Finally Fully Finishing Fun for June

     

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).

It's been a framing festival this last month.

First of all, a professional frame job.  I wanted Snowfire Christmas by Just Nan to coordinate with another sampler I had in my collection so I took the original to my framer and asked her to match it.  

Here's the other sampler for reference:

Elizabeth Designs - Joyeous Noel

To make up for the expense, the next two are charity shop frames!

Just Nan - Morning Meadow

A 2020 finish

One of the members of the JN FB group always stitches the name of the sampler at the bottom and I thought this was a brilliant idea and will do it from now on.

This is a recent finish and FFO'd within the same month too!

Just Nan - Nan's Garden

In the JN FB group we have started choosing a sampler to SAL every two-three months.  Nan's Garden was the choice for Spring and we allowed ourselves two months to stitch it, a band or two each week,

Here are some close ups of the bands:

I managed to get a copy of the chart which included the embellishment pack and the cute frog charm

The chart also came with a Just Nan charm which I fitted inbetween the hedgehogs.

The fabric is actually a nice reed green 28 count linen which is very hard to photograph.  There is so much natural light at the moment everything is bleached out.

Our current sampler is Follow the Needle and I have stitched Band 1 so far:

stitched on 28 count Lilac Brittney evenweave

Finally, I'm going to be taking sign-ups for my Summer Blog Hop on the same theme as last year - Stitching Friends are Friends Who Count.  Have a look at this post for last year and let me know if you'd like to take part this year.

Stitching Friends Summer Blog Hop 

January TUSAL Happy Dance

   

It's TUSAL time!

Here is my TUSAL tin with my current project:

This is a design from the 2008 Christmas Ornament issue of Gift of Stitching.  Designed by Maria Teresa Vitali of MTV Designs and entitled Treasure Christmas Pincushion.  I am stitching it on the 32 count mid green linen I use for a lot of my Christmas designs and using the DMC conversion so far.  I plan to use a variegated DMC for the Christmas Trees.  Then finish it as an ornament.

The Happy Dance is for a project I was hoping to complete in 2020 but the last two weeks of December put paid to that.  Instead I decided not to rush it and take my time in January.

I present Snowfire Christmas by Just Nan:

stitched on 32 count Burgundy linen

(DMC for colour comparison because it's hard to capture)

As you would expect from a Just Nan, there are a lot of speciality stitches and just as many beads!

My goal was 2-3 bands per week and that was ambitous!

There's DMC and cotton Perle in this

The last two bands are the two that defeated my goal of a 2020 finish

More beads and crystals too

I love this design so much.  I didn't realise how blingy it was until I started it.  I was stitching along with Leonore and she sent me the beautiful crystals because we only had the charts and not the embellishment packs.  A couple of people from the JN FB group wanted to join in and now we have several doing our current SAL of Winter Blues.  Unfortunately, Leonore didn't have that chart so I need to make sure our next choice comes from her and her stash!

Definitely getting this professionally framed when she reopens.

Here's where I am on the new SAL, Winter Blues:

stitched on 28 count White Jobelan

I've gone for 28 count as there is a bit of over-one stitching for the words and birds.  We have a somewhat easier schedule for this one!  Only 1-2 bands per week.  Having bitten off more than I could chew in November/December I decided to take it easy on this one.  We aim to finish by the end of March.

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.

Naughty November, Stitch from Stash and Pie

 Rachel and Tiff had the wonderful idea of starting something new every weekend in November and called it "Naughty November".  I did like the idea of joining in but didn't want to add any WIPs to my total.  I want to be down to 15 or fewer by the end of the year.

So I decide on smalls only, preferably ones I could complete within the weekend.  The first two weekends I stitched a tiny haunted village, the fourth house is nearly finished.  The third weekend I stitched a Christmas Ornament and this weekend I stitched AND fully-finished another one!!

I'll only show the stitched picture here and save the FFO for Rachel's other SAL, the FFO Gallery.

This is from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Special 2019 and was the September choice for the JCS FB group.  Silvery Lace Snowflake from Works by ABC.  Or Golden Lace Ornament as it now is:

stitched on 32 count Burgundy linen

on the backing fabric for the ornament:

A while back I started the Teresa Wentzler Byzantine Ornaments on this fabric.  I stitched three of them and kept all the threads in a bag with the stitched pieces and the fabric for the remaining three.  There was plenty of fabric to make at least four of Works by ABC's designs.  She has only done three so far but there may be more.

Here's the photo from the magazine so you can see how different it looks!

Here's my pie for November:

Everything else has been shown at least once except for my current progress on Snowfire Christmas by Just Nan:

stitched on 32 count Burgundy Linen
(the same linen as the ornament above!)

How did my spending go in November?  Much better than in October!  The only things I bought were right at the start of the month.  I wanted the 2020 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Special and ordered the new Nora Corbett ClockHouse to go with it. 

Finally, the Advent Calendar Blog Hop starts tomorrow!  This is the Tenth year of hosting the calendar so I am very excited to see what everyone will be sharing with us.  The post will go up tomorrow afternoon and we will open the first door when the first person makes their blog post.

November IHSW with SALs and Added Turkey

 

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

I started IHSW on Friday for a change, thanks to being furloughed there was no work!  Leonore and I have been working on a Just Nan band sampler again.  We chose Snowfire Christmas this time and it's rather larger than our previous SAL!  So I decided to spend the afternoon finishing up Band 8.

stitched on 32 count Burgundy Linen

(same colour as DMC 816)

Saturday saw another new start for Rachel and Tiff's Naughty November SAL.  I recently joined the Gift of Stitching Facebook Group and we're having an Ornament SAL there so this was a chance to hit two challenges with one design.  

I chose Red Berries by Rosewood Manor from the December 2006 issue:

 

stitched on 32 count mid green linen

That was a nice quick finish.  I used DMC 4045 for the green and 221 for the red stitches.  I used Mill Hill petite beads in red and gold for the baubles and the stars.

I finished the design on Sunday and even had time to FFO an ornament for yet another SAL - FFO Weekend in the Just Cross Stitch Ornament SAL FB group.  I'll share that in Rachel's FFO Gallery in December.

At bathtime I continued with my Owl Winder Pocket from Just Nan:

stitched on 28 count Tan Jobelan

So that's the SALs, but where does the Turkey come in?  Regular followers of Astrid's Blog will know all about her annual Turkey posts where she shows the artwork from her local Primary School.  Each child is given an outline of a turkey which they personalise with a bid for us not to eat the turkey.  It's my favourite post of the entire year.  Due to Covid Astrid was unsure whether she would be able to get photos of the children's work so she invited us to join in!

Here is my masterpiece:

Do you like him?  My son actually came up with the idea but declined to draw him so I used Paint to render him in all his finery.  A match for any 1st Grader I am sure!

Finally, the next IHSW will be 18th - 20th December so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook. If you don't do Facebook then you can check in here by leaving a comment on my post.

November Gifted Gorgeousness Link-up Post

 

Welcome to the November Gifted Gorgeousness link-up.  The link-up date continues to be the 15th and I will keep the link-up open until the end of each month so you have plenty of time if you are late posting.

The format remains exactly the same, there is a list of rules on the main sign-up page if you want to check what is required but basically anything connected to the word "gift" is allowed, whether it was a gift TO you or is a gift FROM you.

Back in September I stitched on my Chatelaine a lot and decided to pick it up again in November to complete the fourth Garden.  Here's where I started this month:

stitched on 32 count Cotton Clouds Belfast from Crafty Kitten

And here is where I am now:

This was a gift for my special Birthday in 2016, a lot of my friends sent skeins of threads which I have labelled with their name so I think of them as I stitch.

Because of Dark October, I did not stitch my JBW 12 Days of Christmas last month, so I have two to show this month.  The charts were gifts from friends.

stitched on 40 count white linen

As usual I will add the beads when I finish the set of three.  I am not sure why the Leaping Lord is a stag but I do like him.  He is a Lord of the Forest.

I have decided to continue with my Dark Stitching on the 13th of every month so I spent a day on Scream House.  The chart was a gift from a destashing stitcher and the border thread was a gift from Mouse.  I stitched almost all of the floor:

stitched on 28 count Wood Violet linen from Permin

I am also using a gifted thread on my Just Nan Sampler SAL design; Snowfire Christmas.  The red is a Dinky Dyes silk called Pilbara which was a gift from Stitching Noni:

stitched on 28 count Burgundy Linen
(same colour as DMC 816)

 

Now it is your turn to show us your Gifted Gorgeousness for the month.  Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "November Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month.  And link to the actual post, not just your blog.  It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.

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🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎅🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Advent Calendar Blog Hop!  For this hop, each participant is allocated a day in December to make their post on.  They will show something they have stitched on a Christmas theme and answer the topic question I set.   I then copy their photo onto my blog post in the style of an Advent Calendar.

So if you'd like to join in, please leave a comment or send me an email.  Let me know if there is a date you would particularly like or one you'd like to avoid.  I will be in touch towards the end of the month!

Here is a link to last year's so you can see how it works:

2019 Online Advent Calendar

Naughty November

Four new starts per weekend in November.

This idea was cooked up by Rachel and Tiff in order to add some excitement to November.  Because who doesn't need some new starts just as we come to the close of the year and are trying to finish projects?

I was so undecided what to stitch to join in with this - four Hallowe'en, four Christmas, four Just Nan, four random freebies??  Four BAPs to get a head start on 21 in '21?

In the end I decided I didn't want to add to my total number of WIPs this year which meant stitching something I could finish in a weekend.  Something small.  Something tiny.  Three tiny things in the end!

stitched over one on 28 count Moondust Murano from Crafty Kitten

I've been helping admin the Stitchonomy Facebook Group this year.  Because apparently it's a rule that if I join a group, at some point I will be asked to help admin it.  

(Side story - when I left work to have my son I decided not to go back at the end of my maternity leave.  One of my colleagues said "I'll give it six months and you'll be running something".  Sure enough - I was running the Toddler Group we went to!)

Anyway, Stitchonomy have just finished the Halloween SAL and I was planning to stitch my favourite motifs for my scrapbook.  Alyssa had designed a cute little haunted house and one or two others had done their own versions.  Which was when I had my plan - a tiny haunted village!  The top left design is the original by Alyssa and the other two can be found in the group on Facebook.  We are taking sign-ups for the Winter SAL, why not join us?

So that is three new starts and finishes for the first weekend.  Is it a bit naughty to count three minis as separate projects?  Well, that is the name of the SAL!

Next weekend I intend to stitch some more freebies I have been collecting and build my village up.

I actually had a new start the previous weekend, a new SAL with Leonore and some of the Just Nan FB group.  Yes, there has to be a Just Nan in my rotation at all times.

stitched on 28 count Burgundy linen

(think DMC 816 for a colour match)

The design is Snowfire Christmas and we choose this one because Leonore had it, she does not yet have such an extensive collection of JN samplers as I do.  I've set up a schedule of 2-3 bands per week to finish by Christmas.  The original is charted on white linen so this is a bold choice.

The other project I've been working on is my Alice in Wonderland SAL.  I didn't stitch the October block because it was Dark October so the plan was to do two blocks this month.  But last month the design was The Frog and Fish Footmen and this month is The Knave of Hearts.  With only one month to go, there is still no sign of The Queen of Hearts or the Caterpillar.  Both essential characters for me.

So I stitched the Knave of Hearts in his block.  If next month is the Queen, she will go in the bottom left block and I will chart a Caterpillar for the bottom right.  If next month is the Caterpillar, I will chart the Queen.  If next month is neither than I will just have to chart them both!!

Knave of Hearts before backstitch

Knave of Hearts with backstitch

The whole project so far:

stitched on 32 count Yellow Belfast linen

It's an absolutely gorgeous design and I've loved stitching it.  It's a little disappointing that she randomly chose not to use the Tenniel illustration for the White Rabbit and used The Tweedles from Looking Glass but no other characters from that book.

The Knave has some gold thread and lots of beads to add.  I'll be doing those at the end.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎅🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Advent Calendar Blog Hop!  For this hop, each participant is allocated a day in December to make their post on.  They will show something they have stitched on a Christmas theme and answer the topic question I set.   I then copy their photo onto my blog post in the style of an Advent Calendar.

So if you'd like to join in, please leave a comment or send me an email.  Let me know if there is a date you would particularly like or one you'd like to avoid.  I will be in touch towards the end of the month!

Here is a link to last year's so you can see how it works:

2019 Online Advent Calendar