March IHSW

 

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

This year I am trying something different for IHSW - an A-Z Challenge!  These usually take place in April and people stitch one letter every day except Sunday.  I don't want to swap projects daily so thought I could do 2 or 3 letters per IHSW instead.  

March is E and F.  I wasn't working Friday again so I started there with E for English Transitional Sampler from Scarlet Letter.

I went from here:

to here:

Close-up of the part I was stitching:

stitched on 32 count cream linen

This is a huge piece started back in 2012 when I started things with no plan for how they would fit into my rotation or be finished.  It shows.  All that Holbein stitching has to be filled in with satin stitch.  There's another big row to do above it, then some Bargello under the big red outline and some other stuff at the bottom!

Next up on Saturday was E for Elliott - Joan Elliott's Faces SAL, another oldie which I do plan to finish this year.  It's ten years old so it's about time.  It's on my WIPGO Board.

It went from here:

to here:

Close-up of the part I worked on:

stitched on 28 count Snapdragon Jazlyn from Crafty Kitten

I could have continued with that one on Sunday for F but decided to stitch Fairy - Coffee Cup Fairy from Yiotas X-Stitch.  Here's where that one started:

I added a good chunk of cream to the cup:

stitched on 28 count Monarch evenweave from Sparklies

On Monday I decided to do one more F for Fairy Idyll by Mirabilia.  Here's where she started:

and finished:

This is the section I worked on, adding the yellow to the drapes:

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

Another very successful IHSW.  It's fun to get a chance to work on some of my older pieces for more than just 30 minutes for the Longest Day Marathon.

Next month I have a choice of 2 projects for G and 3 for H.  Although that might change when my WIPGO numbers are called.  There are a couple of Hs on the list.

As a general rule, I want to choose the oldest project for each letter.

Finally the next IHSW will be 19th - 21st April  so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook. If you don't do Facebook then you can check in here by leaving a comment on my post.

February IHSW

   

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

This year I am trying something different for IHSW - an A-Z Challenge!  These usually take place in April and people stitch one letter every day except Sunday.  I don't want to swap projects daily so thought I could do 2 or 3 letters per IHSW instead.  

February is C and D.  I usually work Fridays so don't include that in my Hermit Weekend but as luck would have it, I worked earlier in the week because of the annual stocktake.

So for Friday I stuck with my Focus Piece which begins with a C - Cricket Collection Spring.

I went from here:

to here:

stitched on 32 count Marie's Daffodil from Chromatic Alchemy

On Saturday I looked at my spreadsheet and decided that Coffee Fairy from Yiotas XStitch would be my project for the day.  This was a kit that was sent to me in exchange for an honest review.  The design is full coverage but a huge amount is background so I decided to use this piece of mad fabric and omit the background.

Here's a really bad photo of where I started from:

And here's where I finished and a much more accurate photo of the fabric:

stitched on 28 count Monarch evenweave from Sparklies

For Sunday there was only one D - Bothy Threads 12 Days of Christmas, this is where I left off last month when it was B:

to here:

stitched on 32 count grey linen

I also managed to squeeze in 7 more leaves for my Temperature SAL from The Steady Thread:

stitched on 28 count Meadow Mist linen from Silkweavers

A new high of 17 degrees and yellow for the first time.

Next month I have a choice of 2 projects for E and 3 for F.  Although that might change when my WIPGO numbers are called.

As a general rule, I want to choose the oldest project for each letter.

Finally the next IHSW will be 15th - 17th March  so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook. If you don't do Facebook then you can check in here by leaving a comment on my post.

June WIPocalypse and my Giveaway Winners

Here's the round-up for the progress since the last Full Moon.


Part 1 - My 12 in '12
1. Completed the Dark Alphabet.  Would you like to see another picture?  Just for a change, here's the one with the coffin:

2. - 10. and 12. No progress on anything

11. Papillon Around the World in 80 Stitches.  Finished Part 1 except the beading and metallics.  Started Part 2.  OK, so it's a small start but it still a start!

Part 2 - Just Nan-a-thon
Nothing at all for Nan this month.   But I did buy a new chart complete with button for a very small amount of money.  Well, it's not worth paying P&P for 2 packs of Kreinik on their own, you have to make it upto a tenner!

Part 3 - Theme-a-licious: May Memories

For this I decided to go for Making Memories and stitched A Dark Alphabet designed in memory of Lisa Roswell and also my Joan Elliott Round Robin which is all about making memories for the person who will keep the finished design.  Here's my Butterfly Fairy for Karen:

Funnily enough, two other people stitched the same fairy this round, great minds think alike!

Finally, I did the draw for my 250 followers giveaway sponsored by Yiota's Cross Stitch Kits.  The winners chosen by Random Name Picker Large Boy were:

Kaye - Kitten Stitching

Patty C - Hanging by a Thread

Marilyn - no blog

Now, Marilyn isn't a follower (yet!), doesn't have a blog or an email in her profile and is a "No Reply" in her comments, so hopefully she'll see this post and say "oooo that's me!" and let me know which of her three choices she'd like to win.  They were:

Kittens in a Suitcase, Butterfly Fairy and Flying Dolphins.

Kaye's final choice was Anne Hathaway's Cottage and this is Patty's, Mushroom Fairy 2:

As a number of people chose Coffee Fairy as one of their choices I will keep their names and chose one person to receive my chart when I finish stitching it.  Maybe next year!  Don't hold your breath!!  I am able to do this because I have a paper original of the chart not a pdf.  Yiota did ask me to draw people's attention to her copyright information regarding pdfs.  They are for one use only and not to be shared/passed on or sold on.  The only exception is for this giveaway when she kindly said I could keep a copy of the winning chart if I want to.

It's Giveaway Time!!

Thanks to my newest follower Chiara I have now reached 250 followers and can host a sponsored giveaway!  BTW Chiara blogs as The Grey Tail and is hosting a giveaway of her own at the moment.  Why not pop across to her blog and join in?  She's a newbie to blogging so I'm sure she'd be happy to meet some new followers!

Back to MY Giveaway - A while back I was sent a free cross stitch kit by Yiota to review.  I chose the Coffee Fairy and here's my progress so far:

And here's what she will look a little like, one day:

Well, Yiota must have liked my review because she offered to sponsor a giveaway on my blog.  As I was so close to the magic 250 I decided that would be a great excuse.

All you have to do is visit Yiota's website, browse around the gorgeous designs and choose your favourite three.  Come back here and leave a comment on this post only, telling me what your three favourites are.  I will choose three people at random to receive one of their choices.  Actually, the Large Boy will randomly choose three people!

The closing date is teatime BST 31st May 2012.  There are three prizes of one pdf chart each.  The chart has to be one of Yiota's designs as they are the only ones she can make into pdfs.  The descriptions on the designs clearly state which ones are available as pdfs, so that makes it easier!

You get one entry for leaving a comment with your top three and an additional entry if you mention the giveaway and Yiota on your blog.  To qualify for the additional entry you must link the words "cross stitch kits" to Yiota's website.  The geeky reason for this is that it moves her website up the Search Engines' priority lists.  So if someone googles "cross stitch kits" Yiota's website will be closer to the top of the page the more links there are across the internet to her site with those words.

Finally, a Big Thank You to all my followers, old and new, especially those that comment.  It's so good to connect with stitchers around the world.  Next post I'll be putting up details of how to join in with the Summer Postcard Trail.  It's all go around here!

IHSW update and a forthcoming Giveaway

Last weekend was the third in the month and International Hermit and Stitch Weekend.  For more details in how to join in, just click on Hermie the Crab on the right hand side of this blog.

I decided to spend all of IHSW on My Lovely Sewing Tools from Gift of Stitching magazine and made some good progress as you can see:

I also finished the CCN design Cherry Hill Cottage which I will scrapbook.  I need to visit the craft shop and maybe buy some cherry themed trimmings.  I used the variegated DMC 107 for both the red and the pink but forced the colours by cutting the skein into red and pink sections.

The background is the scrapbook paper which I will be using.  Obviously the fabric will be trimmed to size and backed with plain white paper so the pattern doesn't show through.  But you get the idea.

I also made good progress on the Needlecraft Haven monthly challenge piece which I can't show here yet.  The progress was due to it being my handbag project this week.  The Small Boy has started Preschool this term, two days a week just for two hours a time.  I have decided to stay for the first two weeks but in a separate room while he settles in and his Key Worker gets to know him.  So far, so good.  Which means I have nearly 2 hours of uninterrupted stitching twice a week!  Although I did help with the washing-up today LOL.

(for overseas followers - in England children attend Preschool anytime from 2.5 to rising 4, then Nursery from the year in which they are 4, then proper school in the Reception class from the year in which they are 5.  Unless you work fulltime then they can attend a creche style setting confusingly also called a Nursery but it's from babyhood.  Preschool is mainly just playing with a little bit of structure at the beginning and end of each session.)

My followers are slowly increasing in number, the Easter Treasure Hunt was great for helping me and all the participants make new friends.  I was thinking of a 250 Giveaway when I received an email for Yiota, remember Yiota who sent me a lovely Cross Stitch Kit to review?  She was offering to sponsor my next giveaway!  Three winners will receive an email chart of one of Yiota's lovely designs.   So while you're waiting for my followers to reach the magic number, why not pop over to Yiota's Cross Stitch Kits site and have a look at all the gorgeous designs there and try to decide which you would like to win.  Don't tell me yet!

Anyway, "talking" with Yiota inspired me to make a start on the Coffee Fairy.  As my kit was supplied with aida I decided to use some evenweave I had.  I bought this piece from Sparklies with Nora Corbett's Trick or Treat Fairy in mind.  It's called Monarch - should be Mad Monarch!  I have never seen such an outrageously mad fabric before.  But it is perfect for Coffee Fairy.  I'm planning on just stitching the fairy, her cup and biccies not the background.  But here is the beauty of my plan - if the fabric is too overpowering then I can stitch as much of the background as I need, maybe just an oval around her.  Here is one evening's progress, it's the rim and handle of the cup:

This is a completely accurate colour match for the fabric, it really is that mad!

So now we have a rotation of sorts -

Coffee Fairy 1 day a week,
Baby ABC - 3 days a week alternate with
My Lovely Sewing Tools weekends and
2 different Round Robins weekdays as and when.
And Green Goddess must be fitted in too, and Papillon ATW, and I got the fabric for Snapdragon today...

That's just the evening stitching.  There are all the smalls for daytime too.

Finally, I got my copy of Just Cross Stitch (the American mag) through yesterday.  Gorgeous projects, there are several I want to stitch, so much better than the English mags!  I'm definitely going to cancel at least one of them later this year (when a certain series of charts finishes!) and spend the money on fabric instead.

Coffee Fairy review

I was recently contacted by Yiota of Yiotas XStitch who asked if I would mind reviewing one of her cross stitch kits.  She sells online kits or charts, mostly designed by herself and a few by others.  There is a wide range of subject matter from animals to landscapes, fine art and fantasy.

Many of the Fantasy designs are from artwork by Erin Ewer and have been converted into gorgeous cross stitch patterns.  They are what I would call "photo-realistic" rather than hand-drawn (like Mirabilias).  As a result they only feature whole cross stitches and no back-stitch.  Ideal for people who just like to stitch!  They can also be easily stitched on aida which the kit is supplied with.

I spent a long time browsing the site which is well laid out and easy to find the different designs.  Some designs often feature in two categories, eg Fantasy and Fairies which makes it easier to find something you will like.  There are often three different ordering options - full kit, just chart or email chart which suits everyone.

After lingering over the Art Nouveau astrology fairies, I finally chose this design, the Coffee Fairy.  I liked the humour in this design and can see her completed in my kitchen near the coffee cupboard. 

The parcel arrived this afternoon, in a solid envelope marked Do Not Bend so I got to meet my new postman again as he rang the doorbell.  I bet he wishes he got paid "per item"!!  This is what was inside:

Plus the chart of course!  The fabric is plenty big enough (haven't actually measured it yet) and the colours look so gorgeous all wound onto their little bobbins clearly labelled with the Madeira numbers.  The chart includes DMC references too so if I wanted to stitch it again or pass the chart on in a Giveaway I could easily do so.

The chart itself is nice and clear, it's spread over 2 pages of A3 paper and there is a 2 stitch overlap.  I like an overlap, the larger the better.  The symbols have been well chosen so the darker colours are more solid symbols, this means when you hold the chart at arms length and squint you can "see" the design.  It's also much easier to follow when stitching.

All in all, a nice kit with a nice chart of a lovely design.  An option for evenweave would have been a bonus but at least this way I can choose my own colour and count if I want to.  Also, the biscuits are not included, you have to buy your own!

One question for bobbin users, when you cut a length off, what do you do with the strands you're not stitching with?  Usually I tie it round a piece of cut-up card thread sorter and put it back in the Floss-a-way bags I use.   I'm thinking of making a thread sorter from card while I'm working on the kit as I'll be using the holes in the top to thread all the bobbins onto a split ring to keep them in numerical order.

While browsing the site I came across this kit too, Girl with a Pearl Earring based on the beautiful painting by Vermeer.  I saw a lady stitching this recently, on 48 count over 1, can you imagine it?  The design has 55 different colours!!  How I wish I'd had my camera with me.  I'm not sure if it was this exact chart as her piece was smaller than this one would come up (about 2 x 3 inches) but it was clearly recognisable as the painting.   Amazing!

Finally, a Giveaway.  This time from Crafty Rahenna to celebrate opening her Etsy shop.  She has some lovely Christmas kits, threads and fabric to win.  Rahenna has less followers than she deserves so pop over there and start stalking following her, tell her I sent you and we'll share the prize hahaha