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Tuesday 2 August 2016

August 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 left we have Ghostly Mandala by Ink Circles:

stitched on 32 count Autumnal Woodland by Crafty Kitten

Can you see the tiny little ORTS?  That is literally how much thread I waste from each length.  I stitch "secured needle" with a 28 petite so I can stitch down to the last needle length, tuck it under some stitches and snip a cm off for the jar.

And on the right is Gathering Honey by Jannlynn:

stitched on 28 count linen

And here's a close-up of the lovely leaves:


There are three different sets of leaves with three or four colours in each set.  The bigger green ones were quite simple but the more lime green ones are very fiddly.

I've been posting on FB about my son's Art Challenge that I am joining in with using my stitching.  There is a theme for each day in August and here they are so far:

Day 1 - Breakfast

Witchy Brew by Witchy Stitches

Day 2 - Faceless Self-Portrait

J by Nora Corbett

I have a new collage maker.  Someone recommended it and it's awesome!  As well as the standard collages I usually use there are all sorts of special effect ones like the two above.  You can find it here - Fotojet and it's really easy to learn to use.  Best of all, it's free!  You have to create a login to use some of the features but it's still free!

I got a lovely surprise in the post this afternoon, a piece of fabric from Chromatic Alchemy from Tiffany:

32 count Amortentia Belfast linen

It's slightly more maroon than the photo and the pale parts are not so obvious in real life.  When you look at it there's all sorts of weird shapes and faces in there.  There is clearly a ghost just to the right of the centre line.  I won this in a "Guess What I'm Stitching Next" competition on Tiff's blog.

I'm wondering what it would look like with this chart from Life's Trivial Pursuits?



Finally, as there is no Summer Postcard Blog Hop this Summer I have decided to host a simple Linky Party next Monday instead.  The Tenuous Shoe-Horn!   The theme is Summer Holidays and basically all you do is make a post on or near 8th August and then link-up on my blog.  The post must show some stitching, past or present with a link, however tenuous, to the theme Summer Holiday.

Here's a picture of a shoe-horn to advertise the Party!


There will be a small prize for one lucky participant.  Invite your friends and followers to join in too.


24 comments:

Tiffstitch said...

Nice progress on the bees, those leaves are very interesting. Glad the fabric arrived safely and that is a nice choice of chart. :)

gominam said...

Awesome progress. Your Nora Corbett piece is stunning.

Mini said...

Nice progress on both projects. You are having fun with these hand dyed fabrics.
Dracula is one of my favourite books , would be lovely to see you stitch this.

Preeti said...

Great progress on your pieces !! Looking forward to your stitching on the gifted fabric. I will check the collage link now, thanks for sharing !

Kerryp77 said...

Gorgeous fabric, the Dracula chart would look amazing on it. You really don't waste much thread at all do you. I thought I was frugal in only snipping an inch off!
Love the effects with the collage maker. I'll check it out. Those leaves do look like they are taking a lot of work. Gathering Honey is very pretty though.

findingflapjack said...

I love the ghostly mandala, and it works beautifully on that fabric! Thank you for your lovely reply last week, breastfeeding does seem to be getting easier but I'm still just taking it a week at a time, helps me not to feel too overwhelmed! Funny how both of yours weaned themselves at exactly the same age!

KimM said...

Love the fabric from Tiffany. Beautiful. Looking forward to the link party.....hope I don't forget 😁
xxx

Suz said...

Still oggling your Ghostly Mandala :)
I do the secure stitching thing when I work with 2 stranded metallics so I have teeny tiny bits of orts, too.
AND OMG, the Dracula book cover! That's fantastic, thank you so much for sharing! I love that book, so I'll have to stitch it, too. And I do like the idea of using that Chromatic Alchemy fabric (I think I'll stitch it on Aries by Sparklies).

D1-D2 said...

I love the witch's brew pattern lol

Sheryl said...

Pretty Gathering Honey piece and I love the Ghostly Mandala, just perfect on the Autumnal Woodland fabric. Also gorgeous fabric from Tiffany and thanks for the collage link, going to have a look.

Beth in IL said...

Love that piece of fabric. I think it will look great with the chart you picked.

FlashinScissors said...

Love Gathering Honey, and the pretty fabric from Tiffany. Looking forward to the Summer Holiday link up, as I was able to photograph my picture through its glass!
Barbara xx

Bea said...

Love Witches Brew and I can see how much Ghostly Mandala has grown. That is beautiful fabric from Tiffany and I think the Dracula piece would go really well with it.

Jennifer M. said...

Lovely stitching! That's Witches Brew design is awesome. LOL! I want that one. :-)

Christine said...

Oh boy! I love that red fabric. I love the Dracula chart too, a new designer to me and I'm just off to investigate further

Leonore Winterer said...

Nice progress on the ghosts and leaves, and that new fabric looks amazing! I bet you can't wait to stitch on it.

jocondine said...

Both projects look lovely! Love that cup of tea too! How to find on FB the art challenge? xxx

butterfly said...

Great post Jo , youdo some wonderful things on your blog I just wish I had lots more time to join in but , I love to watch what you are up to.
Your stitching is just beautiful hugs.

Kaisievic said...

Thanks for the link to fotojet, Jo, I will definitely check it out. You are definitely very thrifty with your ORTs, but can you explain what you mean by secured needle? Lovely fabric that Tiffany sent you and some gorgeous stitching, as always. hugs, Kaye xxxx

Katie said...

Great post. Great stitching. Love your art challenge pics. The tiny little orts are too cute. Great job and saving floss. Love that fabric!! I think it will look great with that pattern on it.

deb said...

The fabric you're stitching the ghostie mandala on is marvelous and the new red/purple one is gorgeous! Gathering Honey is such a pretty piece and all those fussy little bits are making the leaves look fantastic.

Yikes - just looked at your completed list for this year - your needles just fly!

Sarah in Stitches said...

Lovely stitching progress! That's some amazing fabric, I can't wait to see what you stitch on it :D

Stitching Noni said...

Great post! Loving those photos - will have to check out Fotojet :o)
That fabric is to die for (no pun intended!) I think it would look great with the Dracula design stitched on it :o)
Hugs xx

Heather said...

I can totally see the ghost! I think you should do Dracula on it that'd be awesome! Great progress on everything!