March Stitch From Stash and Pie

 Last day of the month and Time for Pie!

14 days on one project - Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow.  Here's where I started the month:

I finished Block 3:

And got this far on Block 4

stitched over 1 on 25 count Cassia Rose from Chromatic Alchemy

I will continue with this block in February and then start Block 1.  So far the number of days is:

Block 7 - 13 days

Block 6 - 16 days

Block 2 - 19 days

Block 3 - 20 days

Block 4 - 3 days and counting

My WIPGO Board chose Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow for both numbers which left me with a free choice for the rest of the month.  I decided on a new start I have been very excited about.  Nora Corbett had a new series last year called The Zodiac Girls.  I acquired all of them!  Where else would I start except Virgo, my Star Sign?  I had the genius idea of using the fabrics from Sparklies with the same name as each chart.  So here is Virgo on Virgo:

stitched on 32 count Virgo Murano from Sparklies

I mentioned before I wasn't sure about the pink hair, it's not very "me".  I toyed with the idea of auburn hair and a green dress for Autumn but the colours didn't look so good on the fabric.  Then I looked at the charted blues for her dress - 414 and 415.  Which are grey??  I remembered the tin of the new DMC colours I bought had some nice lavender shades so I got that out and used the following:

30

30/26 blend

26

25

27

The frame is 3051 rather than the called-for Caron Waterlilies.

I really like it.  I also stitched over the gaps for the beads.  She is holding several beaded chains in her hands so I am going to secure the threads at each end, thread the beads and have them hanging free with just a couple of tacking stitches to help keep them in place.

She is going away now until she gets called for the WIPGO later this year.

Just Nan's Lily Pond was my lunchtime projects on the days I worked.

stitched on 32 count Pale Green Linen

I have decided to log my bath-time stitching this year.

Tiny Modernist 3D Greenhouse

stitched on 28 count grey-blue evenweave

This should change in April as I will stitch Day 4 of the 12 Days, complete my 3D Greenhouse and then return to my Stitch it Picasso Dragon.

Finally, Stitch from Stash was a bust because I supported some Ukrainian designers!

At the start of the month I bought this design from Living on the Rainbow:

It's an adorable bookshop!

Then I won an Etsy voucher from Rachel which I wanted to use to support some more designers.  Unfortunately, having chosen four charts, when I went to pay - none of them accepted Etsy vouchers!  So I used my Paypal balance to get them.  So as not to waste the voucher I bought two sets of designs from Waxing Moon that I wanted anyway!

The four Ukrainian designs I showed in my Gifted Gorgeousness post, so here are the two Waxing Moon designs:

I am hoping they will work with my CCN Main Street conversion.  If not, then I will stitch them separately and frame in matching frames!

£15 was a gift voucher and the mag sub is not counted for SFS which brings it down a little bit!

March WIPocalypse Stitching Challenges

     

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 "22 in '22" for this year.  This month I stitched on 4 of them and had 2 "block" finishes.  

5. Carriage House Samplings Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow

stitched over 1 on 25 count Cassia Rose evenweave from Chromatic Alchemy

14. CCN Main Street Post Office

stitched on 32 count Charcoal Slate Murano from Sparklies

17. Jardin Prive 12 Days of Christmas

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen

18. Nora Corbett Virgo

stitched on 32 count Murano in Virgo from Sparklies

I've made one change with Virgo so far, her dress looks blue in the cover picture but the charted threads are 414 and 415 which are grey.  I wanted a little bit more colour so I went for some of the newer DMC.  I chose 30 and 26 instead and they look really pretty on my fabric.

The full list can be seen here - WIPocalypse and 22 in 22

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss too.

March – Tell us about a technique, designer, pattern, or anything else in stitching that you’ve been nervous or afraid to try.

As usual with this kind of question, the answer is nothing!  I've never been afraid to give something a go.  If it doesn't work out then either keep trying or write it off as an experience.   My first pillow finish was very wonky and mis-shapen but I've kept trying and have used different techniques so now I am quite happy with them.  My hardanger is adequate but it's not something I want to spend a lot of time perfecting.  I love 3D pieces and I know you are all excited to see my little Greenhouse fully finished.  I started the backstitch last night so it's very close now.

My Chatelaine is quite an intense pattern, but if you follow the instructions carefully it all makes sense.

Looking back at my first ten projects; I used metallics, black fabric, charted my own design and stitched a Teresa Wentzler.

One of my remaining goals is to stitch a biscornu.  For some reason I've never actually got round to making one.

The final thing which many people consider a challenge is a computer generated full coverage design.  They also have no appeal to me, either the stitching or the finished piece.  I like designs charted by people.

🐇 Good Friday - Friday 15th April 🐇

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Annual Easter Treasure Hunt.    If you would like to take part this year, just leave a comment here.  The week before Easter I will send you a letter of the alphabet which will form part of the mystery phrase.  On Good Friday you will post that letter along with a photo of something seasonal that you have stitched (could be Easter or Spring or just something cheerful and sunny or floral).  We all hop around like little bunnies to find the Mystery Phrase!

Here's a link to last year's hop so you can see how it all works - Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop 2021

March Smalls

  

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

This year my Smalls will be the Jardin Prive 12 Days of Christmas which I started on Boxing Day 2021 for the 12 Days of Stitchmas.

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue Linen

Because this year is going to be a Year of Focus, I won't really have a lot of Smalls to share so I'm including my Tiny Modernist Greenhouse:

stitched on 28 count grey-blue evenweave

I've completed the greens so now I can work on the flowers and the backstitch.

The No New Starts FB Group have quite a generous measure of what makes a "Small" and my current Just Nan Band Sampler fits their definition at 114 x 60 stitches (anything where (H+W)/2 is less than 100 is a Small).  So here is Week 8, Band 8:

Just Nan - Lily Pond

stitched on 32 count Pale Green linen

🐇 Good Friday - Friday 15th April 🐇

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Annual Easter Treasure Hunt.    If you would like to take part this year, just leave a comment here.  The week before Easter I will send you a letter of the alphabet which will form part of the mystery phrase.  On Good Friday you will post that letter along with a photo of something seasonal that you have stitched (could be Easter or Spring or just something cheerful and sunny or floral).  We all hop around like little bunnies to find the Mystery Phrase!

Here's a link to last year's hop so you can see how it all works - Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop 2021

March 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.

I worked on Friday but took my Just Nan sampler with me and managed to complete Band 8 in my lunch break:

Just Nan - Lily Pond

stitched on 32 count Pale Green linen

I didn't have the variegated green for the row of frogs so I used 501, 502 and 503 to stitch them so the colours change across the row.

In the evenings I have been stitching my Tiny Modernist 3D Greenhouse.  I have one more shade of green to stitch and then it's time for the flowers and backstitch.  And making into a 3D form!

stitched on 28 count grey-blue evenweave

Having completed my 14 days on Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow it was time for a new start!  Because I am taking part in No New Starts 22:22 this year, I am reducing the number of new starts as much as possible but this one was in my plans.

I put up a photo of one day's progress in the Mira Mira FB group and asked people to "Name That Nora" with just a couple of clues.  Even Nora Corbett herself couldn't guess, but eventually someone got it right.

This is Virgo from the Zodiac Girls series in the Nora Corbett imprint:

stitched on 32 count Virgo Murano from Sparklies
(the perfect fabric?)

This is what she will look like eventually.

Although I might change her pink hair to be a little bit more purple pink than candyfloss pink?

Finally the next IHSW will be 15th - 17th April 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.

WIPGO and IHSW

 

WIPGO is a Facebook Bingo Group where everyone chooses 25 projects and goals for the year.  Each month the Admin choose two numbers and you work on those goals in that month.  There is lots of leeway to change things and adapt it to suit yourself though.  The second full weekend of each month is a WIPGO Weekend.  So that was last weekend!

This year, I added Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow to the Board ten times as that's my focus piece for the year.  In March both numbers were for H@HRH so I worked on it for the first two weeks.  I completed Block 3 and started Block 4:

stitched over 1 on 25 count Cassia Rose evenweave from Chromatic Alchemy

The whole piece so far:

It's taken me six weeks to stitch the top row so far.  Block 4 may be quicker as it's not as fully covered as Blocks 2 or 3.

Now I am free to stitch anything I want for the rest of the month.  There's one project on my WIPocalypse list which I have been itching to start so that's coming up this weekend.  This is the fabric I'll be stitching on but I can't tell you what it's called because it will spoilt the surprise of knowing which project I'm starting!

I can tell you that it's a 32 count Murano from Sparklies.

If you are hermitting this weekend, leave a comment here or make a Blog Post on Monday to show your progress.  Join the FB group if you haven't already done so and post there too.

🐇 Good Friday - Friday 15th April 🐇

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Annual Easter Treasure Hunt.    If you would like to take part this year, just leave a comment here.  The week before Easter I will send you a letter of the alphabet which will form part of the mystery phrase.  On Good Friday you will post that letter along with a photo of something seasonal that you have stitched (could be Easter or Spring or just something cheerful and sunny or floral).  We all hop around like little bunnies to find the Mystery Phrase!

Here's a link to last year's hop so you can see how it all works - Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop 2021

Gifted Gorgeousness March Link-up Post

  

Welcome to the March 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 gifted project is my Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow which is my focus project for the year.

Since the last GG I have stitched the rest of Block 3:

stitched over 1 on 25 count Cassia Rose evenweave from Chromatic Alchemy

All four blocks so far:

Love the pumpkin head!

I also completed another shop in my spooky conversion of CCN's Main Street.  This is the Post Office converted into the Owl Post Office.  The charts and fabric were gifts:

My final gifted things for this month are some "future stitching".  I was lucky enough to win a competition organised by Rachel, the Ten Hour Stitcher and she sent me an Etsy voucher so I could buy some charts to support Ukrainian designers.

These are the four charts I purchased:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/898638510/aslan-lion-silhouette-fandom-cross

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/595232383/cross-stitch-pattern-evening-in-shire

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/924899916/alice-in-wonderland-primitive-cross

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/904009200/winter-foxes-cross-stitch-pattern-pdf

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 "March 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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🐇 Good Friday - Friday 15th April 🐇

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Annual Easter Treasure Hunt.    If you would like to take part this year, just leave a comment here.  The week before Easter I will send you a letter of the alphabet which will form part of the mystery phrase.  On Good Friday you will post that letter along with a photo of something seasonal that you have stitched (could be Easter or Spring or just something cheerful and sunny or floral).  We all hop around like little bunnies to find the Mystery Phrase!

Here's a link to last year's hop so you can see how it all works - Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop 2021

Finally Fully Finishing Fun for March

  

Hosted by Rachel the Ten Hour Stitcher

This SAL is designed to motivate us all to do something with that box of Finished pieces instead of just storing them under the bed.  We will all be linking up on Rachel's blog on or after the 10th of each month (10 Hour Stitcher - 10th of the month).

Once again this month I FFO'd on the 8th!

This is a little Just Nan freebie I completed back in 2015!  I intended to scrapbook it on this page

But never got round to it.  It's a very small piece so I thought it might get lost without a fancy border.  So then I decided to make a Halloween Ornament:

I backstitched an octagon around the design, did the same on a spare piece of the fabric, then whipstitched the two together.  When I got to the final side, I stuffed it with last year's ORTs.  I don't produce many ORTs as I am very parsimonious with my thread, using it to the final cm.  But there were enough to make a nice padded spider.  Then I made some dangles using black beads at four corners and an extra long one at the bottom.  This one I ended with a spider web charm:

After that I made a super long string of beads, added a pumpkin charm and a loop at the top:

So here we have my Poor Jack Halloween Dangler:

Worth waiting 7 years for!

Earlier in the week I completed Day 3 of the 12 Days of Stitchmas.  My project this year is by Jardin Prive and I'm using this rather wonderful Millenium Blue linen.  

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen

🐇 Good Friday - Friday 15th April 🐇

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Annual Easter Treasure Hunt.    If you would like to take part this year, just leave a comment here.  The week before Easter I will send you a letter of the alphabet which will form part of the mystery phrase.  On Good Friday you will post that letter along with a photo of something seasonal that you have stitched (could be Easter or Spring or just something cheerful and sunny or floral).  We all hop around like little bunnies to find the Mystery Phrase!

Here's a link to last year's hop so you can see how it all works - Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop 2021

The People Chose Quilts

  

This SAL is all about what you want to see on the blog. Each month I ask for suggestions for themes and then put them up to the members of the IHSW Group on FB to vote for their choice. This is what they have chosen:

March - Quilts

April - Series of Designs

May - to be advised

I know a few of you quilt, personally I don't.  I do admire quilts but it's a hobby that takes up a lot of space!

Consequently I haven't stitched many designs with quilts in them.  I have made some motifs to be included in quilts which were made by other people.  So here they are:

This is a motif from the Scarlet Letter's English Transitional Sampler which I stitched for Nicola's surprise quilt in 2013:

This is a Glendon Place design called Friendship Compass which I stitched for Mouse's special Birthday.  I put my initials on the eastern point because that is where I live.

Is an afghan a quilt?  I think it counts!  This one had six blocks and we stitched two each for my friend Dawn's Baby:

I stitched a dragon and a cat.  My two favourite animals!

This one from Hetti is designed to look like a quilt with a little block for each day.  I stitched this throughout 2018 using the daily maximum temperatures.

Now it's over to you.  All you have to do is make a post on the theme of Quilts, mention The People's Choice SAL (you can copy the picture I used at the top of this post and in my side bar) and my blog. Please link up using the URL of the actual blog post, not the home page of your blog.   I look forward to seeing what you all post.

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Finally, I need your suggestions for the next poll.  Anything, no matter how obscure, weird or random will go into the poll.  Keep the theme suggestions to a single word or two - so you could have Cats, or Green, or Holidays, or Warmth etc.   Really anything which could be illustrated in cross stitch.