August WIPocalypse Bucket List

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 "19 in '19" for this year.  You can find the full list here.

This month I stitched on three of my list:

1. Discworld Mappe by Lyndisfarne Designs

stitched on 32 count Murano custom-dyed by Sparklies

2. . My Lovely Sewing Tools by Marie Suarez

stitched on 40 count White linen

3. Summer Night by Just Nan 

stitched on 28 count Jobelan in Dragon Shades from Polstitches

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss too.

August - What do you have on your stitching bucket list? (for example, specific projects, designers, fibers, etc)

I think the key word here is "more".  I want to stitch more of everything!  All my Just Nan samplers, more 3D designs, a Hallowe'en Village, a load of Mirabilia and Nora Corbetts, more Brooke's Books witches and cakes, finish every series I have started.  You get the idea?

This is one of the cute 3D designs on my Bucket List:

The Bookshop - Living on the Rainbow

Isn't it cute?  There is a whole Christmas Village.

Ellie Jenks also has a whole village called Brightsea Village, complete with Haunted House:

Haunted House by Ellie Jenks

Or maybe I want to furnish a Doll's House?

Janet Granger

I would like to go on another retreat but unless someone organises one in my home town, that's unlikely!

Finally:

All the postcards except one have been sent out in the Summer Postcard Blog Hop.  I am saving that one in case I get a last minute entry!

Aimetu's Stitching

Needle, Pen and Sword

Miniz Diary

Ariadne from Greece

Jocondine

A Couple of Little Finishes

This year I have been focusing on getting some good progress on my WIPs rather than new starts, but sometimes you see something and want to stitch it straightaway so you squeeze it into the rotation.

I've been a subscriber to Cross Stitcher magazine off and on for many years.  This issue they have a new series of small designs from Jessica Savage based on Mindfulness words.  I just really liked the first one and as it was only 40 x 40 I knew it wouldn't take long to stitch up.

I have no idea what the rest of the series will be like or whether I will like them so I stitched it in the corner of a piece of blue 25 count evenweave.  Stitched over one to keep it cute!

If I like the rest I will stitch them on the same piece of fabric and decide what to do at the end of the series. 

The next finish is my monthly Christmas Ornament.  This month it is another design by The Sweetheart Tree, called Holly 'n' Hardanger:

stitched on 32 count linen

I decided to go for the "No Cut" Hardanger for speed.  Some of the blocks were already charted with eyelets in the centre rather than cutwork so I simply did that for all the blocks.

I do love those little Rhodes Hearts.  The red beads are a shade lighter than charted because I'm stitching from stash.

I took a break from stitching expanses of land on the Discworld Mappe and completed the Tentacled Woman in the Sea:

The consensus of opinion in the Discworld FB group is that she is the Sea Queen:

The Sea Queen (or Queen of the Sea) is a capricious deity.  After Vorbis orders the killing of a porpoise in Small Gods, in order to demonstrate to the crew that they have strayed from the true Omnian path and that their belief is baseless superstition worthy of the attentions of the Quisition, she gets somewhat testy.
For, as any good sailor knows, porpoises are Her beloved children and to slay one brings about divine retribution. A passenger like Vorbis would not know this.
When the expected retribution happens, Om in his tortoise-form bargains with her to spare him and Brutha. She grudgingly concedes that a fellow-god,however insignificant, has the right to save his believer, and spares their lives when the ship sinks.
It is possible that she ensures Vorbis is the only other survivor of the shipwreck either out of sheer spite or an intuitive understanding of Coleridge: A thousand thousand slimy things lived on, and so did I.

Source: L-Space

Finally, I will be sending out the remaining Summer Postcards for the Blog Hop this weekend.  It's been a bit of a quiet Hop this time but if you want to join in at the last moment, please leave a comment!

Aimetu's Stitching

Needle, Pen and Sword

Miniz Diary

August 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.  Links at the bottom of this post.

Here's where I was on Friday morning:

Here's the part I worked on this weekend:

And here's the piece right now:

I'm also making steady progress on my evening piece.  This is the project I stitch while The Small Boy is in the bath.  The current project is The Queen of Hearts by Mrs Peggotty.  Here's where she was last IHSW:

And here is where she is now:

stitched on 22 count white hardanger

I haven't really done a great deal as I have been using that time slot to stitch something else which I will show you next post.

I have made nice progress on my Summer Holiday Daily Stitch project - Just Nan's Summer Night:

stitched on 28 count Jobelan in Dragon Shades from Polstitches

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.

*

*


Finally, the next IHSW will be 20th - 22nd September 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.

August Gifted Gorgeousness Link-up Post

Welcome to the August 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.

My main project for Gifted Gorgeousness has been my Discworld Mappe by Lyndisfarne Designs, which will be a gift for my son.  This is where I left off last GG post:

This is where it was at the end of July:

Here is the portion I have been working on this week:

Here's where I am today:

I finally finished filling in the swathes of cream which make up the Hubland Steppes then stitched a tiny boat to celebrate before moving on to more coastline.  The writing says "NoThingfjord":

Mentioned in The Last Continent, this is Mad's home city. From contextual evidence in The Last Hero, this is a Duchy. The local patron God is called Noddi. A previous ruler who lacked a sense of humour was called Lord Picric. He took this out, somewhat terminally, on his Fool, Gilbert the Stupid, whose many graves around the area, some even in relatively accessible places, are now something of a tourist attraction.

Members of the Silver Horde once, apparently, fought as mercenaries for the Duke of Nothingfjord. The battle took four weeks to complete as the Duchess was working on the tapestry of the battle, and insisted on episodes being replayed until her needlework caught up with the action. This led to Mad Hamish declaring that letting the bloody media anywhere near a decent battlefield is a mistake, and they should be kept well away from the fight.

According to the booklet on exploration supplied with The Discworld Mapp, Nothingfjord was home to a race of sea-rovers who were too polite for their own good, they made appointments to rape and pillage along the coast, then wondered why their victims were never in when they called. Members of this race became great explorers under the inspiration of the Skald Lars Larsnephew, whose huge repertoire of very long sagas would inspire anyone to seek out new lands far away.

Source: L-Space

Good job no-one is holding up a battle waiting for me to finish the Mappe!


The other gifted project I worked on is my Summer Project - Just Nan's Summer Night.  I have divided this into 42 pieces to be stitched over the six week Summer Holiday.  We are currently on day 21.  This is stitched on gifted fabric:

stitched on 28 count Jobelan in Dragon Shades from Polstitches

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 "August 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:

Three postcards have been sent out in the Summer Postcard Blog Hop to:

Aimetu's Stitching

Needle, Pen and Sword

Miniz Diary

so make sure you follow their blogs and see who the cards come from.

It's not too late to send your postcard to me if you want to join in!

Finally Fully Finishing Fun for August

Hosted by Rachel the Ten Hour Stitcher

This new 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 managed two different FFOs this month - one ornie and one scrapbook page.  The ornie was a recent finish and the scrapbook piece rescued from the "Chuck it in a Bag for 20 Years" finishing bag.

The recent finish was a Just Nan design called A Little Joy from the 2002 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Special.  I made it into a padded square ornament with a beaded trim and a ribbon hanger:

Stitched on 28 count Platinum linen

The main design over two and the centre sampler over one

Beaded trim

Backing Fabric

With two Sweetheart Tree recent finishes

The older piece was probably a magazine cover kit from the 1990s.  I have no idea.  I can't think of any other reason for stitching it!

stitched on 14 count aida

I was pleased with the choice of paper and mount.  I wanted the look of an old fashioned living room with the cat asleep on the settee.

I would have FFO'd Summer Typography but Wilkos have discontinued their 6 x 6 inch raw wood box frames.  I was hoping to have a spare one at home but sadly not.  So I will have to buy a white one and paint it.  I want it to co-ordinate with the other three.  Here are some more photos of Summer Typography for those who missed it.

stitched on 32 count Pink linen

Did you spot the word I changed?  Answer at the end of the blog post!

Finally:

Three postcards have been sent out in the Summer Postcard Blog Hop to:

Aimetu's Stitching
Needle, Pen and Sword
Miniz Diary

so make sure you follow their blogs and see who the cards come from.

It's not too late to send your postcard to me if you want to join in!






















(The word is Super!  Hope you are having a Super Summer too)

The People Chose Monochrome

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.  Each month I ask for suggestions on the blog and then make a poll in the IHSW Facebook Group from those suggestions.

August - Monochrome

September - Bees

October - Cats

Monochrome - a photograph or picture developed or executed in black and white or in varying tones of only one colour.

Something you find quite often in stitching although we usually go for the colour rather than black and white.  A monochrome design can be a fantastic way to use those hand-dyed fabrics and variegated threads.  For many people it's a chance to change colours for the first time without worrying whether they will co-ordinate, unlike a design with a wider range of colours.

My first monochrome was an unintentional stitch.  My Mum had started it but come to a halt, so after a year of not stitching it she offered it to me to finish.  I don't know who the desinger is, it came as a kit from a catalogue

The only issue I had with this was that my Mum stitches her xxx the opposite way to me, so I had to make sure I did the same!

I obviously enjoyed the experience because the next year I started a series of three I call "Blackwork in Purple" - DMC 3041 to be precise.

The first two were bought designs and the final was designed by myself using motifs from a library book of sampler motifs.

This is a nice example of using colour to create some interest in a simple design:

The Stitcherhood - Love freebie

Now, one of the problems with monochrome designs is that they can be a little ... boring?  repetitive?  relentless?  That's how I felt about this design by A Mon Ami Pierre until I hit upon the idea of stitching it each evening while the Small Boy was in the bath!  This post shows the monthly progress photos back in 2014 - November WIPocalypse 2014

A Mon Ami Pierre- Noel Blanc

This worked so well I had another bath-time monochrome finish the following year:

Prairie Moon - Thine is the Trick and the Treat

It's not just samplers that make nice monochrome designs, many designers do some gorgeous silhouettes.  Passione Ricamo does a free fairy every June, of which I have stitched exactly one which I gave away!

I am realising how many designs I could show you!  So I will finish with this one, the fabric caused me no end of issues so I abandoned it and have plans to make a box surround out of what I have stitched so far:

While looking for the photo I found this collage - Orange and Black make a very striking contrast!

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

*

*

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 Holidays, or Warmth etc.  Really anything which could be illustrated in cross stitch.

Looking forward to reading them all!