September Just Nan SAL

Just Nan SAL is hosted by Zeb of Keep Calm and Cross Stitch

Unfortunately Zeb is no longer updating the SAL on her blog but that's no reason to stop stitching and posting!  So here is my monthly update.

This month I finished the third design in the Moon Riders leaflet.  This is Jinx the Witch:

And here are all three together:

I stitched these on 32 count lavender evenweave using the DMC conversion provided. I changed the moons to DMC 4090 one of the variegated threads and also made the borders stripy.

Having stitched them all on one piece I am now undecided as to whether to frame them in a long thin frame (which I don't have and haven't seen) or whether to scrap book them individually on one page.

Short post today so I will include this story -

I'm a bit of a fan of Mr. X Stitch and his blog, there's often something unusual and alternative going on.  This post is a Battle of the Needles between stitching and knitting.  Which will win?

Handmade Fair - Mollie Makes Mashup

Finally, I am having an impromptu Blog Hop to celebrate my 500 Followers, all details on the previous post.

Smalls SAL August Update

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Stitching Lotus

I chose three different monthly themes to follow this year:

Hallowe'en Ornie SAL - 12 different themes
Little Stitcher Fairy Tale 12 Days of Christmas - one per month
Primitive Hare Spooky Countdown - one per week starting 31st January

The August theme for the Hallowe'en blog was Ghosts, and as luck would have it the second Moon Rider design by Just Nan featured a ghost!

So here is Jasper:

I stitched him using the DMC conversion supplied but changed the moon to DMC 4090 which is a variegated thread.  I also used the darker green for his scarf as the light didn't show up.  I stitched a stripy border to match the first design.  

Here they are together:

The Little Stitcher design isn't quite finished yet so I will show that one later.

My progress on Primitive Hare's Spooky Countdown has been steady and I now only have two blocks, the header and the footer to stitch with a whole two months to do them in.

Finally the postcards are still coming, here is the latest list:

First postcard from Marcy goes to Gracie at Needles, Pins and Dragonflies

Second postcard from Krista goes to Jocondine at Jocondine

Third postcard from Michelle goes to Sharon at Shebafudge

Fourth postcard from Mouse goes to Vickie at A Stitcher's Story

Fifth postcard from Christine goes to Marcy at Stitching Plus

Sixth postcard from Astrid goes to Krista at Just Stitching Along

Seventh postcard from Vickie goes to Michelle at Michelle's StitchCraft Place

Eighth postcard from Jocondine goes to Deborah at A Patchwork of Crafts

Ninth postcard from Gracie goes to Maggee at Stitching Devotee

Tenth postcard from Sharon goes to Kaye at Kitten Stitching

Eleventh postcard from Deborah goes to Heather at It's Geek to Me

Stitch from Stash August Update

Stitch from Stash is hosted by Mel from Epic Stitching

Essentially the idea behind Stitch from Stash is that we are limited to spending US$25 (or £15) per month. There are various exemptions (Birthday money, existing mag subs, clubs etc) but the idea is not to try and pervert the rules and to stitch some of that stash!  I will be posting on or around the 20th of each month because that is when I get paid!

Money from Christmas 2013	£ 40.00
January Budget	£ 15.00
January Spend	£ 25.84-
February Budget	£ 15.00
February Spend	£ 18.99-
March Budget	£ 15.00
March Spend	£   8.42-
April Budget	£ 15.00
April Spend	£ 16.19-
May Budget	£ 15.00
May Spend	£   0.00
June Budget	£ 15.00
June Spend	£ 51.00-
June Bonus	£ 30.00
July Budget	£ 15.00
July Spend	£ 17.00-
Balance	£ 37.56

Madame Chantilly 2 charts	£ 19.72-
Needleprint magazine	£ 10.00-

Balance	£   7.84
August Budget	£ 15.00
Available to carry forward to September	£ 22.84

Allowed purchases:

Jodyri Threads of Month Club : £ 5.54
Cross Stitch Collection subs: £11.39

I needed to buy a chart for my cousin's new baby.  OK there are three cousins having new babies this year!  Not bad considering I only have 5 cousins.  My actual cousin had her's four months ago and I stitched a C for her.  Another cousin's wife is expecting at the end of August, I stitched a JBW Noah's Ark for her first baby and am undecided what to stitch for this one.  The third pregnancy is actually my second cousin but who is counting!  They have a nautical theme for baby's room and this chart seemed perfect to me:

 I will stitch baby's name in the banner where it says Holidays.

The chart was not available as a PDF so I had to pay postage and as we all know, the rule is Always Maximise Your Postage.  So I bought this one for me too!

There is also a Christmas one and a Roses one (for Spring), so who knows I may buy those and stitch all four as seasonal pieces.  In the envelope there was also a free bunny chart and a cute little owl charm, totally unexpected and very lovely.  I would definitely recommend Madame Chantilly.

So those were my purchases for the month.  A little over the £15 but I have been carrying over money every month so it was OK.  Then I saw the Needleprint blog where they are selling off alot of their older books and magazines.  Usually they are out of my budget but this one wasn't:

It's a book/big thick magazine/bookazine/callitwhatyouwill and is packed with various different sewing projects.  Including this lovely little box with all sorts of things inside it.  A real challenge to my finishing skills but the instructions do look clear.

New Starts from Stash: No new starts from stash

WIPs and UFOs worked on: A Mon Ami Pierre Noel Blanc, Primitive Hare Spooky Countdown, The Little Stitcher 12 Days of Christmas, Just Nan Moon Riders

A Mon Ami Pierre - Noel Blanc

Finished that square border and started the over 1 stitching inside

Primitive Hare - Spooky Countdown

The Little Stitcher - 12 Days of Christmas

Just Nan - Moon Riders Jack and Jasper

Finally, the Summer Postcard Blog Hop is still going on, here is the latest list:

First postcard from Marcy goes to Gracie at Needles, Pins and Dragonflies

Second postcard from Krista goes to Jocondine at Jocondine

Third postcard from Michelle goes to Sharon at Shebafudge

Fourth postcard from Mouse goes to Vickie at A Stitcher's Story

Fifth postcard from Christine goes to Marcy at Stitching Plus

Sixth postcard from Astrid goes to Krista at Just Stitching Along

Seventh postcard from Vickie goes to Michelle at Michelle's StitchCraft Place

Eighth postcard from Jocondine goes to Deborah at A Patchwork of Crafts

Ninth postcard from Gracie goes to Maggee at Stitching Devotee

IHSW July

Hosted by Joysze of Random Ramblings

IHSW = International Hermit and Stitch Weekend, or in this case Week!  As well as spending quite alot of time stitching at the weekend I decided to spend the last two days of the term stitching too, just in case I don't get so much done during the holiday!

The first thing I completed was Just Nan's Moon Riders Jack:

This was stitched on 32 count lavender evenweave using the recommended DMC except for the moon which I used DMC 4090.  I also changed the border to a stripy effect.  He's very dinky, only 2 inches square.  There are two more in the series which I have room for on this same piece of fabric.  As yet I'm not sure how to finish them.

The next project I decided to work on the first face in the Joan Elliott SAL.  This is a FB exclusive featuring reworkings of previous releases.  This is Guardian Angel, previously released as a Festive Angel.  Joan has changed the colours to suit the SAL and make her less Christmassy.

There has been alot of discussion over whether to stitch this SAL over 1 or over 2.  Quite a few of us have decided to stitch the skin over 1 but leave the rest over 2.  The ones I have seen look lovely stitched like this. 

One question I do have after looking at some of the over 1 skin - when you stitch this way do you literally stitch four small x for every large X exactly as charted or do you rechart smoothing out the blocks?  The second method seems logical to me, but it is more work so I wonder if everyone does it?

As you all know the Summer Postcard Blog Hop is now underway.  I have sent out five postcards so far and all have been posted on the recipients' blogs.  It's not too late to join in, just drop me an email!

First postcard from Marcy goes to Gracie at Needles, Pins and Dragonflies

Second postcard from Krista goes to Jocondine at Jocondine

Third postcard from Michelle goes to Sharon at Shebafudge

Fourth postcard from Mouse goes to Vickie at A Stitcher's Story

Fifth postcard from Christine goes to Marcy at Stitching Plus

Finally, I got a real life postcard myself, from my band sampler Round Robin!  Here is the postcard:

And here is the sampler sunning itself on the beach:

Isn't it nice when your stitching is better travelled then you are yourself?

Stitch from Stash July Update

Stitch from Stash is hosted by Mel from Epic Stitching

Essentially the idea behind Stitch from Stash is that we are limited to spending US$25 (or £15) per month.  There are various exemptions (Birthday money, existing mag subs, clubs etc) but the idea is not to try and pervert the rules and to stitch some of that stash!  I will be posting on or around the 20th of each month because that is when I get paid!

Money from Christmas 2013	£ 40.00
January Budget	£ 15.00
January Spend	£ 25.84-
February Budget	£ 15.00
February Spend	£ 18.99-
March Budget	£ 15.00
March Spend	£   8.42-
April Budget	£ 15.00
April Spend	£ 16.19-
May Budget	£ 15.00
May Spend	£   0.00
June Budget	£ 15.00
June Spend	£ 51.00-
June Bonus	£ 30.00
Balance	£ 39.56

Lavender & Lace 2 charts	£ 10.00-
Just Cross Stitch Hallowe'en Ornie Issue	£   7.00-

Balance	£ 22.56
July Budget	£ 15.00
Available to carry forward to August	£ 37.56

Allowed purchases:

Jodyri Threads of Month Club : £ 5.54
World of Cross Stitching Subscription : £8.99

I didn't include the June Bonus in last month's accounts but Mel reminded me about it so I've added it this month.  The two Lavender & Lace charts were an impulse buy from Willow Fabrics.  They are selling a whole load of L&L and Mirabilia charts for only £5 and I could not resist these two:

Enchanted Alphabet and Fairy Grandmother

New Starts from Stash: Just Nan Moon Riders

WIPs and UFOs worked on: A Mon Ami Pierre Noel Blanc, Primitive Hare Spooky Countdown, The Little Stitcher 12 Days of Christmas, Just Nan Winter Typography

Just Nan - Moon Riders

A Mon Ami Pierre - Noel Blanc

Alphabet completed!

Primitive Hare - Spooky Countdown

The other two can be seen on my WIPocalypse post, there has been no progress since then.

Finally, the Summer Postcard Blog Hop is now taking place, for more details of how to join in click on the garden picture to the right.  Here are the links for the four cards sent so far, why not pop over and leave a comment?

First postcard from Marcy goes to Gracie at Needles, Pins and Dragonflies

Second postcard from Krista goes to Jocondine at Jocondine

Third postcard from Michelle goes to Sharon at Shebafudge

Fourth postcard from Mouse goes to Vickie at A Stitcher's Story

Fifth postcard sent out but not posted yet...