I Believe I Can Fly/Finish

Yes, we have another finish for you all!  Joan Elliott's Believe, one of a series of four affirmations with the others being Hope, Dream and Imagine.

I stitched this one on 28 count opalescent Robin's Egg evenweave by Silkweaver.  I have enough fabric to stitch all four.  I only have about six packets of Magnifica beads but by happy chance I had the one colour the chart needed!

This is going to be an end-of-term gift for the Small Boy's class teacher and TAs.  Because there are a mixture of girls and boys in the class I changed one fairy into a boy fairy.

Tuesday was Satsuma Street SAL Day so I continued on Pretty Mini London:

stitched on 28 count black evenweave

Sorry Linda, I stitched loads!!  The light pink infill on the Eye, the lilac skyscrapers, the grey arches and the mauve of St. Paul's Cathredral.

Linda and I were discussing how many companies are now doing these City themed designs, they are definitely "On Trend" as the magazines put it!  Then I saw the launch of a new website for the town where I live, and look at their logo:

Wouldn't that make a perfect Satsuma style cross stitch?  Even the colours tone.

I was in the mood for beading so on Wednesday I started the little Mill Hill sampler Rosey sent me:

Frosted Heather Rose

stitched on 28 count evenweave

Unfortunately I forgot that the Small Boy was off school on Thursday and he does not mix well with beads!  So for Thursday I thought I'd make a start on June's ornie for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL.  Despite choosing the themes myself I always forget what they are so I popped over to the blog and saw those dread words "free choice".   Nooooooo, how can I possibly chose from all my Hallowe'en charts and magazines?

I decided to choose one magazine and stitch my favourite design.  I picked the oldest issue of JCS I have as a hard copy (couldn't get on the PC because of the aforementioned Small Boy) and chose a Blue Ribbon Design, Boo Mansion:

Stitched on 32 count Twilight Blue linen

Finally, my Summer Postcard Blog hop again!  The theme this year is Pets.  All you need to do is email me a photo of something you have stitched on this theme plus a little message about what pets mean to you.  Once I have a few I will start emailing them to the participants who will display them on their blogs.  The Blog Hop lasts all Summer so don't worry if you don't have anything suitable stitched yet.  I'm going to be finding some freebies online to inspire you.  Today's choice is fish, goldfish and tropical fish:

My-cross-stitch-patterns - Goldfish

Cross-stitch-pattern.net - Fish

Progress Pictures From This Week

Bit of a boring title that, hopefully the post will be more interesting!

Progress on three different pieces this week.  The first one is from my Tuesday Satsuma Street SAL with Linda and Kate.  Linda and I are both stitching Pretty Little London but to give her a chance to catch up I have switched to Pretty Mini London on black:

Stitched on 28 count black evenweave

On Wednesday I went back to Joan Elliott's Believe and have completed all the cross stitching, just some backstitch and then the beads to be done.  So I'm not showing the whole thing today, just "Be":

Stitched on 32 count Robin's Egg opalescent by Silkweaver

This weekend has been a double shift at work (which I hate) so there has been very little time to stitch.  I managed a few lengths on Book of Spells by The Goode Huswife:

Stitched on 40count Jewel Butterbeer linen

Close-up of the moon: 

I am using DMC for this project, one strand over 2.  For the moon I used 4145 which is a variegated grey.  Now I have moved onto the boring border on the right,  There is a much more interesting border along the bottom thankfully!

I received some lovely post during the week.  I was lucky enough to win two giveaways recently!  The first was from Carin in the Netherlands.  Carin is a stitcher, a knitter, a crocheter and a quilter and a terribly bad influence on me!  She takes the most beautiful photos which always inspire me to stitch the same projects she has just finished.  My last two Little Stitcher's projects were both inspired by Carin's lovely photography.  She also sold me the Book of Spells chart last year!  Here is what she sent me:

Look at all those lovely charms!  And some HDF silks which I have never used before.

Here is a close-up of the beautiful pillow she made: 

Carin's stitching is perfect, as is her sewing, you can't even see the join!

Chart from Cosmic Handmade

The second giveaway was from Rosey from Ishkabibble.  She had a Mill Hill kit complete with fabric, threads and lots of beads.  This is actually quite a tiny piece but with so many beads!  I wonder if anyone can identify the island shown on the postcard before reading on?

Rosey spent several years in Hawaii when she was younger and came home with a special souvenir - a husband!  The postcard actually shows the island of Maui.  Lovely isn't it?

Finally, the talk of postcards brings me onto my Summer Postcard Blog hop again!  The theme this year is Pets.  All you need to do is email me a photo of something you have stitched on this theme plus a little message about what pets mean to you.  Once I have a few I will start emailing them to the participants who will display them on their blogs.  The Blog Hop lasts all Summer so don't worry if you don't have anything suitable stitched yet.  I'm going to be finding some freebies online to inspire you.  Today's choice is the Guinea Pig.  This is a versatile link because you can cross stitch or crochet the guinea pig!

Maria Merlino - Guinea Pig

June WIPocalypse - Summer or Winter

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

The focus of my WIPocalypse will be my "15 in '15"which are 15 charts I want to stitch in 2015 (following on from my "11 in '11", "12 in '12", "13 in '13" and "14 in '14" - imaginative, eh?)

Over the last month I have stitched four of my 15 designs, and completed 2, which brings the total of finishes to six!

The first finish was one you have seen before, Just Nan Haunted Pumpkins Tree:

Stitched on 28count Chocolate Orange evenweave from Crafty Kitten

Then I completed another block for the Primitive Hare Hallowe'en Cubes:

Jolly Ghost stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen

The next finish was the Kingfisher which will be an end of term gift for the Small Boy's class.  There are two teachers and three TAs although he only has close contact with one teacher and one TA.  But it made sense to make something they can hang on the classroom wall rather than individual pieces.  I'm intending to add the word KINGFISHERS on it once I have the frame chosen so I know how much space I have!

Stitched on 28 count blue evenweave

This is part of a design by Anchor which was a free gift with World of Cross Stitching magazine.  It was charted in Anchor shades which I have some skeins so I used the colours where I had them and subbed DMC where I didn't.  The backstitch was a pain because so many blocks were split to make the sketchy effect.  This is relatively easy on evenweave but would have been awful on the recommended aida.

Having completed the end of term gift for one school I thought I should continue with the gift for the other school.  There is one teacher and three TAs there so a class gift is again in order.  They will also get wine and biscuits/chocolates to share too.  Expensive business this schooling!  Thankfully the Large Boy is now at High School where the teachers get  nothing except grief off the parents LOL.

This is one of a set of four designs from Joan Elliott's book Bewitching Cross Stitch.

I started it back on Day 16 of the DUCJC in January and here is where I left it then:

And here it is after two more days of stitching:

I am using a 28 count opal evenweave called Robin's Egg by Silkweaver.  It is big enough to stitch all four design, the others are Hope, Dream and Imagine.  I like the idea of doing one for the Reception class for last year and the other two for the next two years at school.

Measi usually sets us a discussion topic too:

June – Do you find yourself more productive with stitching in summer or winter?

Hard to say really.  I don't log my actual hours stitched and a lot of finishes in one month doesn't necessarily mean more stitching.  January was a good example of that, stitched madly every day and not a single finish!  Work is the biggest hurdle to my stitching time.  Not the full days because I take a piece in with me for lunch break but the five hour days mean it gets squeezed out in favour of all the other things I usually do during the school hours.  December is the worst month because of the extra Christmas shifts combined with the extra Christmas chores and activities.

School holidays are good for stitching.  We get up half an hour later than usual but have the whole day to potter around.  So maybe August is my best month.

You may have noticed that the season does not affect my stitching themes!  Any time is the right time for Hallowe'en.  Of course my Blog Hops do reflect the seasons - Advent for Christmas, Easter in the Spring and the Summer Postcard for the Summer!

Nice segue there.  The theme this year is Pets.  All you need to do is email me a photo of something you have stitched on this theme plus a little message about what pets mean to you.  Once I have a few I will start emailing them to the participants who will display them on their blogs.  The Blog Hop lasts all Summer so don't worry if you don't have anything suitable stitched yet.  I'm going to be finding some freebies online to inspire you.  Today I have chosen two pet bird themed freebies from Kissy Cross.  She also has a lovely Christmas Budgie freebie too.

Kissy Cross - birds out of cage

Kissy Cross - budgie with bell

Days 15 to 17 of the DUCJC 2015

Gosh, this makes post titles a doddle, doesn't it?

The DUCJC is being held this year in memory of SoCal Debbie and I am attempting to stitch on 31 different projects throughout January.  A mixture of WIPs and new starts.

Day 15 - Just Nan - Haunted Pumpkins Tree:

Stitched on 28 count Chocolate Orange evenweave from Crafty Kitten

I stitched the two pumpkins on the bottom left.

Day 16 - Joan Elliott - Believe:

Stitched on 28 count opal evenweave Robin's Egg by Silkweaver Fabrics

I really didn't want to put this one down and continued into the evening when I usually read blogs

Day 17 - Primitive Hare - Hallowe'en Cubes:

Stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen.

Giovanna will be SAL with me on this one.

One cube per month until Hallowe'en.

I emailed Isabella to ask for this chart plus two thread winders for Christmas.  Due to a misunderstanding she sent me the Christmas Cubes instead.  So what's a girl to do?  I decided to keep those too, pay for them and ask her to send the Hallowe'en Cubes in addition.  As a little "sorry" she invited me to choose one more chart of my choice!  I loved the design Gracie had stitched for the Christmas competition so chose "Dear Santa, define Good".

My previous post was the link-up for the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL.  I have now visited and commented on every blog who linked up so far.  The link-up will stay there so please feel free to join in any time this month.  There has been some great stitching going on, lots of lovely gifted charts and fabrics plus a good few shoehorns too!

Finally, I will be running the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop on Valentine's Day.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

 

It's really very simple, all you have to do is email me a picture of something you have stitched which is suitable for a stitching friend on Valentine's Day.  It could be a heart, or a pair of cute creatures, or the word "love" or anything which warms your heart. Really anything you think a fellow stitcher would like to receive in her email Inbox.   It can be something you've stitched in the past or something you've made especially for this year.  It could also be quilted or sewn this year as I know some of my followers do other crafts too.

Send me the email by 10th February.

When I have all the emails I will randomise them and send one to each participant on 13th February.  Then on 14th February you must post the picture you receive onto your blog under the heading

 Secret Stitching Sweetheart. 

There will be a list on my blog of everyone joining in, so check out all the blogs and find out who got your picture and identify yourself  in their comments as their

Secret Stitching Sweetheart. 

Does that make sense to everyone?  I hope so!

If you'd like to be involved then leave a comment on this post, I'll be putting little reminders up from time to time and will email on 9th February to make sure you send the pic in time.