May Stitch from Stash and Pie

The Mania of Maynia is over and it's time to recap how the month went.

First of all, here is my Pie:

15 days of Discworld, all spent on The Blowing Man, from here:

to here:

stitched on 32 count Murano custom-dyed by Sparklies

I have his legs and wind to finish and then I will work on the red/white border to make sure that all meeets up alright.

In my WIPocalypse post I showed my finish of Just Nan's Winter in the Square which had been my 20-a-Day project so far this year.  Once I completed that I decided to start another Just Nan seasonal design.  This one is Small Delights - Spring!  with the exclamation mark as part of the name.  I'm using a lovely pale green linen which is incredibly difficult to get the colour right in photos:

stitched on 32 count pale green linen

The Tiny Decisions app was used once again to decide on my project for the rest of the month after I completed 15 days of Discworld.  A new start came up, I was very excited about this one.  Regular followers will remember my Spooky Conversion of Lavender & Lace's Enchanted Alphabet - Happy Dance.   I had been following Ms Oh Sew Crafty's Christmas Village and also Michelle Cozyegg's Halloween Village and wanted one of my own.  I decided to use the County Cottage Needlework Main Street as the basis and convert each shop to a Spooky version.  Kerry in Stitches has done a Gilmour Girls version and when I won her Sparklies Giveaway I decided to use the voucher to purchase the fabric and make this a 2020 start.

Unfortunately 8 days wasn't quite enough to finish it so I am going to pop it into the Bath-Time stitching slot which is vacant thanks to the end of Maynia.

You can see there is very little left to do:

stitched on 32 count Murano in Charcoal Slate from Sparklies

(this fabric photographs perfectly almost every time)

I will list my conversion colours when I finish this shop.

And on to Maynia.  Here are the final three designs:

29th May - Tiny Toile Heart

30th May - Winter Roses 

31st May - Wintery Mix 

And here are all 32 Maynia projects together:

Finally, Stitch from Stash:

May
Nothing	£0.00
Total	£0.00

Not very exciting, but very necessary.

May WIPocalypse Most Loved Project

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.

Since 2011 I have chosen a number of projects to focus on that year, starting with my "11 in '11" and increasing to "20 in '20" for this year.  This month I stitched on 7 of them and got a finish too.

Chatelaine - Gardens of London

(Project 4)

My Discworld Mappe went from here:

to here

Lyndisfarne - Discworld Map

(Project 5)

JBW - 12 Days of Christmas

(Project 10)

Hands on Design - Bitter Brew

(Project 14)

Just Nan - Winter in the Square - Finish

(Project 16)

Amanda Butler - Alice in Wonderland SAL in Cross Stitcher magazine

(Project 17)

Country Cottage Needlework - Main Street Spooky Conversion

(Project 20)

I haven't blogged about this new start at all, so I will do a longer piece about it in my monthly Pie post.

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

May  – Tell us about a piece that you absolutely loved stitching.

What, just one?  I love stitching ALL of them!  Except those dragons on scratchy aida.  But we won't talk about them!

If I had to choose just one project out of all of them, it would probably be a Mirabilia.  There is something about the way Nora Corbett charts her designs, the way the fabrics flow and you feel like you are making a real dress and not just stitching one.  The way the colours always go together so perfectly.  The way the figures actually stand like proper people, not at weird angles, you can see her background in fashion drawing.

My favourite Mirabilia I have stitched would have to be Sleeping Beauty; a large project stitched back in my OAAT days and even then she took about six months to complete:

Every stitch of this was a pleasure!

May Smalls

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

This year my Smalls will be my JBW 12 Days of Christmas ornaments which I started on Boxing Day 2019 for the 12 Days of Stitchmas.  I completed the Fifth Day in May:

stitched on 40 count White linen, 1 over 2

(looking a little sparse without the beads and red ribbon to attach the rings to the wreath!)

Then I continued with my Stitch Maynia Just Nan-a-thon.  One Small per evening.  I have already shown the first 21, so here are the next batch:

22nd May - Seasonal Gems Summer

23rd May - Seasonal Gems Autumn

 24th May - Snowberries

 25th May - Special Delivery

 26th May - Spring Spell

 27th May - Tall Flowers

 28th May - Tiny Bunny Biscornu Side 1

  28th May - Tiny Bunny Biscornu Side 2

Finally, the lovely Clare from Aimetu's Stitching is asking for some help with her smalls.  Each year Clare decorates a tree for her church's Tree Festival with stitched ornaments.  I have donated ornaments in the past and this year she is asking us to join in again.  The theme is A Bouquet of Flowers.  All she needs is the stitched piece, she will fully-finish it for you.  Just leave a comment on Clare's blog to get involved.   (I include this each month as a reminder for myself!)

May TUSAL

It's TUSAL time!

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current project:

I left the ORTs in my tin to show all the pink that was frogged from Gardens of London at the end of last month!

I have one more day to stitch on the Discworld Mappe to make 15 this month and then I get to spin my Tiny Decisions app and choose a project for the rest of the month.

Finally, Stitch Maynia has continued.  Here are the latest projects:

18th May - Porcelain Nosegay

19th May - Primrose Path 

20th May - Seasonal Gems Winter 

21st May - Seasonal Gems Spring 

May IHSW

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

Once again I started the weekend off with my Alice in Wonderland SAL from Cross Stitcher magazine.  I had already stitched the Mad Hatter earlier in the week and just needed to backstitch him on Friday:

The Mad Hatter before and after backstitching

This fabric colour is more accurate

The whole piece so far, I added a little bit more border at the top:

stitched on 32 count yellow linen

Then I moved on to my Discworld Mappe and stitched the rest of the "Blowing Man" as Emily calls him:

Starting point on Friday morning:

Current progress:

stitched on custom-dyed 32 count Murano from Sparklies

The next IHSW will be 19th - 21st June so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook.  If you don't do Facebook then you can check in here by leaving a comment on my post. 

That weekend also includes The Longest Day in the Northern Hemisphere.  This is when I usually do my Longest Day Marathon where I dedicate an entire day to stitching every single one of my WIPs.  That is simply not going to happen this year with my son at home all the time.  So I have decided to start as usual on the morning of the Longest Day (Saturday 20th June) and continue until I have stitched on every WIP.  Which will be sometime on Sunday.  It won't be quite the same, but nothing is right now!

Finally, Stitch Maynia has continued with my Just Nan-a-thon:

15th May - Owl Winder Pocket

16th May - Pansy Basket

17th May - Peacock Tapestry 

May Gifted Gorgeousness Link-up Post

Welcome to the May Gifted Gorgeousness link-up.  The link-up date continues to be the 15th and I will keep the link-up open until the end of each month so you have plenty of time if you are late posting.

The format remains exactly the same, there is a list of rules on the main sign-up page if you want to check what is required but basically anything connected to the word "gift" is allowed, whether it was a gift TO you or is a gift FROM you.

My main project for Gifted Gorgeousness has been my Discworld Mappe by Lyndisfarne Designs, which will be a gift for my son.  This is the portion I have been working on in May:

That is the photo that prompted me to tell the designer, Emily Metcalfe that she isn't my friend any more!  There are four shades of flesh pink in that face and loads of fractionals.

However, the backstitch does bring out the details.  And only took an entire day's worth of stitching:

stitched on 32 count Murano custom-dyed by Sparklies

My Chatelaine, Gardens of London was a Birthday Present and many of the threads came from blogging friends:

stitched on 32 count Cotton Clouds Belfast by Crafty Kitten

One of my new starts was a gift from Julie.  This is Just Nan's Lady in Red Heart:

stitched on 32 count lilac linen

The final gifted project for this month is the 12 Days of Christmas by JBW.  Two of my friends bought two charts each for my Christmas present.  I started one design per day for the 12 Days of Stitchmas and have completed the Fifth Day, except for the beads: 

stitched on 40 count white linen, 1 over 2

Now it is your turn to show us your Gifted Gorgeousness for the month.  Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "May 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, Stitch Maynia continues with another Just Nan Small stitched each evening:

10th May - Holly Berry Snowflakes Icy

 11th May - Holly Berry Snowflakes Chilly

 12th May - Holly Noel - this was a gift from Brenda

 13th May - Jasmine Mix

 14th May - Mitten Men