March WIPocalypse Adopted WIPs

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 "20 in '20" for this year.  This month I stitched on 6 of them.

My Discworld Mappe went from here:

to here

Lyndisfarne - Discworld Map

(Project 5)

Nora Corbett - Gathering Eggs
(Project 6)

JBW - 12 Days of Christmas

(Project 9)

Hands on Design - Bat Balm

(Project 13)

Just Nan - Winter in the Square

(Project 16)

Amanda Butler - Alice in Wonderland SAL in Cross Stitcher magazine

(Project 17)

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

March – Have you ever adopted a piece from someone else or gave up a piece to someone else? Which piece and why?

Yes, I have.  Many years ago my Mum started a cross stitch sampler, but half way through we had a family crisis and once it was over she did not want to continue with the piece.  She asked me if I wanted to finish it and keep it.  Which I did.

This was a kit from a catalogue in the 1990s.  Stitched on 14 count aida.  One thing we did learn was that Mum and I do our XXX the opposite way round to each other.  So I had to swap mine to match her's.

The other piece I stitched was for a friend who was destashing.  She was giving up cross stitch to focus on her crochet business.  She gave me a huge box of goodies in exchange for stitching this kit for her.  She had literally only prepared the fabric for it!  This is Gathering Honey by Jannlynn Designs: 

🐇 Good Friday - Friday 10th 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 2019

March Smalls

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

This year my Smalls will be my JBW 12 Days of Christmas ornaments which I started on Boxing Day 2019 for the 12 Days of Stitchmas.  I completed the Third Day in March:

stitched 1 over 2 on 40 count white linen

I completed a Just Nan Small.  This one is Crystal Heart:

stitched on 32 count Lavender Murano

The next one in the line is Garden Maze.  I started really well with this but have hit a snag.  I stitch these smalls as travel projects - Library coffee mornings, work lunch breaks and volunteer lunch breaks.  None of those happen now!  So I will have to find some other way to fit them in to the rotation.

stitched on 28 count green evenweave

The last small is the cover kit from Cross Stitcher magazine which I still haven't added the beads to!

stitched on 32 count white evenweave

Finally, the lovely Clare from Aimetu's Stitching is asking for some help with her smalls.  Each year Clare decorates a tree for her church's Tree Festival with stitched ornaments.  I have donated ornaments in the past and this year she is asking us to join in again.  The theme is A Bouquet of Flowers.  All she needs is the stitched piece, she will fully-finish it for you.  Just leave a comment on Clare's blog to get involved.  This is the White Tree from last year:

March TUSAL

It's TUSAL time!

Here is my TUSAL jar with two of my current projects:

The larger one is the Discworld Mappe, I have now finished my 15 day stint for this month so I will be moving on to something else tomorrow:

Here is the whole piece so far:

 The other piece is my Leap Day start - Fox Few by Plum Street Samplers.  I am currently stitching this as my bath-time project so I'm making steady progress each day.  The pale blue flowers do show up a little bit better in real life but I might backstitch them anyway.

stitched on 32 count khaki evenweave

(which is more green in real life)

🐇 Good Friday - Friday 10th 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 2019

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.

I started the weekend off with my Alice in Wonderland SAL from Cross Stitcher magazine:

Then moved on to my Discworld Mappe.  I didn't seem to get much stitching done but we have been going out for long walks each afternoon which is usually my stitching time.

stitched on custom-dyed 32 count Murano from Sparklies

I think I need to turn Facebook off and stitch more!

In the evenings I have been stitching the cover kit from this month's Cross Stitcher magazine.  There are some beads to be added around the butterflies:

stitched on 32 count white evenweave

I don't usually stitch the cover kits these days but I have a friend who loves butterflies so this will be a nice little "I Miss You" card to send her.  This came with a lovely printed butterfly button too.  And aida which I substituted.  The threads aren't DMC but the coverage is really nice on the 32 count.

The next IHSW will be 17th - 19th 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. 

🐇 Good Friday - Friday 10th 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 2019

The Perfect Time to Hermit and Stitch

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 started the weekend with a day of stitching on the Alice in Wonderland SAL by Amanda Butler in Cross Stitcher magazine.

Earlier in the week I did all the plain crosses:

Today I added all the backstitch:

 

Then I started on the vines in the border.  I decided to add the beads with the same dark green thread but use petite beads instead of the standard size because I am using 32 count not 28.

Close-up of the beads:

This is the end of my three day rotation on this design.  Tomorrow I will go back to Discworld for another four days and then use the Tiny Decisions wheel to choose my final project for the month.

🐇 Good Friday - Friday 10th 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 2019

March Gifted Gorgeousness Link-up Post

Welcome to the March 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 it was at the end of February:

And this is the portion I have been working on in March:

I have stitched on this for 10 days so far this month.  Some of them have been quite short days though.  I plan to fill in the backstitch as I go.

And the whole piece at the moment:

stitched on 32 count Murano custom-dyed by Sparklies

I finished my Just Nan small which was also a gift, but I'm not sure who it was from.  There is a little Post-it note which just says "Enjoy!".  So Thank You Mystery Person for the gift of Crystal Heart.

stitched on 32 count Lavender Murano

The final gifted project for this month is the 12 Days of Christmas by JBW.  Two of my friends bought two charts each for my Christmas present.  I started one design per day for the 12 Days of Stitchmas and have completed the Third Day: 

stitched on 40 count white linen, 1 over 2

Although, looking at that photo, I need to change the colour of the beak.  The DMC conversion on these charts is not good.

As well as stitching on gifted projects, I received a rather lovely stitched gift myself.  Margaret and I connected several years ago when she sent me Madame Muriel, the Travelling Granny.  Margaret and her Mum live in New Zealand and love our Royal Family so I send them Royal News sometimes.  For Christmas I sent a lovely book about the Queen's clothes, organised by the colours of the rainbow.  In return, Margaret sent me this amazing pouch (and some chocolate).

The reverse is as beautiful as the front!

Beautifully lined too.

At the moment I am using it to hold my scissors and my ORTs tin at my stitching spot.  The chocolate is long gone.


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 "March 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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🐇 Good Friday - Friday 10th 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 2019

Finally Fully Finishing Fun for March

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).

Last month I showed you the Just Nan Christmas Memories Ornament I had finished as a simple pillow with the intention of adding a trim to it.

Here is the pillow:

And here it is with the ruched ribbon trim:

Close-up of one corner:

What I did was to get a roll of ribbon and sew a running stitch down the middle of the ribbon with a matching thread colour.  I then ruched the ribbon still on the reel by pulling on the thread, ruching it towards the cut end.  I threaded a second needle with the same colour thread and stitched the cut end to the pillow.  Then I made small stitches to attach the ruched ribbon to the pillow.  As I progressed around the pillow, I did more running stitches with needle 1, then ruching, then attaching with needle 2.

It worked really well and it meant I didn't have to estimate how much ribbon I needed in advance, I simply kept unreeling it until it went all the way around.

It took me 90 minutes at my crafty coffee morning which I thought was a good use of the time.

The next two finishes are just framed pieces.  The frames are charity shop specials, painted with black emulusion and then varnished to make them shiny again.

First project is my Mirabilia Cameo from last year:

This is quite an ornate frame to suit the more ornate design:

The second frame is more plain and the design was finished back in 2013!

This was from Pixel Power although I can't find it on their website now.  The runes spell out Gandalf's speech while facing the Balrog on the bridge in the Mines of Moria - "You cannot pass.   I am a servant of the Secret Fire, Wielder of the Flame of Anor.  The Dark Fire will not avail you Flame of Udun.  Go back to the shadow.  L.O.T.R."  I charted those myself.

Because I broke the glass, I put some batting behind the fabric and made it slightly padded.

🐇 Good Friday - Friday 10th 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 2019

The People Chose Coffee

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:

March - Coffee

April - Modern Samplers
May - Fire

Well, I've had my first coffee of the day and have another ready to drink while I type this up.  The first question must be - are you are a tea or coffee drinker?  I have always been a coffee person.  When I was a child and couldn't sleep my Dad would make me a drink by boiling milk in a saucepan and adding a little coffee powder to it.  When I got old enough to make the choice I would always go for coffee.  Now I still like a Cappucino when I am out but instant is good enough at home.

When I think of Coffee designs, Beth Twist of Heartstring Samplery is my first thought.  She did a series called Magical Elixir all about Coffee.  Her Coffee Quaker was the most popular design with lots of people using coffee-coloured and coffee-named threads to stitch it.

I really need the Coffee Quaker!

This is my Spooky Coffee scrapbook page:

The top design is by Witchy Stitches.  I stitched it over one on some coffee coloured evenweave.

The bottom design is a freebie from Plum Street Samplers called Brew Ha Ha.  Again, I stitched this over one.

Several years ago I was sent a kit by Yiota to review.  I chose Coffee Fairy:

which I started on this amazing fabric:

stitched on Monarch from Sparklies

This one is currently waiting it's turn with my older projects.  I had a phase of starting several large projects at once and now I am trying to reduce the number by focusing on them in size order!

You can also use coffee to dye fabric, but it turns out that I have only used tea.  So I will save those pictures until we get Tea as a theme!

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