Happy Extra Day!

Did you all enjoy your extra day today?  Hope you managed to get some stitching in anyway.

I have made a good start on the third of Nora Corbett's Alphabet Fairies - E

I am stitching her on the same fabric as my J which is another Crafty Kitten 32 count Murano, this one is called Love-in-the-Mist.  This is 2 day's worth of stitching:

There's quite a lot of metallic in this one and also quite a few beads.  I am very interested to see how long she takes too.  You would think that each fairy would take roughly the same amount of time to stitch, give or take a few days.  But look at this month's Pie Chart:

Nora's S fairy was stitched up in a mere 10 days.  Now this chart shows 8 days for the C fairy but she already had 14 days in January, so that's a massive 22 days in total.  More than twice as long as S fairy.  Now maybe I spent more time stitching each day in February but I don't think so.  C was just a lot more stitching!  I wonder where E will be?  I intend to stitch on her as much as possible now because I do have four full days at work in the next two weeks which really reduces my stitching time to about an hour a day.

I've also been making great progress on Shepherd's Bush's Mulberry Sampler and here's the bottom portion I've been stitching the last couple of evenings:

This part is all speciality stitches, including a full 6 strands of thread couched in place.  I've got another row and a half of Bargello and a row of Smyrnas and then it's on to the cutwork!  I leave that until last so I don't distort that part when I continue stitching.

Isn't Bargello awesome?

I am tracking my spending this year but not with any budget in mind, just to see where it all goes!

February

Cross Stitch Crazy	£4.99
iStitch Charts x 2	£15.11
Flossaway bags	£4.05
Beads (fairies)	£7.21
Kreinik (fairies)	£6.50
Just Nan chart	£9.86
Total Spend	£47.72

I bought a single issue of Cross Stitch Crazy because there was a big article about the Stitching Out Stigma project I was involved in last year.  The squares have all been made into two hangings which are being displayed in the new Mental Health Unit in University Hospital Llandough, Wales.  You can see all the individual squares in the online Gallery too.

The article

and

a close-up of one of the hangings, with my square top row, second left

The iStitch charts were because Carol was having a sale so I bought two Advent Charts which one being half price.  The weird price is because Carol's charts are sold in US$ so they convert to odd pence.

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Finally, it's nearly time for the Easter Blog Hoppity Hop!  Taking place over the Easter weekend each participant will be allocated a letter of the alphabet which they must post along with a nice Easter or Spring themed stitched photo.  In recognition of the varied talents of my followers I think you can also show any sewn, quilted or otherwise crafted Easter or Spring themed items.

Everyone will then hoppity hop around like a little fluffy bunny and collect the letters which will spell out something seasonal.  If you would like to be a picture poster then please drop me an email.

If you'd like some inspiration then look at the freebies on this page of my blog - Themed Freebies

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! 

Stitching Out Stigma

First of all, it's nearly time for the Easter Blog Hoppity Hop!  Taking place over the Easter weekend each participant will be allocated a letter of the alphabet which they must post along with a nice Easter or Spring themed stitched photo.  In recognition of the varied talents of my followers I think you can also show any sewn, quilted or otherwise crafted Easter or Spring themed items.

Everyone will then hoppity hop around like a little fluffy bunny and collect the letters which will spell out something seasonal.  If you would like to be a picture poster then please drop me an email.

I read about this project in Cross Stitch Collection magazine.  (They are back in my good books because I won another voucher this month and they sorted out my subscription problems too.)

Anyway, Stitching Out Stigma is the brainchild of Natalie who has suffered mental health problems herself and wants to raise awareness by making a display of stitched squares on the theme. There are more details on the page.  The initial deadline is the end of March but she wants to extend it to make a permanent display so there is still time to get involved.

I like these kinds of projects, given a loose brief you can let your mind roam free.  The theme I decided on was the Parents' Point of View.  As those of you who have any experience of illness or disability will be aware you not only have to cope with your child's issues but also the professionals who will surround you and bombard you with acronyms and jargon.  The most essential tool is The File (or The Filing Cabinet in the case of one friend who has three children with three different diagnoses!) and the front page of The File should contain the phones numbers and the acronym list for easy reference!

So I asked the parents in the NAS Group for their acronym suggestions and got over 50 different ones.  I charted as many as possible on graph paper around a central figure of a boy leaping out of the letters ASD.   Because at the centre of the jargon there is always a child.  Here is my progress so far:

I'm stitching on evenweave as although the website says aida it is just the English obsession with the damn fabric and Natalie confirmed that evenweave is fine.  I stuck to 28 count so the proportions will be the same as everyone else.

Here is my sketch for the letters:

Now it's time for the fun part, choosing the colours!

I have completed another one of my DUCJC starts.  This one was a PIF from Sarah-Beth and here it is:

Lizzie*Kate Friends are Angels

Why is yellow fabric so hard to photograph accurately?

I stitched this on 25 count yellow evenweave which means it is rather large for an ornie so will be scrapbooked instead.  The original intention was to stitch it over 1 until I realised that parts of it were already over 1 so that wouldn't work!

Threads used were:

Jodyri Salsa for the words, 

DMC 115 for the heart, 

DMC 90 for the stars and 

Anchor 979 for the blue border.  

Random beads around the stars.

Finally, I am planning to do a giveaway as part of Gifted Gorgeousness in April and this chart will be part of it along with anything else I actually manage to finish!