Finally Fully Finishing Fun for May

    

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).

After last month's amazing finish I'm back to being a bit basic!

This is Just Nan Spring in the Square which I finished in a plain wood box frame.  I didn't have the charm to go in the centre so that's a nice button instead.   I have the other three seasons stitched so that could be three more FFO's this year!

Here's my 5th Day of Christmas from Jardin Prive:

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen

The white and yellow don't contrast much in real life so I backstitched round the butterflies.

Finally I am making good progress with my Just Nan Super Summer SAL.  This is Tea with Honey.  I have stitched all the greens and the purples on the top:

July's Oldest and Newest WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings
Also linking up with 17 in '17

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.  I have chosen my "17 in '17" which are the 17 projects I want to focus on this year.  You can see the full list on this page here.

This month I managed a WIPocalypse finish!  Thanks to Just One July and Joan Elliott July I was able to focus on Joan Elliott's July Mermaid and get her finished:

28 count Jazlyn in Peacock by Crafty Kitten

Here are the other WIPocalypse projects I've been stitching on:

1. Stitcher's Alphabet by Brooke's Books:

2. 12 Days of Christmas by Joan Elliott:

3. Happy Hallowe'en by Imaginating:

4. Spring in the Square by Just Nan:

So close to a finish now!

5. Enchanted Alphabet by Lavender & Lace: 

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss and this month we have

July - What are your oldest and your newest WIPs?

I can't 100% say this is my oldest WIP as I didn't keep records back then.  But I think the Ernie Bishop NOEL letters are older than Bande des Dragons.  I've put them in my X-Stitch app as a 1998 start which may be a year or two out but it's definitely that era.  Which makes them nearly 20 years old.  I have no idea what I would do with them if I ever finished them as unframed whitework does not mix with a house with a wood burner!

For some reason I started with L and then worked backwards:

Newest WIP is much easier, the latest Just Nan ornie Snow Forest was restarted last Sunday, 23rd July, 2017 and I have stitched 30 a day for 9 days:

Finally, I have noticed a new "person" commenting on my blog and a couple of others too.  I say "person" because all they are doing is copying the previous comment and when you go to their profile all you see is gambling websites.  I don't think there is any harm they can do just by commenting but I would advise deleting their comments and not clicking on any of the links on their profile.

Edward -

I thought I said no more birds; but this morning I woke up to find no less than seven swans all trying to get into our tiny goldfish pond.  I'd rather not think about what happened to the goldfish.  The whole house seems to be full of birds - to say nothing of what they leave behind them.
Please, please STOP.
Your Emily

12 Days of Christmas (Correspondence) - John Julius Norwich

Swans are beautiful to look at but can be very vicious.  Plus, they mate for life so where does the odd number come from?  Poor left out swan.

I stitched the swan using two strands and the background using one.  I really like this effect as the swan stands out much more.

Here's where I was last month:

And here's where I am now:

I've done a lot more of the left hand angel and almost completed the left-hand border too.  Just a few more green leaves and the tiny holly berries.

I stitched one of my Hallowe'en pieces this month, Happy Hallowe'en by Imaginating:

We have a little Ghostie and a leafy L too.

I'm in such complete control with my Ten-a-Day project that I decided to start another one!  Reaching the half-way point of the year on Spring in the Square I could see that I should finish it well before the end of the year.  So what better time to start Summer in the Square?

Here is Spring in the Square at 187 days:

Summer in the Square at 6 days:

And the current 30-a-day Royal Blossoms at 19 days:

Finally, thanks for the sympathy over Photobucket!  I am even having problems downloading my own photos from the site.  I had to resort to photographing the screen for one or two photos!

I am slowly working my way though 2012 at the moment.  All my finishes are on my desktop but some of my WIPs are not, usually ones where I used the scanner instead of the camera.

June Smalls SAL

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Stitching Lotus

This year I will be showing my Hallowe'en and Christmas SAL partworks and any other Smalls I may stitch.

Happy Hallowe'en by Imaginating gained a green frog and a green lizard for Something Green:

Witches by Oberlin Sampler became Itches:

A Goose was a-laying in Joan Elliott's 12 Days of Christmas:

And I completed, not one, but TWO Just Nan ornies.  Here are Christmas Hearts and Victorian Rose:

  

Here's where I am on Day 13 of the next Just Nan, Royal Blossoms:

And Day 181 of Spring in the Square, also by Just Nan:

I also made a card for a friend's wedding, the design is by Stitchrovia:

I also made some "small" progress on each of my WIPs and UFOs for The Longest Day Marathon:

That would actually make a good competition - spot the design!

Over to Pie; this month my focus piece was the Discworld Mappe with ten days of stitching.  It would have been a full fortnight but I fitted in my marathon and the wedding card.

Spending-wise, it's been a good month for Stitch from Stash.  

June
CS Sub	£8.72
Crazy sub	£3.00
John Lewis	£20.00
Total	£31.72

But magazine subscriptions are exempt and I used gift vouchers to buy the fabric so a zero SFS spend.  The first part of SFS has finished now and I have plenty of credit which is nice.  In "real" temrs I have spent £ 116.80 over six months which is just under £20 a month.  That does include gift money and magazine subscriptions.

Finally, we have a new Blogger of the Week, so don't forget to pop over and leave a comment.  This is our 19th Blogger of the Week and once we reach the half year mark (26) I will be doing a giveaway which will involve you having paid attention to the 26 featured bloggers.  You have been warned!

Happy Dance on the Table!

I recently got a special offer to get 3 issues of Cross Stitch Crazy for just £3, you'd have to be crazy to turn that down!  This month's issue arrived last week with a lovely cover gift of a booklet of designs by Emma Congdon of Stitchrovia.  All in her familiar typography and fonts style.  Not only did I start one straight away, I finished it too!  In just three days.

Bubbly!

Petite beads for bubbles in the bubbly.

Photos taken in three different lights!  Just to show how hard it is to get the right colour

This one is probably closest.  I had to change some of the thread colours so they would show up on the pink fabric (32 count linen) and I also filled in the word Champagne with Blanc.

This is going to be a wedding card for a friend whose daughter goes to the same school as the Small Boy.  It's perfect for her and her new hubby.

I've been continuing with the SAL that keeps on entertaining Christine, the Ten-a-Day and have just passed 160 days and 1,600 stitches.  I am indeed a Woman in Control of my Life.  This is a collage of photos of Just Nan's Spring in the Square taken every 10 days.  I started on 1st January so I love how the flowers bloom as we go through Spring and into Summer:

I've also been stitching a second daily project - 30-a-day and for this one I have a series of Just Nan freebies I'm finishing as ornies.  This is the fourth one, Victorian Rose, now on Day 14:

Handy hint - the little tag of orange at the top is an ORT knotted through so I always know which way up is.  Useful when stitching a symmetrical design on square fabric.

Finally, I'm making plans for The Longest Day SAL next week.  I'll actually be stitching on Tuesday 20th and blogging about it on the 21st as I'm away from the house on Wednesday.  I've decided to have an Event on Facebook for the real time updates so if you want to follow along there, here's the link.

Longest Day SAL

(It's a private event so send me a pm on FB if you want to see it!)

Money Pie

Not really a lot of stitching to show you as I've been focusing on the Brooke's Books' Stitchers Alphabet for this Saturday's Alphabet Club.  But I do have some pie and some stash to share.

First the stitching.  I have been taking part in a Ten-a-Day challenge this year and yesterday we reached 1,500 stitches!  So here is a photo of 1,510 stitches:

Just Nan - Spring in the Square

As well as the Ten-a-Day I am doing a Thirty-a-Day using a series of Just Nan freebies which I started as part of Kerry's March Madness this year.  Yesterday I completed the beading on Christmas Hearts:

stitched on 32 count antique white evenweave

I love the Rhodes Heart in the middle and will try get a better photo of it when I fully-finish this piece at the weekend.

And because I finished one - I start another one!  This is Victorian Rose, started on 12th March and restarted 31st May.  The first photo is the first 30 stitches from March:

And this is where we are today, with a much better idea of the colour of the fabric:

stitched on 32 count green linen from Sarah in Stitches

Tomorrow it's back to Hallowe'en and some spooky stitching!

This month's pie reflects the time I spent on Gathering Honey, not quite half the month.  12 Days got a lot of attention as I worked quite a few full days and that's what I take in as my lunchtime project.

Finally, the money part of the title is my Stitch from Stash round-up.

May
Cross Stitch Crazy	£4.99
Stitchrovia	£1.99
JN Summer Typo	£13.19
JN 12 Days	£0.00
Total	£20.17

I spent a little bit more than usual this month but still within budget.  Cross Stitch Crazy had a great Emma Congdon Circus ABC, a mini version of the Emily Peacock design I stitched for my cousin ages ago.  The cover gift was two lovely Margaret Sherry hedgehog cards too.  There were also some mini mandala designs which would look good in beads.

I bought the second part of the Stitchrovia MIND SAL because I was trying to work out how to send it to the winner of my last competition.  Stitchrovia are silent in their response to my emails so far.

I also needed to buy a chart from SewandSo for another competition winner and I discovered that they were doing 3 for 2 on all charts!  So I bought one for myself and a freebie too.  Here are the two I got for myself:

The fourth one in the series.  I have stitched the other three.

Because I need another 12 Days for next year...

May Smalls SAL

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Stitching Lotus

This year I will be showing both my Hallowe'en and Christmas SAL partworks as well as any actual smalls I stitch.

Happy Hallowe'en by Imaginating gained a black cat:

And Witches by Oberlin Samplers gained a non-black cat:

Five Goooooolllllllllddddddddddd Rings for 12 Days of Christmas!

Here's the whole piece at the moment:

And this is literally how little metallic I have left to stitch:

I've been making steady progress on my Ten-a-Day project, Just Nan's Spring in the Square:

Day 147 - 1,470 stitches

As well as the humorously titled Ten-a-Day I am also doing a Thirty-a-Day for Linda's So Many Stitches.  I am stitching a series of the Just Nan freebies as ornaments for this challenge.  Here is the third one so far; Christmas Hearts:

Day 14 - stitched on 32 count antique white evenweave

The iPad takes rubbish photos and you have the light coming in from the left changing the fabric colour, but it's quicker and easier than getting the camera out every morning!

I have been very disciplined and finally-finished both of the ornies as I went.  Here's number 2; Christmas Star:

stitched on 32 count Twilight Blue linen

backed with plain blue felt

Beads!

I changed the metallic and beads to silver and crystal for this project instead of the charted gold.  I think they look more elegant on the blue fabric.  The fabric is the very stiff Wichelt linen which isn't so nice to stitch on but does make it really easy to ornamentify.  You just fold it along a thread and it stays folded!

Finally, I posted another Blogger of the Week, a newer-to-me stitcher this week.  Remember, the blog isn't just for me and my Old Pals network - if you're new to stitching or blogging please do ask to be featured.  I love meeting new friends.