.

More Tiny Stitching

I have been pretty much a OAAT this month (One At A Time) working on The Little Stitcher's Fairy Tale Advent Calendar.  Apart from one day when I misplaced the thread ring and had to wait for replacement threads!  Thank heavens for SewandSo's fast delivery.

Here are the first sixteen designs in rows of four:

The consensus seems to be number four is a dog.

Love the blue snowflake in this row.

Look, Karen, squirrels!

And another dog, a dachshund?

The lady on the left is Saint Lucy. whose Feast Day is celebrated on 13th December mainly in Italy and the Scandinavian countries.

I'm really enjoying this little series, managing to keep to one a day on average.  This week I'm going into town to see if I can get the supplies I need for my display idea.

I did make a couple of new starts, one for the Hobbit/ LOTR Challenge found on the Crochettes blog.  Reveal Day for that is St. Lucy's Day by co-incidence.  The other is going to be sent out as a prize recently awarded on this blog so I shan't name the design but here's my start:

OAAT is satisfying but does not provide alot of photos!  Around the Blogisphere I have noticed that not so many people are participating in NaBloPoMo this year, in previous years my Reader has been jammed full!  Astrid has found many reasons to be grateful this month.  Nia has her baby-brain well and truly in gear.  Lili seems to be single-handedly keeping the Hallowe'en SAL Blog going with some lovely designs.  And Daffycat has released her annual reindeer ornie which I had to have this year because I'm sure she has modelled it on our visitors:

Pop over to Daffycat's to see what I mean!

In other blogs, people are deciding what to do about the various activities many of us take part in each year.  The WIPocalypse, Theme-a-licious, IHSW etc.  There's a new one for next year, the Just Nan SAL hosted by Zeb of Keep Calm and Stitch, so if you're a fan pop over there and sign up.  I'll be hosting my usual blog hops (click on the tab at the top of this page for more details).  The next one will be the Advent Calendar Blog Hop.  We have a mere two spaces left for this now.  So if you would like to join in this year, send me an email quick!  Click on the door to the right for more details.

Finally I'd like to share two blogs I really enjoy - Needleprint and Mr X-Stitch.  Two very different blogs but with the same mission - to share crafty goodness with us all.  Needleprint is the more traditional of the two, lots of information about books, museums and tantalising antique sampler auctions.  Mr X-Stitch is more modern and edgy, especially their X-rated Saturday entries!

Click on the relevant image to learn more about the two blogs.

November WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi of Measi's Musings.

The main focus of my WIPocalypse this year is my "13 in '13" a list of 13 projects I want to complete in 2013, click on top tab for the list.  I haven't actually worked on any of them since the last WIPocalypse post but I did make a start on next year's list!  At the moment it looks like this but it may change (several times) between now and the start of the New Year:

  1. Joan Elliott - Green Goddess

  2. Prairie Moon - Thine is the Trick and the Treat

  3. Maria’s Wedding

  4. Kat’s Baby

  5. Dragon Dreams Monthly

  6. Joan Elliott Diary

  7. Just Nan SAL

  8. Earthquake Charity

  9. Unicef Charity

10. Firewing Dragon

11. Stitcheranon chart

12. Ink Circles Little Alien

13. Shepherd’s Bush

14. Lisa Steele Dragon

The second part of the WIPocalypse is the Monthly Challenges.  The only one stitched so far is the Eleventh Dragonlet of Christmas:

These dragons are a Facebook exclusive from Dragon Dreams.  One or two people have stitched all twelve onto one piece of fabric and are displaying them on the FB page.

I have continued to stitch one design per day on The Little Stitcher Advent Calendar, now up to Day 8:

Just for scale, that is a size 28 petite needle.  The designs are stitched over 1 on 32 count Belfast Vintage Grain.

Now, Jan from Thread Garden started this, then Shebafudge carried it on, so in the same tradition, here is MY Top Five of designs from the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornie Special 2013.  In the order they appear in the mag:

Blue Ribbon Designs (page 15)

Blackberry Lane (page 29)

(for some friends who are church-going Christians)

Shepherd's Bush (page 38)

(I would change the fabric to a blue)

Ink Circles (page 86)

Dragon Dreams (page 102)

Alot of people have said "oh, the mag isn't as good this year" but I have also read comments from UK stitchers seeing the mag for the first time (it's not readily available in newsagents here) and going mad over the lovely varied  designs in much the same way I did the first time I saw an issue.  I honestly believe it is Christmas Fatigue, so many of the designs follow a similar look or feel to previous years.  Of course, if you haven't seen a previous year then they are New and Exciting but if you've got every issue going back to the Year Dot it's easy to think Same Old, Same Old.  Whatever, it's still a million times better than the standard UK mag :-)

So do you have a different Top Five?  I have noticed the Snowbirds are very popular.  Living in a seaside town they look like Seagulls to me!  Maybe I should stitch them sitting on top of the Grain Silo near the Railway Line!

Click on the picture for the story.

The one we tell the children is that Santa stores the presents in that silo and when the tree goes on top it is a signal that they are ready to be collected by the sleigh to be delivered to all the local children.

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Annual Advent Calendar Blog Hop.  As in previous years there will be 24 doors posted on my blog.  Each person who signs up will be allocated a date, on that date they must post a photo of something Festive they have stitched, either in the past or this year.  I will then copy the photo across to my post and by Christmas Eve we will have 24 Open Doors each linked to a different blog.  Last year I had more than 24 people so we had some Double Days which was great.  To take part please email me letting me know if there is a date you prefer or wish to avoid.  

Theme-a-licious November Update

Theme-a-licious is hosted by Heather of It's Geek to Me

Each month Heather thinks up a theme for us to stitch to, or in my case, a theme to somehow shoe-horn my existing stitching into, no matter how tenuous the link!

This is the theme for November:

No-Xs November

What can you make without making an X?? Blackwork, hardanger, embroidery, needlelace, and the list goes on! Don't panic...you can even backstitch for the month!

I have actually been stitching alot of little Xs, very little, tiny Xs over 1 on 28 and 32 count.  I did add all the beads and Kreinik to Titania, Queen of the Fairies so here is a little sneak peek of the top part of her:

So that's it for No Xs!

Here are some of the little Xs.  First is the Owl from Blackberry Lane Designs:

Stitched over 1 on 28count Black Jobelan.  I'm using the DMC conversion and 92 for the background.  Because I'm using 1 strand over 1 it's not changing colour very much but it should be ok once I've finished.

And here is Fairytale Advent Calendar from The Little Stitcher:

This is stitched over 1 on 32count Belfast Vintage Grain using the DMC conversion.

By the way, what do you think the animal in number 4 is?  A hare or a dog maybe?

I am trusting the colour choices in this one, on the ring they are all shades of brown/sludge but once on the fabric they take on coloured hues, the little woman in 6 is a great example.  She is stitched in 3021, 433 and 3782 but they look more like red and blue together.

It seems from the comments left that I am getting alot of kudos from stitching over 1.  I have a secret!  I am so shortsighted I have to stitch looking over the top of my varifocals and hold the fabric approximately 6 inches from my eyes.  Whatever the count.  So stitching over 1 is no harder than stitching on aida.  The biggest danger is stabbing my nose with the needle it's that close!

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Annual Advent Calendar Blog Hop.  As in previous years there will be 24 doors posted on my blog.  Each person who signs up will be allocated a date, on that date they must post a photo of something Festive they have stitched, either in the past or this year.  I will then copy the photo across to my post and by Christmas Eve we will have 24 Open Doors each linked to a different blog.  Last year I had more than 24 people so we had some Double Days which was great.  To take part please email me letting me know if there is a date you prefer or wish to avoid.  

To Thine Own Self be True

or Stitch Whatever Makes You Happy!

That has been the theme of my stitching since I finished Rachel's Large Mira RR piece.  I should really have picked up another large project with a view to finishing one before Christmas (ie Green Goddess!) but instead I have been stitching smalls.

Here is my progress on the Little Brown Splodge from last post:

It's the Owl from JCS Hallowe'en issue, stitched on black over 1.

And to continue the "over 1" theme here is another new start, this is the Fairy Tale Advent Calendar from The Little Stitcher.  I wasn't intending to stitch it over 1, I got out my stash of neutral 32 counts and found I had 32 count in Vintage Grain which was close enough.  The main thing I wanted to check was that Winter White would show up enough.  Then I looked at the little designs and thought "these would look cute over 1" forgetting it's 32 not 28!  Anyway, they have come out about the size of a postage stamp.  So I'm thinking of brown luggage tags and a small tree to display them on.  Here's 1, 2 and 3:

That's a one pence coin for scale.

The title of this post is also an allusion to a Challenge piece I stitched earlier this year.  Anna the Stitch Bitch launched a Challenge into the ether then promptly forgot all about it!  So she was nicely surprised when someone sent her a photo of their piece.  I decided to go one better and send her the actual thing.  The design Anna chose was a Plum Street Sampler freebie found here.  Now regular followers of Anna will know she has a "thing" about stitching being referred to in the same sentence as the words "Granny" and "craft" so I thought alot about the idea of being true to yourself.  I am a stitcher, I love traditional samplers but I am also a geek, a rock chick, a feminist, I have old fashioned ideas about books and education but love technology.  So what could I stitch to show the multi-faceted me?  Answer - a tattoo.

I looked through several magazines and books and found two tattoo designs from an old issue of Cross Stitcher which worked well with the original design - a dagger in the same proportions as the plant and a bird the same height as the original bird.  Here is the finished result:

I used the same colours throughout to link the two designs.

I chose the fabric because back in May I couldn't decide which fabric to use for my Alphabet Kitty.  One option was the pink version of this.  Anna commented that she liked it, but for her stash not the ornie!  Unfortunately I couldn't get anymore of the pink but I found the blue so used that.

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Annual Advent Calendar Blog Hop.  As in previous years there will be 24 doors posted on my blog.  Each person who signs up will be allocated a date, on that date they must post a photo of something Festive they have stitched, either in the past or this year.  I will then copy the photo across to my post and by Christmas Eve we will have 24 Open Doors each linked to a different blog.  Last year I had more than 24 people so we had some Double Days which was great.  To take part please email me letting me know if there is a date you prefer or wish to avoid.  

Trick or Treat Winners

A Big Thank You to everyone who joined in with the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop this year, whether you were a Picture Poster or a Mystery Phrase Finder.  The Mystery Phrase was chosen by the Large Boy.  He wanted his tea to feature but I pointed out that Shakespeare used Toe of Frog not Leg of Frog which was his suggestion!  So the Phrase was -

EYE OF NEWT AND TOE OF FROG

Congratulations to everyone who got it right.  All the names were allocated playing cards and we chose two at random; one Picture Poster and one Phrase Finder.  They will each receive a little something in the post.  The lucky two are:

CHRISTINE

 and

LANYBLEU

I completed Titania, Queen of the Fairies for Rachel's Large Mirabilia Round Robin, but as she is the last block I won't show a picture here until Rachel has received her back and sees her for herself.

I also made a nice new start, you know what it's like when you finish a piece you have been OAAT on for over a month, you're a little lost as to what to start first!  So I chose a fairly small piece from the JCS Hallowe'en Ornie Special, an owl.  Here is my huge progress so far:

Impressive, huh?

I also have a new button on my side bar featuring a sweet little Spanish Hobbit.  I discovered this challenge by chance.  To celebrate the release of the second Hobbit film on 13th December Crochettes is hosting a challenge to produce something related to Tolkein, not just the Hobbit but the whole realm of Tolkeinness, not just cross stitch but anything arty or crafty.  I have found a great chart already and have been busy charting some runes out.  I used to be able to read and write runes almost as easily as French or German (which says more about how poor my French and German were!) and it does come back to you quite quickly even 30 years later.  So if you'd like to join in, click on the Hobbit and he will take you there!

Finally, it is time to start looking forward to the next Blog Hop - the Advent Calendar.  Shebafudge's favourite event of the year!  As in previous years there will be 24 doors posted on my blog.  Each person who signs up will be allocated a date, on that date they must post a photo of something Festive they have stitched, either in the past or this year.  I will then copy the photo across to my post and by Christmas Eve we will have 24 Open Doors each linked to a different blog.  Last year I had more than 24 people so we had some Double Days which was great.  To take part please email me letting me know if there is a date you prefer or wish to avoid.  

November TUSAL

It's TUSAL time again!  For those of you new to blogging, the TUSAL is a project run by Daffycat, click on the button on the right hand bar for more details.

This month's TUSAL features Silver Cute Dwarf's Pumpkin Kitty (stitched earlier this year), Drac-in-a-Box and my current piece Oh Glorious Fall by Stitcher's Hideaway.

The TUSAL photo was taken this morning and since then I have completed the Fall design, all bar the little leaf charm:

Sue Donnelly from Stitcher's Hideaway designed this as a companion piece to Hear the Sea Call which I stitched earlier this year.  I used the supplied 3371 for the verse and Threadworx Chilli Peppers which is a great variegated green, orange and red colour.  The leaf will fit in the gap next to the word Blanket.  The fabric is 32 count Belfast Linen in Tobacco.

I had a nice surprise in the mail on Friday, a prize from Heather of It's Geek to Me.  A while back she posted about some of the problems she was having with her computer and sighed about "First World Problems".  Then she asked us to share some of our's.  Frankly I think Marsha deserved something for her comments (read it and you'll understand!) but my name was drawn and this is what I got:

Seasonal pumpkin pincushion kit, variegated DMC (including everyone's favourite 115), spooky spider web scissors and the Lazy Girl's cushion, simply slip the finished stitching under the margins and voila!  a no-sew pillow.  I can even change the design whenever I get bored with it!

Here is my winning comment:

First World Problems? The "touchscreen" screen isn't working on our new touchscreen computer.

The 3D glasses for the TV don't work with my varifocals.
The food item I want is always in the OTHER freezer.
The closest remote control is never the one I need.
There's never anything to watch on TV until I try record something then three programmes clash and it deletes my favourite one. 
I've need more passwords than I have relatives to name them after.
When I set up an online account for my MIL she chose the name of her favourite grandchild as her password - and it wasn't one of my children!!!
Last time we had a scheduled power outage hubby hired a generator to run the big freezer and one kettle!
Gosh I have a hard life!!

Finally, does anyone know where I can get some firework print fabric in the UK?  I want some to back the JBW Alphabet Kitty ornie this month and haven't been able to find any yet.  I only need a small piece.  If all else fails I will just use black evenweave and stitch some fireworks myself!

Theme-a-licious Looking Backward and Forward X

Theme-a-licious is hosted by Heather of It's Geek to Me

Each month Heather thinks up a theme for us to stitch to, or in my case, a theme to somehow shoe-horn my existing stitching into, no matter how tenuous the link!

This was the theme for October:

Opulent October
It's time to don your tiaras and bring the bling! Stitch on projects with sparkly fibers, beads or charms.

The main piece I have been stitching in the evenings has been Titania, Queen of the Fairies for the Mirabilia Round Robin.  I finally managed to actually stitch some bling on her this week.  Mind you, the fabric is sparkly itself so maybe that already counted?

The interesting thing about Miras is that you stitch away for evening after evening and sometimes don't see alot of progress then all of a sudden you're on the last colour (white for me) and it's time for the bling!  You look at all the empty places and realise those are all for metallics or beads!  There is silver blending filament on the edges of the wings and the inside is solid Kreinik which I will be starting tonight.

The other blingy piece I stitched in about two hours was the Needlecraft Haven Challenge for October.  Christine has chosen a very small and sweet Christmas piece.  I'm not feeling very Christmassy yet but thought it would fit the Opulent October theme so here it is:

The mount is an old Christmas card.  I keep alot of my cards, either as gift tags or stitching mounts.

And here is a side shot so you can see how I made this one.

Totally beaded, not a stitch in sight!  Even the fabric is sparkly.

Looking forward to November we have

No-Xs November

What can you make without making an X?? Blackwork, hardanger, embroidery, needlelace, and the list goes on! Don't panic...you can even backstitch for the month!

Oh, I could have had the NH challenge for that too LOL.

And by lucky chance this new start fits in perfectly.  Serendipitous or what?!!

This is stitched on 32 count Belfast in Tobacco, the same colour I used for Autumn Typography.  The design is Glorious Fall by Stitchers' Hideaway.  A while back I stitched Hear the Sea Call by the same designer (see this post for my finish).  I changed my FB profile picture to the design and Sue the designer got in touch to find out how her pattern had reached across the sea to me!  She also told me she was bringing out a companion piece which, of course, I had to buy.  She sent me the chart and the threads, so far I have stitched the poem composed by Sue herself in pure backstitch.  The border will be a in lovely variegated thread.

Finally, the Hallowe'en Mystery Phrase Blog Hop is still open for entrants, you must leave a comment on that post before 7th November.  I know alot of people catch up with blogs at the weekend.  And Mr Boo is by Val of Val's Stuff.  Before another persons asks me!!  He was in last years JCS Hallowe'en special and has been very popular.