The Green, Green Goddess is Home!

I know you have all been looking forward to seeing the Green Goddess finally finished and have been waiting very patiently for the final photos.  I started her back in 2011 when I had a mere 100 followers.  So if you remember her from the beginning you were one of them!

I always intended her to be a gift for my Mum but she kept slipping down the list much to my regret.  So with this year being a special birthday for Mum I thought I really ought to crack on and complete Green Goddess.  Being me, I was still working on her the day before the Birthday, making French Knots in Kreinik.  Yeah,  Thanks for that, Joan Elliott!

Here are some progress pictures:

September 2011

January 2012

January 2013

May 2013

Finished November 2014

The eyes have it!

Moth with Kreinik

Stitching information:

Fabric - 32 count Murano Sunlit Heath by Crafty Kitten

Threads - as charted in DMC and Kreinik

Beads - Mill Hill as charted

Changes - I smoothed her jawline as my Mum prefers that to the "stepped" look.  I left off the large square border as we preferred her as a circle.

Chart - originally in the Ultimate JE Collection and now available as a chart from Joan Elliott or her suppliers (JE039)

Trivia Fact - the fabric was a Ltd Edition which Dawn decided to add to the collection after I kept asking for pieces of it.  She named it after part of my address. 

Finally - the reaction?  Mum loved her!  We gave her the boys' gifts first; smellies and chocolates (a very large box of Thornton's dessert chocolate, yum, and a box of Turkish Delight Thins because the Large Boy always eats the Turkish Delight from the mixed box so this box is just for her!).  I had rolled GG and wrapped her like a long thin birthday cracker with ribbon at either end.  Mum could not guess what she was!  Now the big decision is how to frame her.

Gifted Gorgeousness

First of all, a piece of actual Gifted Gorgeousness and then an explanation of my latest bright idea!

I recently send some aida off to a fellow stitcher as I knew I would not use it myself so it was nice to find a good home for it.  Look what I received a few days later!  Isn't it lovely?

Thank you Jacquie.

Now I am sure we have all benefited from the generousity of our fellow bloggers so here is your chance to show your appreciation for that generousness by doing what we do best - stitching and blogging about it!

I have decided to host my first ever year-long SAL - the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL.  This is a nice open SAL, not too many rules.  There is a special page here for you to sign up on (if the Mr Linky works!) and link to on your own blogs if you like.

Basically we will post once a month, on the 15th of the month, because it is 2015 next year and there are enough SALs which post at the end already!  You can join in every month or just drop in when you want.  There will be a linky post here every 15th for you to check-in.  Here is a short list of things which you may consider including in your Gifted Gorgeousness post:

• Any chart/kit which was given to you
• Any chart/kit which you won in a giveaway
• Any chart/kit which you bought using a voucher given to you/won by you
• Anything stitched on fabric received in the above ways
• Anything stitched with floss received in the above ways
• Anything embellished or finished with items received in the above ways
• Anything which is intended as a gift or prize for another person
• Anything else you can somehow shoehorn with word "gift" into!

an image you can use on your blog

So who is in with me?

This week I have diligently been stitching something which fits in with the 7th category above, a gift for my Mum.  I intended to give this to her when I first started stitching it.  Fortunately I did not mention it at the time as I think she would have got rather impatient by now!  Mum was always a strict OAAT stitcher herself.  Anyway, Green Goddess is nearing completion so I won't show a whole photo, just a couple of sneaky peeks!

I have also made some progress on Prairie Moon's Thine is the Trick and the Treat.  One more motif finished:

well, nearly finished, a few more stitches on one scarecrow

Finally, the Advent Calendar Blog Hop will be starting on the 1st of December, same format as last year - sign up and be allocated a date.  Post a stitched Christmas picture on your date plus a comment about the festive season.  You can email me now if you like stating if you have a preference for an early date or later in the month or any dates you can't do.  We have enough people for half the Advent so far which is great.

Welcoming Two Old Friends Back into the Rotation

Welcome back Green Goddess.  She was started way back in September 2011 and I stitched on her regularly for four months.  Then didn't pick her up for an entire year!  She featured a few times during the early months of 2013 and then nothing until this month.

Here is where she was in May 2013 followed by the latest photo of her today:

The rest of the moth on the left is all metallic as are the two dragonflies at the top.

The second old friend is Prairie Moon's Thine is the Trick and the Treat.  I started this one in September 2012, put it away after Hallowe'en, got it out in September 2013, put it away after Hallowe'en again.  It will now take the place of Noel Blanc as my bath-time piece.  Hopefully the one-length-a-day approach will see the same steady progress and a finish before next Hallowe'en.

This is a hand-dyed 40 count fabric which was a gift from Karen.  I am stitching with two strands of DMC310 which gives a lovely dense coverage.

I am sure that you are all waiting for the results of the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Mystery Phrase Blog Hop?  The answer was, of course, Pumpkins & Black Cats.  Which did feature on a number of the designs.  I picked two names at random.  Each picture poster got one chance and each correct answer got one chance.  So if you did both then you got two chances to win!

The two names chosen are:

Jacquie from My Journey

and 

Cheryl from Today I Found

Congratulations to both of them!  A little something will be finding its way to you in due course.

Finally, the Advent Calendar Blog Hop will be starting on the 1st of December, same format as last year - sign up and be allocated a date.  Post a stitched Christmas picture on your date plus a comment about the festive season.  You can email me now if you like stating if you have a preference for an early date or later in the month or any dates you can't do.  I'll be posting about it regularly and adding a logo soon!

November WIPocalypse Favourite and Least Favourite Things

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi of Measi's Musings.

The main focus of my WIPocalypse this year is my "14 in '14" a list of 14 projects I wanted to complete in 2014.  In the last month I have worked on three of the list.  Here is the current stitching status of each one:

1. Joan Elliott - Green Goddess

Ohmygosh I actually stitched on her!!  That bright green in the left hand moth.

7. The Little Stitcher - 12 Days of Christmas

and the BIG One, the Big Happy Dance:

12. A Mon Ami Pierre - Noel Blanc

This has been an ongoing project since December 2013.  I stitch it each evening while I am supervising the Small Boy in his bath.  Some nights I get a whole length of thread in, sometimes two, sometimes a few stitches and he wants out.  But slow and steady has done it!

27th December 2013

16th January 2014

14th February 2014

16th March 2014

15th April 2014

14th May 2014

13th June 2014

12th July 2014

10th August 2014

9th September 2014

8th October 2014

6th November 2014

Here is a close-up of the wreath that delayed the finish.  Although it looks OK in the scanned photos in real life the greens just did not stand out enough against the blue fabric.  So I frogged and stitched in lighter greens.

I won the chart in a giveaway by Kathy Ellen of A Stitcher's Heirlooms quite some time ago! It has been lovely stitching on it each day and thinking of our friendship across the miles.  And now the chart will be travelling on to Kaye in Australia as I promised it to her once I finally finished it.

Now I have a gap in my rotation, this was such a success I have decided to choose another monochrome design to work on each evening.  It is also on my 14 and will be on my 15 in '15 next year.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Thine is the Trick and the Treat by Prairie Moon:

March 2014

I have stitched at least a quarter of this one so it should be slightly quicker than Noel Blanc.  Maybe eight months?

Measi also gives us a topic to discuss:

November:
What are your favourite and least favourite materials to use in your stitching?

My favourite fabric is evenweave, with my favourite count being 32 count.  I like stitching on Murano for picture designs.  For samplers I enjoy linen, again in 32 count or higher.  I am a big fan of hand-dyed fabrics, the majority of which I get from Dawn at Crafty Kitten or Kate at Sparklies.  They are both lovely people and sell the most gorgeous fabrics.  Dawn's tend to be more subtle and muted whereas Kate's are more variegated and brighter!  Both will mail internationally so please check out their websites if you haven't already done so.

Thread-wise I am a DMC fan, for price, availability and consistency in colour and quality they can't be beaten.  I have used silks and while I like them I am not totally convinced they are worth the extra expense!

My least favourite items would be a tie between hard aida and bobbins!  I know these are both contentious subjects but honestly - life is too short to bobbinate!!  DMC comes in the perfect skein already so you can just pull out one length or two.  Why spend valuable hours unravelling it and putting it on a bobbin?  And don't get me started on the horrible cheap hard aida they supply in some kits.  I actually got a friction burn from one piece where it rubbed against my wrist!

I don't use many tools. I stitch in hand so no hoops or frames.  I railroad my stitches so I don't use a special laying tool.  I would rather like a Star DeTailer thingy to hook in the last mm of the thread but they are expensive to import so I do without.  Nice sharp scissors are a must and I do like gold plated needles too (size 28 petite).  I use Flossaway bags to store my threads and make thread sorters out of cornflake packets, although I have a craving for the Primitive Hare witch and ghost!  An ORTs tin and a stitching project bag and I'm good to go!

  

Finally, the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop ends at midnight tonight and the winner will be announced this weekend (probably Sunday) when I will also post details on the next hop - The Advent Calendar.  I am also contemplating a year long SAL on the theme Gifted Gloriousness.  So think on that until then!

May WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi of Measi's Musings.

The main focus of my WIPocalypse this year will be my "13 in '13" a list of 13 projects I want to complete in 2013, click on top tab for the list.

I have been stitching Green Goddess as much as possible this month.  I really wanted to complete her face before I started the next Round Robin piece.  And I did!  Here she is as I left her:

I was hoping to start item 7 on my list, April's Word Play by With My Needle but that didn't happen.  So the next piece I'm looking at is Hear the Sea Call by Stitchers Hideaway.  I have the fabric, the threads and the little shells and stones to attach so it's looking good!

I am inches away from completing Joan Elliott's April Dragons and have the perfect fabric for the June Wizard so that's another one lined up for next month.

The Needlecraft Haven Freebie Challenge is all stitched up and ready to be emailed to Christine, I can show that one after this Sunday.

I still have to make a start on the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL piece so I think it will be the smaller ghost design. On the plus side, two of my giveaway prizes have arrived (the UK two) but I won't show them until the two overseas parcels have reached their destinations.

Finally, I am really enjoying all the answers left for my 400 followers giveaway last post.  I have replied to everyone except three "no-reply" people.  There are some great suggestions for names to include, some very well known and others new to me who certainly deserve to be better known.  I'll make a full list on the Winners Announcement page.  Don't forget, you have until Wednesday 29th May to enter, leave a comment on the previous post.

Theme-a-licious May update, Theme and Anti-Theme

Theme-a-licious is hosted by Heather of It's Geek to Me

Each month Heather thinks up a theme for us to stitch to, or in my case, a theme to somehow shoe-horn my existing stitching into, no matter how tenuous the link!

Monochrome May

Pick a colour, any colour, then stitch only on projects that contain that colour for the month!

Usually I can get my stitching to fit in with the relevant theme albeit with some stretching some months.  A round robin counts as a bird, right?  So this month I had the perfect project, Green Goddess by Joan Elliott, lots of lovely green, green and more green in her.

I really wanted to get her face finished this session, there was a lot of filling-in with 677.  In a large area like this it's important to keep your stitches neat and your tension constant or it looks untidy and uneven.  I stitched on her for roughly the same amount of time each evening at the same time.  Here she here, about to have a little rest while I stitch on a Mermaid:

Once I restart her I hope to complete her, I'm in two minds about the square border so I may leave it off and keep her as a circle.

I've stitched the May JBW alphabet kitty in pink and green but I'm not 100% convinced, I used a nice sugar pink fabric because I wanted to use different colours for each month but I think it would look more blossom like if I used pink thread on green fabric.  If I have time at the end of the month I might do the other colour way and see which I prefer!  No picture as yet.

And here is the Anti-Theme piece, what's the opposite of monochrome?  How about multi-coloured?  I've had this gorgeous imitation silk in my stash since the 1990s just waiting to be used and when I saw the Thread Pickerz SAL on FB I decided it was high time I used it.   Eileen is sending us two hearts each week for 8 weeks.  I know I needed another SAL like I needed any more charts but the hearts were so sweet!  Here are the first four designs:

I changed the first heart as it was a plain solid heart designed to show off your chosen variegated thread but I charted our four initials to fill the heart shape.  It's so much fun getting a new chart each Sunday morning and having all day to stitch.  The Small Boy's current craze is video clips on Youtube so I can sit next to him, stitching away and be ready to click on his chosen one.  The Barefoot Books songs are my favourites.

I have reached another milestone - 400 Followers!  That calls for a little giveaway.  I spent today sorting out the parcels for my last two giveaways which should be mailed this weekend.  Then I can see what's left I mean choose something special!  And devise a cunning competition.

Talking of something special, I received my prize for the best wood themed puns on Shebafudge's blogaversary giveaway.  Sharon was celebrating five whole years of blogging which is Wood in anniversaries so I left an extremely hilarious comment on her blog using every bad joke I could think of.  Evidently Sharon appreciates bad jokes (I wonder if her husband tells Dad Jokes!) and said she would send me something wood-themed.  The parcel duly arrived and when I opened it I found a lovely piece of fabric.  Oh well, I thought, she couldn't find anything wooden.  Then I saw the name - Sun Dappled Glade!  How perfect is that?

I even have a chart that will look rather nice on it.  Fifth one down on the right hand side, a Passione Ricamo freebie fairy designed to celebrate Fairy Day 2007.

Finally the Shepherd's Bush Buttercups chart I was looking for has arrived, along with four little friends courtesy of Laura aka Ilkinbillburg of For the Love of my Needle blog.  She said she had all five in her stash for many years and will never stitch them herself.  I have generously offered to lend them to her if she changes her mind!  A Big Thank You to Laura and all the other people who also offered to send the charts to me.  Stitching Bloggers really are the best people!  I have spent my £10 voucher from Willow Fabrics on the required linen and will make a start immediately after my Round Robin mermaid.

May TUSAL and some Joan Elliott Stitching

It's TUSAL time again!  For those of you new to blogging, the TUSAL is a project run by Daffycat, click on the button on the right hand bar for more details.

This month my ORTS jar is posing with a nice Spring page from my scrapbook.  The paper has geometric butterflies on it, I've added some daffodil embellishments and some floral ribbon.

This is a close up of the page:

The two designs are Lizzie*Kate's Spring and The Snowflower Diaries Tulip and Bunny.  Both stitched over 1 on 28 count yellow evenweave.

Here is my current evening piece.  I'm really enjoying being a OAAT on this and don't want to put her down!

I've stitched half the fill-in on her face and intend to finish the other side then move onto the large Mirabilia Round Robin.  I have a Mermaid on that one.  Although I have until July to stitch her I don't want to be Ms Last Minute dot com!

This is another Joan Elliot piece, from the 2013 Dairy, this is April's design called A Mother's Love:

Not a brilliant scanned picture I'm afraid!  Here is another not-very-brilliant scanned picture:

These are the first two hearts for the Thread Pickers SAL on FB.  The first heart was charted as a solid heart to show off each person's variegated thread but I didn't feel like stitched an expanse of plain xxxs so I charted our initials in a heart shape (mine, hubby's and the boys').  The thread is a De Haviland imitation silk in rainbow colours.  I'm stitching on white 32 count but having seen some of the others I'm thinking black would have looked amazing!

Finally, this is a picture a friend sent me.  This was invented by her and her partner as an eco and cost-effective way of helping the elderly keep warm.  But what does this picture scream at you?

Hands up who said "stitching booth"?  Because that was my first thought!  This idea is only in the development stages, they have a patent (so don't try copy it LOL) but need feedback to see if people would actually buy one.  I can just see me having all my supplies hung on little hooks inside the booth and shelves on the outside or maybe pockets for fabric?

Any comments left about the booth will be passed onto my friend.  I'm not charging her for market research but maybe she'll let me be a guinea pig for one?!! 

Happy Star Wars Day

May the Fourth be with you!

So what's new this month?  Having finally finished the RR I decided to spend some time with Green Goddess, a Joan Elliott design.  Here's a close-up of the area I've been working on:

I've stitched all around her face in the ordinary DMC leaving gaps for the dragonflies as they have metallics in them.  I've also left the face til last so I can start a fresh skein and not risk a dye-lot change in the middle of it!

There is alot of metallic in this as most of the border is Kreinik and there are beads to add too but I do feel the end is in sight sometime this year!

Daytime has also been Joan's territory.  I dithered over whether to finish February's design from the 2013 Diary or start April's.  Karen told me to start April's dragons so like a good little stitcher that's what I did.  Here is my progress so far:

The fabric is a 28 count from a Crafty Kitten grab bag so it has no name but looks quite sky-like.  The dragons are stitching up so much more quickly than the Cherub did.  I have no idea why as I like both designs.

This is how I left February's:

As I'm not stitching any of the pixie designs I'm hopeful of finishing both of these and catching up this month.

I can also show a finish from last month's Needlecraft Haven Challenge.  Christine invited us to choose one of the Snowflower Diaries Spring designs featuring chicks and bunnies.  I chose this one because the plant reminds me of Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors!

I used the same yellow evenweave as previous Easter/Spring stitches so they can all be mounted together.  The bunny in the photo is the one I won in our corner shop's raffle.

Finally, I had a little stash enhancement via an Esty shop called The Pampered Stitcher and bought these three Shepherd's Bush charts.  They are from a series called the Botanicals and I have whortleberry, rowan berry and bluebells.  There is also a fourth design entitled buttercups.  If anyone out there has this chart they would like to sell to me I would be eternally grateful and your friend forever!

Here are the three I have:

They will look beautiful framed and displayed with these four I stitched several years ago:

Larger pictures found here

edit: further investigation reveals the existence of violets and aramanth!