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Tuesday 2 June 2015

June WIPocalypse - Summer or Winter

WIPocalypse
WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

The focus of my WIPocalypse will be my "15 in '15"which are 15 charts I want to stitch in 2015 (following on from my "11 in '11", "12 in '12", "13 in '13" and "14 in '14" - imaginative, eh?)
Over the last month I have stitched four of my 15 designs, and completed 2, which brings the total of finishes to six!

The first finish was one you have seen before, Just Nan Haunted Pumpkins Tree:

Stitched on 28count Chocolate Orange evenweave from Crafty Kitten

Then I completed another block for the Primitive Hare Hallowe'en Cubes:

Jolly Ghost stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen

The next finish was the Kingfisher which will be an end of term gift for the Small Boy's class.  There are two teachers and three TAs although he only has close contact with one teacher and one TA.  But it made sense to make something they can hang on the classroom wall rather than individual pieces.  I'm intending to add the word KINGFISHERS on it once I have the frame chosen so I know how much space I have!

Stitched on 28 count blue evenweave

This is part of a design by Anchor which was a free gift with World of Cross Stitching magazine.  It was charted in Anchor shades which I have some skeins so I used the colours where I had them and subbed DMC where I didn't.  The backstitch was a pain because so many blocks were split to make the sketchy effect.  This is relatively easy on evenweave but would have been awful on the recommended aida.

Having completed the end of term gift for one school I thought I should continue with the gift for the other school.  There is one teacher and three TAs there so a class gift is again in order.  They will also get wine and biscuits/chocolates to share too.  Expensive business this schooling!  Thankfully the Large Boy is now at High School where the teachers get  nothing except grief off the parents LOL.

This is one of a set of four designs from Joan Elliott's book Bewitching Cross Stitch.

I started it back on Day 16 of the DUCJC in January and here is where I left it then:


And here it is after two more days of stitching:

I am using a 28 count opal evenweave called Robin's Egg by Silkweaver.  It is big enough to stitch all four design, the others are Hope, Dream and Imagine.  I like the idea of doing one for the Reception class for last year and the other two for the next two years at school.

Measi usually sets us a discussion topic too:

June – Do you find yourself more productive with stitching in summer or winter?

Hard to say really.  I don't log my actual hours stitched and a lot of finishes in one month doesn't necessarily mean more stitching.  January was a good example of that, stitched madly every day and not a single finish!  Work is the biggest hurdle to my stitching time.  Not the full days because I take a piece in with me for lunch break but the five hour days mean it gets squeezed out in favour of all the other things I usually do during the school hours.  December is the worst month because of the extra Christmas shifts combined with the extra Christmas chores and activities.

School holidays are good for stitching.  We get up half an hour later than usual but have the whole day to potter around.  So maybe August is my best month.

You may have noticed that the season does not affect my stitching themes!  Any time is the right time for Hallowe'en.  Of course my Blog Hops do reflect the seasons - Advent for Christmas, Easter in the Spring and the Summer Postcard for the Summer!

Nice segue there.  The theme this year is Pets.  All you need to do is email me a photo of something you have stitched on this theme plus a little message about what pets mean to you.  Once I have a few I will start emailing them to the participants who will display them on their blogs.  The Blog Hop lasts all Summer so don't worry if you don't have anything suitable stitched yet.  I'm going to be finding some freebies online to inspire you.  Today I have chosen two pet bird themed freebies from Kissy Cross.  She also has a lovely Christmas Budgie freebie too.



31 comments:

Vickie said...

Believe looks really awesome Jo. I love the colors. Great idea you have with the words.
I stitch less in summer. Busy gardening. :)

Katie said...

Oh the kingfisher is gorgeous!! What a beautiful gift. Love the other piece too. Your Halloween pieces are too cute!

Katy said...

Beautiful progress on everything!

Mini said...

Congratulations on the Kingfisher finish. Looks lovely. Thank you for the link to budgie freebie. This is exactly what I needed since I still haven't been able to get hold of budgie pattern in Cross Stitch gold 91.

Julie said...

Mr Kingfisher has turned out so beautifully, they'll love him.

Heather said...

I'm glad you told me what book the words were in. I thought they were in one of the magazines which I can't get at a reasonable price here but I was already planning on getting that book :)

Samplings from Spring Creek said...

You go girl! I hope I get five things stitched

Dani - tkdchick said...

Your WIPs look great!

Sarah in Stitches said...

Congrats on all the finishes! That's fantastic. Lovely stitching! :D

Southpaw Stitcher said...

Your Halloween-themed projects are both very cute. I've done quite a bit of Halloween stitching myself. The kingfisher is absolutely gorgeous! It will make an impressive addition to the classroom.

Kaisievic said...

Lots and lots of lovely stitching, Jo. I agree, the Kingfisher is gorgeous.

Tiffstitch said...

Gorgeous finishes and well done meeting so many goals already. The Joan Elliott looks beautiful!

Minnie said...

Beautiful finishes and great gift ideas.

Barb said...

Lots of lucky school people! The kingfisher is just beautiful and of course, you can never have too much Halloween.

rosey175 said...

I so love the transitions between the colors on those wordy charts. And the Kingfisher turned out great~ :D

If I had to guess my most productive time, it'd be late fall after all the canning is done and the fall housecleaning is out of the way. It's not cold enough then to completely zap my willpower to do anything other than turtle up on the couch and hibernate until spring.

jocondine said...

Great WIP update, your kingfisher looks so real! Words are lovely (you could add a fifth one your teachers would appreciate : Learn). xxx

Mini said...

Jo, I'm unable to download the budgie freebie pattern. Could you help please?

Christine said...

The Kingfisher is fabulous. I don't know why the magazines are so married to the idea of white aida, maybe they secretly have shares in an aida factory?

Leonore Winterer said...

That kingfisher is really pretty, congrats on the finish! I always loved those word designs, what a nice idea to make them as gifts for the teachers ^_^

Brigitte said...

That little kingfisher is looking so real, so vivid. Great stitching and a great gift, too. You were doing a lot of stitching on all the other pieces, too.

Rhona said...

Love your kingfisher...he's wonderful! The word designs will be perfect for school - what a great idea!

Elle said...

I love the Kingfisher and the teachers/TA's will treasure such a gift - they'll be fighting over who gets the small boy next year so that that class can have a similar gift!!!

Preeti said...

Kingfisher is looking great !! Your Joan Elliot piece is beautiful :)

diamondc said...

Lovely gift for the Teacher and T/As.
Love the Just Nan and the charm is so cute.

Blessings
Catherine

gominam said...

Love your Kingfisher finish! Believe is going to be beautiful too! What lovely gifts you made:)

AnaCristina said...

good weekend!

Mrs Milkybar Kid said...

Congrats on all that stitching! I love your kingfisher, the blends of those colours make him so realistic

Lady Stitch-a-Lot said...

Great work on you projects =) I love the kingfisher =)

Stitching in the country said...

Great finishes. It's always great to put that last stitch in. Love believe. I may have to acquire it for myself soon

CathieJ said...

The kingfisher is beautiful. You have a lot of great stitching going on. I really hate spiders, but I like the ones on your stitching.

Steph said...

Oh I do love that Kingfisher! How beautiful your stitches are xox