A Flurry of Finishes

I have absolutely loved stitching OAAT on the 12 Days of Christmas but since I met my goal for this month, which was completing the Partridge block, I have craved a finish.  So here are two!

The first one is the JBW Antique Christmas Trees small that I showed as a new start in my previous post:

stitched over one on 32 count white linen

I stitched this using the DMC conversion but changed the letters to 3721 as they were charted in white which just disappeared into the fabric.  I think they were supposed to represent snow.  Those are French Knots in the bunny's rather over-sized bobtail!

Just to show the scale, here is another photo with some small coins from various countries:

L-R 1 penny, 1 pfennig, 5 centimes, 1 cent

The second finish was the project I was stitching immediately before I started on the 12 Days of Christmas.  It got abandoned over Christmas but has now been completed:

Fox Forest by The Workbasket  

stitched on 32 count Light Khaki linen

This is much better photo of the fabric colour

Again, I used the DMC conversion, tweaking things to suit.  Some of the conversion colours were a little strange, more khaki than fox-coloured.  I also zig-zagged the border instead of stitching two solid lines!   There are more Forests in this series so I will have to keep an eye out for them.  This is my first finish from my 17 in '17 WIPocalypse list, so a great start to the year.

I also have an FFO - Fully Finished Object.  I aim to dedicate Sundays to finish-finishing projects when I am not working a Sunday.  This one is Just Nan's Counting Bats which I stitched for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog last year.  It is a very long, thin design so I stitched two pieces of fabric to the sides so it would fit a standard photo frame:

The fabric is the same that I used for the Hallowe'en Cubes so they co-ordinate nicely.  It took ages to hand-sew the fabrics together because both cotton and linen fabric had to be absolutely straight.  It would have been so easy to start to get off the straight line.

Finally, we have the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop coming on Valentine's Day.  If you would like to take part, all you have to do is send me a photo of something you have stitched which is suitable for a stitching friend.  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.  I will then email you a photo to post on your blog on Valentine's Day.  Everyone then hops around trying to find out where their photo went and who is the Secret Sweetheart!

Making the Most of a Long Weekend Off

It's gonna get busy enough soon enough!

I usually only work 2 days a week, last week I worked Monday and Tuesday.  Next week I am working Thursday and Saturday so that meant I was off from Wednesday to Wednesday!  Eight days off without having to take any holiday.  Let's not mention that I will be working 7 out of 10 days from Thursday for the Christmas Rush.

So what have I been doing?  Helping hubby with the end of year accounts, writing Christmas cards, clearing the living room, keeping up with running TWO online Advent Calendars and, of course, stitching!

You saw the Spot of Winter last post and here is my final piece for the Hallowe'en Ornie Blog, Free Choice December:

stitched on 32 count lime green murano

This is part of a larger design by The Oberlin Sampler Company called Witches.  I will be stitching more of it as it fits into the themes next year alongside my focus piece for the Hallowe'en blog which you'll see in January!

I like this witch stirring her cauldron, there's a clever use of blended threads using grey and yellow for the highlights down her back and also grey and red down the front of her dress.  Love the flash of pink in her underskirt too.  She also has some French Knot warts on her face!

This afternoon I completed another Christmas Cube for the shelf:

And took the Small Boy out for a walk so Hubby and the Large Boy could wrangle the tree into place:

The decorations are still in the loft, not a place which is Small Boy-proof so I'll be getting up there tomorrow when he's at school.

In the evenings I've continued with Fox Forest by The Workbasket:

stitched on 32 count light khaki linen

It is looking nearly done but there's quite a bit of fill-in motifs and then a border all the way round the edge.  Should be done by the end of the year though.

Finally, I hope you're all enjoying the Advent Calendar Blog Hop.  I had so many people in the end, we are doing Double-Door Weekends so there's plenty to see.  Please leave comments on the participating blogs when you visit.  It's nice to share the love!

A Spot of Winter

Not just the weather, but a finish too!  Back in November Kaye from Kitten Stitching showed some new stash including four Drawn Thread designs; the "Spot of ..." seasons.  I mentioned that I had the same four charts and we decided to start a You've Got a Friend SAL (Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall, all you have to do is call etc.) because that's the order we're stitching in.  Despite it being Summer in Australia!

Anyway, I decided to use the same fabric for all four designs which is the 35 Country Mocha linen I used for the Christmas Cubes.  Here is Winter:

Each chart comes with a little charm, a snowflake for Winter

And a selection of speciality stitches.  The trees are Sprats Head stitches, aren't they effective?

I used my own DMC conversion, changing some of the colours to make them a shade lighter or darker to suit the fabric.  And B5200, of course!  I also added a little Smyrna stitch in the centre of the hollow eyelets because they looked odd being empty!

I'm waiting for Kaye to catch up and show her's now.  We'll start Spring on 1st March.  If either of us remember!

In the evenings I've been down in the forest with the foxes!  Lots of progress on Fox Forest by The Workbasket here:

stitched on 32 count Light Khaki linen

(which is more green in real life)

Again, I am using my own DMC conversion to make it a little brighter.  I have one more fox to start and finish the rather raggedy looking fox on the bottom left.  The top left one looks like a corgi to me!

I finish-finished another Christmas Cube:

Because they are slightly smaller than the Hallowe'en Cubes they will actually fit in the shelf three high.  Just!

Finally, I signed up for a new Challenge on Facebook - The Ten a Day challenge!  Nothing to do with feminine hygiene, it's simply choose a project with approximately 3,600 stitches and stitch 10 stitches a day, you'll complete it at the end of the year.  I have copied Claire and chosen Just Nan's Spring in the Square:

November Pie and a New Start

Slight accumulation of posts at this end of the month!  I usually try space them better earlier in the month.

Let's have some Pie first:

You can certainly see what I worked on most during November!  Dragon of the Winter Moon by Dragon Dreams started off looking like this:

And ended up looking like this, not just a heap of snow after all!

stitched on 32 count Moondust evenweave from Crafty Kitten

I also spent quite a lot of time on the Brooke's Books Alphabet because I stitched 2 days on P at the beginning of the month and 4 days on Q at the end, usually it's only one letter per month.

I finished Q yesterday so I thought I would get a head start on the Hallowe'en stitching today instead of waiting until Friday.  Here's what I stitched:

stitched on 32 count Lime Green Murano

At least one person will recognise the design!

Here's where I am with The Workbasket's Fox Forest:

stitched on 32 count Light Khaki Linen

Apparently there are other Forests in the series - Deer, Rabbits and Owls.  Not sure if there are any more than that.

Finally, I would usually detail my spending for the month here.  But not this month because I spent a grand total of Nurthin!  Absolutely Zero, No Pounds and No Pence.  Even my mag sub isn't due until December!   See you all tomorrow for the Advent Calendar Blog Hop.  

November 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 projects:

On the left is Brooke's Books' Stitcher's Alphabet which you'll see in more detail on Saturday for The Alphabet Club.  On the right is Fox Forest by The Workbasket.  Here's a close-up:

stitched on 32count light khaki linen

I'm really enjoying this project.  Not too many colours and I usually stitch just one colour per evening.  I like the pear tree I have just finished, I'll be doing the trunk tonight.

I completed another Christmas Cube this weekend, we have Christ now:

I have emailed all the participants of the Advent Calendar Blog Hop, so if you haven't had an email, please get in touch!  The master post with all the doors will go up on 1st December with links to everyone's blogs ready and waiting for each door to open.

Finally, I've been spending some time thinking about next year; goals, rotations, SALs and projects.  Making lists and checking them twice!  How about you?  Are you ready or do you prefer to make it up as you go along?  I do hope you'll be taking part in GG or in one of my blog hops anyway!

This Week's Progress Report

Once again I have been focused on two main projects with a single day SAL on the 26th.

The main project has been Dragon of the Winter Moon by Dragon Dreams.  I have now finished his tail fin which is all Midnight Kreinik and started some of his back spines, in the same Kreinik.  I intend to backstitch as I go so I have done most of his tail.

stitched on 32 count Moondust evenweave by Crafty Kitten

The evening project is progressing nicely too, just 20-30 minutes each evening while the Small Boy is in the bath:

stitched on 32 count light khaki linen

The one day SAL is called Now I Know my ABCs and is hosted by Cross Stitch Finish Line on Facebook.  We are up to F so far and I stitched that letter today:

stitched on 32 count Tiger Lily evenweave by Sparklies

This is an adaptation of Enchanted Alphabet by Lavender & Lace.  I am turning it into a Hallowe'en stitch by using DMC 310 on a lovely orangey fabric.  I have added a few little touches so far, such as the spider and a pumpkin.  There will be lots more but I want to get a feel of the spacing before I add too many extras.

I framed Ghastly, Ghostly Ghouls by Just Nan.  This is a raw wood box frame which I coloured with black marker pen.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Finally I have three spaces left for the Advent Calender Blog Hop this year, sign up now to grab one of them!  I will allocate you a day in December when you must post something seasonal which I will copy and paste into the main post here.  Join us in counting down to Christmas!

Two Seasonal Finishes and Back In My Solo Groove

The first finish took much longer than I thought it would.  I started this one back at the beginning of October to go with the October Black Cats theme on the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog.

Here are the black cats:

And here is the Skeleton for November's theme:

And here is the final finish:

Ghastly, Ghostly Ghouls by Just Nan

stitched on 28 count lilac linen.

Those little frogs along the top brought all their froggy friends to the party!  I frogged and stitched the top border three times and the same for the two gourds at the bottom in my search for the right shade of dark orange.  I'll be framing it in a 6x6 black box frame which it fits perfectly.

The second finish is an entire series, The Christmas Cubes by The Primitive Hare.  Each cube fitted a different theme on the Christmas Ornie SAL Blog although I did have to stitch them out of order.  Hence, H being the last one to be completed:

stitched on 35 count Country Mocha linen

Here are all nine as a collage:

They will be cubified by Christmas!

Since then I have been working solidly on one daytime project and one evening project.  The daytime project is Dragon of the Winter Moon by Dragon Dreams:

stitched on 32 count Moondust evenweave by Crafty Kitten

There is no DMC cotton in this so far; we have white rayon, Waterlilies and Kreinik.  So far I have stitched all the white on his body and tail.  I just have the head and wings left in the white.  Then lots of Kreinik and a little DMC.

Close-up of the sparkly tail:

The evening forest is a new-to-me designer called The Workbasket and this is Fox Forest:

stitched on 32 count Light Khaki linen

(which looks more green in real life)

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Finally, I am still taking names for the Advent Calendar Blog Hop.  I will allocate each participant a day in December, they will post a stitched picture and an answer to this year's discussion topic.  I will copy their picture onto the main post and add a link to their blog.  To take part, just leave a comment or email me.  If there's a day you can't do or a special day you would like then please let me know.