The Smalls SAL is hosted by Heather from Stitching Lotus
This year I have two Small Challenges:
For the Hallowe'en Blog I have done something a little different this year, I've chosen a band sampler by Just Nan called Counting Bats and each band corresponds to the monthly themes on the blog. July was Witches' Accessories and I stitched this band which has The Amazing Candy Corn Producing Cauldron:
And here is the whole piece:
stitched on 32 count lilac linen
The dancing skeleton will be attached when I finish the piece.
For the Christmas Ornie Blog SAL I returned to my Christmas Cubes by The Primitive Hare and stitched A which was for the Free Choice in July:
And the whole set so far:
Stitched on 35 count Country Mocha from Willow Fabrics
I completed the third Just Nan Small; Big Bee, Little Bee and found some bee charms in my stash. To be fair, it should be called Two Big Bees because they are the same size!
Then I got the scrapbook papers out and mounted it on a page from a Monet Waterlilies Calendar along with Beehive Violets:
Remember the sampler I showed you from Just Cross Stitch Hallowe'en Special? Christine suggested that the top part would make a great ornie on it's own. So I started it! Partly to test some WDW that Tiffany sent me. I like it! The corner is WDW and the rest is 3799 to contrast.
stitched on 28 count Moondust evenweave from Crafty Kitten
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That's it for Smalls this month, now for some Bigs!
First up is Gathering Honey, continued progress on this design where the confetti leaves are preferable to the backstitch in the plants!
Loads of fractionals in those leaves
And you can see where I got bored with backstitch and stopped:
Don't worry, I will complete it at some point, it does make a difference.
And here is the full piece:
stitched on 30 count linen
Finally, the continued progress on Ghostly Mandala by Ink Circles. I have been stitching this one for 22 days, doing approximately 1/2 an hour each evening:
Stitched on 32 count Autumnal Woodland from Crafty Kitten
That Hallowe'en sampler is just so cute! and I know a lot of work went into it. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteAwesome progress and cute finishes as always Jo.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Wonderful progress! Back stitching can be tedious at times. I chose to back stitch as I go along on my project this time. Last one I waited and almost didn't complete it. I'm looking forward to seeing more progress. Happy Stitching! ~ C's Cross Stitch Creations ~ aka East Coast Stitcher
ReplyDeletehttp://christiescrossstitchcreations.blogspot.com/
that would make a great ornie on its own. People have such great ideas. Your bees look great and I think every one needs one of those candy corn Cauldron. I love your idea of working on your Mandala a little each night. The fabric is perfect
ReplyDeleteI do love your Halloween band sampler - the colours just pop against that fabric. The Just Nan pieces look beautiful against that scrapbook page. Am I in the minority? I rather like backstitching although if there is a ton of it I will stitch some discrete sections as I finish them. I find it relaxing and really enjoy seeing a piece come to life. Ghostly Mandala is growing nicely and I still think you could not have chosen a better fabric.
ReplyDeleteI am so enjoying watching the Just Nan sampler growing! The ghost project is also looking great. Lots of super stitching in this post.
ReplyDeleteLovely projects!! I liked the confetti leaves on gathering honey. I know back stitching in small motifs take time. I have ladybugs in my ladybird fairy and I am just not looking forward to back stitch those.
ReplyDeletewow, sono tutti belli ma Halloween è favoloso!!!
ReplyDeleteLovely finishes and I love the way Gathering Honey is shaping up.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me or does the dancing skeleton charm have one bizarrely long leg?
Just beautiful stitching going on for you. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAll your pieces are so varied and I like them all,great pictures of your progress.
ReplyDeleteHow cute the Bee piece! Lovely charms!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work on everything and I'm glad the thread seems to be working out. :) I like your choice with Ghostly Mandala more and more every time I see it. Having the ghosts seem to be sort of camouflaged makes it seem even creepier!
ReplyDeleteLovely work...especially the bees. Sew cute!
ReplyDeletexxx
Counting bats looking fab, love how the cauldron is bubbling. Gathering honey does look like it has lots of back stitch. I try and do as I go along as it's such laborious task. The bees look lovely on the Monet paper and the mandala seems to be growing quite quickly too. Great work all round Jo
ReplyDeleteWow, you've got quite a few projects going on! Beautiful progress on all of them. Counting Bats looks awesome! :D
ReplyDeleteGreat lovely progress. I just love that scrapbook page, the beehive is so pretty!
ReplyDeleteWonderful pieces, my dear and you are making fabulous progress on all of them. My favourite this post is the mounting of your two bee pieces - they just look sensational. I wish that I could do something like that - you are very talented with your scrapbooking. xxx
ReplyDeleteLove all the projects you have shown in this post. Wow thats a lot of backstitching in the Gathering Honey piece.
ReplyDeleteYour progress is looking very good. Your volume of stitching us amazing.
ReplyDeleteHoly Honey Muffin you've got some beauties to show off there Jo! Love the full shot of Gathering Honey. And I agree with you, backstitch is a necessary evil. It really does make a difference. Looking forward to the dancing skeleton too. Always a good idea to keep old calendars they make excellent mounting boards as demonstrated by you. Great work on all of them.
ReplyDeletexox Alicia
You are updateing so often recently, but still you always have lots tpo show! I love your smalls and the bee-page, but your bigger projects are looking awesome as well. Great progress on gathering honey, they backstitching looks like it is really worth the trouble it's giving you :)
ReplyDeleteI'm exhausted just reading this post...can I just say lovely stitching on everything?!
ReplyDeleteGreat update! Your monthly smalls designs are both coming along quite nicely. Great progress :o)
ReplyDeleteHugs xx
Wow Jo everything looks gorgeous! One specially liking counting bats and ghostly mandala. The fabric you chose for mandala is perfect :)
ReplyDelete