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Saturday 24 October 2015

Friday Frolics and Other Days Too

Friday Frolics is a reference to one of Kaye's new blogs; Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics, where we each pull out a WIP or UFO and have a little frolic with it on a Friday, or into the weekend if you so desire.

My current Friday Frolic is Trixie the Hallowe'en Witch from Brooke's Books.  I had an issue with the metallic black DMC last week.  It just didn't cover well at all.  Then I saw the same design on FB where the stitcher had used Kreinik and the coverage looked great.  So this week I used the other two DMC metallics I had planned to discover how they covered.  They both look fine so I only need to buy one spool of Kreinik and some perforated paper for the accessories.  I frogged the black metallic in preparation for next week and here she is:

Stitched on 28 count tan evenweave

Don't her metallic purple boots look great?

I've been continuing with the current "Must Stitch" SAL which has grabbed the stitching world by the needles and demanded they drop everything to stitch this - Plum Street Sampler's 12 Days of Christmas.  Paulette is releasing one chart per week from tomorrow to follow on from the three she released last week.

I have decided to stitch them individually and scrapbook them in two pages of six.  But how to distinguish them from everyone else's versions?  I had decided to use a lovely red Splendor silk which was gifted to me from Ruth a while back.  The other charted colour was a yellowy green colour.  But I wanted a real pear colour for Day One and found it in DMC 3045.  However this wouldn't work for the other designs so well.  Then inspiration struck - use a different accent colour for each design!  Some will be obvious choices, others may need a little shoe horn but I have worked them all out now.  Second Day was easy, Turtle Doves are traditionally blue.  This is another Splendor silk from Ruth.  I've changed the parts which are stitched in the accent so the birds and the flowers will be blue and the rest will be red:

stitched over 1 on 25 count linen

The next project is also a Jumping on the Bandwagon SAL!  Funny how the best laid plans are often led astray by seeing what other people are stitching.  This one was a FB freebie called Friendship Compass released by Glendon Place to celebrate the large number of "likes" they had.  I'm using purples as you can see:

stitched on 28 count white evenweave

I am a subscriber to Cross Stitch Collection magazine and one of the enjoyable features is the Blogger of the Month column where they interview one of my friends each month and showcase her stitching.  I don't actually think being my friend is the reason they choose the person but it does seem that way!  It is rare I don't know the person LOL.  Recently it was the turn of Lisa The Inspired Stitcher.

As soon as I saw the article, I emailed her to let her know it was printed.  Unfortunately CSC is hard to get in the States so I offered to send her a copy.  In exchange she said she'd send me some threads as they are so expensive here!  And look what arrived!  A lovely frog covered project bag hand made by Lisa's own fair hands.  Hopefully all the frogs will stay firmly attached to the material and not infest my stitching!  She also included not one, but two packs of the DMC 4000 series of variegated threads, my very favourites.  They come in a card pack with a free chart too which is nice.


I am already using the bag to keep my Plum Street project in!

Finally, Hallowe'en is fast approaching which means it's nearly time for the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop.  Regular followers will know the format.  Leave a comment here saying you would like to take part in the hop as a Picture Poster.  When I have everyone signed up I will choose a Mystery Phrase and allocate each Picture Poster a letter of the alphabet.  On 31st October they must make a blog post showing their letter and a photo of something they have stitched on a Hallowe'en theme.  On my blog there will be a list of all the contributors so people can hop around and collect the letters to work out the Mystery Phrase.  You don't have to be a Picture Poster to collect the letters and join in with the competition but all Picture Posters do get an extra entry in the competition.

25 comments:

Susan said...

Great progress on your 12 Days. I like the idea of an accent color. Love the Glendon Place piece, so I'll be jumping on that bandwagon soon! Very nice project bag. I need to pull out the sewing machine and figure out how to make them.

Heather said...

Nice exchange! Lovely stitching :)

A Patchwork of Crafts said...

Looking forward to being a Picture Poster in your Hop this year and in hopping about for the clues.

Shelly said...

Haha, love the name you gave Paulette's SAL! But it's true. I think we all heard the sound of dropped needles all at once! Trixie will look great when done. Friendship Compass is very pretty with your color choices. Gifts from other stitches are the best!

Barb said...

Great stitching! I was so glad to be finished with the metallic threads I was using. I found them quite the pain to stitch with.

Linda said...

Love the colors your using for the 12 days. Cross Stitch Collection contacted me in the spring to be in their magazine. I emailed the info they wanted. The gal wrote back and said she was going out on maternity leave and that it would be put in in the fall. I haven't heard anything more.

Linda

Sally said...

Fantastic progress on your WIPs Jo. I haven't started the 12 Days yet. I may wait until next year!

♥ Nia said...

Hi!!! Look who is here ;) MIA for so long, I know... I knew having a baby at home would mean no time for anything but... No one warned me about raising a toddler!!!! Hahahahahah they sure keep us busy :D
I will be waiting to follow your hop! Would love to join but I haven't been blogging... Hope to get there soon;) right now, catching up on my favorite blogs and appreciating what everyone has been doing :)
Hugs to you!!!!!

KimM said...

What gorgeous stitching - and such a lovely gift of threads!! I can't believe it's almost Halloween - and CHRISTMAS is right around the corner - AUGH! I don't have step-grandson's stocking done yet....better get to it.
hugs
xxx

diamondc said...

Turtle Doves is lovely, I have never seen the Friendship Compass before very interesting.
Trixie is so cute.
Love your gift nice.

Blessings
Catherine

gominam said...

Wicked boots on Trixie, love 'em. And your Friendship compass had a lot of progress too, I love the colors on this one:)

Mii Stitch said...

Your Halloween witch looks fantastic! Love the boots!!

Julie said...

Your little witchy is certainly full of bling, she's adorable.
Nice colours you chose for the friendship compass

The Inspired Stitcher said...

So glad you liked the bag and threads. I had no idea there were charts inside! I told those frogs to stay on that bag and not pester you. I hope they mind their manners. Winks! Thanks again for the "heads up" and for sending the magazine. I truly appreciate it!

Véronique Rose said...

Coucou Jo, très joli, j'ai envie aussi de faire le SAL de Plum Street,
Trixie est très mignonne
amicalement
Vero

Katie said...

Beautiful progress on all your projects!! Love the frog bag you received!!

Sarah in Stitches said...

Oooh, I love your idea for the 12 Days of Christmas! This is going to be a gorgeous collection. Your witch looks great too! :D

beadgirl said...

Thanks for the link to the 12 Days of Christmas sampler! I have a long-term project going where I stitch the first day/partridge in a pear tree motif from a variety of designers: http://janalynmarie.blogspot.com/search/label/partridge%20and%20pear

Anonymous said...

great projects, love the project bag

Véronique Rose said...

Merci Jo, pour le traducteur, c'est super gentil et je vais pouvoir te lire avec plaisir,
quel fil as tu utilisé pour ton sal Plum street
belle journée
bizz

The Crafty Princess said...

Yep I have a love/hate relationship with metallic thread. Love the way it looks, hate to stitch with it!! But it's worth it I think. Exhibit A Trixie. She looks wickedly amazeballs.
xox Alicia

Sheryl said...

Trixie is lovely with her purple boots. You can count me in to be a Picture Poster in your Halloween Hop.

Tiffstitch said...

Love your ideas with the 12 Days and what great threads!

Leonore Winterer said...

Great progress...I love how sparkly the Halloween Witch is becoming!

Brigitte said...

Trixie is getting more and more complete, lol. And she looks really good.
Sometimes I'm also one of those who just jump on the bandwagon when I see what others are stitching. Good for me that I'm not on FB because I am sure that I would see so many great things there in addition to the ones I see on the blogs that all my plans would go astray, lol.
I love what you are doing with PSS's Twelve Days. A very creative idea.