Finally Fully Finishing Fun for May

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 did quite well this month, I dug out the scrapbooks and papers to get some recent finishes FFO'd.

The first one, you got a little sneak peek last post:

This is the Drawn Thread freebie for the #bewellandstitch movement.  I stitched it one strand over two on 35 count Sand Linen.  Then I scrapbooked it onto a page which already had the April design from With Thy Needle.  I think the way the backing paper brings out the yellow in the fabric and you can just see the stripes too.  The ribbon came from Giovanna, an Italian blogger (not for quite a while though) who sent me a whole bunch of ribbons for trimmings.

The second recent finish was Trimming the Tree by Blue Ribbon Designs.  I had planned to mount this with the older BRD in the series but it is smaller and the fabric is a darker blue so they looked odd together.

Instead I used this page from a National Geographic calendar and left space for the next one in the series.  I also labelled the fabric in the packet as "For BRD only".

For my next FFO I needed to rummage through my frame stash.  I found the perfect frame which already had a project in.  Several years ago I tried to sell some cross stitch at a church craft stall.  I discovered the same as when I tried to sell my painted rocks.  People don't want to buy cross stitch.  They want to commission something you don't have.

So I took the cute design out and framed Fox Few by Plum Street Samplers instead:

It is on my kitchen dresser along with Fox Forest by The Workbasket:

So what did I do with the cute design which was in the frame? 

Scrapbook!  Along with an even older finish.  The little cottage was originally in a small plastic frame to hang on a tree but I mounted it in a Christmas card instead.  The little bear was the cover kit from Cross Stitcher magazine issue 207 and was designed by Andree Langhorn.

And a finish to round things off.  Not a fully finished piece yet as I need to source a snowflake and four identical frames to do all the seasons.  This is Winter in the Square by Just Nan.  I have stitched just 20 stitches per day on this and it took 123 days in total:

stitched on 32 count Light Mocha Linen

Finally, Stitch Maynia has continued.  Here are the most recent projects:

6th May - Spring Pillow

7th May - True Blue Heart

8th May - Holly Berry Frosty

9th May - Garden Maze (I was stitching this one throughout April)

Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop 2020 and FFO Gallery

Spring Fantasy by Just Nan

Welcome to the Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop for 2020.  I am sure you all know how it works now - hop around the list of blogs and collect the letter each one has for you.  They spell out a message (in English this year) which you can leave in a comment here for me.  I have moderated comments so no-one will see them until  23rd April.  Just to give everyone a chance to play along.

This year we are starting with:

Colourful Cross Stitches

and then on to

The Alchymyst's Study

Jeremiah's Mom

A Patchwork of Crafts

Crafting Ramble

Aimetu's Stitching

Kitten Stitching

Tiff Stitches A Blog

Needle, Pen & Sword

Elfin Stitches

Stitching Grandma

Beth's Needlework Stash

Mary's Thread

Jocondine

Mamivonat

Bronny’s Bits

Le Coeur Celtique

Wicked Stitcher

Dragon Stitches and Stuff by Astrid

and finally back to me for this letter:

I don't do a lot of Spring or Easter stitching but this finish has flowers so that will do!  This was my Leap Year start for 2020 and then I continued at bath-time.  The Small Boy is currently enjoying a long bath-time so I got lots done each evening!

This is Fox Few by Plum Street Samplers:

stitched on 32 count khaki evenweave

I used the DMC conversion for this with the exception of the yellow for the bees.  They recommended a brown 435 for Amber but I used 783.  I backstitched the pale blue flowers as they blended into the fabric colour.  The chart says to use a dark blue for the centres but the cover picture shows them as white.  There is a symbol for white which isn't used anywhere so I guess that is a mistake.

I also used a blend for the hillside rather than a variegated thread.  They recommend 3012 which was too close to 3011 which I used for the flower stems.  3013 was too close to the fabric colour but blending it with 3012 was perfect and makes a nice mottled effect for the grass.

I didn't think I had anything for the FFO Gallery this month until I remembered my Butterfly Card.  This was the cover gift from Cross Stitcher issue 356.  I stitched it and then lost the beads.  I substituted some from my stash and then found the original ones this morning.  Which reminded me I could post it for Rachel's SAL.  Check out her blog for more organised people.

stitched on 32 count white linen

cardboard butterfly and greeting card supplied

Finally, don't forget to leave a comment as you visit each blog - Happy Hopping!!

Dewdrop Bunny by Just Nan

March Stitch from Stash and Pie

I saw a meme earlier today which said "March; came in like a lion and went out like a roaring six-headed monster" which seemed appropriate.  If only I had remembered to save the image.

I did remember to take photos of some of my projects though.  First the Pie:

Once again, a full 15 days on Discworld which saw it go from here:

to here:

You can see where the page edge is to the right of the picture where each colour extends to.  Next month I will fill that in and do all the backstitch on this page before working to the next page on the right.

When I finished Discworld for the month, I spun my Tiny Decisions wheel and got Gathering Eggs by Nora Corbett.  This is where she was last time I stitched on her:

stitched on 35 count Vintage Country Mocha linen

The white fill-in took ages, as did the multi-coloured ruffle trim to her dress.  But it is stunning, I love the way Nora has designed her whole outfit.  I only need to add her shoes and then I can start on the background.

One design which isn't showing up in the Pie is my bath-time project.  At the moment this is my Leap Day start; Fox Few by Plum Street Sampler.  Here's where I am now:

stitched on 32 count khaki evenweave

(which is more green in real life)

When I was typing my WIPocalypse post, I realised I had not shown the finish I had at the start of the month.  This is the first in the Scary Apothecary series by Hands on Design - Bat Balm:

stitched on 28 count linen in Radioactive from Chromatic Alchemy

I am using the DMC conversion for this, except for the black which is Weeks Dye Works Kohl (charted for CC Zack Black or DMC 317).  I also substituted DMC E316 (metallic) for Kreinik 5013, DMC E317 (metallic) for Kreinik 011HL and a blend of DMC 3853 and 5284 (metallic) for the orange Kreinik 027.

The other changes were outlining the bats in black:

And underlining the word Balm in a turquoise metallic:

So why did I make those substitutions?  Stitch from Stash, of course!  Here is my spending for the month:

March
Charms Etsy	£7.01
Mr Linky	£4.04
Cross Stitcher sub	£8.72
Total	£12.76

🐇 Good Friday - Friday 10th April 🐇

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Annual Easter Treasure Hunt.  If you would like to take part this year, just leave a comment here.  The week before Easter I will send you a letter of the alphabet which will form part of the mystery phrase.   On Good Friday you will post that letter along with a photo of something seasonal that you have stitched (could be Easter or Spring or just something cheerful and sunny or floral).  We all hop around like little bunnies to find the Mystery Phrase!


Here's a link to last year's hop so you can see how it all works - Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop 2019

March TUSAL

It's TUSAL time!

Here is my TUSAL jar with two of my current projects:

The larger one is the Discworld Mappe, I have now finished my 15 day stint for this month so I will be moving on to something else tomorrow:

Here is the whole piece so far:

 The other piece is my Leap Day start - Fox Few by Plum Street Samplers.  I am currently stitching this as my bath-time project so I'm making steady progress each day.  The pale blue flowers do show up a little bit better in real life but I might backstitch them anyway.

stitched on 32 count khaki evenweave

(which is more green in real life)

🐇 Good Friday - Friday 10th April 🐇

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Annual Easter Treasure Hunt.  If you would like to take part this year, just leave a comment here.  The week before Easter I will send you a letter of the alphabet which will form part of the mystery phrase.   On Good Friday you will post that letter along with a photo of something seasonal that you have stitched (could be Easter or Spring or just something cheerful and sunny or floral).  We all hop around like little bunnies to find the Mystery Phrase!


Here's a link to last year's hop so you can see how it all works - Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop 2019

February WIPocalypse, Stitch from Stash and Pie

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 "20 in '20" for this year.  This month I stitched on 7 of them.

My Discworld Mappe went from here:

to here:

Lyndisfarne - Discworld Map

(Project 5)


Nora Corbett - Gathering Eggs
(Project 6)

Mrs Peggotty's Queen of Hearts

(Project 7)

JBW - 12 Days of Christmas

(Project 9)

Hands on Design - Bat Balm

(Project 13)

Just Nan - Winter in the Square

(Project 16)

Amanda Butler - Alice in Wonderland SAL in Cross Stitcher magazine

(Project 17)

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

February 29 – In honour of “Leap Year,” tell the story of a time you had to make some sort of a “leap” in stitching – taking the chance on a new style of stitching, attending a meetup or class, etc.

I guess the biggest leap I took was starting a blog up all those years ago!  I always say I only started so I could take part in the TUSAL but in actual fact it was so I could post about anything I wanted instead of derailing Forum posts by saying "but look at this thing I stitched"!

I also took a leap this year and started a new project on Leap Day.  I just rummaged through the folder I keep purchases in and found this one.  It is by Plum Street Samplers and is entitled Fox Few.  One of a series of piles of animals.  I stitched one fox:

stitched on 32 count khaki evenweave

(which is more green in real life)

So how did that last minute decision affect the pie?

Over half the month on Discworld this time.  This is the portion I focused on this month:

Lots of land and all the backstitch too.  The plan for March is to fill in all the land on the right of that photo.

How about Stitch from Stash?  I joined a survey website last year called Prolific.  They send me various different surveys to fill in online and I earn between 10p and 50p per survey.  You can cash in the money once you have £5 earned.  I had managed to get mine up to £20 so I cashed it in and bought this gorgeous kit which was less than half price on Lakeside Needlecraft's website!

Lakeside Needlecraft - 12 Days of Christmas - Bothy Threads

I don't usually buy kits because I have no intention of using the aida but it was the only way to get this design.  I saw someone stitch the First Day as an ornament and it is absolutely stunning so I have invested in it!  I also bought four skeins of DMC I needed to top up my supplies. 

February
Bothy Threads	£20.15
4 skeins DMC	£2.72
Total	£22.87

Finally, I do subscribe to a couple of magazines but this month I signed up for the Press Reader app.  It's a fee app and if you have a Library Card you can sign in with that and get free magazines!  You can't download them but you can screenshot and keep relevant pages.  Just Cross Stitch have decided they will no longer mail to the UK so I will be switching to their digital service.  I wanted to see if Press Reader would let me download the whole issue but it won't.  It's good for browsing but I like to keep my magazines for future use.   However I have already saved a couple of pages from WOCs and Crazy which are also on the app.

Check it out and see if your Library is registered.  If not, then ask them whether they belong to another magazine subscription program.  It's a great way to support your local Library too.  It was the Library Manager who let me know about the App.