2018 Online Advent Calendar

Here is our Online Advent Calendar, it will be updated every day. 

Scroll down to see the latest picture and a link to the poster's blog.

This year I have asked each participant what their favourite Christmas song is.

It could be a traditional carol, a hymn or a more modern song.

Pop over to each blog to sing-a-long with our stitch-a-long!

Saturday 1st December

Aimetu's Stitching

♬ O Little Town of Bethlehem ♫

Sunday 2nd December

Dragon Stitches with Astrid

♬ Must Be Santa  ♫

and

Wicked Stitcher

♬ O Holy Night  ♫

Monday 3rd December

Kitten Stitching

♬ The Little Drummer Boy ♫

Tuesday 4th December

Miniz Diary

♬ Jingle Bells ♫

Wednesday 5th December

Ishkabibble

♬ O Holy Night  ♫

(with added Hawaiian lyrics)

Thursday 6th December

Tickled Pink in Stitches

♬ Move Me Closer (A Shepherd's Prayer) ♫

Friday 7th December

Le Coeur Celtique

♬ Fairytale of New York ♫

Saturday 8th December

Needles, Pins & Dragonflies

♬ Carol of the Bells ♫

Sunday 9th December

Tales of a Stitching Mouse

♬ The Little Drummer Boy (Peace on Earth) ♫

and

Tiffstitches a Blog
♬ The 12 Days of Christmas (Muppets and John Denver version) ♫

Monday 10th December

Oh Sew Crafty

♬ Every Day is Christmas ♫

Tuesday 11th December

Beth's Needlework Stash

♬ Emanuel ♫

Wednesday 12th December

RJ

♬ I'll be Home for Christmas ♫

and

Mary

♬ The Christmas Song ♫

Together RJ and Mary are:

Stitching Friends Forever

Thursday 13th December

The Easily Influenced Stitcher

♬ Mary, Did You Know? ♫

Friday 14th December

Jeremiah's Mom

♬ I'll be Home for Christmas ♫

Saturday 15th December

Ariadne from Greece

♬ White Christmas ♫

and

Mary's Threads

♬ What Child is This? ♫

Sunday 16th December

A Stitcher's Story

♬ The Christmas Shoes ♫

and

The Flashing Scissors

♬ So this is Christmas ♫

Monday 17th December

Jocondine

♬ Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas ♫

Tuesday 18th December

Sewing After Seven

♬ Last Christmas ♫

Wednesday 19th December

Books, Crafts and Other Procrastinations

♬ Gaudete ♫

Thursday 20th December

Elfin Stitches

♬ If Every Day Was Like Christmas ♫

Friday 21st December

Crafting Ramble

♬ Hark the Herald Angels Sing ♫

Saturday 22nd December

The Alchymyst's Study

♬ Sans Day Carol ♫

and

Yellow Flower Meadow

♬ God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen ♫

Sunday 23rd December

Stitch Bitch

♬ Silver Bells ♫

and

A Patchwork of Crafts

♬ It Feels Like Christmas ♫

Friday 24th December

Needle, Pen and Sword

♬ December Song ♫

Hope you enjoyed the Advent Calendar this year! Remember to leave comments on each day to let people know you have visited too.

I have to say, the idea of asking for Christmas Songs was a genius idea, though I say so myself!  It's been so much fun listening to all the songs everyone has shared while I read and comment.  I shouldn't pick a favourite really but I did love the video of the Silent Monks performing the Hallelujah Chorus that Deborah shared on her post.  Here it is again:

December IHSW

This weekend is the final IHSW of 2018 and it's a late one as the month started on a Saturday which means the third Friday is the latest it can be - the 21st.

Obviously we're all going to be very busy this weekend, I'm working both days and I'm not blogging on Christmas Eve other than to update the Advent Calendar so I thought I'd do the IHSW link-up post at the start of the weekend and post my progress in one of my round-up posts after Christmas.

I finished the Lizzie*Kate design I started for Gifted Gorgeousness and will show that in the Smalls round-up next Friday.  The original featured two tiny buttons but as I am stitching over one it was impossible to get buttons that tiny.  Then I received a parcel from Ariadne from Greece with a collection of tiny buttons inside!  They were still too big to fit but I have decided to make a border trim from them.  The serendipity of receiving gifted buttons while I was stitching a gifted piece for the Gifted Gorgeousness 2019 logo was too much to resist!

So what to stitch on next?  I have four days free before the 12 Days of Stitchmas starts on 25th December.  Of course, most of my larger projects are in the chest which is behind the Christmas Tree and inaccessible until Epiphany.  So that left a choice of two and I chose the unseasonable Gathering Eggs by Nora Corbett with added frogs.

Here's where I am now:

But here's where I was before:

Not only was the brown hair in the wrong place, but the skin next to it was wrong too!  So both came out and the skin has been put back correctly.  I will make slow progress on this for the next three days between work and present-wrapping.

I usually show Mrs Peggotty's Alice and the Flamingo for these posts.  Here's where she was last month:

And here is where she is now:

Finished her hair and the background up to the tree.  Now working on the border so it doesn't get left until last.

A few people have said that they don't do Facebook and asked if I could host a link-up for them, so here it is! Just add your name and the link to your actual IHSW post, not just your blog home page.

*

*

The next IHSW will be 18th - 20th January 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.

Finally, I thought you might like to see a little video of my tree, along with "cross stitch corner" for all my crafted decorations, some made by me and some gifted to me:

Newest addition from Wee Stitchy Steph

Cross Stitch Corner

Excuse the noises in the background, this is what happens when you film with children in the house!

December Gifted Gorgeousness Link-Up Post

Welcome to the December Gifted Gorgeousness link-up.  The link-up date will continue 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 the past month I have only stitched two gifted pieces but did get a finish from one of them!

First, the finish - 12 Days of Christmas by Just Nan:

stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain

Close-ups of the blocks:

I started this piece for the 12 Days of Stitchmas in 2017.  On the 1st day you stitch on block 1.  On the 2nd day you stitch on blocks 2 and 1.  On the 3rd day you stitch on blocks 3, 2 and 1.  And so on.  Then I completed one block per month.

It's a lovely design and because the same colours are used in the borders it lends itself well to the 12 Days SAL.  This year I am planning to start 12 Ornaments from JCS for the Christmas Ornament SAL organised by Kaye.

Once I finished this design, my thoughts turned to next year's Gifted Gorgeousness SAL.  Yes, there will be a GG in 2019 and in every year after for as long as I have gifted projects to stitch!  I read a blogpost recently by someone who said she often gave charts and giveaways and wondered how many of the recipients actually stitched them.  I feel she needs to follow GG and she would find out!

Which made me think about the logo for next year.  Each year so far the logo has been a gifted stitched piece but so far this year I did not have a small to use.  Then I remembered, Heather sent me a lovely Lizzie*Kate chart which I said at the time would be perfect!  So here's my start:

I didn't even have to choose fabric as Heather had included that too.  It wasn't labelled but I think it's the called-for Lambswool Linen by Wichelt.  It's certainly stiff enough for a Wichelt fabric, even after a wash.  But that's OK for stitching in hand.  I'm stitching it over one because we all adore tiny stitching!

In case anyone is interested, here are the three previous GG logos:

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 "December 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.

*

*


Finally, the Advent Calendar Blog Hop is well underway. We've seen some beautiful stitching and heard some lovely songs too.  Today is a Double Door Day so twice the fun!  Don't forget to  visit and leave comments on the posts of the day.

Becoming a OAAT Stitcher!

Sort of anyway if you don't count the Ten-a-Day, the Temperature SAL and the Bath Time stitching!

The Focus on a Finish project is currently Just Nan's 12 Days of Christmas.  I had been doing one a month throughout the year and have just two left to complete in November and December.  It made sense to work on both together to save changing colours so much.

stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen

Getting close to a finish, just some black, some gold, the numbers and some backstitch.  Easily finished in time for Christmas this year.

The Temperature SAL is now firmly in the Green colours (7 to 14 degrees C)

One more column on the left and then the final four days of December have an entire side each.  Hetti has suggested that we had the words Temperature SAL and our location in the top and bottom borders which is a great idea.

I'm on Day 42 of my Ten-a-Day project which is currently Summer Typography:

stitched on 32 count Pink linen
(which looks nothing like that photo!)

It's really nice to be stitching something Summery even though I had to double check that was a yellow sun and not a white snowflake!

My rock painting has turned to Winter though.  Our group is hosting an Advent Calendar.  The chief Admin came up with 25 themes and we add a rock each day.  Here's a random selection of Christmas rocks I have done (not in any order, just added randomly).

Some will be hidden in the shop, some are off to Dover with a friend and some will be hidden near the local Primary School.  Too cold and muddy for the woods right now!

Finally, the Advent Calendar Blog Hop is now up and running.  We've seen some beautiful stitching and heard some lovely songs too.  I'm off to find out what today's choice is and update the post.  Don't forget to leave a comment on the post of the day.

December TUSAL of Finishes

It's TUSAL time, the Totally Useless SAL where we all show our ORTS and link-up on Daffycat's blog.

Here is my TUSAL jar with two projects:

The project on the left was my Focus for a Finish in November which I completed on the 2nd December.  Joan Elliott's September Reading Fairy:

stitched on 28 count Jazlyn in Aurora by Crafty Kitten

I added beads to her hair

Metallics to her dress and the backstitch for the wings and the moon

A little subtle bling for her.

This Fairy was part of the 2013 Diary which was a cover gift from World of Cross Stitching magazine.  It is now available from Joan and her usual stockists under the title "Year of Magical Stitching"

Here are all the designs I have completed so far:

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

APRIL

JUNE

JULY.

The project on the right hand side of the TUSAL is my latest Just Nan Small - Jump for Joy.  At the beginning of the year I started stitched 30-a-Day on these smalls and completed quite a few.  This idea ground to a halt at the end of September and it took me ages to finish the current one.  There will be a little charm in the centre.

stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

Finally, the Advent Calendar Blog Hop is now up and running.  We've seen some beautiful stitching and heard some lovely songs too.  I'm off to find out what today's choice is and update the post.  Don't forget to leave a comment on the post of the day.

The People Chose Dragons

Regular followers will be aware that for over 3 years now I have run a themed SAL on the first Saturday of each month.  First we spent 26 months doing The Alphabet Club and then 12 months of the Zodiac.  Now I have decided to listen to the People and post about your choice of theme.  In September I asked for suggestions on the blog and then made a poll in the IHSW Facebook Group from those suggestions.

The top three choices were:

Hallowe'en - posted in October

Birthstones - posted in November

Dragons

Obviously  this is a really difficult one for me, I had to hunt around and try dig out a dragon design I'd stitched.  Back in November 2015 I made a collage for the Alphabet Club D post:

So all I have to do is update that!

You Were Hatched by Teresa Wentzler

Dragon of the Winter Moon by Dragon Dreams

Bande des Dragons which I am calling a finish because I hate that aida and I'm cutting off the letters and making a drum finish using the top border.

I have one dragon WIP - Little Snap Dragon by Kustom Krafts:

the confetti is a killer!

There are a number of dragon themed designs in my stash including the companion to Dragon of the Winter Moon called Dragon of the Summer Sky.

Also, two samplers by Lisa Steele - this is Emerald Treasure:

So, why dragons?  What's so special about dragons?  They are intelligent, they are gorgeous, they are majestic, they can FLY.  Some can speak, others are telepathic.  They rarely deserve to die at the hands of knights!

The first book with dragons as main characters that I remember reading was Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey:

The story of Menolly who is driven out of her home, impresses a clutch of fire-lizards (miniature dragons) and becomes a harper.  Other books in the series focus on the full size dragons who are used to fight thread and protect the planet of Pern.  Wonderful stories and only slightly dated now in their treatment of female characters and the drudges.

I've been drawing dragons ever since I can remember too.  First on paper and now on rocks!

Based on You Were Hatched

Now it's over to you.  All you have to do is make a post on the theme of Dragons, 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.

*

*

Last month everyone voted on the choice for February.  Hearts was by far the most popular choice so that will be the theme for February.  I have updated the sidebar to show this.

Finally, I need your suggestions for the next poll.  Any thing, 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 Blue, or Spring, or Holidays, or Warmth etc.  Really anything which could be illustrated in cross stitch.

Looking forward to reading them all!