April TUSAL

It's TUSAL time again!  For those of you new to blogging, the TUSAL is a project run by Daffycat, click on the button on the right hand bar for more details.

Here is my ORTS jar posing with the current stitching project:

This week I have been stitching different things almost every day.  On Monday I finished another project from my 15 in '15 - Joan Elliott's Cherub from the 2013 Diary.  Tuesday was Satsuma Street day.  On Wednesday I went on a train journey so took Trick and Treat because it's all one colour, on Thursday I picked up Just Nan Winter Typography and Friday saw another finish for a DUCJC project - Sweetheart Tree's Tudor Rose.  Today is Saturday and a work day so no stitching so far!

Way back in December 2012 World Of Cross Stitching magazine had their most popular cover gift ever, a diary featuring 12 Joan Elliott designs.  I intended to stitch one a month that year.  Then I revised that to exclude three of the more cutesy designs then I revised it again and actually managed three finishes and one start!  February was started in February 2013 and was in last year's 14 in '14 (unsucessfully) and now in 15 in '15.  As ever, the crazy thing is that it only needed three days stitching to complete it.  Two were pretty full-on days though, we're talking four or five hours a day.

Stitched on 28 count evenweave dyed with fruit tea

(which smells lovely when you are stitching!)

Mounted in my scrapbook.

I need some more gold heart stickers, I only had silver.

I used the recommended colours except for the heart because they were too pink.  I also left off the border of backstitched hearts.  That saved a couple of hours!

Tuesday is a SAL with Linda and Kate on Satsuma Street's Pretty Little London:

(It's the scanner that makes the linen look weird)

This week I stitched more of St Paul's Cathedral.

The Sweetheart Tree Tudor Rose was very nearly completed last week but I wanted to save the beading for a day when the boys were at school.  Beading and the Small Boy are not really compatible!  Here are several photos of the finished piece:

Stitched on 32 count Light Mocha linen.

I substituted plain DMCfor the border and used DMC throughout.

The beads and charm were supplied with the chart.

I had stitched the centre last (as instructed) and noticed that it was quite raised where the eyelets had pulled the fabric so decided to make a stuffed ornie.

With the intended backing fabric:

 

All finished:

And hanging in place:

The chart was a gift from Vickie and will now be travelling on to Gillie as a prize for leaving my 7000th comment a while back.  I gave her first choice before I chose the Giveaway charts and she picked this one.

Finally, the Giveaway of the other seven charts is continuing.  To be in with a chance, just leave a comment on my Blogaversary post.  Anyone who links up for the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL gets an extra chance.  You don't have to do anything to claim that, if you have commented and linked up then my spreadsheet will automatically put your name in twice.

Happy Fourth Blogaversary to me!

That's me on my 4th Birthday!  I remember that car so clearly, it had pedals and we "drove" it round to a friend of my Dad who put eyes on the front of it.  The dress I was wearing was white with red polka dots and red ric-rac braid round the middle.  There was a J embroidered on the pocket.  My sister had a similar one with her initial and my doll Susan had one too.  My Mum made most of our clothes and always made a dress for my doll with the scraps.

I have no recollection of that rabbit and while it may be appropriate for this time of year my Birthday is in September!  Susan is the larger doll in the blue dress on the settee and the smaller doll was called Nina.  Apart from that rabbit I remember so much from this age and surprise my parents with how detailed my memories are.

While I think of it - Happy Birthday to Calamity Jr and Susan Yellow Flower Meadow too.

Some Blogaversary stats:

*
4 years,

434 posts,

561 followers

7,699 comments

253,087 page views

WOW

 

I've had a look back at my first post and some previous Blogaversary posts.  It is traditional to reflect on past projects and compare them to current posts.  On my first post I was stitching a Mirabilia Mermaid and A Dark Alphabet.  Both of which are now finished.  I was also working on a piece for the Craftivist Collective.  I don't currently have a Mirabilia on the go but I did start a Nora Corbett piece in January and I have a bit of a special Mirabilia project to show you for part of the Gifted Gorgeousness post this month. 

 

Yesterday I spent most of the day stitching on my Satsuma Street SAL with Linda and Kate.  Here is my progress on Pretty Little London:

 

 

I filled in Big Ben's clock face and stitched St. Paul's Cathedral in the bottom right corner.  And the raised portions of Tower Bridge.

 

The other tradition for a Blogaversary is to have a Giveaway.  This year I have made it complicated for myself by amalgamating my Easter Treasure Hunt, my Blogaversary and the Gifted Gorgeousness Giveaway into one larger giveaway!  There will be 7 different charts up for grabs (2 for Easter, 4 for Blogaversary and 1 for GGG).  Picture posters for the Treasure Hunt get one entry, Mystery Phrase guesses get one entry, comments on this post get one entry and link ups on the GG post on the 15th get one entry.  All clear?  Don't worry, I have the complicated stuff to do, you just have to leave a comment as below:

 

To enter the Giveaway please leave a comment here stating your top three choices of these charts:

 

A - Lizzie*Kate Friends are Angels

plus Peace, Love and a Cure (not shown)

 

B - Christmas Number 1

 

C - Christmas Number 2

 

D - Christmas Number 3

 

E - Told in a Garden - The Courting

 

F - Told in a Garden - Piecemakers I

 

G - Told in a Garden - Voice of the Shepherd

 

The first chart is one I have stitched myself and want to pass on and the others are the charts I bought from Needleprint for the express purpose of using them as giveaways.  There were some Lavender & Lace charts I wanted in the same bundle and I kept my favourite Christmas design too.

 

Finally, the Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop is open until the 11th April so if you haven't hopped around yet please do.  It's always good to meet new blogging friends and you'll get an extra chance in this giveaway.

 

 



 

 



March D.E.S.I.G.N SAL

The idea of this Blog Hop is to choose a different designer each month and do a post focusing on a piece of their work you have stitched on during the month.  The first month I focused on three very well-known designers;  Nora Corbett (AKA Mirabilia), Joan Elliott and Teresa Wentzler.  For the rest of the year I am going to concentrate on less well-known designers in the hope of spreading their fame across the Blogosphere.

The hosts of D.E.S.I.G.N ask us to answer a few questions on our chosen designer.

1. What designer are you talking about this month?

This month I have chosen Jody Rice from Satsuma Street and her "Pretty Little Cities" series.  I have been stitching Pretty Little London as a SAL with Linda and Kate.  Here is this week's progress picture:

stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

This week I stitched the blue and yellow under the bridge and the yellow for Big Ben's tower.

2. Have you stitched a project by this designer before?

No, this is my first Satsuma Street design.

3. Would you buy/stitch a design by this designer again?  Why/Why not?

Yes!  I have already got two more in the City series - Paris and Italy (yes, I know Italy is a country not a city!) and I also bought Cross Stitch Crazy this month because it features an interview with Jody and three city charts, smaller ones this time and stitched on black.  These will look great with the larger city designs.  My plan is to stitch all the European ones first then move onto the rest of the world.

Cross Stitch Crazy issue 202

4. What made you choose this particular design/designer?

I love the bright blocks of colour using only whole stitches which make them super quick to stitch.  I chose London as the first one to stitch because this is the city I am most familiar with.  Several of my family have lived there and we visit as often as we can.  We love to do the tourist thing!

5. Did you notice anything that distinguished this designer from others?

As I mentioned before, Jody only uses whole stitches, she also rarely uses backstitch relying on the contrast between her colours to outline the various elements on the design.  I love the way she uses bright and outrageous colours for the usually grey buildings.  It would be so much fun to sneak out and paint the city in these colours for real!

There are interviews with Jody here and here, she also has a blog here.  One of the things she mentions in the interview is "I make sure that every single thing I put out in the world, whether it’s an Instagram image or a Facebook post, is consistent with my brand. From my choice of fonts to photo backdrops — even down to the choice of shirt I wear in a photograph for a magazine — I aim to keep a consistent look. "

 I found this fascinating because you can really notice it on her blog and her shop.  This is very similar to a designer called Helen Philipps, everything she does has the same vibe and feel including her blog.  She focuses on fresh pastel colours whereas Jody goes for the brights!  Even their names seem to reflect their different styles.

Finally, I have put together another little Pie chart of my stitching this month, just for fun!

March TUSAL and Stitch from Stash

Month: March

Spent: £ 32.46

Earned: £ 0.00

It's TUSAL time again!  For those of you new to blogging, the TUSAL is a project run by Daffycat, click on the button on the right hand bar for more details.

Here is my ORTS jar posing with the current stitching project:

This is for the Stitching Out Stigma project.  My piece is doesn't have a title yet but it's on the theme of the Parents' Point of View, specifically the maze of acronyms which surround mental health problems. I am stitching this on 28count white Jobelan using Anchor threads.  I have very nearly finished and will show the whole piece then

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!

January Budget	£ 15.00
January Spend	£   0.00
February Budget	£ 15.00
February Spend	£   5.50-
March Budget	£ 15.00
Needleprint 3 x books	£ 24.20-
28 count white Jobelan	£   5.50-
Needleprint charts x 3	£   2.76-
Current Balance	£   7.04

So what did I buy?  The white Jobelan was for the SOS project above.  The Needleprint books and charts were very naughty purchases which I should have resisted.  Jacqui is selling off her entire collection of books and charts it seems and I just couldn't stop myself!

I bought these three books for £27 less £2.80 postage:

3-for-price-of-1-lovely-cross-stitch-books

and these 10 charts for £12 less £2.80 postage BUT I am only keeping 3 of them for me and the rest will be giveaway prizes so I'm only counting the price of 3 of them in my SFS total.

10-sampler-charts

I am left with a mere £7 and some pence so I will have to be good this next month.

And what have I been stitching from my stash?

Prairie Moon - Thine is the Trick and the Treat

I finished the tombstone motif.  You may notice my date is stitched the correct way ie 31st day of the 10th month and not the charted American back-to-front way!  I also added EEK and a spider.  The end is in sight for this piece.  The bottom motif is going to be a pair of witch's boots.

This next piece is my Tuesday SAL with Linda and Kate for the Satsuma Street Pretty Little Cities designs.

Pretty Little London

This week I stitched the blue on either side of Tower Bridge, filled in the blue windows and frogged the tan windows from last week because they didn't look right with the pink.

Satsum Street will be featuring in this month's Cross Stitch Crazy magazine too, so watch out for that, 3 different cityscapes on black fabric.

If you enjoy a puzzle or an enigma you really should visit Jocondine's blog.  She is taking us on a mystery tour around France with various clues relating to towns with a needlework connection!  There will be clues posted each Wednesday and Friday with the answer being revealed on the Sunday.

Finally, thanks to everyone who has linked up so far for March's Gifted Gorgeousness.  The link up post will stay open until the end of each month and the sign-up page will be open until the 15th December.  So don't worry if you are late to the party, there is still plenty of time to join in.

Pretty Little SAL

I'm doing a SAL with Linda and Kate for the Satsuma Street Pretty Little Cities designs.  I bought three European ones last year and started Pretty Little London last month.  I stitch on it once a week and here is three weeks' progress:

Stitched on 32 count Antique White Linen

This week I stitched the triangular blocks at the base of the towers of Tower Bridge and filled in some windows.

It's very addictive and I want to carry on beyond the one day a week.  I guess this is why I am not a daily rotator!  Luckily I have another addictive piece I can work on each day.  Mostly because there is a deadline of the end of the month.

This is for the Stitching Out Stigma project.  My piece is doesn't have a title yet but it's on the theme of the Parents' Point of View, specifically the maze of acronyms which surround mental health problems.  Here is the current piece:

I can't fit it all on the scanner!

I am stitching this on 28count white Jobelan using Anchor threads.  So far we have Violet, Indigo and Blue, moving on to Green next.  I will be listing all the acronyms on my Happy Dance blog post when I have finished but if you are interested now please feel free to ask.

Finally, I am taking names for the Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop.  If you would like to be part of this as a picture poster please email me and I will add you to the list.  All you have to do is post a photo of something you have stitched or otherwise crafted on an Easter/Spring theme along with a letter I will allocate you.  The letters will spell out a seasonal phrase when people hop round in the right order.  If you prefer an anagram challenge please hop round in a random order! 

WIPocalypse March Unlimited Money and Time

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

The focus of my WIPocalypse will be my "15 in '15"which are 15 charts I want to stitch in 2015 (following on from my "11 in '11", "12 in '12", "13 in '13" and "14 in '14" - imaginative, eh?)

This month I have stitched on three of my projects and completed one.  The completed piece is Madame Chantilly On The Beach which I posted about last post.  Here is a reminder of what it looks like:

Stitched on Kynance evenweave from Sparklies

I completed two block on Primitive Hare Hallowe'en Cubes (one for January and one for February):

Stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain

I have also being stitching a length a day on Prairie Moon Thine is the Trick and the Treat:

Stitched on 40 count hand-dyed linen

Measi also sets discussion topics for each month:

March  – If money – and time – were not limiters, what projects would be on your stitching bucket list?

For me, the time question is the major factor!  I don't have a lot of money to spend on my stitching habits (which is why I am so good at Stitch from Stash!) but I have so many magazines and downloaded freebies plus the lovely generousness which features in Gifted Gorgeousness I really don't feel too deprived that way!

So, if time was unlimited, I would stitch almost every Mirabilia chart, all the Just Nans and Teresa Wenztlers in my stash, all the monthly series I see around the internet, all the different SALs and group projects.  I would do more Round Robins and stitch a gift for everyone who enters my Blog Hops, stitched Birthday cards for all my followers and so on.

Money-wise there are few projects I would actually spend a lot on, I am too cautious for that!  But I saw this Cabinet of Curiousities and thought it was amazing.  Until I saw the price!  So that is one I would definitely go for.  

I would also love to attend more (any?) shows and retreats.  This one is coming up soon and I would so love to be able to go - Fili Senza Tempo Formigine.  I've also read about stitching cruises which sound amazing too.

Another long-term goal is my Grand Tour of the World visiting all the my blogging friends!  I'd buy one those Around The World Air Fares and stop off at various places, stay for a couple of days then move on to the next stitcher.  I'd take a big piece of fabric and be my own personal Round Robin!

But for now finances and children prevent those sorts of dreams so I can only visit you virtually.  On Tuesday I was stitching in spirit with Linda on the Satsuma Street Pretty Little London.  Here is my progress:

Stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

Regular commenters may have noticed that I have switched to Comment Moderation.  Don't worry, it's not a spam or stalker problem, it's a Yahoo issue.  I noticed that people with Yahoo accounts can leave comments but I don't get the email to let me know and to reply to.  I do like to reply to commenters so by moderating comments I get to see all the comments first and can respond to them all.

Finally, we are approaching Easter, the weekend 3rd - 6th April.  I will be hosting my Annual Easter Treasure Hunt again.  Each participant posts a picture of something stitched on an Easter or Spring theme along with a letter I allocate to them.  Over the Easter Weekend everyone hops around like a bunny, finds the Mystery Phrase the letters spell out and reports back here with it.  Prizes for the lucky winners chosen at random.  If you'd like to be a Picture Poster please drop me an email.

Here is the link to last year's Treasure Hunt if you are wondering how it all works - Easter-treasure-hunt-blog-hop 2014.  There are also lots of Easter and Spring themed freebies on my linked page at the top of the blog.  I have checked the links but if any don't work, please let me know.

February Smalls SAL

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Heather from Stitching Lotus

This year I am going to have two monthly challenges:

1. The Primitive Hare Hallowe'en Cubes SAL with Giovanna

2. The Hallowe'en Ornie SAL themed blog.

Last month I started the letter H for the cubes which I finished this month and then added the A cube too:

Stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen

The theme for the Ornie SAL was skeletons.  I found it rather tricky to find a good skeleton pattern and had quite a hunt for a freebie I knew existed somewhere on the internet.

I could find the picture on Pinterest via Google Images but no-one ever bothers to credit and link the designers there.  So frustrating!  Eventually I found the chart on the Casa Cenina website.  Hooray!

Here is the Dancing Skeleton on his own, this would make a great ornie by itself:

And here is the completed piece:

Cuore di Hallowe'en by Savoir faire Vailly

Stitched over one on 32count Cognac evenweave

DMC B5200, 310 and 740

When I had finished stitching I showed it to my son and said "It's a skeleton, some ghosts and some long legged beasties, I think".  He was the one who realised that the black shape is actually a skeleton cat.  Sometimes you can be too close to a piece to see it!

I also stitched a Birthday card for my friend Nicola.  Together we run the Scarlet Letter Years Blogs and more recently, the Scarlet Letter FB page along with Krista.  Each year I stitch a different red letter N for Nicola's Birthday.  Here is this year's:

N by Broderie

Stitched over 1 on 32 count Antique White linen

The Broderie website is a French site which offers two freebie charts per week.  After that you can usually buy them for 1euro.  I try to visit once a week to download the free ones!

Finally, I made a small start on a new SAL.  Linda from Stitching with my Furbabies has several of the Satsuma Street Cities among her many WIPs and she suggested we SAL with one.  I chose London as it is my capital city (I also have Paris and Italy, which is not actually a city but came as a set of three).  Here is my Tuesday start:

Stitched on 32 count Antique White linen