January TUSAL

Here we go again, the first TUSAL post of the year.  For those that don't know a TUSAL is a Totally Useless Stitch A Long run by Daffycat.  Basically you collect all those ORTS (Old Ragged Threads) in a suitable container, post a picture every New Moon and join the fun!  At the end of the year I use my ORTS to stuff an ornie.

This month my jar is posing with a Gazette 94 design Bonne Annee (as it's New Year) and the piece I've just finished - Linda's Indigo Rose Round Robin.

I don't have a page-a-day Calendar this year, they only did Knitting or Quilting.  So I'll be using my box frame as a background.  I change the picture every month using the pages from my scrapbook.

Here's the Round Robin in it's own picture:

And here's the close of my bands:

I've just realised here's not a single cross stitch in there!

It didn't take long to stitch, about four evenings.  The hardest part was choosing the bands!  Linda sent a choice of bands and it was quite tricky finding one which would fit the width of the piece.  I used DMC threads and tried to match the colours suggested as closely as possible.  There's only one more round of the RR then mine comes back to me!  Yay!

Here's another 2013 finish though strictly speaking 99% of it was stitched in 2012.  It's a Joan Elliott inspired card for the Small Boy's Home Support worker.  She was supposed to come see him for the last time just before Christmas but fell ill.  Instead of finishing it anyway I put it away then suddenly had to rush to complete the white and gold in the border!  Typical of me and my last minute scrab habit.

Anyway she loved it.  As I thought they're supposed to declare all gifts (ie wine and chocs etc) so a card really is a better choice.  And there was a cute photo of the Small Boy inside so she'll never forget him!  Again, they can only have photos of the children if the parents give them, they can't take pictures themselves anymore.

The words are a traditional Chinese saying which Joan Elliott used in her Wit and Wisdom book.  I charted the words myself then used part of one of Joan's borders.  But here's the time-saving part - only stitched the back stitch and coloured in the pink and green!  Then I stitched the white and gold on top.  Looks great and saved a couple of day's work.

Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year is going from strength to strength, we have over 160 people stitching alongside us and a second blog!!  Here's a link to the Finishes Page where you can see the 12 samplers finished so far.  Then you can click on Blog One or Blog Two on the tabs to see all the WIPS.

I took my Joyous Noel in to be framed today, ready next Friday.  I couldn't get a carved gold ornate frame in the right proportions (they come ready-made) so the framer helped me choose a plainer but still gold frame for it and a nice dark red mat.

Finally, I have promised to send out a few bits and pieces to various bloggers over the last month.  That will be done next week so if I've said "I'll send you something" and it hasn't arrived by the end of the month PLEASE tell me!  Because either the postman is a secret stitcher or I've forgotten to do it.  Thank You!

First Finishes for 2013

The last week has been very productive due to having several days off work and no school either.  Our daily routine has been - get up, eat breakfast, stitch/play, build Lego, eat, stitch/play, build Lego, eat, read blogs, bath child, read story, stitch, read blogs, sleep.  BLISS!

I won this chart from Shirlee, the Hilarious Easily Influenced Stitcher.  It arrived on 18th December, I ordered the fabric, satin thread and charms on the 19th, they arrived on the 21st, I started stitching on the 22nd and finished on the 2nd January.

I used all DMC but did get the DMC satin for the baubles which is a PITA to stitch with but looks great.  It would have been easier if I'd needed 2 strands because I use the secured needle method of stitching so less slippage but for coverage, three strands were needed.

I used a Just Buttons cardinal instead of the Mill Hill bird (cheaper and nicer) but as it was slightly bigger I used it on the top garland instead of the round wreath, which now has the red star. The variegated threads worked well on this.  The green is DMC 92 and the red 115 (of course!).

I do enjoy having a seasonal stitch to work on over Christmas and this was a lovely one.  The fabric is 28 count platinum linen and has distorted a little due to the satin stitching in the words so I think I'll get it professionally stretched and framed.  I got a framing voucher for Christmas so that's ok!

I'm thinking of getting something like this frame:

I usually go for the more subtle plain frames but at Christmas I do like a bit of grandness!  This design came from Cross Stitch Collection Christmas 1995 and has been on display every year since then.

My next finish was the Needlecraft Haven October Freebie Challenge.  Each month Christine chooses us a different freebie to stitch within the month.  As I was still stitching Hallowe'en designs I missed that month and thought I'd catch up actually during Christmas.

Here it is on its backing fabric:

And here it is on our tree:

Freebie from Balades et Broderie

Stitched over 1 on 28count evenweave.

I'm not a fan of stitching long straight borders so I changed the white border into a backstitched lace effect instead.  I really enjoyed stitching this design, more than I initially thought I would.  Stitching over 1 made all the difference for me, it's just so sweet and delicate!  Christine really does have great taste in choosing these designs for us each month.

The third finish (!!) is one of my new monthly challenges, the JBW Alphabet Cat from JCS Hallowe'en issue 2012.  I've decided to stitch one a month in appropriate colours for that month.  So here is January's offering:

The fabric is 28 count white sparkly evenweave and the backing is a piece of ribbon stitched onto some navy 14count aida for ease of finishing and to make the design stand out more.  I'm planning to get a little snowflake charm to attach before I stitch it together.

I also scrapbooked the Santa design I stitched in December:

Nice and simple, a silver holly border to cover the edges!  I also added a little cartouche in the gap after I'd taken the photograph, it says Ho Ho Ho!

This was a giveaway from Kaye of Kitten Stitching and one of my resolutions is to try stitch gifted designs sooner rather than later!  I've won several gorgeous designs over the last year and feel a little guilty that they sit in bags not being stitched.  So this was one, Shirlee's another and there are more on my "13 in '13" list.

Finally I had a lovely surprise at the end of December.  My sub's copy of World of Cross Stitching arrived and as I browsed through it I spotted a rather familiar sight (or site), my blog on the Blogger of the Month spot!! Apparently I offer "amazing SALs" as well as "stitchy gossip", is that like bitchy gossip only about my fellow stitchers?  LOL.  Anyway I'm really chuffed to be chosen for this spot, so Thank You WOCS.

Theme-a-licious End of Year Round-up

A Big Thank You to Heather for organising the Theme-a-licious this year!!  It's been so much fun even if I have had to bend the definitions some months.  Round Robins are birds aren't they?

Here's my summary of the year.

Jardin Janvier, so I stitched Green Goddess.  She is all leaves and flowers so most appropriate for the theme.

Fan Girl February, stitch your favourite designer's work.

I managed two of my four favourites - Joan Elliott and Just Nan.  

The first Just Nan piece is Spring Peepers

 

and the second is Kathy's band sampler, bands taken from Burgundy Stocking and Evening Star Sampler.  Colours changed to match Kathy's colour scheme.

The Joan Elliot piece was my contribution to the JE RR on the Yuku WWRR Board.  I've decided on the Flower Fairies series.  There are six of them and seven stitchers in the RR so I thought I'd do the centre piece featuring each of the flowers.  Here's the pic:

I've not stitched any metallics, beads, backstitch or leaves yet.  That will all be added when it returns to me next year.  I was unsure about having any leaves but I really like the pop of green on the Chrysanthemum so I will be adding some more at the end.

March Madness, stitch a different project each day.  Not going to happen.  LOL.

I did manage to stitch several different designer's pieces and not duplicate a single person.  I also had a Moment of Madness mid-month and did a few stitches on My Lovely Sewing Tools.  Then to round the month off I decided to start a few new projects instead of working on my WIPS.

So here's what I stitched on this month:

1. Julie from In the Company of Friends (Dark Alphabet) T and U, part of V

2. Chez Elisa for the Needlecraft Haven Freebie Challenge

3. Debra Page for the WOCS Daffodil Flower of the Month card

4. Sandy from San Man Originals for her Little Quilt Shop

5. Marie Suarez for My Lovely Sewing Tools from GoS online magazine

6. Joan Elliott for the JE RR on the Yuku Board.

7. A secret project I can't show yet. (this turned out to be Dark Side Cookies for Christine)

8. Elissa Hudson - Alphabet Sampler from Cross Stitcher mag 249

9. Spring Sampler based on motifs from Samplemakers Forum

10. Just Nan Dewdrop the Rabbit

11. Country Cottage Needleworks - Cherry Hill

12. Gazette 94 - Spring Heart

The last 5 projects I started in the last 5 days, I thought I'd have a flourish of starting madness to finish the month!!

And here are the pictures:

Dark Alphabet - T

Dark Alphabet - U

Chez Elisa - Needlecraft Haven March Challenge

WOCS Daffodil card

San Man Original Quilt Shop.
Sent to Lany Bleu as her Epiphany Giveaway prize.

Inside of Lany's card.

My Lovely Sewing Tools - Gift of Stitching

Joan Elliott Round Robin for Jacqui.
I've actually done loads more than this but don't want to show her until I've finished now!
This is all the black I worked on during IHSW.

Mystery Project!  This is the back of one part.  If you guess what it is then I'm calling you a geek. LOL.

Elissa Hudson for Cross Stitcher mag.
stitched on 32 count white evenweave.  4 letters down, 22 to go!

Samplermakers Forum Spring Challenge.
stitched on Slighly Lilac from Sparklies

Bunny Bum!
A Thank You gift from Jan of the Thread Garden

Country Cottage Needlework - Cherry Hill.
Giveaway prize from Crafty Rahenna.
stitched on 40 count over 2.

Gazette 94 - Spring Heart
stitched on 36 count over 2.
Really bad scanned picture!

Amazon April or your biggest projects.  I decided that BAP stands for Big AlphabetProject and worked on both Dark Alphabet and my Turquoise Baby Alphabet.  I also worked on My Lovely Sewing Tools (which actually has an alphabet in it, scattered around the piece) and had a completely unexpected start in Papillon's Around the World in 80 Stitches.

ATW80S is certainly an enormous piece of fabric for me and it's a full two years project so that will definitely count as a BAP.

Pictures:

Dark Alphabet


Turquoise Baby Alphabet

My Lovely Sewing Tools (includes an alphabet!)

Around the World in 80 Stitches

May Memories.  I decided to go for Making Memories with The Dark Alphabet designed in memory of Lisa Roswell and also my Joan Elliott Round Robin piece which is about making memories with new friends as we all stitch on each piece.

And the Joan Elliott Round Robin:

Jumanji June, birds and animals.  As I didn't have any pieces with either of those I stretched the definitions to the limit and stitched on two Round Robins and a guinea pig piece where I tested a chart out for a friend's new website.

This is the first Robin, Melva's Christmas themed piece:

Here is the second Round Robin I stitched during June.  This one is for the Band Sampler RR and this is Angi's piece:

The broader cross stitched bands are from the Antique Lace Band Sampler by Northern Expressions Needlework.  I changed the colours to suit Angi's palette.
The narrower speciality stitch bands are from Just Nan Summer Sampler which I just framed having stitched it about 10 years ago.
I put UK for my location as we don't have two digit county abbreviations like the States.

And here's the guinea pig:

What's that?  It looks like a snowflake to you?  That's because I was the guinea pig.  Beverly who blogs as Wee Stitchy has a new website Love Thy Thread.  A while back she offered a free chart to anyone who wanted to be a guinea-pig.  So I said "wheep wheep" which is guinea pig for "Me please" and received this lovely snowflake.  I'm stitching it on navy blue aida using 2 strands of DMC Blanc.

Jolly July, It's a jolly holiday with your WIPs...you can concentrate on Christmas designs, ornaments, or even pick a different holiday to render in stitchy goodness.

I chose this cute little ornie from the Christmas Preview issue of Just Cross Stitch, it is designed by Blue Ribbon Designs and I chose to stitch it on 32 count twilight blue linen rather than the tan colour in the magazine.  I also changed the Blanc to B5200 because I like it!

Altius August - Embrace the Olympic motto--Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger)--by elevating your mind. It's the perfect time to learn something new! Or maybe achieve some goals...
I thought I'd follow Heather's example and set myself some targets and award myself Bronze, Silver and Gold medals for how many I complete.  Here are the August targets, in five categories, one for each ring:

Blue Ring
Band Sampler Round Robin - Finish the current piece and also the one due to arrive next week - Finished the first, started the second -  Bronze Medal
Blue Ribbon Designs - stitch the snowman ornie and scrapbook the two together - not at all.

Yellow Ring
Joan Elliott Round Robin - Finish the current piece -  Finished -  Bronze Medal
Birthday cards - stitch two cards for lucky August ladies - 
Finished one - Silver Medal
Finished two - Gold Medal 

Black Ring
Giveaways - stitch at least one of the two outstanding prizes - Finished one - Bronze Medal
Needlecraft Haven - stitch the August freebie  Finished - Silver Medal

Green Ring
Papillon Around the World - stitch at least the outlines for Parts 3 and 4, complete Parts 1 and 2 including the metallics. -
Part 1 complete - Bronze Medal
Part 2 complete - Silver Medal
Part 3 complete - Gold Medal

Red Ring
Just-Nan-a-thon - stitch at least one design - not yet
12 in '12 - keep up the good progress and either start or finish another one of my 12.  NB this does not include the BBD as it is nearly done even as I type - 
Started LHN - Home of a Needleworker - Bronze Medal
Finished Every Time Hearts - Silver Medal

So that's a total of five Bronze medals, four Silver Medals and two Gold Medals.  According to the table of medals, that means I am Kenya.  For pictures look at the August tab on the sidebar or follow this link August 2012

September Smalls

"We all love gadgets, and none better than the teensy tools and holders we make ourselves. Let's stitch some smalls--needlebooks, fobs, biscornus, scissors keeps, pincushions--or knit some teensy things--amigurumi, jewelry, sachets...."

Not a lot of small stitching went on, and certainly no cute finishes like Heather listed!

LHN Home of a Needleworker was the main "small":

 

I also stitched two cards, one of which was for Kell:

and the other is for Karen aka Stitchywoman.

The final small is the Hallowe'en design by Puntini Puntini and I've made great progress on that one:

Obligation October.  I stitched a number of cards and two Round Robins for this theme.  

Stephanie's Joan Elliott Round Robin

 Autumn for Cat's Seasons Round Robin

Chiara's Birthday card

Shirlee's Birthday card

Zombie Kitty 1 made into a card

Zombie Kitty 2 made into a card

Nail It November
What's lying around that's so close to being finished you can't stand it anymore? Get to it and finish it!

This was a tricky one for me because nothing was close to completion and I needed to work on Round Robins!  I decided to "nail" those for the theme.

Here's Debbie's RR in it's entirety.  I didn't want to post a picture until she confirmed that she'd received it back.

Debbie's theme was Fairies and Goddesses.  I was the last to stitch on this one and chose Sweetpea Fairy (top right) because (a) she fitted the box left and (b) she matched the others in blingability!

Delightful December

The holidays are a time for relaxing...at least, that's the theory! No stress here...work on whatever you want and enjoy!

This is a nice easy theme for everyone to join in with.  I worked on my Mirabila Round Robin and the Scarlet Letter English Transitional Sampler for most of the month.  Then a couple of days before Christmas I received a gorgeous Christmas sampler from Shirlee the Easily Influenced Stitcher, Joyous Noel by Elizabeth Designs.  At once I had to order some platinum linen and some satin thread (plus a few charms!), thank heavens for SewandSo's next day delivery!  I've been stitching on this all over Christmas and it's been so much fun.  The satin stitching does make the linen go a little skew-whiff so I think I might get this framed professionally and have my framer stretch it properly.

I also completed the design which was another prize received last year from Kaye of Kitten Stitching.  I used DMC threads and evenweave.  This was such a nice quick stitch but I felt it needed a little something extra so I added the word "Claus is coming" along the bottom.  I used this website to chart the letters - Stitch Point  It's really easy, just choose a font, type the words you want on the onscreen keyboard and the chart appears underneath, print it off and stitch!

The final piece I stitched is the Needlecraft Haven Freebie Challenge for December.  A Primitive Hare design, Xmas Time.  I stitched this over 1 on the same platinum linen I used for Joyeous Noel.  It's pictured here on the fabric I used to back the ornie.

and finished into an ornie:

This has been stuffed using my ORTS from 2011.

The 2012 ones are in a bag ready for the next ornie.

Heather has now finalised the Themes and the Logo for the 2013 Theme-a-licious.  There are some old favourites and some new challenges too.  I like the idea of mononchrome May in particular.  I do like monochrome designs.  Maybe one of my Firewing patterns will see the light of day!  Click on the logo below for the full list:

January is Jardin Janvier as per last year so I think I might just dig poor old neglected Green Goddess out and stitch a little on her.  Inbetween my Round Robins and the Scarlet Letter!

Finally, this is the last post of the year and possibly the longest phew!!  If you've come over from The World of Cross Stitching magazine (and have made it this far!) then welcome to the blog, please leave a comment and say Hi!

And here's a quick non-stitching pic to explain the reason I've not actually stitched anything yet today -

3 hours build time, approx 20% of item complete!

Have a Stitchy 2013!