First Finish of the Year!

And also the first post since November which isn't for a SAL or other event!

Actually this was for a SAL but not a "regular posting on your blog" type of SAL.  This is Plum Street Samplers 12 Days of Christmas:

I made a collage!

I first saw these designs in Just Cross Stitch magazine which published First Day and Second Day in 2011 and 2012.  I liked them but the series never continued.  Until now!  Following numerous requests for the series Paulette decided to make them the Mystery SAL for 2015.

She charted them for four colours; red, green, black and gold.  But I thought it would be fun to use just red and one accent colour for each day.  I started with pear for First Day and continued to choose a suitable colour for each day.  I also continued with the quirk of having one motif a different colour to the rest of them where possible,

I stitched them over one on some 25 count creamish linen I had.  The plan is to scrapbook them across two matching pages I have already bought.  I quite like them as circles now I've done the collage so maybe I'll figure out an easy way to make them into circles! 

Christine and I had a very interesting discussion about the song because we both learned the version where there were 9 Pipers, 10 Drummers, 11 Ladies and 12 Lords rather than this version.  Some internet research revealed that we were taught the original version from at least 1780 (and no, we are not that old!).  They remained that way until 1906 when the modern version was sent to music by Frederic Austen.  

If you look at this Wiki entry you will see some rather strange versions have been used - Wiki - 12 Days of Christmas.  I'm not sure I want to stitch Bears a Baiting or Asses Racing!

The origin of the rhyme seems to be a "forfeit" song where you had to remember all the verses or pay a forfeit.  There is an old wives tale that it was invented as a catchism for persecuted practioners of the Christian faith with the various items representing various Christian themes.  But as the symbols use the 1906 version this seems rather unlikely!

There is however a song called A New Dial which does teach numbered religious themes which is reproduced on this website - Snopes - 12 Days of Christmas so it would seem that the two have become confused over the years.

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As is traditional for New Year's Day I had a new start and a partial finish on the same day.  My project for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog will be Just Nan's Counting Bats.  As luck would have it the bands fit perfectly with our themes this year.  Well, considering I chose the themes, it's not really much of a surprise!

Here is the first band made into a collage with some of the bats cropped and rotated to look different:

stitched on 28 count lilac linen.

I've also been working away on a little Christmas Cottage called Poinsettia Place by CCN:

stitched on 32 count Twilight Blue Permin linen

I started this last year on Day 3 of the DUCJC and didn't pick it up again until December!  There's quite a bit of white snow, red in the top border, a pine branch bottom border and the two flower pots to go.  I do like the way the white pops against the blue fabric.

Finally, I've been sent something unusual to review.  It's a product in daily use but not one you might think of when it comes to artwork.  I shall let you ponder and wonder until I do my next post!