June Plans

This year I want to focus on 2 larger pieces and then spend the rest of my stitching time on the series I have started.  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 projects I stitch that month. 

In May the numbers 5 and 19 were called.  These related to Mirabilia's Fairy Idyll and Nora Corbett's Zodiac Girl.

Here's where Fairy Idyll finished, I stitched all her wing and some more of the rabbit:

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

My fourth Zodiac Girl will be Scorpio:

stitched on 32 count Scorpio evenweave from Sparklies

For June, the numbers 21 and 23 were called.  These relate to Cottage Garden Year in the Woods and Cricket Collection's Summer.

I actually finished The Swans earlier this year so I have decided to work on Summer until it is done and then decide if I want to start another design in the Year in the Woods series or use the time for something else.  Summer will take more than 14 days to complete.

Here's where I am after 5 days, I have stitched the second M and the E this month:

stitched on 32 count Wandering Ivy Lugana from Silkweaver

It's so difficult to get a good photo of the fabric which is a lovely greeny-yellow in real life.

Finally, my evening projects for June will be the Annie Beez 12 Days of Christmas Stockings.

stitched on 28 count Black Jobelan

 

April Stitch From Stash and Pie

  It's time for Pie!

I had two new starts for my focus pieces this month.  First up was Evanora from Nora Corbett:

stitched on 28 count evenweave from unknown dyer

Then I moved on to my second new start - Summer from Cricket Collection:

stitched on 32 count Wandering Ivy Lugana from Silkweaver

I managed to complete the first three letters this month, just all the motifs to add to this half now.

Here's my evening pie:

You can see the projects in my Smalls post from Friday.

Finally, Stitch from Stash, a big, fat zero this month!

April TUSAL

        

It's TUSAL time!  

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current project:

This is Summer from Cricket Collection.

stitched on 32 count Wandering Ivy Lugana from Silkweaver

Finally, we are approaching Summer days on my Temperature chart, you can really see the days lengthening now:

April WIPocalypse Favourite Fabric

         

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 last year.  For 2025 I have decided not to attempt this.  I want to focus on 2 larger pieces and then spend the rest of my stitching time on the series I have started.  This month I stitched on 2 of them, both were new starts.

First up was Evanora from Nora Corbett, sister to Claire who I stitched last year.  I'm using the same unnamed fabric. 

stitched on 28 count evenweave from an unknown dyer

The second new start is Summer from Cricket Collection.  I stitched Spring last year:

stitched on 32 count Lugana in Wandering Ivy from Silkweaver

The fabric is a pale mottled green I was given several years ago.  The charted fabric is a pale lavender but this is summery too and the colours look good in real life.

I'm planing to stitch the first three letters this month and the next three next time it comes up on my WIPGO Board.

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

April – Let’s talk fabric – what is your go-to fabric dyer, your preferred type, count, colour, etc?

Here's the totals for my current WIPs:

14 count Aida - 3
22 count Hardanger - 1

25 count evenweave - 1

28 count evenweave - 4

30 count linen - 1

32 count evenweave - 3

32 count linen - 2

35 count linen - 1

So evenweave is my favourite fabric and 32 count is my favourite count!

I do prefer 25 or 28 count for stitching over 1 or for stitching on black but for most things 32 count will be my go-to choice.

I do like the higher counts for the chance to make things smaller and only use one strand.

Out of the 3 Aida projects, one is my oldest WIP, one is the Temperature SAL on Aida banding and the other is a cover kit I started on a whim.

My current favourite dyer is Sparklies due to Chromatic Alchemy going out of business.  There are a couple of UK dyers whose group I belong to on Facebook who dye a batch of fabrics and offer them up which is a good way of getting a range of fabrics.  

To be honest, as part of Stitch from Stash, fabric is the one area I really can cut down on spending.  I have plenty of fabrics in both 28 and 32 count in a variety of popular colours already.  I want to use those older pieces instead of stashing them.  Hence the Silkweaver for the Summer piece this month.

Gifted Gorgeousness April Link-up Post

   

Welcome to the April 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 focus piece for February was stitched on gifted fabric and I picked it up again over the Easter Weekend and got a finish!

Cricket Collection - Spring

stitched on 32 count Marie's Daffodil linen from Chromatic Alchemy

Close-ups of the letters

So many little details, I added beads for the raindrops

This one was a gift from the designer and the fabric was a gift too.  

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.

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

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 "April 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, I will do my best to pop round and visit everyone this month, I'm a little behind in my blog reading again!

March WIPocalypse Thread Colours

      

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 6 of them and had 2 finishes.

1. Sweetheart Tree - September Strawflowers

Finish

3. Rainbow Hunter - Alice Bottles

Finished Cheshire Cat

13. Joan Elliott - Faces SAL

22. Primitive Hare - Hocus Pocus Cabinet

23. Cricket Collection - Spring

24. Cottage Garden Samplings Halloween Sampler

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

March 31 – What colours – and brands – of thread do you love using? Do you have a particular colour that you absolutely love?

I am a big fan of DMC thread, it's easy to get hold of, it's nice to stitch with, it comes in a wide range of colours and it's pretty consistent over the years colourwise.  I do have skeins that are different shades so I keep them in separate bags and don't mix them in the same project.  815 is one example, I have a dark skein and a bright skein.

My all time favourite DMC is 115, a wonderful dark variegated red.  I think this is a favourite for quite a few people having seen this question in various groups.

I do use GAST and WDW especially if someone else buys them for me, same with silks.  I'm not a massive fan of stitching with silks to be honest.

I use Krienik and DMC Metallics depending on what is called for and what I have.  

I do have quite a collection of Jodyri Threads as I belonged to their Threads of the Month club for a while.  I stopped because their Post Office kept on losing my parcel and I'd have to rerequest it.  I am trying to use the threads where I can and Hocus Pocus Cabinet had two different skeins in there.
I prefer the skeins which have different shades of the same colour such as Cafe au Lait which is brown/cream.  Some of their threads have 3 totally different colours which I would find difficult to stitch with.  The one I used for the middle bottle was green, white, pink.  I cut the skein in the middle of the green to minimise that colour and it turned out rather well. 

Finally, a Mary has been leaving lovely comments here.  But Mary is "no reply" and does not have a blog listed on her profile so I can't respond to her direct.  It's not Mary from Le Couer Celtique, or Mary from Mary's Thread or Mary from Mary's Stitching Spot!  So if you are Mary, please drop me an email and I will save it so I can reply to your comments.

February Stitch From Stash and Pie

 Have you enjoyed your extra day of stitching time?  I know a lot of people were doing a Leap Day start but I managed to resist that temptation.

Here's what I did stitch over the whole month:

Look at how focused I was!  Apart from my Dark 13 and A-Z Challenge I stitched on the same project every day for the whole month.

The WIPGO board chose Cricket Collection Spring as my focus piece.  I started this on 1st February and made awesome progress.  It does look almost finished but that's because I concentrated on the letters and large areas of colour.  There are a LOT of colours in this one so I left all the flowers until the end so I could stitch all the little bits colour-by-colour.

stitched on 32 count Marie's Daffodil linen from Chromatic Alchemy

The plan is to finish this one off if I complete March's piece before the end of the month.

In the evenings I worked on the Alice in Wonderland Bottles from Rainbow Hunter on Etsy. 

I completed Alice and made good progress on the Cheshire Cat. 

stitched on 32 count Antique Blue linen

My plan is to continue with the Cat until it is finished and then start on my March Small, as it is a very small and won't take long at all.

I was doing very well with my spending again, a nice zero spend for the second month when Circle Cross started releasing peeks of her new design.  Alice in Wonderland Blackwork themed!

I couldn't resist so instead of a Leap Day start, I had a Leap Day purchase!

Circle Cross Alice in Wonderland

Who could resist?  It's teacups seen from above the scenes from the book in order to tell the story in pictures.  She's promising a Through the Looking Glass version too!

So here's my actual spend:

Finally, I'll be doing an Easter Treasure Hunt again this year so stay tuned for more details about how we'll be hopping like bunnies around the blogs again.

February WIPocalypse SALs

     

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 3 of them and had 1 finish.

3. Rainbow Hunter - Alice Bottles

Finished Alice

Started Cheshire Cat

23. Cricket Collection - Spring

24. Cottage Garden Samplings Halloween Sampler

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

February – What stitch-a-longs (SALs) are you participating in this year?

Obviously, WIPocalypse!  My other SALs are

Fully Finished Gallery - show anything you have FFO'd on the 10th
Gifted Gorgeousness - post anything gifted on the 15th
Smalls SAL - last Friday of each month
The TUSAL - post on the New Moon each month

The A-Z Challenge is a sort of SAL with Rachel where we're working through the Alphabet with our WIPs.

I don't tend to SAL actual designs as I have my rotation planned and it rarely fits in with other people's plans.  But if you are stitching anything that I am stitching do let me know and we can call it a SAL!

I also tend to avoid Mystery SALs having been bitten once or twice.  I wait until most of the piece has been released and then see if I still have FOMO and want to start it!


Finally, a Mary has been leaving lovely comments here.  But Mary is "no reply" and does not have a blog listed on her profile so I can't respond to her direct.  It's not Mary from Le Couer Celtique, or Mary from Mary's Thread or Mary from Mary's Stitching Spot!  So if you are Mary, please drop me an email and I will save it so I can reply to your comments.

February 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 am 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.  

February is C and D.  I usually work Fridays so don't include that in my Hermit Weekend but as luck would have it, I worked earlier in the week because of the annual stocktake.

So for Friday I stuck with my Focus Piece which begins with a C - Cricket Collection Spring.

I went from here:

to here:

stitched on 32 count Marie's Daffodil from Chromatic Alchemy

On Saturday I looked at my spreadsheet and decided that Coffee Fairy from Yiotas XStitch would be my project for the day.  This was a kit that was sent to me in exchange for an honest review.  The design is full coverage but a huge amount is background so I decided to use this piece of mad fabric and omit the background.

Here's a really bad photo of where I started from:

And here's where I finished and a much more accurate photo of the fabric:

stitched on 28 count Monarch evenweave from Sparklies

For Sunday there was only one D - Bothy Threads 12 Days of Christmas, this is where I left off last month when it was B:

to here:

stitched on 32 count grey linen

I also managed to squeeze in 7 more leaves for my Temperature SAL from The Steady Thread:

stitched on 28 count Meadow Mist linen from Silkweavers

A new high of 17 degrees and yellow for the first time.

Next month I have a choice of 2 projects for E and 3 for F.  Although that might change when my WIPGO numbers are called.

As a general rule, I want to choose the oldest project for each letter.

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