Stitching Finishes

Here are a few of my recent finishes that I haven't shown yet.

My 10th finish for the year was the Needlecraft Haven February Challenge.  Every month Christine discovers a freebie chart and we all stitch it and finish it however we like.  We can't show anyone until the end of the month.  February's came from  Lynn B of Happiness is Cross Stitching.  We could choose either of the two freebies and I chose the cat.  Then I decided the "LOVE" would look good stitched over 1 underneath the cat.  I changed the "O" heart slightly, it was originally a dangler!  I do have an issue with DMC 310, it doesn't cover well on 28 count.  Does anyone have a recommendation for a good black?  Not an expensive one please!  310 is great for backstitch and I really don't want to have to go for three strands everytime.

My 12th finish was another freebie, this time by Barbara Ana from Cyberstitches.

Here they both are together:

I've got another Valentine design by San Man Originals I want to add on the same fabric but now February is past I don't have the same incentive to stitch it!  It'll be done by next year, I promise.  The fabric is the fruit-tea dyed 28count I used for Mouse's Birthday card.  By careful cutting I have a small square and a long thin piece left.  I am so mean with my fabric and threads!

My 11th finish was a prize in my Epiphany Giveaway which went to Terri of Rosy Stitches.  The design is all my own, this is the second time I've stitched it for somone else, it makes a lovely giveaway.  You must visit Terri's blog to see her lovely beaded rose in her header pic and also her stitching chair which matches this pillow, how serendipitous!

Terri asked which thread I used, it's DMC 4030 one of the newer variegateds.  When I stitched Bluebeard's Mermaid last year my LNS subbed the Carons for DMC threads and this was one of the them.  It's a lovely colour and changed shades nicely as you stitch. 

The backing fabric is one of the upholstery samples I acquired last year, it's very expensive stuff, some of it is over £75 a metre!  How lucky I am to have a load of 12inch squares to play with!   Apparently the sample books themselves cost £70 for the shops so I am doubly surprised they gave so many away to us.

There are two more finishes which I can't show yet until recipients have received them so watch this space.

Finally, I let the Large Boy choose this month's "Falling Things" hence the randomness of them.  Here's the link if you too want random things falling on your blog:

add-falling-coloured-stars-snowflakes-stuff-things

(Large Boy not included, provide your own)

There’s a voice that keeps on calling me...

There’s a voice that keeps on calling me
Down the road is where I’ll always be

Every stop I make, I’ll make a new friend
Can’t stay for long, just turn around and I’m gone again.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want to settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.

Down this road, that never seems to end,
Where new adventure, lies just around the bend.

Bonus points for anyone except Hannah who can name the tune!  I was going to use Whitesnake's Here I Go Again but somehow this one seemed more suitable.

It is, of course, the Travelling Pattern singing it's merry song.   Thank you to everyone who asked to be part of the Stitcherhood of the Travelling Pattern.  It was very VERY hard to choose just one person.

But before I announce the winner, there's this:-

IHSW was a great success.  I am (this) close to finishing Bluebeard's Mermaid, only half a seahorse and the treasures to fix then I'll be Happy Dancing round the room.  I also stitched my entry for the Gift of Stitching's Tape Measure competition which I won't show here as I'm not sure about the rules on that.  There will be a vote when all the designs appear in their Gallery next weekend.

I can show you this:

This is how I finished my two Loves from The Stitcherhood.  I wanted some red/black ribbon with hearts on it but could only find red with white hearts.  I tried using various pens to colour the white and it just didn't look right.  But I did find these heart buttons in my LNS which look good.  The design is posing with a statue which represents our family (I think it's called Circle of Love).  I bought one of a couple with one child when hubby and I moved in together to represent me, him and the large boy, then I bought one of a man holding a woman in a wedding dress when we got married (although we'd already done the whole carrying me over the threshold thing).  This one I bought when the small boy arrived on the scene and we became 4.

The carved love spoon was a wedding gift hand-made by a close friend.  She is a very talented craftswoman, as well as carving wood she makes stained glass pieces and has tried her hand at cross stitch too.

I suppose you're still waiting to see where the Travelling Pattern goes next?  I am pleased to announce - drum roll here - the Travelling Pattern will not be needing a Visa or passport for it's next journey, it is off to.....

Mouse

So if Mouse could let me know the address of the Mouse House, the Travelling Pattern will be off on it's travels once again.  Apologies for everyone else but there can be only one lucky stitcher, pop over to Mouse's blog for a chance next round. 

Round Robin and some smalls

I have some new stitching pics today!

The first is for the Round Robin I'm in on the WWRR Yuku Board.  This is Sophia's RR, she has sent it round the world once in 2008 and now it's travelling again.  The theme is the great Teresa Wentzler and I was very excited to be stitching on this piece as I love TW's designs.

I chose a floral band from The English Cottage Sampler partly because there is one other UK stitcher on this piece and she chose from The English Garden Sampler and I thought they made a nice pair.  It is a more freeform band than some of the others but happily fitted into the 80 squares wide allowed in this sampler.  I stitched it exactly as the pattern except for the top 4 rows which I mirrored the bottom four for symmetry.  I also changed the edge leaves to single stitches where they would have gone over the edge.

This is my band with the previous one:

I've been super-careful with this one.  It only comes out in the evening when the small one is in bed and I haven't been wearing my usual eye makeup.  Why on earth not? you may well ask.  Well, when it's getting late and you have "just one more row"itis and rub your eyes there is a risk that you will get black eyeshadow on the fabric!  A risk I was not prepared to take!

I had to frog the parts of the beige background crosses at least twice as they kept jumping one square over.  Then the palest leaves (504) didn't look much different to the 503 so I looked at the thread in a better light and realised I had two skeins of 504 and one is lighter than the other.  So I frogged them and redid them in the new skein.  This is the woman who never frogs but recharts instead!

This is a little piece I mailed off to Rachael to help raise money for the Cats Protection League.  Hopefully it will be added to a quilt or cushion.  The design is by Tralala from SoCreaStitch and I stitched it in DMC 4215 a lovely variegated blue/lilac and pink.

And for those who like a more artistic photo -

The two cats were bought with the money I got for serving 15 years with my old company.  I also got my stash chest and a jacket (total spend £250) plus a party at the pub shared with a fellow "lifer" for 50 people.  We were supposed to have a nice genteel buffet in the boardroom for 30 but the senior management wanted it too and as we refused to change our date they had no choice but to give us the money and send us to the pub instead!

(note from proof-reader mode - I spelt Genteel as Gentile originally, not what I meant at all!)

The final pic is a small freebie from   The Stitcherhood blog which I found via the Needlecraft Haven Forum in their February challenge.  I stitched it twice with a subtle difference.  Now all I need to do is find some black ribbon with hearts or maybe some thick lace and decide how to frame it.

That's all folks!