March TUSAL and my Stitching Library

       

It's TUSAL time!

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current project:

I've just picked up Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow again and I'm plodding through the fill-in on the ground.  Then it's up to the right hand tree, some more bats and the figure.  Finally, I'll add the big yellow moon in the background.  I should finish this block this month.

What's on my Shelf?

This is a new feature I'm going to include on my TUSAL post until I run out of books! I started a Page on my Happy Dance blog for my Stitching Library and realised what a huge task it was so decided to break it down to one book per month. For the next four years...

Title: The Sampler Company's Book of Alphabets Motifs and Borders

Author: Brenda Keyes

Publisher: The Sampler Company 
ISBN: 9780953589203

This book is a fabulous resource for anyone who likes to design or adapt their own samplers.  It is simply pages and pages of motifs you can reuse in any way you like.

I've blurred the photos so they can't be copied but they do give you an idea!

This one is floral borders and motifs:

This one is a page of blackwork and a page of boats.  You could just add one boat to a sampler or design an entire sailing fleet!

There are several pages of trees, animals and birds.  This page I used recently to add two owls to my CCN Main Street conversion:

stitched on 32 count Charcoal Slate Murano from Sparklies

🐇 Good Friday - Friday 15th 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 2021

February Stitch From Stash and Pie

Last day of the month and Time for Pie!

I think this is becoming a familiar story already, with 14 days on one project - Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow.  Here's where I started the month:

I finished Block 2:

And got this far on Block 3

stitched over 1 on 25 count Cassia Rose from Chromatic Alchemy

I will continue with this block in February and then start Block 4 next to it.  So far the number of days is:

Block 7 - 13 days

Block 6 - 16 days

Block 2 - 19 days

Block 3 - 9 days and counting

For my CCN Main Street conversion I moved on to a new shop.  This was originally the Post Office and now is the Owl Post Office!  I decided to keep the two mail boxes outside the shop and turn them into owl perches.  I added a golden owl sign to the bracket and two more owls in the window.

stitched on 32 count Charcoal Slate Murano from Sparklies

The original shop was lemon yellow and blue which I changed to yellow ochre and darker shades of the same blue family.

The owls came from a mixture of places, two from Brenda Keyes, one I charted myself and two from Owl Forest Embroidery.  I had to stitch them over one to fit the details in.

This is what the original shop looked like:

And here is the whole piece so far:

The Tiny Modernist 3D Greenhouse and Just Nan's Lily Pond were both lunchtime projects on the days I worked.

I have decided to log my bath-time stitching this year.

This should look similar in March as I will stitch Day 3 of the 12 Days until I complete it and then return to my 3D Greenhouse.

Finally, Stitch from Stash continues with a big fat zero for the month!

February WIPocalypse SALs

    

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 "22 in '22" for this year.  This month I stitched on 4 of them and had 1 finish.  

5. Carriage House Samplings Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow

stitched over 1 on 25 count Cassia Rose evenweave from Chromatic Alchemy

8. Just Nan Christmas Elegance - Finish

stitched on 28 count off-white evenweave

14. CCN Main Street Post Office

stitched on 32 count Charcoal Slate Murano from Sparklies

17. Jardin Prive 12 Days of Christmas

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen

The full list can be seen here - WIPocalypse and 22 in 22

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss too.

February - What stitch-a-longs (SALs) are you participating in this year?

I have these blog-based SALs as well as the WIPocalypse

The People's Choice - posts on the first Saturday of each month - theme in sidebar
Fully Finished Gallery - show anything you have FFO'd on the 10th
Gifted Gorgeousness - post anything gifted on the 15th
Smalls SAL - last Friday of each month
The TUSAL - post on the New Moon each month

I am also taking part in WIPGO on Facebook for the second year.  In addition I host a Just Nan Sampler SAL every 2-3 months on the JN FB group.  We are currently stitching a Spring Sampler (Lily Pond for me).

February Smalls

 

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

This year my Smalls will be the Jardin Prive 12 Days of Christmas which I started on Boxing Day 2021 for the 12 Days of Stitchmas.

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue Linen

Because this year is going to be a Year of Focus, I won't really have a lot of Smalls to share so I'm including my Tiny Modernist Greenhouse:

stitched on 28 count grey-blue evenweave

I've completed the browns, reds and pinks of the pots so now I can work on growing some plants.

This will be my bath-time stitch until it is finished.  Regular followers know all about bath-time stitching as we've talked about it a lot over the years.  New readers will be left wondering exactly how I stitch at bath-time LOL

Finally, the No New Starts FB Group have quite a generous measure of what makes a "Small" and my current Just Nan Band Sampler fits their definition at 114 x 60 stitches (anything where (H+W)/2 is less than 100 is a Small).  So here is Week 4, Band 4 almost complete:

Just Nan - Lily Pond

stitched on 32 count Pale Green linen

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.

I worked on Friday but took my Tiny Modernist Greenhouse with me and managed a little bit in my lunch break and some more at bath-time in the evening:

stitched on 28 count grey-blue evenweave

I'm stitching this colour-by-colour so I've completed all the brown and dark red.  Now working on the brighter red.  Once the pots are done I shall plant some green stitches and then finish with the flowers.

On Saturday and Sunday I continued to work on my Halloween conversion of Main Street by CCN.   I chose the Post Office for this month.  I wonder if anyone can guess what that might become?

stitched on 32 count Murano in Charcoal Slate from Sparklies

The original shop was pastel shades of blue and yellow, so I used the darker shade of the blue and then chose a series of yellow ochres for the building.  Staying in the same colour-family but making it darker.

Finally the next IHSW will be 18th - 20th 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.

Gifted Gorgeousness February Link-up Post

 

Welcome to the February Gifted Gorgeousness link-up. The link-up date continues to be the 15th and I will keep the link-up open until the end of each month so you have plenty of time if you are late posting.

The format remains exactly the same, there is a list of rules on the main sign-up page if you want to check what is required but basically anything connected to the word "gift" is allowed, whether it was a gift TO you or is a gift FROM you.

In January's GG post I was working on Mirabilia's Fairy Idyll.  The chart and special threads were a gift from a blogging friend.  Here's where I was then:

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

And here is where I finished the month:

(this photo is more accurate for colour matching)

My other gifted project is my Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow which is my focus project for the year.

Since the last GG I have stitched all of Block 2 and a good chunk of Block 3:

stitched over 1 on 25 count Cassia Rose evenweave from Chromatic Alchemy

That fill-in is soooo tedious but good for mindless stitching.  I started the horse this afternoon just to vary things up a bit!

Now it is your turn to show us your Gifted Gorgeousness for the month.  Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "February Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month.  And link to the actual post, not just your blog.  It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.

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Finally, yesterday was Valentine's Day which means I hosted my annual Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop.  We had a lovely turnout of hearts and love.  I hope you have all found your Sweetheart now!  Here's a collage of the beautiful stitching sent to me:

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

Happy Valentine's Day and welcome to the Secret Stitching Sweethearts Blog Hop.  My annual chance to show some stitchy love to our fellow stitchers.  Over the last month my inbox has been filled with various lovely stitched and crafted pieces on the theme of Love and Friendship.  On Sunday I sent out them to randomly allocated participants who will be showing their Valentines on their blogs today.

Please hop round and see if they have found their Secret Stitching Sweetheart yet.  The following blogs are participating this year:

💖                                💖
💖💖💖                     💖💖💖

💖Elfin Stitches💖      💖Guava Gems💖
💖💖                Dragon Stitches and Stuff                💖

💖       Life Outside the Washing Basket        💖

💖       Tales of a Stitching Mouse       💖

💖      Yellow Flower Meadow     💖

💖   A Patchwork of Crafts   💖

💖  Needle, Pen & Sword  💖

💖 The Flashing Scissors 💖

💖A Stitching Grandma💖

💖Simplicity in Beauty💖

💖An Arizona Stitcher💖

💖 Aimetu's Stitching 💖

💖Le Coeur Celtique💖

💖Count it *all* Joy💖

💖Jeremiah's Mom💖

💖Kitten Stitching💖

💖Mary's Thread💖

💖Craftartista💖

💖Jocondine💖

💖💖💖

💖💖

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As the organiser of the Hop I don't get a secret sweetheart but sometimes I still get some love!

One participant sent in two designs, so I kept one for myself!

(Click on the photo to discover my Sweetheart!)

My seasonal display is not as big or as varied as some people but I have a few pieces which come out in February: 

Finally, don't forget to leave some lovely comments on all the participating blogs, share the love 💖

 

Finally Fully Finishing Fun for February

 

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 slightly better than last month when I was FFO'ing on the 9th.  This month I FFO'd on the 8th!

Last year I stitched a Just Nan sampler called Follow the Needle which included a chart for a smaller ornament design.  My plan was to make the ornament and pop it into the corner of the box frame the sampler is in.

Just a simple pillow finish with a few beads at each corner to disguise them!

That's it for this month!  Maybe I'll have more to show next month.

I did complete Day 2 of the 12 Days of Stitchmas.  My project this year is by Jardin Prive and I'm using this rather wonderful Millenium Blue linen.  

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen

I used a different green to Day 1 to see if it would show up better and it does.  So the green will be frogged from Day 1 and replaced with this one. It's just a shade lighter and brighter.

My WIPGO Board chose Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow twice this month so I thought I'd carry on with Block 2 and start Block 3 from the beginning of the month.  Get my 14 days stitching in and then see what time I have left for another project.

I completed Block 2 after 5 days of stitching:

I changed the date on the tombstone from 1710 to 1709 because that is my Birthday!

And here's where I am on Block 3:

stitched over 1 on 25 count Cassia Rose from Chromatic Alchemy

The black got a little tedious so it was nice to move on to some letters today.

Finally, the stitching photos for the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop have been filling my Inbox with love.  If you're joining in and haven't sent your photo yet, please can you do so ASAP.  I'll be emailing everyone on the morning of 13th February.

The People Chose Snow

 

This SAL is all about what you want to see on the blog. Each month I ask for suggestions for themes and then put them up to the members of the IHSW Group on FB to vote for their choice. This is what they have chosen:

February - Snow

March - Quilts

April - Series of Designs

We don't actually have any snow at the moment and haven't had any so far this year, it's been quite mild.  But as we have been known to have snow at Easter, I'm not counting it out yet!

How serendipitous - I was looking for snow photos and found this one of the Small Boy in the garden.  I popped it in the post and then checked the date - 5th February 2012 - exactly 10 years ago today!

I'm not an enormous fan of stitching snowy designs, all that white shows up every imperfection!  But I had a little look at my Happy Dance blog to see what I could find.  Incidentally, the Happy Dance blog is now totally up to date!  I was leaving posts in "draft" mode until I FFO'd the piece but I decided to get them all published to make it easier for things like this.

Joan Elliott - The Snow Queen from The Year of Magical Stitches

Just Nan - Mitten Men and Snow Faces

Just Nan - Holly Berry Snowflakes

Just Nan - Snow Forest

The Little Stitcher - 12 Days of Christmas Day of Snow and Ice

this was a series of snowy pictures, not themed on the traditional 12 Days of Christmas but on her own themes for each day.  I have stitched all 12 and started to scrapbook them...

You can read more about them here - The Little Stitcher 12 Days of Christmas

Now it's over to you.  All you have to do is make a post on the theme of Snow, mention The People's Choice SAL (you can copy the picture I used at the top of this post and in my side bar) and my blog. Please link up using the URL of the actual blog post, not the home page of your blog.   I look forward to seeing what you all post.

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Finally, I need your suggestions for the next poll.  Anything, no matter how obscure, weird or random will go into the poll.  Keep the theme suggestions to a single word or two - so you could have Cats, or Green, or Holidays, or Warmth etc.   Really anything which could be illustrated in cross stitch.