Finally Fully Finished Fun for October

   

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'm on a roll, I finished more things!  Well, technically my framer FFO'd some things for me!

I took Capricorn in for her to work her magic once again.

The frame is a lovely reddish-brown which goes perfectly with her browns and reds.

Here she is on the wall:

And with Taurus.  I need another nail to be able to hang Virgo with them.

Virgo is in my bedroom with J for Joanne at the moment.

I also took this smaller piece with me and told the framer to do what she wanted with it as it was a gift for her.  It took her quite a few minutes to realise I was serious!  The story is - when I took Taurus in last year she joked that it was a gift for her as she is a Taurus and how I might not get her back.  So when Circle Cross finished her Lunar Calendar series with The Hare Moon for Taurus, I just had to stitch her as gift.  She's been framing my work for 20 years now, an average of 1 piece per year and I trust her 100% with the frame choices and my precious stitching.

Here's the frame she chose for herself:

I did FFO something myself.  Having shown the 3D Haunted House last month, that inspired me to finally FFO the 3D Haunted Mansion from 2022!  I'd done it all except for the base.  So here it is completely FFO'd in time for Halloween:

Here they are together:

And here are my 3D shelves:

The castle tower to the left is a bought piece made from felt.

Finally, if you want to see all the pieces framed by Thistles, check out the label on my Happy Dance Blog - Thistles Framing

I notice I need to add both Taurus and Capricorn to the blog!

Gifted Gorgeousness August Link-up Post

       

Welcome to the August Gifted Gorgeousness link-up. The link-up date continues to be the 15th and I will keep the link-up open until the end of each month so you have plenty of time if you are late posting.

The format remains exactly the same, there is a list of rules on the main sign-up page if you want to check what is required but basically anything connected to the word "gift" is allowed, whether it was a gift TO you or is a gift FROM you.


My evening piece started in last month became a finish, stitched on gifted fabric and will be a gift for a friend too:

Circle Cross - Hare Moon for Taurus

stitched on 28 count opalescent Robin's Egg evenweave from Silkweaver

This month, my evening piece was a chart I gave to a friend as a Birthday present and then she gave it back to me to stitch!  I'm using the offcut of Sparklies' Tigerlily Murano for these.

Shepherd's Bush - Halloween Trifles

stitched on 32 count Tigerlily Murano from Sparklies

My focus piece for this month is Joan Elliott's Faces SAL, stitched on gifted fabric:

stitched on 28 count Snapdragon Jazlyn from Crafty Kitten

Steady Thread - Tree of Life Temperature SAL

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stitched on 28 count Meadow Mist linen from Silkweavers

I record the temperature each day and then stitch the leaves on the Sunday morning.

A little bit behind because of how busy it's been

My Dark 13 design is stitched on gifted fabric, a beautiful 40 count linen called Witch's Brew from Zweigart.  My plan is to stitch one letter per month until we reach October and then complete it during Dark October.

stitched on 40 count linen called Witch's Brew from Zweigart

Finally, it is your turn to show us your Gifted Gorgeousness for the month.  Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "August Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month.  And link to the actual post, not just your blog.  It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.

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July Stitch from Stash and Pie

 It's time for Pie!

As you can see, apart from Dark 13 and IHSW when I stitched on the Art Noeveau Head for N in my Alphabet Challenge, I focused on Nora Corbett's Capricorn.  This is the third in the Zodiac Girls series I have stitched on the respective fabric from Sparklies.

This is the most heavily beaded and is going to be gorgeous!

stitched on 32 count Capricorn Murano from Sparklies

I have a pie for my evening stitching too.

I finished the 3D Haunted House at the start of the month, then switched to my WIPGO piece, Lizzie*Kate's Sampling Christmas.  This only took 10 evenings to stitch so I finished the month with The Hare Moon from Circle Cross' Lunar Calendar.

stitched on 28 count Robin's Egg evenweave from Silkweaver

Finally, over to Stitch From Stash.  I needed the beads for Capricorn.  She's heavily beaded but luckily I had 4 of the packs already and just needed to buy three of them.  I also bought the Kreinik and two different variegated red/purples to substitute for the Waterlilies.  Those 3 cost the same as one skein of Waterlilies!

Obviously, I need the Lunar Calendar which was a great deal, all 12 for £14.80 plus the borders for the medium and large sampler.  The Mill Hill beads came from someone destashing - 4 unopened packs for just £4.  

Quite a spend this month but I've had a number of Zero months so far this year.

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!!

July IHSW

 

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

This year I am trying something different for IHSW - an A-Z Challenge!  These usually take place in April and people stitch one letter every day except Sunday.  I don't want to swap projects daily so thought I could do 2 or 3 letters per IHSW instead.  

July is N and O.
I didn't have an active project for O but I did have two for N.

I have been trying to fit in my Art Nouveau Head from Craft Collection as much as possible for this challenge as it is my oldest WIP now.  I stitched some more of the pink background.

stitched on 28 count White Aida

The other N was this month's focus piece from Nora Corbett, this is Capricorn, the third Zodiac Girl I have chosen to stitch.

stitched on 32 count Capricorn Murano from Sparklies

I made some nice progress on the flowers above and below her.  They are more red in real life.

In the evenings I continued with this beautiful lady - The Hare Moon for Taurus from Circle Cross.

stitched on 28 count Robin's Egg evenweave from Silkweavers

 

Next month will be P and Q.  I've got 2 P projects and one that covers both P and Q, so that's good.

Finally the next IHSW will be 16th - 18th August so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook. If you don't do Facebook then you can check in here by leaving a comment on my post.

The Start of July IHSW

 

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

This year I am trying something different for IHSW - an A-Z Challenge!  These usually take place in April and people stitch one letter every day except Sunday.  I don't want to swap projects daily so thought I could do 2 or 3 letters per IHSW instead.

July is the turn for N and O.  I don't have an O project but I do have 2 N's so I'll be working on both of those this weekend.

The first one will be my Focus piece for the month - Nora Corbett's Capricorn, part of the Zodiac Girls series.

Here's my starting photo:

stitched on 32 count Capricorn Murano from Sparklies

The original calls for 3 skeins of Caron Waterlilies which are lovely but cost £7 each. So I've substituted them for two of the DMC 4000 series and one Classic Colorworks which look great so far.

I also managed to get a substitute for the Magnifica beads.  Create Nostalgia recommend a Delica which is a close match and send those instead.

My second N project will be the Art Nouveau Head from Craft Collection.  Here's the start photo:

stitched on 14 count white Aida

I've been trying to get a day in on this one whenever I can.

Finally, my evening project is not an N but I am loving it!  It's part of the Lunar Calendar from Circle Cross.  This is The Hare Moon for Taurus:

stitched on 28 count Robin's Egg evenweave from Silkweavers

Gifted Gorgeousness July Link-up Post

      

Welcome to the July Gifted Gorgeousness link-up. The link-up date continues to be the 15th and I will keep the link-up open until the end of each month so you have plenty of time if you are late posting.

The format remains exactly the same, there is a list of rules on the main sign-up page if you want to check what is required but basically anything connected to the word "gift" is allowed, whether it was a gift TO you or is a gift FROM you.

My evening project was a gift from Vickie and is a finish already!

Lizzie*Kate - Sampling Christmas

stitched on 32 count Desert Sand evenweave

I just need to find a nice charm to fit inbetween P, Q, R and S

My replacement evening piece is being stitched on gifted fabric and will be a gift for a friend too:

Circle Cross - Hare Moon for Taurus

stitched on 28 count opalescent Robin's Egg evenweave from Silkweaver

Steady Thread - Tree of Life Temperature SAL

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stitched on 28 count Meadow Mist linen from Silkweavers

I record the temperature each day and then stitch the leaves on the Sunday morning.

My Dark 13 design is stitched on gifted fabric, a beautiful 40 count linen called Witch's Brew from Zweigart.  My plan is to stitch one letter per month until we reach October and then complete it during Dark October.

stitched on 40 count linen called Witch's Brew from Zweigart

Now it is your turn to show us your Gifted Gorgeousness for the month.  Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "July Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month.  And link to the actual post, not just your blog.  It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.

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Finally, this post was missing a couple of photos because I was already late and just want to get it posted so you could add your links!  All photos have been added now.