Finally Fully Finishing Fun for January

 

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).

This is what I typed on my January post in 2020, which I copied into my January 2021 and 2022 posts:

Let's start the year off as we don't mean to go on - doing nothing all month and realising on the 9th that you have one day to FFO something, anything to show on the 10th.

Guess what?  Same thing this year!  Why break the run now?

I did have a piece planned luckily, I just didn't intend to leave it to the very last minute.

But here is the fourth in the Seasons in the Square series by Just Nan:

Winter in the Square

It's in a simple raw wood box frame like the other three.  I didn't have the charm for the centre but Christine sent me some lovely snowflakes to use so I chose one of them instead.

Here are the other three in the series:

Spring in the Square

Summer in the Square

Autumn in the Square

And here are four much older finishes I like to get out this time of year.  Technically they are Christmas themed but they seem more Winter to me and I don't have so many Winter pieces.

L-R Mistletoe, Holly, Juniper, Pine

They are all from Shepherd's Bush and I stitched them some time in 1998.

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.

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).

I did quite well this month, I dug out the scrapbooks and papers to get some recent finishes FFO'd.

The first one, you got a little sneak peek last post:

This is the Drawn Thread freebie for the #bewellandstitch movement.  I stitched it one strand over two on 35 count Sand Linen.  Then I scrapbooked it onto a page which already had the April design from With Thy Needle.  I think the way the backing paper brings out the yellow in the fabric and you can just see the stripes too.  The ribbon came from Giovanna, an Italian blogger (not for quite a while though) who sent me a whole bunch of ribbons for trimmings.

The second recent finish was Trimming the Tree by Blue Ribbon Designs.  I had planned to mount this with the older BRD in the series but it is smaller and the fabric is a darker blue so they looked odd together.

Instead I used this page from a National Geographic calendar and left space for the next one in the series.  I also labelled the fabric in the packet as "For BRD only".

For my next FFO I needed to rummage through my frame stash.  I found the perfect frame which already had a project in.  Several years ago I tried to sell some cross stitch at a church craft stall.  I discovered the same as when I tried to sell my painted rocks.  People don't want to buy cross stitch.  They want to commission something you don't have.

So I took the cute design out and framed Fox Few by Plum Street Samplers instead:

It is on my kitchen dresser along with Fox Forest by The Workbasket:

So what did I do with the cute design which was in the frame? 

Scrapbook!  Along with an even older finish.  The little cottage was originally in a small plastic frame to hang on a tree but I mounted it in a Christmas card instead.  The little bear was the cover kit from Cross Stitcher magazine issue 207 and was designed by Andree Langhorn.

And a finish to round things off.  Not a fully finished piece yet as I need to source a snowflake and four identical frames to do all the seasons.  This is Winter in the Square by Just Nan.  I have stitched just 20 stitches per day on this and it took 123 days in total:

stitched on 32 count Light Mocha Linen

Finally, Stitch Maynia has continued.  Here are the most recent projects:

6th May - Spring Pillow

7th May - True Blue Heart

8th May - Holly Berry Frosty

9th May - Garden Maze (I was stitching this one throughout April)

April WIPocalypse Oldest WIPs

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.

Since 2011 I have chosen a number of projects to focus on that year, starting with my "11 in '11" and increasing to "20 in '20" for this year.  This month I stitched on 6 of them.

My Discworld Mappe went from here:

to here

Lyndisfarne - Discworld Map

(Project 5)

Nora Corbett - Gathering Eggs
(Project 6)

JBW - 12 Days of Christmas

(Project 10)

Hands on Design - Bitter Brew

(Project 14)

Just Nan - Winter in the Square

(Project 16)

Amanda Butler - Alice in Wonderland SAL in Cross Stitcher magazine

(Project 17)

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

April – Talk to us about your longest-running WIP or UFO.

That's an easy one - no change since last year!   My oldest UFO is from the 1990s - Ernie Bishop's Noel Banner:

Since I took that photo I have completed the O for my Longest Day Marathons:

Close-up of the L:

Last time I got them out I realised I had used the wrong Perle for the hardanger on the E so that's all got to come out too.  These have been added to my WIPocalypse this year.  I have 8 projects started pre-2016 and have added 3 to my list this year (the ones in bold).

Finally, here's the full list if you are interested:

Ernie Bishop	Noel Letters	01/12/98
Craft Collection	Art Nouveau Head	14/04/11
Samplermakers	Spring Sampler	01/03/12
Yiota's Xstitch	Coffee Fairy	24/04/12
Papillon	Around the World	27/04/12
Scarlet Letter	English Transitional Sampler	11/12/12
Joan Elliott	Faces SAL	05/06/14
Kustom Krafts	Little Snapdragon	01/01/15

March WIPocalypse Adopted WIPs

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.

Since 2011 I have chosen a number of projects to focus on that year, starting with my "11 in '11" and increasing to "20 in '20" for this year.  This month I stitched on 6 of them.

My Discworld Mappe went from here:

to here

Lyndisfarne - Discworld Map

(Project 5)

Nora Corbett - Gathering Eggs
(Project 6)

JBW - 12 Days of Christmas

(Project 9)

Hands on Design - Bat Balm

(Project 13)

Just Nan - Winter in the Square

(Project 16)

Amanda Butler - Alice in Wonderland SAL in Cross Stitcher magazine

(Project 17)

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

March – Have you ever adopted a piece from someone else or gave up a piece to someone else? Which piece and why?

Yes, I have.  Many years ago my Mum started a cross stitch sampler, but half way through we had a family crisis and once it was over she did not want to continue with the piece.  She asked me if I wanted to finish it and keep it.  Which I did.

This was a kit from a catalogue in the 1990s.  Stitched on 14 count aida.  One thing we did learn was that Mum and I do our XXX the opposite way round to each other.  So I had to swap mine to match her's.

The other piece I stitched was for a friend who was destashing.  She was giving up cross stitch to focus on her crochet business.  She gave me a huge box of goodies in exchange for stitching this kit for her.  She had literally only prepared the fabric for it!  This is Gathering Honey by Jannlynn Designs: 

🐇 Good Friday - Friday 10th April 🐇

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Annual Easter Treasure Hunt.  If you would like to take part this year, just leave a comment here.  The week before Easter I will send you a letter of the alphabet which will form part of the mystery phrase.  On Good Friday you will post that letter along with a photo of something seasonal that you have stitched (could be Easter or Spring or just something cheerful and sunny or floral).  We all hop around like little bunnies to find the Mystery Phrase!


Here's a link to last year's hop so you can see how it all works - Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop 2019

February WIPocalypse, Stitch from Stash and Pie

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.

Since 2011 I have chosen a number of projects to focus on that year, starting with my "11 in '11" and increasing to "20 in '20" for this year.  This month I stitched on 7 of them.

My Discworld Mappe went from here:

to here:

Lyndisfarne - Discworld Map

(Project 5)


Nora Corbett - Gathering Eggs
(Project 6)

Mrs Peggotty's Queen of Hearts

(Project 7)

JBW - 12 Days of Christmas

(Project 9)

Hands on Design - Bat Balm

(Project 13)

Just Nan - Winter in the Square

(Project 16)

Amanda Butler - Alice in Wonderland SAL in Cross Stitcher magazine

(Project 17)

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

February 29 – In honour of “Leap Year,” tell the story of a time you had to make some sort of a “leap” in stitching – taking the chance on a new style of stitching, attending a meetup or class, etc.

I guess the biggest leap I took was starting a blog up all those years ago!  I always say I only started so I could take part in the TUSAL but in actual fact it was so I could post about anything I wanted instead of derailing Forum posts by saying "but look at this thing I stitched"!

I also took a leap this year and started a new project on Leap Day.  I just rummaged through the folder I keep purchases in and found this one.  It is by Plum Street Samplers and is entitled Fox Few.  One of a series of piles of animals.  I stitched one fox:

stitched on 32 count khaki evenweave

(which is more green in real life)

So how did that last minute decision affect the pie?

Over half the month on Discworld this time.  This is the portion I focused on this month:

Lots of land and all the backstitch too.  The plan for March is to fill in all the land on the right of that photo.

How about Stitch from Stash?  I joined a survey website last year called Prolific.  They send me various different surveys to fill in online and I earn between 10p and 50p per survey.  You can cash in the money once you have £5 earned.  I had managed to get mine up to £20 so I cashed it in and bought this gorgeous kit which was less than half price on Lakeside Needlecraft's website!

Lakeside Needlecraft - 12 Days of Christmas - Bothy Threads

I don't usually buy kits because I have no intention of using the aida but it was the only way to get this design.  I saw someone stitch the First Day as an ornament and it is absolutely stunning so I have invested in it!  I also bought four skeins of DMC I needed to top up my supplies. 

February
Bothy Threads	£20.15
4 skeins DMC	£2.72
Total	£22.87

Finally, I do subscribe to a couple of magazines but this month I signed up for the Press Reader app.  It's a fee app and if you have a Library Card you can sign in with that and get free magazines!  You can't download them but you can screenshot and keep relevant pages.  Just Cross Stitch have decided they will no longer mail to the UK so I will be switching to their digital service.  I wanted to see if Press Reader would let me download the whole issue but it won't.  It's good for browsing but I like to keep my magazines for future use.   However I have already saved a couple of pages from WOCs and Crazy which are also on the app.

Check it out and see if your Library is registered.  If not, then ask them whether they belong to another magazine subscription program.  It's a great way to support your local Library too.  It was the Library Manager who let me know about the App.