Finally Fully Finishing Fun for January

 

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).

This is what I typed on my January post in 2020, which I copied into my January 2021 post:

Let's start the year off as we don't mean to go on - doing nothing all month and realising on the 9th that you have one day to FFO something, anything to show on the 10th.

Guess what?  Same thing this year!

So yesterday morning I sat down to find out where I had hidden everything over Christmas and found the circle badges that DJ sent me to use for FFO'ing round ornaments.

Basically you get two plastic circles, one domed and one flat.  Lace the stitching around the domed one, lace the backing fabric around the flat one and whip stitch together adding a hanger or trim as you please.

I padded the front with some wadding which made it a little bit bigger than the back

But no-one is looking at the back!

 I secured a long piece of sewing cotton to the back and then threaded on loads of beads.  I took a second needle and secured the cotton with a tiny stitch between beads.  It's not perfect and there are some gaps but it won't be noticeable when it's on my garland next year.

The design is Poinsettia by Punochka from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Special 2020.  Stitched on 32 count mid-green linen.

You can buy a set of six ornaments direct from her Etsy shop now - Punochka Christmas Ornaments

Finally, I will be running the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop on Valentine's Day.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

It's really very simple, all you have to do is email me a picture of something you have stitched which is suitable for a stitching friend on Valentine's Day.  It could be a heart, or a pair of cute creatures, or the word "love" or anything which warms your heart.  Really anything you think a fellow stitcher would like to receive in her email Inbox.  It can be something you've stitched in the past or something you've made especially for this year.  It could also be quilted or sewn this year as I know some of my followers do other crafts too.

Send me the email by 10th February.

When I have all the emails I will randomise them and send one to each participant on 13th February. Then on 14th February you must post the picture you receive onto your blog under the heading

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

There will be a list on my blog of everyone joining in, so check out all the blogs and find out who got your picture and identify yourself in their comments as their

Secret Stitching Sweetheart

Does that make sense to everyone? I hope so!

If you'd like to be involved then leave a comment on this post or send me an email if you are "no-reply". I'll be putting little reminders up from time to time and will email on 9th February to make sure you send the pic in time.

January Smalls

 

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

This year my Smalls will be the Stoney Creek 12 Days of Christmas 2019 Ornament series which I started on Boxing Day 2020 for the 12 Days of Stitchmas.

Here are the 12 starts:

And the First Day completed:

stitched on 32 count Lime Green Linen

I completed this design from the November 2008 Gift of Stitching issue which was the Christmas Ornament Special.  Designed by MTV Designs and called Treasure Christmas Pincushion.

stitched on 32 count mid-green linen

I have actually fully-finished this but will save it for the Fully Finished Gallery on 10th February.

As I admin the Just Cross Stitch Ornament FB group, I always feel I should stitch more of the ornaments!  I did manage this months because it's a nice little one.  This is Poinsettia by Punochka:

stitched on 32 count mid-green linen

I used the charted DMC except for the brighter red which I substituted 321 as the charted was too similar to the main red.

My last small was the cover gift with issue 365 of Cross Stitcher, a lovely calendar by Tiny Modernist.  I plan to stitch them as a sampler as the piece of fabric I had was a little tight on margins for individual pieces!

stitched on 32 count Summer Sky Belfast linen from Silkweavers

Finally, I will be running the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop on Valentine's Day.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

It's really very simple, all you have to do is email me a picture of something you have stitched which is suitable for a stitching friend on Valentine's Day.  It could be a heart, or a pair of cute creatures, or the word "love" or anything which warms your heart.  Really anything you think a fellow stitcher would like to receive in her email Inbox.  It can be something you've stitched in the past or something you've made especially for this year.  It could also be quilted or sewn this year as I know some of my followers do other crafts too.

Send me the email by 10th February.

When I have all the emails I will randomise them and send one to each participant on 13th February. Then on 14th February you must post the picture you receive onto your blog under the heading

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

There will be a list on my blog of everyone joining in, so check out all the blogs and find out who got your picture and identify yourself in their comments as their

Secret Stitching Sweetheart

Does that make sense to everyone? I hope so!

If you'd like to be involved then leave a comment on this post or send me an email if you are "no-reply". I'll be putting little reminders up from time to time and will email on 9th February to make sure you send the pic in time.

February TUSAL

It's TUSAL time, the Totally Useless SAL where we all show our ORTS and link-up on Daffycat's blog.

Here is my TUSAL jar with two projects:

The current rotation is as follows:

1. Christmas Ornament

2. Hallowe'en project

3. Gardens of London

4. Discworld Mappe

5. Something from my 19 in '19

So you can see we are on item 2 - my spooky conversion of Lavender & Lace's Enchanted Alphabet.

stitched on 32 count Murano in Tiger Lily from Sparklies

I completed all the letters last year and now I am adding various motifs to fill the gaps in.  Last month I added the gate and this month some cats are appearing.  The plan is to use Just Nan designs as much as possible so everything goes well together.  The gate came from Jardin Prive though.

The design on the right is my third finish for this year and my second Christmas design.  This is Poinsettia by Ink Circles from the 2008 issue of Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Special.

stitched over 1 on 28 count green evenweave

Behind it is the backing paper I am going to be scrapbooking this piece on to.  You'll see that on the 10th for Rachel's Fully Finished Gallery SAL.

Finally, you still have time to sign up for the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop due to take place on Valentine's Day.  See previous posts for more details.  And if you have already signed up, don't forget to email the photo of your secret piece to me!  Obviously I can't take part in the Hop myself but I do enjoy seeing all the hearts and love in my Inbox in the run-up to the Hop.  So thank you for that.