Finally Fully Finishing Fun for February

 

 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 just want to make it clear that this IS me, Jo the Serendipitous Stitcher AKA Jo who can't think of a clever nickname, posting.  This blog has not been taken over by someone else.  I was merely visited by a Finishing Fairy in the last month!  If you've heard the tale of The Elves and the Shoemaker, this is very similar.  I left my finishes out and some spirit came along and FFO'd them!

First up was my 2024 Temperature Tree from The Steady Thread.  All the Finishing Fairy had to do for this one was iron it, stretch it and mount on card to be slipped into a pocket in my scrapbook.

It's almost exactly 12 x 12 inches.  Those leaves look so pretty!


Next up was Evening in the Shire by Maria Brovko.  Again, iron, stretch and mount on card then popped in a simple black frame:

In the same style frame is Aslan from Life in Stitch:

Both of those have glass in front of them but I always take the photos without glass then put it back afterwards.  That way I get a nice clear photo without reflections.

Last up was Nevermore from Quaternion Creations.  This frame was from a charity shop and originally had a mirror in it.  The frame is brass so I painted it with a black paint wash so you can still see the details of the frame.

The moon on this does show up better in real life.

Finally, while getting out my February stitched decor to add to the Winter pieces already on display, I decided to sort out my frame collection.  They were stored in two different places and now they are all in one cupboard.  I have measured and catalogued them all onto a spreadsheet too.   I have 56 frames of an assortment of sizes, shapes and styles.   The largest 3 are 10.5 x 13.5 inches.

Some came from charity shops, some from home department stores, some from my Mum and a couple were gifts.  Now I have all the sizes down in one place it should make it easier to match stitching to frame!

December 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 November, the numbers were 14 and 16.  These related to Maria Brovko Evening in the Shire and Full Circle Designs Moonshadow Mini "A Child's Dream".

Maria Brovko - Evening in the Shire

Mostly all backstitch with just small areas of cross stitching for effect.

The backstitch is a combination of one, two or three strands to add dimension

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen

stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

This is a sweet sampler with lots of speciality stitches

It just turned out a little different to the way I was expecting!
I used the charted colours, but here's the cover:

Definitely looks purple and lilac to me and not brown!  But it looks nice and I'll see if I have a nice brown frame to match.

By default, the December numbers had to be 7 and 20.  These relate to Shannon Christine's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 1) and Life in Stitch's Aslan.

The latter is another Ukrainian designer on Etsy.  By coincidence, both designs are going to be stitched on black fabric, so that will be fun!

Finally, I am still making plans for 2025!  After a year of small/medium designs I have two larger pieces I want to focus on and then keep up with some of the series I started the last couple of years.  Designs such as the Zodiac Girls, the 12 Days of Christmas, The Year in the Woods.

December TUSAL

     

It's TUSAL time!  

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current project:

This is Evening in the Shire by Maria Brovko stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen.

There's a small amount of cross stitches then loads of backstitch!

Nearly done now so I'm going to keep going with this one until it's finished and then start my December WIPGO project.


Finally, if you've got the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Special this year and fancy joining a year-long SAL on Facebook then we've just chosen our favourites for 2025 and I'll be announcing the winners soon.

The group can be found here, please answer the membership questions to be accepted - JCS Stitch Along

November WIPocalypse Planning

          

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 just 2 of them, we've still got 6 days to go so they might be finished by the end of the month.

10. Full Circle Designs - Moonshadow Mini

stitched on 32 count white linen

20. Maria Brovko - Evening in the Shire

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

November - How do you begin planning for the next year with your stitching? Tell us your process

I do love to make plans and I start thinking about the following year almost as soon as I start the current year!  For example, 2023 was a focus year where I stitched on Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow every month.  So I knew I'd make 2024 a rotation year and stitch some of the smaller and medium designs I had in my stash and then 2025 would be a focus year again.

The focus will be Mirabilia's Fairy Idyll and also the Art Nouveau Head which is my oldest WIP now.  Having decided on those two, I make a list of the series I want to work on:

Nora Corbett Zodiac Girls

Nora Corbett Pixies
Cottage Garden Samplings Year in the Woods

Cottage Garden Samplings 12 Days of Christmas
Shannon Christine 12 Days of Christmas

Cricket Collection Seasons
Stitch it Picasso Zodiac Signs

Stitch it Picasso Dragons

Firewing Designs Dragons

Shepherd's Bush Herbs

Then I look at my individual charts and see which ones I want to add in.  

What do I want to use for my evening stitching?

What shall I choose for Dark 13?

How about IHSW?  Another go at the A-Z or one project the entire year?

Then I fit things onto my WIPGO Board.  Looking at the list, there are 10 series plus the two focus pieces.  So I could put each project down twice with the goal of "Stitch for 2 weeks" and use the other two weeks for the focus projects.  

It can and will change before 1st January but that's half the fun!