December 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.

In November the WIPGO Board called Moonshadow Mini from Full Circle.  Ifinished this one at the start of December.

stitched on 32 count white linen

Then I started my December pick,  which would be a finish if I hadn't put an enormous great tree in front of my bead storage boxes and can't get to them!

So here's the top half of Day 1 of the 12 Days of Christmas by Shannon Christine again:

stitched on 28 count black evenweave

Finally, here's a picture of the great old tree blocking my bead storage!

And with the lights on:

December 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.

This year I have been trying something different for IHSW - an A-Z Challenge!  These usually take place in April and people stitch one letter every day except Sunday.  I don't want to swap projects daily so thought I could do 2 or 3 letters per IHSW instead.

Of course, I totally forgot that plan for the final IHSW of the year and just carried on with my two focus pieces.

My daytime piece is Aslan from Life in Stitch on Etsy.  I am loving this so much!  You can see the shape of the lion appearing already.

stitched on 28 count black evenweave

My evening piece is also stitched on black fabric, this is Day 1 of the 12 Days of Christmas from Shannon Christine:

stitched on 28 count black evenweave

I've nearly finished it so I'm only showing the top half!

Finally the next IHSW will be 17th - 19th January 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.

December Gifted Gorgeousness Link-Up Post

           

Welcome to the December 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.

I have only stitched on one thing which comes under the Gifted Heading and that's on gifted fabric.  We're currently in the blues/greens although I need to catch up on the last couple of weeks of leaves.

Steady Thread - Tree of Life Temperature SAL

stitched on 28 count Meadow Mist linen from Silkweavers

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

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 "December 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 Finished Fun for December

     

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).

Sorry Rachel, nothing new this month but here's a recap of the year!

January

Special Delivery from Just Nan framed by me

February

Amaranth from Shepherd's Bush framed by me

March

Snowberries from Just Nan made into a card

April

September Strawflowers from The Sweetheart Tree framed by me

Peacock Tapestry from Just Nan framed by me

May

Hocus Pocus Cabinet from The Primitive Hare was framed by me

June

Spring Spell from Just Nan was scrapbooked

September

Faces from Joan Elliott framed by me

3D Haunted House from Living on the Rainbow

October

Capricorn from Nora Corbett professionally framed

The Hare Moon for Taurus from Circle Cross Designs professionally framed

3D Haunted Mansion from Fiona Baker

November

Couer de Sorciere from TraLaLa which I finished into a primitive heart shaped pillow:

Halloween Trifles from Shepherd's Bush on a wooden pumpkin

Finally, the total of different finishes:

Framed by me - 6

Flat finished by me - 5

3D finished by me - 3

Professionally framed - 2

Total FFOs this year - 16

December 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 November, the numbers were 14 and 16.  These related to Maria Brovko Evening in the Shire and Full Circle Designs Moonshadow Mini "A Child's Dream".

Maria Brovko - Evening in the Shire

Mostly all backstitch with just small areas of cross stitching for effect.

The backstitch is a combination of one, two or three strands to add dimension

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen

stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

This is a sweet sampler with lots of speciality stitches

It just turned out a little different to the way I was expecting!
I used the charted colours, but here's the cover:

Definitely looks purple and lilac to me and not brown!  But it looks nice and I'll see if I have a nice brown frame to match.

By default, the December numbers had to be 7 and 20.  These relate to Shannon Christine's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 1) and Life in Stitch's Aslan.

The latter is another Ukrainian designer on Etsy.  By coincidence, both designs are going to be stitched on black fabric, so that will be fun!

Finally, I am still making plans for 2025!  After a year of small/medium designs I have two larger pieces I want to focus on and then keep up with some of the series I started the last couple of years.  Designs such as the Zodiac Girls, the 12 Days of Christmas, The Year in the Woods.

December TUSAL

     

It's TUSAL time!  

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current project:

This is Evening in the Shire by Maria Brovko stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen.

There's a small amount of cross stitches then loads of backstitch!

Nearly done now so I'm going to keep going with this one until it's finished and then start my December WIPGO project.


Finally, if you've got the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Special this year and fancy joining a year-long SAL on Facebook then we've just chosen our favourites for 2025 and I'll be announcing the winners soon.

The group can be found here, please answer the membership questions to be accepted - JCS Stitch Along