Latest Finish

 

Living on the Rainbow - Fall Bookshelf

Stitched on 32 count Vintage Country Mocha linen

I couldn't wait to start this one, bought it as soon as it was released and started stitching straight away.

September WIPocalypse Learning to Stitch

            

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 5 of them and had four finishes.

2. Shepherd's Bush Halloween Trifles

11. Hands on Designs [never.more]

12. Living on the Rainbow Haunted House

16. Tra La La Couer de Sorciere

24. Cottage Garden Samplings Halloween Sampler

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

September – How did you learn to stitch?

I actually stitched my very first piece in Year 2 in Primary School.

After that, there was a long break until I saw a friend cross stitching a design for her baby son in 1993.  I was intrigued and thought it looked easier than sewing or embroidery because of the squares on the fabric.

I bought a small kit and started immediately, following the instructions in the kit:

After I'd got the basics I moved on to stitching with metallics, stitching on black, stitching on linen etc.  In the pre-internet days there was no-one telling you that something was supposed to be difficult!  You just tried it out to see how you got on.

Some of my techniques remain from the original kits - I'm a centre starter and much prefer to start that way.  Some developed from my own habits, I stitch using "secured needle" because it's practical when travelling and with cats or small children around.

The main change I have made is from stitching ////// then \\\\\\\ for rows to stitching each X individually.  I realised I prefer the tension and the look of the stitches when I do them individually.

Finally Fully Finishing Fun for September

  

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).

Guess what - I finished something!!  Two somethings in fact.

First something is a ten year old project, the Faces SAL from Joan Elliott started in 2014 and finished in August 2024.  I went for a simple box frame that I painted with emulsion test pots, a mix of pink and lilac to match the lovely fabric.

Nice and simple with a good amount of the fabric showing round the edge.

Close up of one corner:
  

The second FFO is very exciting and took quite a bit longer than just framing a picture.

Living on the Rainbow 3D Haunted House

I changed the finishing method a bit.
Instead of using iron-on interfacing, I mounted each piece on thin card.

I whipstitched the four sides together.

Then I stitched the roof on three sides from the back, turned it right way out, inserted some thin card and whipstitched the fourth side shut.

I backstitched along the top to make a ridge in the roof then stitched the roof to the four walls.

(that was the hardest part in the process)

I stuffed the house with pillow stuffing.

Finally, I covered a piece of thin card in linen and stitched it to the bottom of the house.

July Smalls

      

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Rachel

For my Smalls stitching this year, I have chosen 12 smaller designs and numbered them for my WIPGO Board.  Each month one Small will be stitched in the evening timeslot and hopefully finished within the month.  

Last month I was stitching the 3D Haunted House from Living on the Rainbow.  I continued with that for the first four days of July and finished the stitching.  Now I need to FFO it, maybe in time for the FFO Gallery in August?

After that I moved on to my July WIPGO choice which was a Lizzie*Kate design, Sampling Christmas.  I finished that in just a few days and now need to attach a charm from my collection and FFO that one too.

stitched on 32 count Desert Sand evenweave

For the rest of the month I have been stitching another blackwork design from Circle Cross.  This is The Hare Moon for Taurus and part of her Lunar Calendar.

stitched on 28 count Robin's Egg evenweave from Silkweavers

Finally, have you seen Jocondine's latest Tour de France?  It's a tricky one this year!!

June WIPocalypse Half Year Goals

         

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 5 of them and had one finish.

12. Living on the Rainbow 3D Haunted House

13. Joan Elliott Faces SAL

14. Stitchy Princess Alice in Wonderland - Finish!

21. Cottage Garden Sampling Year in the Woods The Swans

24. Cottage Garden Samplings Halloween Sampler

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

June – Half-year recap: How are you doing with your goals so far this year?

My goals are doing very nicely, thank you!  Out of the 24 on the list, I have 8 finishes so far plus 2 partial finishes where the pieces are part of a set.  Every project has been started in the month it was called for except the Spot of Autumn which was called in May and will be rolled over to another month.

I didn't quite finish the 3D Haunted House in June but it's very close.

Here's how my WIPGO Board looks at the end of June:

June Smalls

     

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Rachel

For my Smalls stitching this year, I have chosen 12 smaller designs and numbered them for my WIPGO Board.  Each month one Small will be stitched in the evening timeslot and hopefully finished within the month.  

After the excitement of my Just Nan-athon in May, I have returned to a focus piece for June.  The WIPGO Board chose the 3D Haunted House from Living on the Rainbow and I've been working steadily on that each evening.

Here is the front and back, blurry but completed:

Here is my progress on the sides and the roof:

I've got the purple fill-in and backstitch to do on the sides.  For the roof, I have made the decision not to fill it all in as charted but leave the purple fabric showing.  So I'll stitch all the way round the edge and mount it on some dark card before sewing it to the building.

Finally, you can see it's not going to be finished by the end of June so this will be a roll-over to next month!

June TUSAL

       

It's TUSAL time!  

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current projects:

On the left is Stitchy Princess' Alice in Wonderland:

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen

And on the right is my evening project; Living on the Rainbow's 3D Haunted House:

stitched on 32 count purple linen

This is the front of the house and is almost finished, just a little backstitch to go.

Finally, it's a Focus Weekend in the WIP Warriors group so I'm hoping to get some good progress on Alice.  It's such a fun project with only a few colours and they really pop against the fabric colour.

June Plans

At the start of the year I made a list of 24 projects I want to stitch this year for my "24 in '24".  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 two projects I stitch that month.  One small and one medium.

In May, the numbers were 5, 13 and 19.  These related to Drawn Thread Spot of Autumn, my Longest Day Marathon and Nora Corbett's Claire.

Claire was a finish but Spot of Autumn had to give way to my Just Nanathon.

stitched on 28 count hand-dyed evenweave of unknown origin

In June, the numbers are 2 and 25.  These relate to Stitchy Princess Alice in Wonderland and Living on the Rainbow's Haunted House.

 

This is my daytime project and I've made a great start so far:

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen

I'm using the charted DMC colours but have changed the pale blue to a darker one as the fabric makes it blend in to the white too much.  The fabric is a much richer blue than showing in the photo.  Check out this finished piece for better colour representation - Noel Blanc

This cute little 3D design is my evening project.  I have nearly completed the front of the house:

stitched on 32 count purple linen

Again I am using the charted DMC but 32 count fabric rather than 18 count aida so mine will be a little bit bigger than the model.

Finally, what about 13?  Well, that's the centre square and I use that for my Longest Day Marathon.  The official Longest Day (Northern Hemisphere) is Thursday 20th June this year but I am busy that day so I will be attempting my Marathon the day before - Wednesday 19th June.  If anyone wants to join in at any time between the 17th and 23rd June - feel free!  All you have to do is attempt to stitch on as many of your WIPs as possible.

Spoiler Alert for FFO Gallery

I wouldn't usually show an FFO before Rachel's FFO Gallery but I just can't wait with this one!

As a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people I purchased some PDF charts from various Etsy shops earlier this year.  THis particular design went straight to the top of the stitching list -  

Living on the Rainbow

The instructions are incredibly clear and seem easy to follow but there is quite a lot of sewing together bits of felt for the roof so I decided to change it up a little and make a rectangular shop instead.

Here are the pieces all stitched and ready to cut out:

The bookshop where I work is number 98 

The garlands are beads rather than French Knots

I added the brick details down each side to make the corners more decorative

stitched on 28 count Tan evenweave

What's your favourite detail?

I also made a base piece out of the same fabric, just backstitched a rectangle the right size.  I used thick card and double-sided tape to mount each piece, then whip-stitched the fours sides together.  Then I whip stitched the base to the building:

I am really pleased with my roof fabric.  My friend gave me some sparkly white leatherette she uses for making hairbows.  I mounted it on card cut to fit the roof area and then whip stitched it to the building using white sewing thread.  Usually I use DMC cotton in a matching shade to the fabric or stitching but sewing thread is sturdier, especially if you are pulling something taut.

Here is the finished piece:

I used clean old socks to stuff it.  Children's socks are perfect for these projects.

My focus piece for the second half of the month has been my Chatelaine Gardens of London.  I decided to work on the borders this time around.  One of the rose borders was completed and I've been working on the other three.

This one is done:

Here is the whole piece so far:

stitched on 32 count Cotton Clouds Belfast from Crafty Kitten

Next task is to backstitch the remaining roses and then the gold backstitch on the two bottom gardens.  After that there is another border in shades of green, designed to look like an ornamental hedge.

I'm also continuing with my Just Nan Super Summer SAL and stitching Mermaid Heart.  Here it is with two shades of turquoise completed:

stitched on 32 count grey-green linen

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