Finally Fully Finishing Fun for August

Hosted by Rachel the Ten Hour Stitcher

This new 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).

I managed two different FFOs this month - one ornie and one scrapbook page.  The ornie was a recent finish and the scrapbook piece rescued from the "Chuck it in a Bag for 20 Years" finishing bag.

The recent finish was a Just Nan design called A Little Joy from the 2002 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Special.  I made it into a padded square ornament with a beaded trim and a ribbon hanger:

Stitched on 28 count Platinum linen

The main design over two and the centre sampler over one

Beaded trim

Backing Fabric

With two Sweetheart Tree recent finishes

The older piece was probably a magazine cover kit from the 1990s.  I have no idea.  I can't think of any other reason for stitching it!

stitched on 14 count aida

I was pleased with the choice of paper and mount.  I wanted the look of an old fashioned living room with the cat asleep on the settee.

I would have FFO'd Summer Typography but Wilkos have discontinued their 6 x 6 inch raw wood box frames.  I was hoping to have a spare one at home but sadly not.  So I will have to buy a white one and paint it.  I want it to co-ordinate with the other three.  Here are some more photos of Summer Typography for those who missed it.

stitched on 32 count Pink linen

Did you spot the word I changed?  Answer at the end of the blog post!

Finally:

Three postcards have been sent out in the Summer Postcard Blog Hop to:

Aimetu's Stitching
Needle, Pen and Sword
Miniz Diary

so make sure you follow their blogs and see who the cards come from.

It's not too late to send your postcard to me if you want to join in!






















(The word is Super!  Hope you are having a Super Summer too)

June Smalls SAL

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

For this SAL I am showing the monthly project for the Christmas Ornie Blog. I am choosing from the back issues of the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Specials. This month we could chose any ornament from any issue from 2001 to 2010.  I went for a Just Nan design from 2002; A Little Joy.

stitched on 28 count Platinum linen

The fabric next to it will be the backing fabric for the ornament finish.  The original was charted so the small design in the centre was stitched over 1 on a separate piece of fabric and then put into a tiny frame attached the main design.  But as I don't have a tiny frame, I stitched it direct on the fabric and added a little gold backstitched frame around it.

This was a lovely design to stitch, some speciality stitches, some metallics and some beads as well as the tiny over one scene in the centre.

The other regular project for the SAL is my spooky conversion of Lavender & Lace's Enchanted Alphabet.  I finished the letters a while back and now I am adding various spooky motifs each month.  This month I added some little ghosts:

I am also stitching a Just Nan small each month.  This is side 1 of Butterfly Needlebook.  I am calling this a finish although there are some initials to be added in the centre of the motif.  I want to complete both sides before I add them.

stitched on 28 count hand-dyed pink linen

This is side 2 of the Needlebook:

Finally, a less pleasant subject - Spam.  I have had a rash of spam comments just lately.  Fortunately they have not appeared on my blog as I moderate comments, so for those of you who do not moderate - check your comments daily to delete them.  Most are quite obviously spam although there was one that seemed to be a real person "Millie", until you followed their link and they were not!

June TUSAL

And now it's TUSAL time, the Totally Useless SAL where we all show our ORTS and link-up on Daffycat's blog (if she makes a post, she's gone very quiet again).

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current projects:

On the left we have Just Nan's Butterfly Needlebook:

stitched on 28 count pink evenweave

This is a lovely thick hand-dyed fabric which was a gift from Mouse.  However, it's not quite an evenweave.  It's actually 29 count in one direction and 31 in the other, so the "squares" are not quite square.  But the way I have oriented the central motif means it will still look square.  That was lucky!

The other project is also a Just Nan.  This is A Little Joy from Just Cross Stitch 2002 for the Christmas Ornament Blog:

stitched on 28 count Platinum linen.

This fabric is a total contrast as it is very loosely woven.  The original design called for the central motif to be stitched over one on a separate piece of fabric and inserted into a tiny frame charm then attached to the main piece.  Which would have looked lovely if the tiny frame charm was still available.  So I'm just stitching it over one right onto the main design.

Finally, there will be a Summer Blog Hop this year.  We will have an International Theme for the Postcards this year.  Each person emails me a photo of something they have stitched on an International theme which is suitable to send to a fellow stitcher along with a short message of the kind you write on a postcard.  I will forward the photo to another participant who shows it on their blog.  The photo can be anything which fits the International theme, let's see which countries we visit this Summer.  If you'd like to take part then leave a comment or send me an email.

The Hop will run over the whole of the Summer with a few cards going out each week.  Final deadline will be the end of August, just in time for Back to School!