Slow and Steady Progress

This week I have been focusing on my Donna Kooler piece for the Zodiac SAL on Saturday, so I can't show that.  I did get a couple more days done on Dracula by Dam Good Crafts:

stitched on 32 count Amortentia Belfast from Chromatic Alchemy

This is a great design on a gorgeous fabric but I discovered in October than it's easy to get burned out just doing rows of black.  So once I finish 12 Days of Christmas this will become my "bath time project" and I will stitch a length or two of black each evening while the Small Boy is in the bath.

Slow and steady is the name of the game on this next piece; Just Nan's Summer in the Square.  I started Spring in the Square on 1st January for the Ten-a-Day challenge and when it became obvious I was going to finish it before the year was over, I started Summer on 1st July.

We are now on Day 152 or 1,520 stitches:

As well as the Ten-a-Day I've also had a Thirty-a-Day which has been the series of Just Nan freebie ornaments.  I got a little behind with the fully-finishing so spent Sunday doing Lacy Diamond which was finished in September.

A simple padded diamond backed with blue felt, white bead hanger and a white tassel.

I'm not working this weekend so hopefully I can get another one fully finished.

Pie for this months shows a variety of projects, with Just Nan Memories taking top spot.  I spent five days on the Kooler Zodiac because I did Scorpio at the beginning of the month and Sagittarius at the end.

Stitch from Stash was a great success, the only thing I spent was £ 8.72 on a magazine subscription which is an allowed purchase anyway.

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Finally, the Advent Calender Blog Hop starts tomorrow!  I will put up the main post in the morning and you can follow the links each day to see what each person has posted.  I will be updating the post every day with a new picture.  Hope that you enjoy the fun this year.

November WIPocalypse Finishing Styles

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings
Also linking up with 17 in '17

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.  I have chosen my "17 in '17" which are the 17 projects I want to focus on this year.  You can see the full list on this page here.

As my finishes are mounting up, I have fewer projects to choose from and worked on the same three as last month plus one more.

That extra one was the Witches by Oberlin Samplers and a finish, as shown in my previous post.

Joan Elliot's 12 Days of Christmas was also in that post:

Next up was my spooky conversion of The Enchanted Alphabet by Lavender & Lace:

stitched on 32 count Tiger Lily Murano by Sparklies

The whole piece so far: 

Followed by Dracula's Bok Cover by Dam Good Crafts:

stitched on 32 count Amortentia Belfast from Chromatic Alchemy

Measi always sets up a discussion topic:

November - What finishing style have you never tried but would love to do?

I have tried quite a few different techniques apart from framing. 

I have made a lot of cubes recently:

Plenty of pillow ornies:

A rather ambitious Octagon Box:

Built my own House!

An exploding book:

As well as my favourite scrapbook finishes:

What do these all have in common?  Not a lot of sewing!  I like papercraft.  One finish I would like to try is a Printer's Tray with various sized apetures and I did see a video of a handmade journal which looked fun.  Or maybe Janet Brandt's Once Upon a Time Cabinet?

Janet Brandt

Finally, all the Advent Calendar emails were sent out this morning.  If you haven't had yours, please let me know and I'll check the address I sent it too.  Not long to go now!

This Is The Last Straw

You know I detest bagpipes.  The place has now become something between a menagerie and a madhouse and a man from the Council has just declared it unfit for human habitation.  At least Mummy was spared this last outrage; they took her away this afternoon in an ambulance.
I hope you're satisfied.

12 Days of Christmas (Correspondence) - John Julius Norwich

Things are not improving between Emily and her "true love".  Joan Elliott's Piper has wisely taken the decision to play his pipes on the shores of a loch near a castle rather than a suburban house full of birds and dancing people!

Here is where I was last month:

And here is how the whole piece looked on completion of the Piper block:

I'm actually a good way through the final block as I wanted a headstart so I can finish the beading in December.

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Stitching Lotus

This year I will be showing my Hallowe'en and Christmas SAL partworks and any other Smalls I may stitch.

You've already seen the Christmas block above, so it's time for Hallowe'en.  The theme for November is Candy Corns or Food.  I am not sure you would want to eat from the menu in this piece!  Fillet of snake anyone?

This design is called Witches by Oberlin Samplers.  The fabric is actually a lime green Murano but it's difficult to photograph, think DMC 3345 for colour.  The original design had some random spooky phrases round the edge but as I had already stitched the Hallowe'en Happiness with various spooky phrases I decided to change this to reflect a speech from my favourite Shakespeare play - the Scottish one!  I also changed the words to the right which said Ghosts and Goblins to "brew a spell".  There were no ghosts or goblins in the design!  I added a bat charm to fill the space.  I already have a frame, I just need the mount board and it will be done.

Another spooky finish from Dark October was Shepherd's Bush Spooky Night:

stitched on 32 count Platinum linen

My Zodiac SAL had a second sign added, this is Scorpio by Donna Kooler:

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen

I am continuing to stitch 30-a-day on a Just Nan freebie and here is the latest finish:

Have a Heart - stitched on 32 count white evenweave

Rather a good Small Month!

Finally, I have all the names for the Advent Calendar Blog Hop and will be sending out dates and instructions on Sunday.  Milly left a comment on my TUSAL post saying she would like to join us but left no contact details.  If you are reading this, Milly, you are no-reply, have no email in your profile and no blog details either.  If you contact me by email before Sunday I can still include you, but I need a blog and an email address to do so.  Thank you!

A Memorable TUSAL

It's TUSAL time, the Totally Useless SAL where we all show our ORTS and link-up on Daffycat's blog.

I am actually a day late with the TUSAL which almost never happens but I was so ill yesterday!  I came down with the bug that has kept the Small Boy off school all week.  I spent all of yesterday either asleep or being sick in the bathroom.  I managed my 10-a-Day, skipped the 30 as it was beads, put five little stalks into Just Nan's Memories to say I'd worked on it and 2 little stitches on 12 Days of Christmas for the same reason.

(Now on Facebook, click to link)

Fortunately I feel better today, delicate but able to finish two projects!  It was really slow going, I have never made so many errors; threading the wrong colour, frogging the satin stitch and even losing the needle at one point.  At least I didn't spill the beads!

The first completed project was Memories by Just Nan, this was a gift from the lovely Vickie of A Stitcher's Story.  I chose a fabric in her favourite colour - Pink, and added one more personal detail, can you spot it?

stitched on 32 count Pink linen

Here are some close-ups of the bands:

The chart didn't come with the bead pack so I substituted what I already had - 00479, 00553 and 18828.

The second finish was my 30-a-Day project - Have a Heart by Just Nan:

stitched on 32 count white evenweave

This was a nice quick stitch, only 17 days.  I will turn this into an ornie when I have the energy!  Short and sweet today, I am in need of a lie-down now.

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Finally, it's time to sign up for the Advent Calendar  Blog Hop!  For this hop, each participant is allocated a day in December to make their post on.  They will show something they have stitched on a Christmas theme and answer the topic question I set.  I then copy their photo onto my blog post in the style of an Advent Calendar.

So if you'd like to join in, please leave a comment or send me an email.  Let me know if there is a date you would particularly like or one you'd like to avoid.  I will be in touch towards the end of the month!

Here is a link to last year's so you can see how it works:

2016-online-advent-calendar

Gifted Gorgeousness November Link-Up

Welcome to the November link-up for Gifted Gorgeousness. The linky will stay open until the end of the month so you have plenty of time to link up and join in.


Another great month for Giftedness.  As well as stitching on gifted pieces I also gave three away as prizes in the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop.

Part of my Dark October stitching was Raven by Nora Corbett, the chart was a gift from Tiff:

stitched on 32 count Nebula by Crafty Kitten

Spooky Night from Shepherd's Bush was a gift from Vickie and another finish:

stitched on 32 count Platinum linen

Progress continued on Joan Elliott's 12 Days of Christmas, a gift from my MIL:

My big finish for the month was Dragon Dreams Dragon of the Winter Moon, a gift from Riona:

stitched on 32 count Moondust Murano from Crafty Kitten

see previous post for more photos

I'm currently stitching Memories by Just Nan, a gift from Vickie:

stitched on 32 count Pink Linen

So now I hand over to you. This is where you link up your post for this month. Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "November Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month. And link to the actual post, not just your blog. It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.

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Finally, it's time to sign up for the Advent Calendar  Blog Hop!  For this hop, each participant is allocated a day in December to make their post on.  They will show something they have stitched on a Christmas theme and answer the topic question I set.  I then copy their photo onto my blog post in the style of an Advent Calendar.

So if you'd like to join in, please leave a comment or send me an email.  Let me know if there is a date you would particularly like or one you'd like to avoid.  I will be in touch towards the end of the month!

Here is a link to last year's so you can see how it works:

2016-online-advent-calendar

Dances With Dragons

Happy Dancing here!  When I put Dragon of the Winter Moon away at the end of September I knew it wasn't far from a finish and I was right.  I returned to the project last week and in just four days I was Happy Dancing With a Dragon.

Here's a few photos:

Who lives in the castle? 

Gorgeous Caron Waterlilies in the wings: 

Sparkling Kreinik tail: 

stitched on 32 count Murano in Moondust by Crafty Kitten

I received this chart as a gift from Riona along with the threads and beads.  I started it on Day 26 of the DUCJC in 2015 but didn't really work on it again until November 2016.  The project was then added to my "17 in '17"and was the focus for Animalia August.  I loved stitching it so much I kept it as the focus for September and only stopped for Dark October.  Four more days in November and it's time to look for a frame!

I have the companion piece to this  - Dragon of the Summer Sky, also a gift from Riona, so I'd like to get them both stitched and hung together.

As I finished stitching on Sunday I decided to do a little framing.  This was a finish in 2015 and has been waiting for the right frame.  I found three in a charity shop for just 50p each.  This is Ghoulies and Ghosties by Just Nan:

This morning it was decision time - what to stitch next?  Another 17 in '17 piece or a design close to a finish?  This piece won the competition!  A gift from Vickie earlier this year I want to finish it so I can start another gifted Just Nan piece in 2018 as a SAL with Brenda.

Memories by Just Nan

stitched on 32 count Pink linen looking a little grey on here!

That is the final band you can see, it's a long thin piece.  I have some white Perle to add, some satin stitching and some beads.  I definitely see a finish over the next few days, by the end of the weekend at the latest.

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Finally, it's time to sign up for the Advent Calendar  Blog Hop!  For this hop, each participant is allocated a day in December to make their post on.  They will show something they have stitched on a Christmas theme and answer the topic question I set.  I then copy their photo onto my blog post in the style of an Advent Calendar.

So if you'd like to join in, please leave a comment or send me an email.  Let me know if there is a date you would particularly like or one you'd like to avoid.  I will be in touch towards the end of the month!  If you asked to take part before the previous post could you remind me.  I am not sure if someone mentioned it during the Hallowe'en Hop.  I'd rather have two comments from you than miss an email!

Here is a link to last year's so you can see how it works:

2016-online-advent-calendar

Spreading Some Hallowe'en Happiness

I hope you all enjoyed the Spooky Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop this year and found the mystery phrase.  I made it quite tricky this year so no-one would guess half-way through.  The correct answer was not Honeysuckle & Hollyhocks as Rosey suggested but

Hemlock Root & Henbane

which Christine thought sounded like a Heston Blumenthal soup.  They are both used in spells to steal a witch's power.  And poison her too!

I asked everyone to pick their favourite chart from the three on offer and put all the names on a spreadsheet.  If you were a picture poster you got an extra chance in the draw.

The most popular chart was Hallowe'en Happiness by Imaginating and the winner of this one is:

Ariadne from Greece

Ariadne said "As Halloween is not celebrated here I haven't got any stitched pieces. I only show some Halloween things (pumpkin, carving tools, a little witch and stickers) to my pupils and we draw a haunted house. Well who knows till next year I might have my own stitched piece and might take part in the blog hop you will organize next year too!"
So I am holding her to that, next October I shall expect to see a start at the very least!

The second most popular chart was Shepherd's Bush Spooky Night and the winner is:

Jeremiah's Mom Katie

The final chart was Stacy Nash's Cast Your Spell and the winner is:

Beadgirl Janalyn

A lot of people did not specify a chart so I put all the names back in and drew one more.  I already have this person's address so they will get a small surprise some time before Christmas!  I don't have addresses for the other three winners, so please email them to me.

Since Dark October finished I have returned to my usual rotation, starting with the Zodiac stitching for the SAL.  I am so pleased that everyone is enjoying this SAL so far and we've had a couple of people link up too.  I was enjoying the Satsuma Street Virgo so much that I decided to do a few more days on her and try complete the top half of the chart.

stitched on 28 count black evenweave

I did better than that, the half way point is the bottom of her left arm so the zigzag coming down and the end of the sheaf is all the second part of the chart.  I just love those colours although they are hard to photograph while still getting the fabric to look black.

I put her down yesterday and today picked up Dragon of the Winter Moon by Dragon Dreams which is so close to a finish.  I have been stitching sparkle this afternoon:

stitched on 32 count Moondust evenweave by Crafty Kitten

There is a bit more Pearl Kreinik, a crescent moon in Kreinik and then some beads and we will have a finish this month!  

I am undecided what to stitch after that, it should really be something from my WIPocalypse list or maybe a smaller design to try get another finish?  We shall see.

Regular followers will know what that door means - it's time to sign up for the Advent Calendar  Blog Hop!  For this hop, each participant is allocated a day in December to make their post on.  They will show something they have stitched on a Christmas theme and answer the topic question I set.  I then copy their photo onto my blog post in the style of an Advent Calendar.

So if you'd like to join in, please leave a comment or send me an email.  Let me know if there is a date you would particularly like or one you'd like to avoid.  I will be in touch towards the end of the month!

Here is a link to last year's so you can see how it works:

2016-online-advent-calendar

Finally, I track my comments and I recently received my 15,000th comment from MsOhSewCrafty!  No, she didn't make all 15,000, that's the cumulative total from you all.  Thank you so much for commenting on each post.  I try to reply to all even those tricky no-reply people!  I do appreciate that you take the time to visit, read and comment.  Thank you.