August WIPocalypse Old and New WIPs

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi of Measi's Musings.

The main focus of my WIPocalypse this year is my "14 in '14" a list of 14 projects I wanted to complete in 2014.  In the last month I have worked on four of the list.  Here is the current stitching status of each one:

4. Emily Peacock - C

This is for my cousin's baby girl.

6. Primitive Hare - Spooky Countdown

7. The Little Stitcher - 12 Days of Christmas

12. A Mon Ami Pierre - Noel Blanc

Measi also gives us a topic to discuss:

August 10
Tell us about your oldest and newest WIPs.

My newest WIP is the Frosted Pumpkin Hallowe'en Town Mystery SAL (phew, that's a long title!).  Once I'd finished and framed the C this morning I continued with this design.  Here is today's progress picture:

My oldest WIP which is still IP is Joan Elliott's Green Goddess.  I started her back in September 2011 and haven't actually stitched her since May 2013 despite her being on my 14 in '14 list.  The intention is to finish her by November as a present for my Mum's Birthday.  Here is the May 2013 photo:

There is a lot of metallic thread to stitch as yet.  I have decided not to stitch the border.  Mum was looking at her and preferred her as a round.  She doesn't actually know I'm giving it to her though.

I do have older UFOs.  The worst one is a beautiful alphabet stitched using variegated thread on the most hideous hard and scratchy aida imaginable.  If it wasn't red variegated then I might be prepared to wash it in an attempt to soften the fabric.  How hard is the fabric?  Hard enough to cause a friction burn on my wrist last time I attempted to stitch on it!

This is a quarter of the design, so I have stitched too much to want to start again on nicer fabric but not enough to see the end in sight.  If I had stitched just the alphabet I could stomach finishing that or if I'd just stitched the border I could make a very long thin something!

Finally, the Summer Postcard Blog Hop is continuing, another card was posted this weekend so here is the full 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

A Few Happy Steps on my Way to a Happy Dance

These are both part-works so I can't claim a full Happy Dance but they are both steps on the way to one.  So that's reason enough to celebrate.

The first project is Spooky Countdown by Primitive Hare.  I am stitching one of these per week alongside Giovanna, we will finish in plenty of time for Hallowe'en.  Gio is stitching her's as a full sampler, I am stitching mine to mount as tombstone markers for my Hallowe'en Countdown Tree this year.

Here are Days 25 and 26:

Love that Haunted House!

The next project is the Joan Elliott Faces SAL, a FB exclusive.  The first month we received the border, the second month the first face.  This is an adaptation of an earlier release called Festive Angel, for the SAL she is in purple and called Guardian Angel.

It's a lovely friendly group of stitchers, everyone is keen to help and give advice and praise where needed.  We have the full range of experience from a lady who appears to have never cross-stitched before through the aida-only stitchers to the evenweave newbies right up to those people mad enough to stitch the skin over one!

Can you guess where I come?  I also changed the hair to a brown version included in the file section.  The only other change (apart from recharting the face to smooth the "steps" out) was to stitch her wings with one strand of thread instead of two.  I thought they would look a little transluscent that way and fabric would show through.  I did beads for the Kreinik french knots in her headband too.  Those are three words which should NOT go together - Kreinik and french knots LOL.  The beads look a little squashed because this is a scan of the piece, not a photo.

Finally, I mentioned Giovanna at the start of the post, she lives in Italy as most of you know and loves to attend the shows there.  Particularly the Fili Senza Tempo at Formigine.  She very kindly offered to send me the charity chart booklet they issue to raise funds for the Childrens Therapy Centre in Modena (the website is in Italian and English).

And here are the contents of the parcel:

The charts, an Italian alphabet card, a chic notebook, some ribbon from a friend of Gio's and a delightful pillow with my initial on.

Close-up of the pillow.  Isn't Gio's stitching so neat and perfect?

The reverse of the pillow.  

Gio tells me that she smiles because our names are pronounced almost the same although they are spelled so differently.  Our middle names are the same too in our own language.  Mine is Mary and Gio's is Maria.

Smalls SAL July 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 theme for the Hallowe'en SAL this month was Pumpkins and I chose a Just Nan design called Moon Riders, three different spooky characters sitting on a moon each.  This one is called Jack:

Stitched on 32 count lavender evenweave using recommended DMC

I realised that I never showed the completed small for last month's theme which was freebie charts.  Here is another one of  Carand88's Spooky Kitties; the Bride of Frankenstein's Kitty:

Stitched on 32 count lavender evenweave using recommended DMC

Don't they make a lovely pair?

And here's another lovely pair, of little woodland squirrels as part of Day 7 of the 12 Days of Christmas by The Little Stitcher:

Stitched on 32count Vintage Grain linen

The final small for this month is the continuing progress on Spooky Countdown by Primitive Hare.  I am still one week behind Giovanna in our SAL but we've got lots of time built in to complete it by 31st October so who's counting?

Finally, the Summer Postcard Blog is well underway.  If you have signed up and not sent your photo to me yet, I will do a little reminder soon.  Here are the links to the postcards sent so far.  Why not hop over and say Hello:

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

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...

July WIPocalypse Christmas Stitching

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi of Measi's Musings.

The main focus of my WIPocalypse this year is my "14 in '14" a list of 14 projects I wanted to complete in 2014.  In the last month I have worked on four of the list.  Here is the current stitching status of each one:

6. Primitive Hare - Spooky Countdown, the bottom half of a cat!

7. The Little Stitcher - 12 Days of Christmas

9. Just Nan - Winter Typography

12. A Mon Ami Pierre - Noel Blanc

Look, a lovely alphabet after all that long border!

Measi also gives us a topic to discuss:

July 12     
It’s halfway to Christmas.  Do you start your holiday stitching this early?  If so, what do you hope to accomplish this year?

Well, I think the pictures speak for themselves this month!  I don't usually start stitching for Christmas until after Hallowe'en which is my favourite stitching holiday.  But when I started stitching Noel Blanc for last year's WIPocalypse it became obvious that unless I stitched it during the year I would not complete it for many Christmasses to come.  So I started my habit of stitching on it each day when my younger son is in the bath.  So just one or two threads an evening and it's gone from here:

January 2014

to here:

 

Not bad for six months.  Slow and steady does it.

As well as Noel Blanc I will have the 12 Days of Christmas by The Little Stitcher completed.  I am unsure how I will finish them.  I am leaning towards a 12 apeture multi-frame with some nice wintery mounts for each one.

The rest of my festive stitching will be based upon whatever grabs me from the JCS Christmas Ornie issue.  I try not to plan too much in case something grabs me and demands to be stitched!  I've just looked back at last Decemeber's blog posts and discovered the only seasonal piece I stitched was the Advent Calendar by The Little Stitcher.  Here's a reminder of my Advent Tree:

Finally, back to Summer!  The Summer Postcard Blog Hop is underway.  To take part just email me a photo of something you have stitched on the theme Gardens with a nice message, plus an optional photo of your own garden.  For more details click on the Garden photo to the right.

Here be Dragons

I've been working on three WIPs since the last post.  The first one is the Teresa Wenztler dragon I am stitching as an end of term gift for the Large Boy's teacher.  She gave me some secret news this afternoon that I can't share yet, but let's just say she really deserves this special gift.

Teresa Wenztler - Futurecast

I'm using one of the colour schemes recommended by a previous stitcher with a couple of changes.  The darkest green was too turquoise compared to the other three so I changed that, and the yellows were too pale on this fabric so I moved two shades darker for each one.  All that is left is his book, the metallics, the backstitch and the lettering.  Not bad considering we still have two and half weeks to go.

The second WIP is the weekly stitching on Spooky Countdown:

Primitive Hare - Spooky Countdown

I've gotten a week behind on this one because I started Dragon at the weekend instead.  But it's OK, I have allowed 10 weeks at the end of the SAL for the header and footer pieces so if I don't catch up before then I will still have plenty of time.  I did all this block on the train and I have another journey planned for next week too.

And here is the ongoing saga of Noel Blanc:

I started that long reverse L of border back in January (2014), stopped at the beginning of March to work on the deer and the left hand borders.  Recommenced at the end of May and discovered a massive frog sitting on it.  Several frogs to be precise which meant nearly all of it needed to be ripped and restitched.  Now I can finally reward myself with a lovely alphabet.  Happy Days are here again.

Finally I will be sending out another postcard for the Summer Postcard Blog Hop this evening.  Keep an eye on your Inbox in case it's for you!  Still time to enter and send in your photos.  Don't forget to visit these posts and leave a nice comment too:

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

Second postcard from Krista goes to Jocondine at Jocondine

Smalls SAL June 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 theme for June's Hallowe'en stitch is "Any Freebie Chart".  I thought it would be nice for everyone to have a nice open choice for one month.  And a chance to share some of the great freebies the designers give us.  There is a whole page of links to freebie charts on the blog so if you love your Spooky Stitching, why not pop over and look up a few?

I haven't quite finished this month's design.  Can you guess what it is?  Is that steam coming out of her head? Maybe not LOL.

The Twelve Days of Christmas will be shown on TUSAL day, so that leaves the Spooky Countdown:

Blocks 19 - 21

Those of you familiar with the Spooky Countdown may have noticed that I have changed Block 21 completely.  The charted block is a decorative border for the word “OR” as in “Trick or Treat”.  If you stitch the piece as a sampler then it fits vertically between the blocks that say “Trick” and “Treat”.  But as I am using the blocks for my Countdown Calendar this would not have the same effect. 

Block 4 commemorated the famous Salem Witch Trials of 1692.  I am sure that most of my followers will be aware of these trials and the innocent women put to death as witches.  But how many of you have heard of the Witch Trials which set the legal precedent for those in Salem?  How many of you know the names Rose Cullender and Amy Denny?  In 1660, those two elderly widows were living in Lowestoft in Suffolk, England, a mere mile or so from where I was born, bred and am still living.  They were accused of witchcraft by a number of local residents, tried by the eminent Sir Matthew Hale and sentenced to death by hanging in 1662.

Some twenty years later a pamphlet was produced “A Tryal of Witches”, it was the evidence given in this pamphlet that persuaded the courts in Salem that “spectral evidence” was valid in a court of law and the Salem Witches began.

A well-know local historian Ivan Bunn has written an excellent academic book on the subject of the Lowestoft Witches and a rather more accessible website full of information about Amy, Rose and the other main characters in the trial.  http://www.lowestoftwitches.com/

There are links to the various people, photos of their homes and their gravestones.  One of the most interesting links for me is that of Samuel Pacy http://www.lowestoftwitches.com/samuel%20pacy.htm there is a great photo of his house today on this page.  It is very well-known to me as it is now a wool shop which also sells DMC to me!

Samuel Pacy’s daughter Elizabeth was one of the “victims” of the witches and an important witness in the trial.  He also had an older brother Nicholas, who had recently emigrated.  To the town of Salem, Massachusetts.

If you are at all interested in history and witches, particularly the witch trials I can really recommend spending some time on the website following the various links.

Here are two more smalls I finished last month but couldn't show.  The full story will follow soon,  there is still one gift making slow progress across the ocean!

Finally, the Summer Postcard Blog Hop has started!  The first postcard went to Gracie of  Needles, Pins and Dragonflies.  Follow the link to see her card, message and who sent it to her.  There is still time to join in with the Blog Hop, just click on the garden picture on the right hand side bar to find out more details.

June WIPocalypse Stitching Get-Togethers

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi of Measi's Musings.

The main focus of my WIPocalypse this year is my "14 in '14" a list of 14 projects I wanted to complete in 2014.  In the last month I have worked on four of the list.  Here is the current stitching status of each one:

6. Primitive Hare - Spooky Countdown

7. The Little Stitcher - 12 Days of Christmas

9. Just Nan - Winter Typography

12. A Mon Ami Pierre - Noel Blanc

Measi also gives us a topic to discuss:

June 13      
Have you ever been to a stitch gathering such as a retreat or a festival? If so, tell us about it!

I have been on two quite different gatherings.  The first was a Re-Treat with the emphasis on the treat.  Two sisters owned a converted barn where they held the retreats for only 6 other ladies at a time.  One sister taught the stitching and the other sister did the cooking and also the pampering in the evenings.  I had a wonderful time!  We spent three days just stitching, chatting, eating, having our nails done and shopping in the pop-up shop they had there.

The second gathering was more formal, based in London at the Imperial College in Kensington I signed up for a goldwork course.  This was fascinating but sadly I never finished the project...

Since having children it has been impossible to get away for such luxuries as stitching weekends.  However I did manage a day out in London to meet up with Nicola and some of the Scarlet Letter Ladies earlier this year.  Full report here and group photo here:

 

There are a number of get-togethers I would like to attend, the Mira Minions have one organised for next year already and Dawn from Crafty Kitten is also organising one for her 5th birthday (the company's, not her's!).  The ladies from Needlecraft Haven also get together regularly and it would be great to get to either Ally Pally or Harrogate for the shows there one day.  I used to love going to the big show in Olympia too.

Maybe I should organise my own retreat so you could all come to me!!

Finally, since the demise of the Google Reader I have been using Feedly which I really like.  Until this week when it has been cyber-attacked!  It's called a Denial of Service attack and the baddies flood a website so it crashes and then demand a ransom to leave.  Each time Feedly fixes it they get attacked again and off it goes.  I could read blogs via my Dashboard but when Feedly comes back they will show as unread and I'll have to mark them all off again!  Oh, the problems of the First World.  So if you miss my comments now you know why.

A Little Behind

No, not a reference to my petite derriere, but the fact that the combination of frogs and a new SAL have made me fall behind on my self-imposed schedule for Spooky Countdown!

The plan was to stitch one block per weekend.  But last weekend I dedicated to frog-slaying and re-stitching Noel Blanc so I only managed half a block and then this weekend I became obsessed with the new Joan Elliott SAL on FB so I completed Block 18 and managed 3 lines on Block 19.

To be fair, there is quite alot of dense stitching in those pumpkins.

And Block 19 looks like nothing at all!

So here's the start on the SAL:

Remember last post where I was debating with myself about stitching it over 1 or over 2?  I finally decided on over 2 but with the option to stitch the faces over 1 as suggested by someone on FB.  This proves my point about asking for advice online - if you have two equally valid choices you cannot decide between, you can guarantee that someone will come up with a third equally valid choice just to confuse you!  Or in this case, help you out!

The fabric is a piece of Crafty Kitten Jazlyn called Snapdragon.

Thank you to everyone for your commiserations on the frogs over the last two posts, it's worth re-visiting the previous post to this one to read Christine's and Julie's in particular as they both made me giggle!

Finally, don't forget the Summer Postcard Blog Hop.  This year's theme is Gardens, click on the picture of the garden to the top right of the blog for more details.  I have received a few pictures so far and once I get to six I will start sending them round to people.