July 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:

And here is July's project by itself:

Stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

This is Satsuma Street's Pretty Little London, my Tuesday SAL.  I haven't stitched on this one since May when I switched to Pretty Mini London on black.  I have mounted Mini for my scrapbook now:

and here's a better photo than the last post:

Finally, on to the Summer Postcard Blog Hop where the theme is Pets.  So far it seems that stitchers love their cats!  I do have some other animals too and it would be nice to have some more, there's still plenty of time to join in. The third postcard has been sent out to Julie of Julie's Stitchyknitter Journal, so go and stalk her blog as it will be appearing there soon.

Morris Dancing for Mini London!

A traditional English dance for the most famous English city - That London!

Pretty Mini London is a Satsuma Street design I have been stitching every Tuesday for the last seven weeks along with Linda and Kate.  This design was one of three which featured in Cross Stitch Crazy magazine issue 202.

Here are my weekly stitching photos plus a big one of the finished piece:

stitched on 28 count black evenweave

And here are the real life landmarks just for comparison:

The Gherkin

The London Eye

A London Bus

The Houses of Parliament Clock Tower (Big Ben is the bell, not the clock!)

Tower Bridge

St. Paul's Cathedral

Some Trees.

The tree image bottom right is a fascinating one.  I just googled "London Trees" and there it was.  You may have spotted that while it appears to be a shot of some trees looking up, the sky actually forms the outline of the River Thames!  It is the work of a photographer called Julian Wolkenstein.  Check out his website, there are some interesting photos there.

Having finished Mini London I started on another project for school.  Due to me making an assumption last year, I thought my son was staying with the same teacher for another year so I didn't stitch anything for her.  Making that right this year!

Stitched on 28 count Robin's Egg opalescent evenweave by Silkweavers

And here is today's picture:

Colour is more vibrant because it's a scanned picture not a photograph.

And yes, there is a gap at the bottom of the loop!  I miscounted and tried to fudge it but the loop just didn't look right so I'm reluctantly frogging and restitching.

So, here we are in the middle of the Summer heat and I'm reading through my Feedly Blog reader when I spot a post by Kaye, all about Christmas!  She has decided to start a Christmas Ornie SAL Blog.  There used to be one but the admin didn't continue with it so Kaye has picked up the baton (cracker?) and has started a new one.  You can find it by clicking this festive picture:

Kaye has chosen some themes for the rest of this year:

August -          Mr and/or Mrs Santa

September -    Christmas Tree/ Presents

October -        Angels/Nativity

November -    Snowflakes/ Snowman/ Wintry scene

December -    free choice

So if you want to be involved just pop over and drop Kaye an email at the address provided.

Finally, back to this season and the Summer Postcard Blog Hop where the theme is Pets.  So far it seems that stitchers love their cats!  I do have some other animals too and it would be nice to have some more, there's still plenty of time to join in. The second postcard has been sent out to Katie AKA Jeremiah's Mom, so go and stalk her blog as it will be appearing there soon.

July WIPocalypse Reality or Fantasy

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?)

Over the last month I have stitched two of my 15 designs, and completed 1, which brings the total of finishes to seven!  Plus the Hallowe'en Cubes are more than half finished.  So over halfway at the halfway point of the year is pretty good.

The finished piece was Joan Elliott's Believe:

Stitched on 28 count Robin's Egg opalescent by Silkweaver

And here is the latest Cube from Primitive Hare:

Stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen

Measi always sets us a topic of discussion and this month's was suggested by me and Freddie Mercury - 

Is this the real life?

Is this just fantasy?

Caught in a landslide, (of WIPs?)

No escape from reality.

July - Reality or Fantasy. Which do you prefer to stitch? Figures or Abstract?

I think that this is a question that most of my followers will be able to answer for me!  It's got to be Fantasy with Dragons right there at the top of the list.  If I was forced to choose just one topic for the rest of my life I would just stitch Dragons.  Closely followed by Hallowe'en and then Samplers.  I think I have quite eclectic tastes, a peek through the finishes on my Happy Dance Blog should prove that.  But if you see something there and think "That's not very Jo" then the chances are that it is a gift for someone else.  If you are stitching for another person it's only fair to choose something they will like.  So choose your friends carefully! 

Just to prove it, here are the two projects I have worked on this week:

Satsuma Street, Pretty Mini London, a fantasy version of Old London Towne!

Stitched on 28 count black evenweave

and Book of Spells by The Goode Huswife:

Stitched on 40 count Jewelled Butterbeer linen

I stitch a little bit on this one each evening and it also comes into work with me if I do a full day and get a lunchbreak!  I'm currently alternating between filling the moon in and working along the bottom border.

Finally, the Summer Postcard Blog Hop will be starting very soon.  Next post in fact!  I just have to update my spreadsheet and make sure I don't post anyone their own photo!  It's not too late to join in.  Just take a photo of something Pet themed you have stitched or crafted and email it to me along with a message about what pets mean to you.

June 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

2. The Hallowe'en Ornie SAL themed blog.

Here is my O block:

stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen

and here is the Free Choice for June on the Hallowe'en Blog:

stitched on 32 count Twilight Blue linen

Regular followers will have seen both of those before, so just for you, here is some new progress.  Pretty Mini London:

stitched on 28 count Black evenweave

Pretty Mini London is a design by Satsuma Street which I am stitching every Tuesday as a SAL with Linda and Kate.  Check out their blogs for their progress on various SS designs.

Finally, my Summer Postcard Blog hop again!  The theme this year is Pets.  All you need to do is email me a photo of something you have stitched on this theme plus a little message about what pets mean to you.  Once I have a few I will start emailing them to the participants who will display them on their blogs.  The Blog Hop lasts all Summer so don't worry if you don't have anything suitable stitched yet.  Just leave a comment saying you would like to be involved and I will remind you later.  With a serendipitous stroke of luck Gazette 94 has just released some new freebies which are cats!  What are the chances of that?

Gazette94 - Les chats

June Stitch from Stash

Month: June
Spent:   £ 0.00

Earned: £ 0.00

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
March Spend	£ 32.46-
April Budget	£ 15.00
April Spend	£   4.99-
May Budget	£ 15.00
May Spend	£ 14.67-
June Budget	£ 15.00
June Spend	£   0.00
Current Balance	£ 32.38

Look at that, a zero spend for June!  However SFS has been divided into two halves this year with SFS-B starting on 1st July with the balance being zeroed.  So I still have ten days to spend that £32.38 or lose it from the budget.  I will keep you informed.

This week I have stitched two different pieces, the first was my usual Tuesday Satsuma Street SAL with Linda and Kate.  I am making great progress on Pretty Mini London:

Stitched on 28 count black evenweave.

This week I worked on St. Paul's Cathedral, the big red bus, the first part of the Gherkin and some trees.  We have the full height and width of the piece now.  It is quite mini, 50 x 74 stitches.

Then I moved on to my Hallowe'en Cubes, this is O:

Stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen.

I'm using the recommended DMC for most of the design but I substituted 4130 for the fire.  This is one of the variegated threads they produce.  This one is quite subtle so I will be using it for Book of Spells too.

Thank you to everyone who has linked up for GG and entered the GGGG (Gwen's Gifted Gorgeousness Giveaway) this month.  I haven't managed to visit everyone yet, that pesky real life stuff!  But I will come and comment soon

Finally, my Summer Postcard Blog hop again!  The theme this year is Pets.  All you need to do is email me a photo of something you have stitched on this theme plus a little message about what pets mean to you.  Once I have a few I will start emailing them to the participants who will display them on their blogs.  The Blog Hop lasts all Summer so don't worry if you don't have anything suitable stitched yet.  Just leave a comment saying you would like to be involved and I will remind you later.  I remembered this blog today and it has a few suitable designs.  You have a peacock or a chicken as a pet?  Yes?

Tantes Zolder - Animals

  

I Believe I Can Fly/Finish

Yes, we have another finish for you all!  Joan Elliott's Believe, one of a series of four affirmations with the others being Hope, Dream and Imagine.

I stitched this one on 28 count opalescent Robin's Egg evenweave by Silkweaver.  I have enough fabric to stitch all four.  I only have about six packets of Magnifica beads but by happy chance I had the one colour the chart needed!

This is going to be an end-of-term gift for the Small Boy's class teacher and TAs.  Because there are a mixture of girls and boys in the class I changed one fairy into a boy fairy.

Tuesday was Satsuma Street SAL Day so I continued on Pretty Mini London:

stitched on 28 count black evenweave

Sorry Linda, I stitched loads!!  The light pink infill on the Eye, the lilac skyscrapers, the grey arches and the mauve of St. Paul's Cathredral.

Linda and I were discussing how many companies are now doing these City themed designs, they are definitely "On Trend" as the magazines put it!  Then I saw the launch of a new website for the town where I live, and look at their logo:

Wouldn't that make a perfect Satsuma style cross stitch?  Even the colours tone.

I was in the mood for beading so on Wednesday I started the little Mill Hill sampler Rosey sent me:

Frosted Heather Rose

stitched on 28 count evenweave

Unfortunately I forgot that the Small Boy was off school on Thursday and he does not mix well with beads!  So for Thursday I thought I'd make a start on June's ornie for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL.  Despite choosing the themes myself I always forget what they are so I popped over to the blog and saw those dread words "free choice".   Nooooooo, how can I possibly chose from all my Hallowe'en charts and magazines?

I decided to choose one magazine and stitch my favourite design.  I picked the oldest issue of JCS I have as a hard copy (couldn't get on the PC because of the aforementioned Small Boy) and chose a Blue Ribbon Design, Boo Mansion:

Stitched on 32 count Twilight Blue linen

Finally, my Summer Postcard Blog hop again!  The theme this year is Pets.  All you need to do is email me a photo of something you have stitched on this theme plus a little message about what pets mean to you.  Once I have a few I will start emailing them to the participants who will display them on their blogs.  The Blog Hop lasts all Summer so don't worry if you don't have anything suitable stitched yet.  I'm going to be finding some freebies online to inspire you.  Today's choice is fish, goldfish and tropical fish:

My-cross-stitch-patterns - Goldfish

Cross-stitch-pattern.net - Fish

Progress Pictures From This Week

Bit of a boring title that, hopefully the post will be more interesting!

Progress on three different pieces this week.  The first one is from my Tuesday Satsuma Street SAL with Linda and Kate.  Linda and I are both stitching Pretty Little London but to give her a chance to catch up I have switched to Pretty Mini London on black:

Stitched on 28 count black evenweave

On Wednesday I went back to Joan Elliott's Believe and have completed all the cross stitching, just some backstitch and then the beads to be done.  So I'm not showing the whole thing today, just "Be":

Stitched on 32 count Robin's Egg opalescent by Silkweaver

This weekend has been a double shift at work (which I hate) so there has been very little time to stitch.  I managed a few lengths on Book of Spells by The Goode Huswife:

Stitched on 40count Jewel Butterbeer linen

Close-up of the moon: 

I am using DMC for this project, one strand over 2.  For the moon I used 4145 which is a variegated grey.  Now I have moved onto the boring border on the right,  There is a much more interesting border along the bottom thankfully!

I received some lovely post during the week.  I was lucky enough to win two giveaways recently!  The first was from Carin in the Netherlands.  Carin is a stitcher, a knitter, a crocheter and a quilter and a terribly bad influence on me!  She takes the most beautiful photos which always inspire me to stitch the same projects she has just finished.  My last two Little Stitcher's projects were both inspired by Carin's lovely photography.  She also sold me the Book of Spells chart last year!  Here is what she sent me:

Look at all those lovely charms!  And some HDF silks which I have never used before.

Here is a close-up of the beautiful pillow she made: 

Carin's stitching is perfect, as is her sewing, you can't even see the join!

Chart from Cosmic Handmade

The second giveaway was from Rosey from Ishkabibble.  She had a Mill Hill kit complete with fabric, threads and lots of beads.  This is actually quite a tiny piece but with so many beads!  I wonder if anyone can identify the island shown on the postcard before reading on?

Rosey spent several years in Hawaii when she was younger and came home with a special souvenir - a husband!  The postcard actually shows the island of Maui.  Lovely isn't it?

Finally, the talk of postcards brings me onto my Summer Postcard Blog hop again!  The theme this year is Pets.  All you need to do is email me a photo of something you have stitched on this theme plus a little message about what pets mean to you.  Once I have a few I will start emailing them to the participants who will display them on their blogs.  The Blog Hop lasts all Summer so don't worry if you don't have anything suitable stitched yet.  I'm going to be finding some freebies online to inspire you.  Today's choice is the Guinea Pig.  This is a versatile link because you can cross stitch or crochet the guinea pig!

Maria Merlino - Guinea Pig

May 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

2. The Hallowe'en Ornie SAL themed blog.

Here is my L block:

Stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen

Everyone commented on what a jolly ghost he is when I first posted him.  Not at all spooky!

The theme for the Hallowe'en Ornie Blog for May is Pumpkins and here is my little Just Nan finish:

Poor Jack stitched on 32 count Lavender

I started another design with a pumpkin this week, this is a Blue Ribbon Design called Owls in Moonlight:

Stitched on 32 count Twilight Blue linen.

I don't have much left to do, the border and the big yellow moon.  Typically for a small, simple design I made two counting errors!  This involved some fudging of the right hand tree and the moon may have to be adjusted too.  Why can we do the most complex designs but make counting errors in the simple ones?  Anyway, no-one would know if we didn't mention it!

So that's it for Smalls this month.  Yesterday was Tuesday which is my Satsuma Street SAL with Linda and Kate.  Now, Linda has been complaining I am stitching too fast and concentrating on the one design instead of the 246 WIPs she has LOL.  So, in the interests of letting her catch up I have decided to continue with London - Pretty Mini London!  This was one of three Cityscapes in Cross Stitch Crazy Issue 202 designed to be stitched on black rather than white.  The black really makes the colours pop.  To be kind to myself, I am using 28 count rather than 32 count like the larger City.

So Linda and Kate - you have until I complete this Mini to catch up, haha.

Finally, I have launched the annual Summer Postcard Blog Hop.  The theme this year is Pets.  All you need to do is email me a photo of something you have stitched on this theme plus a little message about what pets mean to you.  Once I have a few I will start emailing them to the participants who will display them on their blogs.  The Blog Hop lasts all Summer so don't worry if you don't have anything suitable stitched yet.  I'm going to be finding some freebies online to inspire you.  Today I have been searching for dogs and puppies.  I found this great website of freebies.  She has five pages of dogs and lots of other animals too! 

Jessica Tromp - Dogs