Fully Finishing Fun for August

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).

I haven't got anything as fancy as last month's finish but there are more FFO'd items this month.  It's been really hot here so obviously the perfect time to FFO some Christmas designs.

The first up was a finish this month too.  I completed the stitching in July but only got a chance to add the beads and charm this month.  This is Just Nan's Holly Noel:

stitched on 28 count beige evenweave

I didn't have the holly charm so I used a little candy cane instead

and scrapbooked it:

It's a biggish piece so it got a page to itself.

Next up were three Dragon Dreams designs all completed last year for the Christmas Ornament SAL:

Never Too Big To Believe

from the 2004 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Special

stitched on 32 count green linen

scrapbooked with Not a Creature Was Stirring from the 2001 issue:

Peace on Earth

from the 2002 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Special

stitched on 32 count dark green linen

You are my Gift

from the 2010 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Special

stitched on 32 count dark green linen

scrapbooked together:

I decided to mount You Are My Gift as a gift tag style with a nice piece of ribbon.  You may have noticed I changed the words on Peace on Earth to Peace & Harmony.  Anyone whose child likes Peppa Pig will recognise the song those words come from!

I would have had a framed piece as well but I didn't have the right frame in my stash so that will have to wait.

Finally, we had the Summer Blog Hop at the weekend.  Thanks to everyone who took part and to all those who hopped around and discovered the Stitching Friends.  It worked really well and I will definitely be doing it again next Summer. 

November Smalls SAL

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

The Smalls SAL post is always the last Friday of the month and was quite early in October so I hadn't quite finished all my smalls!

I hadn't even beaded my tree for the October Christmas Ornament and now I have it fully finished:

Sue Hillis Designs - Victorian Christmas Tree

I then started and finished the November Christmas Ornament which was to be chosen from the 2004 issue of Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Special.  I chose my fourth Dragon Dreams design of the year.  This one "Never Too Big":

stitched on 28 count green linen

The berries are all French Knots and there is a lovely green metallic thread in his tail and head crest.

Here are all four Dragon Dreams designs together:

Hopefully I will get them all scrapbooked before the FFO Gallery post on the 10th December.

My next small is the current Word by Jessica Savage published in Cross Stitcher magazine each month.  I finished Imagine and Create:

Here are all four so far:

stitched over one on 25 count blue evenweave

The next issue arrived today - the word is "Embrace".

I have nearly finished the Mirabilia 25th Anniversary Cameo so I'll show the photo from the WIPocalypse post.  I finished the frame and the top half of the vines, just the bottom half and the beads to go now.

stitched on 28 count evenweave

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Finally, I have sent out the emails for the Advent Calendar Blog Hop.  If you asked to join in and have NOT received an email with your date, please get in touch and I'll double check my list.

November WIPocalypse New Stitches or Techniques

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 "19 in '19" for this year.  You can find the full list here.

Since my last WIPocalypse post I stitched on five of my list and had two finishes:

1. Discworld Mappe by Lyndisfarne Designs

stitched on 32 count Murano custom-dyed by Sparklies

2. Raven by Nora Corbett - a finish at the end of October

stitched on 32 count Belfast in Nebula by Crafty Kitten

3. 25th Anniversary Cameo by Mirabilia

stitched on random 28 count hand-dyed evenweave

4. Victorian Christmas Tree by Sue Hillis Designs - finish

stitched on 28 count green evenweave

5. Never Too Big by Dragon Dreams (sneak peek as it's close to a finish)

stitched on 28 count green evenweave

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss too.

November - What new stitches or techniques did you learn this year?

Drawing a bit of a blank with this one!  I can't think of anything new I have tried this year, mostly because when you've been stitching for over 25 years you've tried most things you want to do.  I've done a lot of speciality stitches over the years but maybe there was a new one in my Chatelaine?

stitched on 32 count Belfast in Cotton Clouds by Crafty Kitten

Gardens of London has been neglected this year because I've been focusing on my Discworld Mappe.  If I reach my goal on that this month I will have completed approximately 60% of the design which puts me on target to complete it by the end of 2020.  It would be nice to get another corner garden done on Gardens of London but not if it mean missing my Discworld finish.

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Finally, it's time to sign up for the Advent Calendar Blog Hop!  For this hop, each participant is allocated a day in December to make their post on.   They will show something they have stitched on a Christmas theme and answer the topic question I set.  I then copy their photo onto my blog post in the style of an Advent Calendar.

So if you'd like to join in, please leave a comment or send me an email.  Let me know if there is a date you would particularly like or one you'd like to avoid.  I will be in touch towards the end of the month!

Here is a link to last year's so you can see how it works:

Advent Calendar Blog Hop 2018

October Smalls SAL

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

At the beginning of the month I managed to finish my Christmas Small from September.  Several people guessed it was a dragon!  This is You Are My Gift from the 2010 issue of Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Special.

stitched on 32 count dark green linen

The design I chose for October wasn't the best choice for stitching time unfortunately.  As it is Dark October and I am stitching Hallowe'en all month, the only time I get for Christmas stitching is at bath time.  But I can't bead at bath time so this month's design is looking a little dull.  It is Victorian Christmas Tree by Sue Hillis Designs from the 2003 issue of Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Special.  You stitch the basic tree and then add beads to make candles and garlands.

Here is the tree:

stitched on 28 count green evenweave

I love the effect of the pine needles - they are blended with one strand of dark green and one of light green and then you backstitch the needles.

I will be adding the beads the first chance I get in November.

I have started this month's Word by Jessica Savage.  This is a series in Cross Stitcher magazine.  This is a very pretty one and will say "Imagine" when I finish it. 

stitched over one on 25 count blue evenweave

I also made a little bit of progress on the 25th Anniversary Cameo by Mirabilia.

stitched on random 28 count hand-dyed evenweave

Finally, this is the last call for the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop.  There is still room for more people to join in, I will be sending the emails out on Monday so everyone knows what they are doing.  Just leave a comment or send me an email if you are a no-reply person.

September Smalls SAL

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

For this SAL I should be showing the monthly project for the Christmas Ornie Blog. Unfortunately I haven't quite finished it yet!

I did complete the second Word in the Jessica Savage series from Cross Stitcher magazine.  This one is Accept from issue

stitched over 1 on 25 count blue evenweave

I finished another Just Nan small - Butterfly Welcome:

stitched on 28 count Colonial Blue evenweave

I will try get that one FFO'd for Rachel's SAL on the 10th October

The next Just Nan in line was a Christmas one - Christmas Friends:

stitched on 28 count beige evenweave

I did a little bit more on that and then felt the need for a new start!  This is one from my "19 in '19" list - Nora Corbett's 25th Anniversary Cameo:

stitched on random 28 count hand-dyed evenweave

That seems to be the lot for Smalls this month.  

Finally, I have already stitched my 14 days for my Discworld Mappe but I'm going to carry on with it for the last 3 days of the month as I won't be stitching it next month.  Why not?  Because it's Dark October!  Michelle Cozyegg and her friend Emily Eclectic Possessions started this a few years back.  The idea is that you stitch dark and spooky stuff all October.  Last year I used the Tiny Decisions App to choose my project for each day and stitched 6 different designs with 3 finishes.  This year I plan to focus on Nora Corbett's Raven and my Enchanted Alphabet conversion.  Add in a daily stitch on Primitive Needle's Mystic Sampler and maybe a Just Nan Mouse or two.  If you're on Facebook I have added a daily event to the Hallowe'en Cross Stitching group - 

Hallowe'en Cross Stitching

Finally Fully Finishing Fun for June

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).

Over the last month I have been very unseasonal!  I have continued with my progress on some older pieces which were all finished in the same way - Put It In A Bag For Twenty Years.

First up is a jolly little Santa from Mill Hill:

It took a massive amount of work to FFO him, two pieces of double-sided tape:

He looks a bit lonely so at some point I will stitch his friends:

I only have the charts and some leftover threads as these came from my friend who was destashing a few years back.

The next piece was also a Santa, look how well he matches the paper I had in my stash: 

You can see how old this one is, issue 8 of Cross Stitch Collection from December/January 1993!  The card mount came with it.

Now for something a little bit more recent, although still an older magazine:

Not a Creature Was Stirring by Dragon Dreams

from Just Cross Stitch Ornament Special 2001

The little card frame came from an old Christmas card

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.

A couple of people have asked "what do you mean by "International"?"

To which I replied "Use your imagination!  If you don't have something which represents a country or an area of the world, how about a mode of transport?  Or something designed by an international designer?  Or gifted by an international friend?  Or stitched on French Navy fabric? LOL!!"

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!

May 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 the 2001 issue.  Owing to a slight mishap with the years last month, I stitched the 2001 Dragon Dreams design in April, so I'm stitched the 2002 in May instead.  No-one will notice if you don't tell them!

stitched on 32 count green linen

The words originally read "Peace on Earth" but when I was stitching I kept singing "Peace and Harmony" which all parents of young children will know is a song sung by Madame Gazelle in Peppa Pig!

My Hallowe'en "small" is to add some small details to my spooky conversion of Lavender & Lace's Enchanted Alphabet.  This month I added pumpkins:

stitched on 32 count Murano in Tiger Lily by Sparklies

I had one finish for my Just Nan-a-thon, this one took a lot longer than most of them but it is done now, ready to be scrapbooked:

Just Nan -Butterfly Lace

stitched on 32 count Lavender Evenweave

Once this one was finished I moved on to the next one in line; Butterfly Needlebook.  I decided to stitch the whole turquoise border on both parts of the design first:

stitched on 28 count hand-dyed pink linen

And each day I stitched one length on one of the 32 designs started for Stitch Maynia last year.  Here are the last 7 designs:

Finally, I'll be back later with my Pie and Stitch from Stash post!!