September Gifted Gorgeousness Link-up Post

        

Welcome to the September 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.

Last month, my evening piece was a chart I gave to a friend as a Birthday present and then she gave it back to me to stitch for myself!  I'm using the offcut of Sparklies' Tigerlily Murano for these.

Shepherd's Bush - Halloween Trifles

stitched on 32 count Tigerlily Murano from Sparklies

My focus piece for last month was Joan Elliott's Faces SAL, stitched on gifted fabric:

stitched on 28 count Snapdragon Jazlyn from Crafty Kitten

This month, both my focus pieces are also gifts!  The charts were sent to me by a lovely friend who was clearing some of her older stash.  During the day I am stitching on Couer de Sorciere by TraLaLa:

stitched on 32 count Taupe evenweave

In the evening it's this little repeating design from Hands on Design, [never.more]

stitched on 32 count Khaki linen

Continuing progress on this one as we cool down to Lime again:

Steady Thread - Tree of Life Temperature SAL

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stitched on 28 count Meadow Mist linen from Silkweavers

I record the temperature each day and then stitch the leaves on the Sunday morning.

I've caught up at last!

My Dark 13 design is stitched on gifted fabric, a beautiful 40 count linen called Witch's Brew from Zweigart.  My plan is to stitch one letter per month until we reach October and then complete it during Dark October.

stitched on 40 count linen called Witch's Brew from Zweigart

Finally, 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 "September 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 Fully Finishing Fun for September

  

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).

Guess what - I finished something!!  Two somethings in fact.

First something is a ten year old project, the Faces SAL from Joan Elliott started in 2014 and finished in August 2024.  I went for a simple box frame that I painted with emulsion test pots, a mix of pink and lilac to match the lovely fabric.

Nice and simple with a good amount of the fabric showing round the edge.

Close up of one corner:
  

The second FFO is very exciting and took quite a bit longer than just framing a picture.

Living on the Rainbow 3D Haunted House

I changed the finishing method a bit.
Instead of using iron-on interfacing, I mounted each piece on thin card.

I whipstitched the four sides together.

Then I stitched the roof on three sides from the back, turned it right way out, inserted some thin card and whipstitched the fourth side shut.

I backstitched along the top to make a ridge in the roof then stitched the roof to the four walls.

(that was the hardest part in the process)

I stuffed the house with pillow stuffing.

Finally, I covered a piece of thin card in linen and stitched it to the bottom of the house.

September Plans

At the start of the year I made a list of 24 projects I want to stitch this year for my "24 in '24".  The order I stitch them in is going to be determined by the WIPGO Board.  Jessie-Marie calls two numbers each month and those will be the two projects I stitch that month.  One small and one medium.

In August, the numbers were 12 and 15.  These related to Joan Elliott's Faces SAL and Shepherd's Bush Halloween Trifles.

A very successful month saw both of these finished, including all three of the Trifles.

stitched on 28 count Snapdragon Jazlyn from Crafty Kitten

Boo

Eek

Halloween

all stitched on 32 count Tigerlily Murano from Sparklies

In September, the numbers are 4 and 11.  These relate to TraLaLa Couer de Sorciere and Hands on Design [never.more].

stitched on 32 count Taupe evenweave

I'm making really good progress on this one as I started early!  Once I finished the Faces SAL I thought I would start this one immediately rather than wait until 1st September.  I have quite a bit of FFO'ing to do and some larger projects it would be nice to work on.  Plus people keep releasing gorgeous Halloween designs I want to squeeze in!

stitched on 32 count Khaki linen

This one is my evening stitch.  I don't have the button but I will probably add a spider charm to the middle instead.

Finally, I am way behind in my blogging so you may see older posts suddenly appear out of date order.  I have made a start on four posts from August that need finishing and publishing.  So far, I'm up to date with September though!

September TUSAL

  

It's TUSAL time!  

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current projects:

On the left we have Couer de Sorciere from TraLaLa:

stitched on 32 count Taupe evenweave

On the right is my evening project - [never.more] from Hands On Design:

stitched on 32 count Khaki linen

Finally, you'll see more of these on my Plans post coming up soon.

August Stitch from Stash and Pie

 It's time for pie!

As you can see I spent most of the month completing the Joan Elliott Faces SAL, this has been a WIP for 10 years now so I was very excited to finally finish it this month!

Another finish I was very excited by was the third in the Nora Corbett Zodiac Girls series, this is Capricorn:

This meant I was in a good place to start September's WIPGO choice early.  This is a TraLaLa design called Coeur de Sorciere (Witch's Heart).  I forgot to take a photo though, so here's the cover picture:

I also keep a pie for my evening stitching.  This month it was split between The Hare Moon from Circle Cross and the three Halloween Trifles.  Four more finishes!

Finally, Stitch from Stash.

I just had to get the latest Just Nan sampler release.  Firstly because it's the first sampler she has designed in ten years so it's great to see her go back to the format I first fell in love with.  Secondly, it's Limited Edition because of the embellishment packs.  Once they sell out you won't be able to get it again.  It will have to be a Birthday present though.

August WIPocalypse Groups and Guilds

           

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 "24 in '24" for this year. This month I stitched on 4 of them and had two finishes.

2. Shepherd's Bush Halloween Trifles

13. Joan Elliott Faces SAL

19. Nora Corbett Capricorn

24. Cottage Garden Samplings Halloween Sampler

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

August – Do you belong to any stitching groups or guilds (either in person or virtual)?

"Guilds" always reminds me of Terry Pratchett and his Discworld with the Thieves Guild, the Assassins Guild, Beggars Guild etc.  Other than in Fantasy Literature and Medieval craftsmen it's not something I have ever considered.

Groups, are another matter!!  The advent of Facebook has been incredible for groups and I don't want to have to count how many I belong to.  I am a big fan of "single designer or theme" groups rather than general stitching groups. I love the Mirabilia groups and belong to many of those.  They often set up spin-off groups for a group such as The Bewitching Pixies or the Zodiac Girls.  I also love the Halloween Stitching Group as that is a nice pure Spooky Stitching group.

I do admin a couple of groups - IHSW being the main one.  I also run the Just Cross Stitch Ornament SAL.  Both of those I took the reins when the founder wanted to take a break from admin.  I also help out with the Stitchonomy group and a Lavender & Lace group too.

I'm only in 2 challenge groups - Stitch from Stash which I adore and WIP Warriors (used to be No New Starts).  I do the "24 in '24" for that one.

And, of course, the WIPocalypse group!!

August Smalls

       

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Rachel

For my Smalls stitching this year, I have chosen 12 smaller designs and numbered them for my WIPGO Board.  Each month one Small will be stitched in the evening timeslot and hopefully finished within the month.  

Last month I was stitching The Hare Moon for Taurus from Circle Cross as I completed the WIPGO choice early.  Here is the finished Moon Maiden:

stitched on 28 count Robin's Egg evenweave from Silkweavers

This month's choice was a trio of spooky designs from Shepherd's Bush called Halloween Trifles.  I have finished two of them and have started the third.

Boo

Eek

Halloween

all stitched on 32 count Tigerlily Murano from Sparklies

The chart suggests some JABCO buttons to fill the gaps but I will use some charms I have in my stash.

Finally, if you are in the UK, take a trip to The Works.  They have all their Halloween stuff in now and there are some great products for spooky finishing.