Finally Fully Finished Fun for October

   

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'm on a roll, I finished more things!  Well, technically my framer FFO'd some things for me!

I took Capricorn in for her to work her magic once again.

The frame is a lovely reddish-brown which goes perfectly with her browns and reds.

Here she is on the wall:

And with Taurus.  I need another nail to be able to hang Virgo with them.

Virgo is in my bedroom with J for Joanne at the moment.

I also took this smaller piece with me and told the framer to do what she wanted with it as it was a gift for her.  It took her quite a few minutes to realise I was serious!  The story is - when I took Taurus in last year she joked that it was a gift for her as she is a Taurus and how I might not get her back.  So when Circle Cross finished her Lunar Calendar series with The Hare Moon for Taurus, I just had to stitch her as gift.  She's been framing my work for 20 years now, an average of 1 piece per year and I trust her 100% with the frame choices and my precious stitching.

Here's the frame she chose for herself:

I did FFO something myself.  Having shown the 3D Haunted House last month, that inspired me to finally FFO the 3D Haunted Mansion from 2022!  I'd done it all except for the base.  So here it is completely FFO'd in time for Halloween:

Here they are together:

And here are my 3D shelves:

The castle tower to the left is a bought piece made from felt.

Finally, if you want to see all the pieces framed by Thistles, check out the label on my Happy Dance Blog - Thistles Framing

I notice I need to add both Taurus and Capricorn to the blog!

Happy Dance Duo

Not one but two big finishes this month!!

First up is the Joan Elliott Faces SAL started in 2014.  Joan released a block each month featuring an adapted face from one of her existing designs.

I decided to stitch the skin on the first face over one and was really pleased with how she turned out.

The second block was charted as a rather chonky cat which I wasn't fan of so I left that block blank.

I did complete the centre with some lovely over one butterflies from another of Joan's fairies

I eventually stitched this lovely owl:

When the third block was released I just stalled on the skin as there was so much of it!

I finally completed her in 2020 and  decided to focus on just one or two blocks per year and work through them all in time.

The owl and the dragon were completed in 2021

The unicorn and the beading on the centre block were 2022

This pair were completed in 2023

And the final two blocks in 2024, just in time for it's 10th Birthday!

The second big finish is Nora Corbett's Capricorn, started and completed this year.  The beading did take a while, she is the most heavily beaded out of the Zodiac Girls plus it's difficult in the Summer holidays to find time to sit and bead, I need to spread everything out on the table to do it properly.

stitched on 32 count Murano in Capricorn from Sparklies

Look at all the beads!

Finally, I hope to get these two framed and on the wall as soon as possible.  I'll do Faces myself but my framer will be in charge of Capricorn.

August WIPocalypse Groups and Guilds

           

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 "24 in '24" for this year. This month I stitched on 4 of them and had two finishes.

2. Shepherd's Bush Halloween Trifles

13. Joan Elliott Faces SAL

19. Nora Corbett Capricorn

24. Cottage Garden Samplings Halloween Sampler

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

August – Do you belong to any stitching groups or guilds (either in person or virtual)?

"Guilds" always reminds me of Terry Pratchett and his Discworld with the Thieves Guild, the Assassins Guild, Beggars Guild etc.  Other than in Fantasy Literature and Medieval craftsmen it's not something I have ever considered.

Groups, are another matter!!  The advent of Facebook has been incredible for groups and I don't want to have to count how many I belong to.  I am a big fan of "single designer or theme" groups rather than general stitching groups. I love the Mirabilia groups and belong to many of those.  They often set up spin-off groups for a group such as The Bewitching Pixies or the Zodiac Girls.  I also love the Halloween Stitching Group as that is a nice pure Spooky Stitching group.

I do admin a couple of groups - IHSW being the main one.  I also run the Just Cross Stitch Ornament SAL.  Both of those I took the reins when the founder wanted to take a break from admin.  I also help out with the Stitchonomy group and a Lavender & Lace group too.

I'm only in 2 challenge groups - Stitch from Stash which I adore and WIP Warriors (used to be No New Starts).  I do the "24 in '24" for that one.

And, of course, the WIPocalypse group!!

Finally Fully Finishing Fun for August

 

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).

Unfortunately, nothing got FFO'd this last month!  Sorry Rachel, I promise there will be stuff for September!

So here's my progress on the current WIPs.

Capricorn by Nora Corbett is having a LOT of beads added to her:

stitched on 32 count Capricorn Murano from Sparklies

Great progress on the final block for the Joan Elliott Faces SAL:

stitched on 28 count Snapdragon Jazlyn from Crafty Kitten

Finally, I am trying to keep up with my Temperature SAL.  But not succeeding!  I do log the daily temperatures and it won't take long to catch up.

Blackwork Tree of Life from Steady Thread

stitched on 28 count Meadow Mist linen from Silkweavers

August Plans

At the start of the year I made a list of 24 projects I want to stitch this year for my "24 in '24".  The order I stitch them in is going to be determined by the WIPGO Board.  Jessie-Marie calls two numbers each month and those will be the two projects I stitch that month.  One small and one medium.

In July, the numbers were 6 and 23.  These related to Nora Corbett's Capricorn, and Lizzie*Kate's Sampling Christmas.

I finished most of the stitching for Capricorn and now have to bead her!

stitched on 32 count Capricorn Murano from Sparklies

stitched on 32 count Desert Sand evenweave

In August, the numbers are 12 and 15.  These relate to Joan Elliott Faces SAL and Shepherd's Bush Halloween Trifles.

I've been stitching away on the Faces SAL for my A-Z challenge this year and have done quite a lot of the smaller block already:

stitched on 28 count Snapdragon Jazlyn from Crafty Kitten

These are the Halloween Trifles, three smaller designs which I plan to stitch on the offcut from my Lavender & Lace Enchanted Alphabet conversion.

Finally, here's my WIPGO Board so you can see how I'm doing this year!

 

July Stitch from Stash and Pie

 It's time for Pie!

As you can see, apart from Dark 13 and IHSW when I stitched on the Art Noeveau Head for N in my Alphabet Challenge, I focused on Nora Corbett's Capricorn.  This is the third in the Zodiac Girls series I have stitched on the respective fabric from Sparklies.

This is the most heavily beaded and is going to be gorgeous!

stitched on 32 count Capricorn Murano from Sparklies

I have a pie for my evening stitching too.

I finished the 3D Haunted House at the start of the month, then switched to my WIPGO piece, Lizzie*Kate's Sampling Christmas.  This only took 10 evenings to stitch so I finished the month with The Hare Moon from Circle Cross' Lunar Calendar.

stitched on 28 count Robin's Egg evenweave from Silkweaver

Finally, over to Stitch From Stash.  I needed the beads for Capricorn.  She's heavily beaded but luckily I had 4 of the packs already and just needed to buy three of them.  I also bought the Kreinik and two different variegated red/purples to substitute for the Waterlilies.  Those 3 cost the same as one skein of Waterlilies!

Obviously, I need the Lunar Calendar which was a great deal, all 12 for £14.80 plus the borders for the medium and large sampler.  The Mill Hill beads came from someone destashing - 4 unopened packs for just £4.  

Quite a spend this month but I've had a number of Zero months so far this year.

July WIPocalypse Tricky Stitching

          

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 "24 in '24" for this year. This month I stitched on 4 of them and had two finishes.

6. Lizzie*Kate Sampling Christmas

12. Living on the Rainbow 3D Haunted House

19. Nora Corbett Capricorn

24. Cottage Garden Samplings Halloween Sampler

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

July - Which of your current WIPs do you consider your most difficult piece to stitch?

It's got to be my Chatelaine!  Gardens of London is absolutely glorious but you have to pay very close attention to the chart and the key.  There are so many different speciality stitches and fibres, silks and metallics.  Not to mention the beads!  

Here's the portion I worked on most recently.  You can really see all the details and intricate stitches here.  But it's totally worth all the time spent on it.

July 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.  

July is N and O.
I didn't have an active project for O but I did have two for N.

I have been trying to fit in my Art Nouveau Head from Craft Collection as much as possible for this challenge as it is my oldest WIP now.  I stitched some more of the pink background.

stitched on 28 count White Aida

The other N was this month's focus piece from Nora Corbett, this is Capricorn, the third Zodiac Girl I have chosen to stitch.

stitched on 32 count Capricorn Murano from Sparklies

I made some nice progress on the flowers above and below her.  They are more red in real life.

In the evenings I continued with this beautiful lady - The Hare Moon for Taurus from Circle Cross.

stitched on 28 count Robin's Egg evenweave from Silkweavers

 

Next month will be P and Q.  I've got 2 P projects and one that covers both P and Q, so that's good.

Finally the next IHSW will be 16th - 18th August 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.