Finally Fully Finishing for July

   

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 finally broke my "just one thing" streak and have a whole hat-trick of fully finished objects this month!

First up is a professionally framed piece from 2019.  I had intended to get it framed for Halloween 2020 but we all know what happened in early 2020 so that didn't happen.

Very difficult to photograph with the glass in place!  I went for a very simple plain black frame and enough of the lovely fabric showing.

This is my Halloween conversion of Lavender and Lace's Enchanted Alphabet.  More photos can be found here - Lavender & Lace - Enchanted Alphabet

The next finish is a simple home frame job.  The frame came from Wilko's and was very cheap!  This is Stitch It Picasso Dragon #2

The final fully finished piece is my Just Nan Tea with Honey:

I stitched this as six seperate pieces and then whip-stitched them into a cube.  I mounted the sides and bottom on thin card but wasn't sure about the top.  I wanted it to be used as a pin cushion but if I mounted it on card it would bend in when I stuck pins in.  So I used thick mat board with a 1 inch square cut in the middle where the pins will go!  I put some nice wadding between the card and the fabric so it feels soft.

It looks pretty much the same from all four sides!

I added my initials to the base:

I stuffed it with my son's old school socks!  They roll up small and have a nice weighty heft to them.  I used them for the Tiny Modernist Greenhouse too.  Nice to have a use for them when they are too small/holey to wear!

What a productive month that was!  August will probably be back to one now.  Unless I get the 3D Bookshop finished.  Although I did get some charity shop haul last week so maybe I will match those to some stuff in the box.  I might even get the scrapbooks out again!

Finally, I'm going to be taking sign-ups for my Summer Blog Hop on the same theme as last year - Stitching Friends are Friends Who Count. Have a look at this post for last year and let me know if you'd like to take part this year.

Stitching Friends Summer Blog Hop

 

 

Dark Stitching for the 13th

I promised to dedicate an entire post to this design once we got into the New Year, so here it is!

The chart is called Enchanted Alphabet designed by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum under the Lavender & Lace label in 1991.  Here is the original cover photo:

I have always liked the alphabet but was not keen on The World's Frilliest Child and her Bunny on a Leash.  Then one day, I hit on the idea of a Spooky Conversion!  I had a large piece of orange hand-dyed fabric from Sparklies which was wide enough if I removed the child and moved the letters closer together.  I decided on a simple conversion of:

every colour = 310

I started the project in July 2016 as part of a SAL to stitch one letter of an alphabet each month.  I kept up with the schedule and completed Z in August 2018.  And that's when the fun started!

Since then I have been adding little motifs from other charts to add to the spookiness.  Here are some close-ups.

The pumpkins, ghosts and cats are all Just Nan designs from her various Hallowe'en charts.

The raven is from a sampler featured in Cross Stitcher magazine.  

To make it fit, I stitched it over one.

The owl is from the same sampler in Cross Stitcher magazine

The white dove from the original design was stitched in black and grey.

The gate is from the Hallowe'en Night design by Jardin Prive I stitched in 2018

I added a little over one owl on top of one of the gateposts

The moon was a photo of the actual moon which I ran through Pic2Pat.

The bats on the left come from a freebie design

and the one on the right comes from the Cross Stitcher Sampler.

The little frogs are Just Nan too.

This is the cover of the Cross Stitcher magazine issue 349 with the sampler by Maria Diaz on the front cover:

And now - the whole piece!

stitched on 32 count Murano in Tigerlily by Sparklies

I'm really looking forward to getting this one framed ready for Hallowe'en this year.  It measures 20 inches wide by 8 inches tall so it's unlikely I'll be able to get an off-the-shelf frame.

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 or send me an email if you are "no-reply". 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.

October WIPocalypse, Rotational Stitching and TUSAL

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.

This month I stitched on five of my list and had one finish:

1. Enchanted Alphabet by Lavender & Lace 

stitched on 32 count Murano in Tiger Lily by Sparklies

The owl is from a Maria Diaz sampler in Cross Stitcher magazine issue 349

2. Raven by Nora Corbett

stitched on 32 count Belfast in Nebula by Crafty Kitten

3. Mystic Sampler by Primitive Needle - a finish!

stitched on 40 count Newcastle in Jewel Butterbeer by Under The Sea Fabrics

seen here with my TUSAL.

More photos to follow in later posts

4. 25th Anniversary Cameo by Mirabilia

stitched on random 28 count hand-dyed evenweave

5. Victorian Christmas Tree by Sue Hillis Designs

stitched on 28 count green evenweave

Bling to be added.

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss too.

October - Do you prefer to stitch on a rotation or one project at a time?

I think you probably all know the answer to this one!  I do like a rotation.  I have tried several over the years and the one that suits me is based around the time of the day.

1. Each morning after breakfast - a small daily stitch project - it might be 10-a-Day or one length a day.  In October it has been Mystic Sampler, approximately one 20 x 20 block per day.

2. The afternoon - My focus piece for the day.  This year it has been The Discworld Mappe for a fortnight each month.  Then one of the other projects on my "19 in '19"

3. The Small Boy's Bath-time - stitching while supervising.  This year I have stitched on Mrs Peggotty's Queen of Hearts and the Jessica Savage Words as well as some of my Christmas Ornaments. 

Finally, there will be a Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop as usual this year.  I am currently working on the Mystery Phrase and will email all the participants very soon.

Dark 13 in Dark October

October in the stitching world is Dark October where we stitch our spookiest stitches.  Last year I had a selection of smalls and this year I am focusing on two large projects and one daily stitch.

The daily stitch is Mystic Sampler by the Primitive Needle.  I am stitching a portion each day, approx 20 x 20 squares on the chart.  Here are the first 12 days:

And here is Day 13:

stitched on 40 count Jewel Butterbeer by Under the Sea Fabrics

These snaps are taken using my iPad and the colours are not true at all.  To give you a better idea, here's the project I stitched on the other half of this piece of fabric:

The Goode Huswif - Books of Spells

It's because I take the photos sitting beside my large kitchen window in full daylight.  The thread colours are pretty accurate, I am using my own DMC conversion.

I've been using the Tiny Decisions app to choose my project some days and some days I have just stitched what I felt like.  The first project to get chosen by the App was my spooky conversion of Lavender & Lace's Enchanted Alphabet.  I've been adding various motifs throughout the year and the recent issue of Cross Stitcher magazine had an awesome Hallowe'en sampler with some perfect birds and animals to add.

stitched on 32 count Tiger Lily Murano by Sparklies

 

So far I have a wonderful over one raven and what will become an owl.  I think I need a couple more ghosts and then I can say it's finally done!

The other project is one of Nora Corbett's Bewitching Pixies.  This is Raven as she was at the start of the month:

And here she is now:

stitched on 32 count Nebula Belfast by Crafty Kitten

I've been stitching in three shades of purple all month.  The charted purples are 333, 3746 and 156.  But 156 is rather a blue purple and it just didn't look right.  You can see it in the top two folds of the cloak - the lightest shade.

So I tried 155 which is slightly more purpley and it looks much better.  So now I have to frog out the top two panels.  The difference is more striking in real life.

Of course I decided to make life just a little bit harder by stitching the skin over 1.  It's a bit blurry in the photos but looks good in person.

We've still got plenty of time this month and with half term holiday looming it would be nice to think I could get a finish on this one too.

Finally, there will be a Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop as usual this year. I am sure you all know how it works but for those who need a reminder - here's a link to last year's

2018 Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop

If you want to take part, just leave a comment here or email me if you are a "no reply" person. I need an email address for you to take part in this hop.

July 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 the issue was from 2006 and I chose The Sweetheart Tree Christmas Joy Bellpull which is the companion to the 2007 design I stitched for March's choice.

stitched on 32 count linen

It was a quick stitch so I fully finished it straight away:

The next item for my "smalls" SAL is always my spooky conversion of Lavendar & Lace's Enchanted Alphabet.  This month I added a trio of froggies taken from a Just Nan design.

stitched on 32 count Murano Tiger Lily from Sparklies

Staying with Just Nan I had a number of successes this month.  First I finished the second side of the Butterfly Needlebook:

Then I added the beads and my initials to the first side:

And now I have them both finished.  Question is - do I make a needlebook which won't get used or do I scrapbook?

stitched on hand-dyed 28 count evenweave

Having finished those two I moved on to the next one in line, Spring Fantasy.  Very small and quickly finished!

stitched on 28 count pink evenweave

This one will be scrapbooked with some more of the butterfly stickers I used last time.

I did start another one (Butterfly Welcome) but haven't photographed it yet!

Finally, haven't shown any rocks for a while so here are two I made as End-of-Year gifts for the Small Boy's teachers:

  

June 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 any issue from 2001 to 2010.  I went for a Just Nan design from 2002; A Little Joy.

stitched on 28 count Platinum linen

The fabric next to it will be the backing fabric for the ornament finish.  The original was charted so the small design in the centre was stitched over 1 on a separate piece of fabric and then put into a tiny frame attached the main design.  But as I don't have a tiny frame, I stitched it direct on the fabric and added a little gold backstitched frame around it.

This was a lovely design to stitch, some speciality stitches, some metallics and some beads as well as the tiny over one scene in the centre.

The other regular project for the SAL is my spooky conversion of Lavender & Lace's Enchanted Alphabet.  I finished the letters a while back and now I am adding various spooky motifs each month.  This month I added some little ghosts:

I am also stitching a Just Nan small each month.  This is side 1 of Butterfly Needlebook.  I am calling this a finish although there are some initials to be added in the centre of the motif.  I want to complete both sides before I add them.

stitched on 28 count hand-dyed pink linen

This is side 2 of the Needlebook:

Finally, a less pleasant subject - Spam.  I have had a rash of spam comments just lately.  Fortunately they have not appeared on my blog as I moderate comments, so for those of you who do not moderate - check your comments daily to delete them.  Most are quite obviously spam although there was one that seemed to be a real person "Millie", until you followed their link and they were not!