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Thursday 7 April 2016

April TUSAL

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.

Here is my ORTS jar posing with the current stitching projects:


On the right we have Just Nan's Spring Typography:

stitched on 32 count Dark Reed linen from Willow Fabrics

And on the left we have a new WIP!  This is another Nora Corbett design called Little Snowy Gray Cottage which I won in a giveaway an embarrassingly long time ago.  All the Kreinik, beads and Aqua Ray threads were included.  I started this one for Day 19 of the DUCJC2015 and stitched this much:


stitched on 32 count Blue Hydrangea Opalescent from Crafty Kitten

Here is my continuation:


Usually I would stitch all the plain thread, then the Kreinik and then the beads.  But this is nearly all Kreinik!  There is one Waterlilies silk recommended but at over £5 a skein I have substituted a Jodyri thread called Emerald Forest instead.

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This took place as usual on Good Friday and was so much fun!  Fun for the Picture Posters who put a lot of effort into displaying their letters, fun for the Hoppers who got to visit some new blogs and revisit old friends, and fun for me to laugh when people couldn't work out the phrase even when they had all the letters!  It is always satisfying to stump a few people.  Mwah haha, evil laughter.

The phrase that all you found (and Googled) was The Ukrainian Pysanka Egg.  The beautifully decorated eggs from the Ukraine - "it is an Easter egg decorated using a wax resist (aka batik) method. Its name derives from the Ukrainian verb “pysaty,” meaning “to write.”  (“Pysanka” is the singular form; “pysanky” is plural.)" - source Pysanka

As in many of our Easter traditions the eggs represent a blend of the old beliefs and the new Christian beliefs - "The design motifs on pysanky date back to pre-Christian times–many date to early Slavic cultures, while some harken to the days of the Trypillians, my neolithic ancestors, others to paleolithic times.  While the symbols have remained through the ages, their interpretation has changed, in an act of religious syncretism. A triangle that once spoke of the three elements, earth, fire and air, now celebrates the Christian Holy Trinity.  The cross which depicted the rising sun is now the symbol of the risen Christ.  Sun and star symbols once referred to Dazhboh, the sun god, and now refer to the one Christian God.  And the fish, which spoke of a plentiful catch and a full stomach, now stands in for Christ, the fisher of men. Even so, under this Christian veneer, there still lurk the berehynia and the serpent, the sun and the moon, the old gods, the old ways, and the old beliefs."  - source Pysanka

source - Wikipedia

An unfinished pysanka ready for the black bath of dye. It bears the Ukrainian Easter greeting: "Christ is risen!"
source - Wikipedia

Evalina told me there are Polish versions of these eggs known as Pisanka - Wikipedia - Pisanka and that her aunt was a very talented decorator of the these eggs.  It seems that many Eastern European countries have a version of the craft.

I also found some lovely cross stitch versions in a recent issue of JCS magazine:

Just Cross Stitch - April 2015

If you are interested in learning more about this beautiful art, Wiki is a good starting place as ever and the Pysanka website has some great information too.  This page in particular has some lovely photos - Pysanky - Types.  If you do decide to stitch one or have a go at making a real one, let me know and you'll get the Star Position for the Treasure Hunt next year!

I decided to give a chart as the prize this year, Picture Posters get one entry into the draw, Blog Hoppers get one entry into the draw, anyone who does both, gets two entries.  My son picked out one name and the winner is:


Congratulations to Cathy, a new entrant to my World Of Blog Hops and hopefully a future regular.

Which brings me nicely to the topic of the next Blog Hop.  Usually this would be Summer Postcard Hop which takes place throughout the Summer.  But this year will be different!  I am celebrating a Big Zero Birthday in September and have planned a BIG BLOG HOP for the event.  My plan is to attempt to get one Person per year of my life and allocate each person a year.  I will give you a Fact About Me from that year and ask you to base your post on that fact.  So you might get 1971 - "I am five years old and I start school".  Your post could be about you being five, you starting school, you in 1971 (if you were born by then) or some world event which is relevant to you from 1971.

Finally, I will ask you to post a photo of something you have stitched which will appeal to me!  I think you all know my tastes in stitching by now and I'm looking forward to some eye candy and probably some stash acquisitions too!  Got to have something to spend that Birthday money on.  So if you want to be in the Hop, please leave a comment or email me.  Because we need so MANY participants for this one, please feel free to share it on your blogs and invite your friends to join in.  The more the merrier!  We can always share eventful years or skip the dull ones depending on how many people we get.







33 comments:

Shebafudge said...

That sounds like brilliant fun!!!! Count me in for your Birthday blog hop please. Spring is looking great too. I do like these designs.

The Knitting Cross Stitcher said...

Spring is looking good,still waiting to see if Willow Fabrics re opens,it is only 8 miles from our house.
Those eggs are so pretty! and very interesting to read about.
Your birthday blog hop sounds fun,I'd love to participate in celebrating your big zero birthday.

Vickie said...

You are so very clever Jo. Count me in!

lynda said...

Your birthday blog hop sounds like fun! I'd love to join in!

Leonore Winterer said...

Great TSUAL post and nice progress on your WIPs - that Cottage is going to be soooo sparkly! I didn't get around to do the Easter hop this year, but I'll be totally on board for your birthday hop, so count me in :)

Anthea said...

lovely new project there Jo!

riona said...

Put me down for a year. As I am 15 years older than you, any year will work.

Unknown said...

This sounds like a lot of fun. Please add me to your Birthday Blog Hop. Looks as if you are almost finished with Spring. So pretty. Love your new start.

Mini said...

Nice progress on your WIPs. Count me in for your birthday hop. I will have many questions though,so be prepared ..lol. Now to think what to stitch to please you.
Did you mention your blogaversary in your last post...Am I missing something here?

Tiffstitch said...

Great work on Spring! Funny how different the fabric looks in today's photo. Nice progress on the cottage as well. Please count me in for your Blog Hop, I have a big 0 birthday coming up in September too. :D

Brenda said...

Oh Jo!!! I love your JN Spring Typography on that Dark Reed colored fabric!!! Just beautiful!!!

Beth in IL said...

Love your new project. It is going to be so pretty.

Beth in IL said...

Just noticed you need people for your Birthday Blog Hop. I will be in.

A Patchwork of Crafts said...

Happy to help with your Birthday celebrations, count me in the BIG Birthday hop, not sure how I missed joining in at easter. I paint eggs on occasion, not tried the wax technique.

Linda said...

Love both the projects that your working on Jo.

Linda

Barb said...


Spring looks great. I loved reading about the eggs.

Bea said...

Spring is coming along beautifully and your cottage has a door! Always a useful thing. Love the pictures you found of the eggs - I found a lot when I googled the phrase, but not these. Count me in for the blog hop.

Rachel said...

Congratulations to the winner. Fantastic facts about the eggs too. You've got an ambitious blog hop planned for later.... good luck in getting your entrants. I may join in for once but am undecided as yet! :)

Christine said...

Congratulations to Cathy, and do please count me in for the next hop.
You were right when you said there'd be eye candy on the reveal post, those eggs are beyond gorgeous.

Preeti said...

Lovely stitching !! Those eggs are very beautifully done. The colourfulness in decorating is similar to embroidered Temari balls of Japan.
That's a great idea to celebrate your big birthday! You are a blog hop queen and that's why the 'Bday bash = Blog hop bash' :) I haven't been active on any of your blog hops so now there is a reason for me to join and be part of your celebration. I am in :)


gominam said...

Congrats to the winner. So informative and the photos are beautiful. And you're organizing a very special blog hop next, wow!Lovely new start:)

Cathy said...

I'm here as you requested and I see why you asked me to come. Thank you to you (and your son for drawing my name). I love both your projects and the information about the eggs as I'd never heard of them before. Please add me to your birthday blog hop.

Julie said...

Congratulations to your winner.
Lots of sparkly in the new designs, Spring is looking delicious.

Kaisievic said...

Congrats to Cathy and congrats to you for running another fun bloghop.

ANGIE said...

Hi Jo, so nice TUSAL post! Happy stitching!

Sarah in Stitches said...

Beautiful stitching! I'd love to be part of your bloghop - for some reason, I've never joined in. Sounds like fun! :D

Justine said...

What an original idea for your blog hop - count me in!
I love that sparkly fabric, it's going to look great stitched up.

Brigitte said...

Such nice progress on Spring. And the new start promises a lot of bling, a typical Nora Corbett project :)
These Ukrainian eggs looks gorgeous, I was looking them up right after guessing your blog hop phrase. And these stitched ones in the JCS magazine are very tempting.

Katie said...

Beautiful stitching. Great orts. I had a blast on the blog hop. I kept trying to figure out what I did wrong with the letters. But I thought I would try to search the letters and found out what they were. So interesting! Thanks for the fun!! Please enter me into your next blog hop. What a fun idea!! Can't wait to see the posts.

Carla - Alaska Wolf Pack said...

I am so totally down with your birthday hop! I love the idea so very much and cannot wait to sit down and read EVERYONES!

Diya said...

Congratulations on a successful Easter hop. I couldn't participate but I can imagine how much fun it must have been :)

I would love to be included in your birthday blog hop! It sounds like it will be a blast so please include me if possible :)

Heather said...

How fun and congrats Cathy! Count me in!

Stitching Noni said...

Congrats to Cathy!
I must admit I googled the word because I thought I must have missed a letter as I didn't think I had spelt the word right... those decorated eggs are just stunning.
Thank you for organising another fab blog hop!!
Hugs xx