And a Morris Dance for Pretty Little London

Which is the larger of the two London designs, the other one being Pretty Mini London.

Pretty Little London is a Satsuma Street design I have been stitching every Tuesday along with Linda and Kate.

Scanned picture to show the colours

Close up of the cloud.  

I added the silver metallic because "every cloud has a silver lining"!

Framed for my scrapbook to co-ordinate with Pretty Mini London

Closer photo:

The curved top is to give the effect of a snowglobe.  Rainglobe?

And here is a nice collage of all the iconic sights in the design:

Top - The Rain, Coldstream Guardsman, Houses of Parliament Clock Tower, Tower Bridge

Middle - A Black Taxi, The Gherkin, A Red Bus, The Shard

Bottom - St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Railway Arches, London Eye

I stitched Pretty Little London on 32count antique white linen because it was the only white I had at the time and "Stitch from Stash" but with hindsight, it was not the right fabric for this design.  I have some 32 count white evenweave I will probably use that for the next "Little" design.  But for the rest of this year, Tuesdays are going to be WIPocalypse days in an effort to make progress on my list for that SAL.  Satsuma Street will recommence in January!

I did have new start this week, to celebrate two finishes (London and the Mail Art Exchange which I can't show yet).  The new start is one of those designs getting great publicity on FB.  Glendon Place decided to give a free chart when they got 500 members of their FB group.  It must have worked because they now have over 1100!  The chart is great, a mandala design called Friendship Compass.  They aren't giving a colour key, you have a completely free choice.  There are some lovely schemes appearing on the FB page so far.  I have gone with purples, starting with  my favourite 333 and working down the shade chart from there.

Here is my progress so far:

Stitched on 32 count white evenweave

Finally, Hallowe'en is fast approaching so it must be time to launch the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop.  Regular followers will know the format.  Leave a comment here saying you would like to take part in the hop as a Picture Poster.  When I have everyone signed up I will choose a Mystery Phrase and allocate each Picture Poster a letter of the alphabet.  On 31st October they must make a blog post showing their letter and a photo of something they have stitched on a Hallowe'en theme.  On my blog there will be a list of all the contributors so people can hop around and collect the letters to work out the Mystery Phrase.  You don't have to be a Picture Poster to collect the letters and join in with the competition but all Picture Posters do get an extra entry in the competition.

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The Crazy and Cheerful Alphabet Club

It's the first Saturday of the month, so it's time for detention!

"They only met online, but it changed their lives forever"

I think most of you know the lovely enigmatic Chiara who blogs at The Grey Tail?  We were chatting via email a while back and between us came up with the idea of an A-Z language challenge.  We batted some ideas around and are calling it the The Alphabet Club.  Chiara has the full details on that link but basically she will post a link-up post on the first Saturday of each month (Saturday being detention day in the film) reminding us of the month's letter and we will all link up with themed things, from stitching to designers and local customs.

This month's letter is C for crazy and cheerful and Chiara!  Also Coven in the photo above, taken from A Dark Alphabet by A Note of Friendship.  C is also for crochet as shown in my current Alphabet Club project; A Stitcher's Alphabet by Brooke's Books Publishing:

stitched on 28 count Afghan

The whole piece so far.

I am stitching the alphabet on a long thin piece of afghan fabric which I will eventually sew togther into a book.  This will be the cover and the missing space will have the title stitched in it.

I don't do Crochet and I shall ignore Cross Stitching and save it for X so C as a theme could be Christmas (which could also be an X).  I don't often stitch cards because of the amount of time involved but here are some from 2011:

Four designs from World of Cross Stitching magazine.

The city skyline always makes me laugh.  The designer had chosen some beautiful iconic cities to stitch.  And also Coventry!  Anyone who has ever been there will appreciate why I laughed so much.

But it does begin with C and is a City too so most suitable for today.

We often think of Angels at Christmas and here is my interpretation of Joan Elliott's Christmas Angel:

And Lavender & Lace's Celtic Christmas:

My C UFO is a very old one:

Coffee Fairy by Yiotas X Stitch

What an embarassingly small amount of stitching!  The fabric is called Monarch by Sparklies.  Do you remember I said Kate dyes mad fabrics?

And my WIP is a CCN design which I started for the DUCJC this year:

Obviously CCN is a designer I like and there's also Nora Corbett (she can be C as well as M for Mirabilia as she designs under two different brands).  On my WIP list this year I have her Little Snowy Gray Cottage and J is for Joanne:

Both are stitched on hand-dyed fabrics from Crafty Kitten, another C!

Of course the ultimate C designs must be Martine AKA Chatelaine Designs.  These gorgeously intricate designs are on everyone's "favourite" list and one of the hardest things is choosing just one.  I had finally made my decision - Gardens of London

then she goes and releases this one:

Hallowe'en Kitty Mandala

What am I supposed to do now?

And now on to the Blog Roll, some of the blogs I love to follow beginning with C:

Cross Stitch and Other Musings

(the lovely Ewa and her HHH3)

Crafty Princess

(stunner!)

Crafty Rahenna

Create - E - Witty Unleashed

Caring Stitcher

Cozy Little Place for Stitching

Oh my gosh, I have realised there are loads more C blogs!  How about you scroll through my blog roll and pick a few out?

Finally, Hallowe'en is fast approaching so it must be time to launch the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop.  Regular followers will know the format.  Leave a comment here saying you would like to take part in the hop as a Picture Poster.  When I have everyone signed up I will choose a Mystery Phrase and allocate each Picture Poster a letter of the alphabet.  On 31st October they must make a blog post showing their letter and a photo of something they have stitched on a Hallowe'en theme.  On my blog there will be a list of all the contributors so people can hop around and collect the letters to work out the Mystery Phrase.  You don't have to be a Picture Poster to collect the letters and join in with the competition but all Picture Posters do get an extra entry in the competition.

September Smalls and D.E.S.I.G.N SALs

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Heather from Stitching Lotus

This year I am going to have two monthly challenges:

1. The Primitive Hare Hallowe'en Cubes SAL

2. The Hallowe'en Ornie SAL themed blog.
and a third one added from August:
3. The Christmas Ornie SAL themed blog

I have only one letter left to do in the Cubes but I have left that until next month because I really need to finish the exchange piece first.  So here are my two ornies for the two blogs:

Witchy Brew by Witchy Stitches

stitched over one on 28count light beige evenweave

Roaming Reindeer by BRD

From JCS Christmas Special 2012

stitched on 32 count Twilight Blue linen.

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The idea of this Blog Hop is to choose a different designer each month and do a post focusing on a piece of their work you have stitched on during the month.  The hosts of D.E.S.I.G.N ask us to answer a few questions on our chosen designer.

1. What designer are you talking about this month?

I am doing something completely different this month.  Rather than choose one designer I have chosen one publication which feautures many designers.  The Just Cross Stitch Annual Christmas Ornament Special.  I first heard about this publication when I was new to blogging and discovered the American way of doing things!  I loved the idea of an entire magazine dedicated to Christmas and to Hallowe'en too.  I now have 2012-2015 as paper copies and all the previous ones on the CDs they do.

I love reading the reviews of the magazine and seeing everyone's top choices too.  I chose ten this year (and forgot to include the tenth which is the lovely Brooke's Book's Angel, added by edit).  So here are my top nine:

Top Row - Dragon Dreams, Blue Ribbon Designs, SamSarah Designs

Middle Row - Fern Ridge Collections, From the Heart, Ink Circles

Bottom Row - The Little Stitcher, Patricia Ann Designs, Elizabeth's Needlework

2. Have you stitched a project from this publication before?

Yes, the magazines are an amazing source of designs and a great way to discover new designers.  The first year I knew hardly any of their names but now I can look at the pictures and identify most of the designers by sight.

3. Would you buy/stitch a design from this publication again?  Why/Why not?

Yes, I have a subscription!  I'm going to be taking part in Kaye's Christmas Ornie Blog all next year which is a great opportunity to stitch some of the wonderful designs from the magazines.

4. What made you choose these particular designs for your Top Ten ?

Every year I go through the magazine and write my favourites on a piece of paper which I leave in the front of the magazine to refer to later.  Then I think "oh yes, I still love that one" or "what was I thinking that year?"

This year's choices were made because:

1 - I love dragons
2 - I love BRD's serieses
3 - This will make a great gift for someone I know
4 - I like the effect of the satin stitch
5 - I love an alphabet and I like the quirky lopsided look to this one
6 - Big fan of Ink Circles.  Not such a big fan of tangled up lights!
7 - Love the Little Stitcher's designs
8 and 9 - Two nice abstract ornies which I think will look lovely stitched in the same colours on a high count fabric.  Maybe add some beads.
10 - Brooke's Book's Angel (see below).  I will probably never stitch this but it's gorgeous and so different.  I love it!

5. Did you notice anything that distinguished this issue from others?

I have to be honest, I felt there was a lot of repetition this year.  A series is nice (see number 2) but mamy of the designs had a feeling of deja-vu about them.  The Ink Circles one is fun but was there a similar one in a previous year?

I also think there was a problem with the printing this year.  Everything looks very washed out.  Look at the SamSarah design.  Surely that will be more vibrant in real life?  It made choosing the designs quite difficult, I looked at the charts and descriptions more than usual.

So what were your favourites this year?  If you've done a review leave a link in the comments so we can all pop over and read it.

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Finally, a pie chart for September, a complete reverse of last month.  With fewer projects and more time spent on each one.

September WIPocalypse Shopping

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

The focus of my WIPocalypse will be my "15 in '15"which are 15 charts I want to stitch in 2015 (following on from my "11 in '11", "12 in '12", "13 in '13" and "14 in '14" - imaginative, eh?)

Over the last month I have only stitched 1 of my 15 designs but I did finish it!

The finished project is Sugared Almond Cottage by Nutmeg Company:

stitched on 28 and 36 count evenweave

This was such a fun project to stitch and make up.  It is very tiny but there is a lot of detail in there.  I also used a curved needle for the first time.  A John James curved tapestry size 24 for those who were wondering.

The second list I have is my DUCJC and I stitched on two designs from that list.  The first piece I worked on was my IHSW piece - Elizabeth Shephard by Scarlet Letter:

stitched on 30 count linen

I've been stitching the top left hand corner this month.  And also, her name.

The final piece is my evening project, approximately one length of thread per evening while the Small Boy is in the bath.  Book of Spells by The Goode Huswif:

stitched on 40 count Jewel Butterbeer linen

You can see I have almost completed the border for this side of the design.  Then I can move on to some colours!  Mostly grey and orange.  Maybe a finish by the end of this year?

Measi always sets us a topic for discussion and this month we have:

September – Where do you buy most of your stitching supplies?

I would love to say "a sweet little LNS run by an enthusiastic mother and daughter team along with a shop assistant who shares a Birthday with the Large Boy and was happy to chat to him while I shopped in their well-stocked Aladdin's Cave of charts, fabrics and exotic threads and accessories".  But Hobbycraft opened a warehouse store and killed Helen's business.

So now I shop online.  In common with 99.9% of UK stitchers I use SewandSo as my starting point.  They have the widest choice, most things are in stock and their delivery is next day at very reasonable prices.  The website is easy to browse, except for the "Other Designers" category where there are all sorts of hidden delights.  If anything, there is too much choice and you can get overwhelmed by it all!  SewandSo are run by enthusiasts.  If you email or call them they know what you are talking about so I feel it is as much like an LNS as it can be.  It's certainly better than the aforementioned warehouse stores.

Willow Fabrics is a family run business based in Cheshire.  They stock many kits and charts but their website is my number one choice for plain fabrics of all colours and counts.  Many of the more unusual colours you have admired on my blog (eg 32 count Cognac linen) come from Willow Fabric.  Their sales are second to none too.  Which is why I have entire metres of some obscure colours because they were too good to miss!

Hand-dyed fabrics is an evergrowing market and I have two firm favourites.  Dawn and Kate.  Or Crafty Kitten and Sparklies as they are known on the internet.  Both are one-woman businesses run by amazing enthusiast expert enablers!  I feel very torn between the two businesses so I have devised a cunning strategy to help me decide where to shop.  Dawn's fabrics are slightly more muted and subtle, possibly because I usually order 32 count Murano which doesn't dye as brightly as the linens.  Kate's fabrics tend to the wilder side of life!  So that's how I choose.  Muted = Dawn, Lively = Kate.

Here are my two favourites fabrics from each dyer:

Sunlit Heath by Crafty Kitten

"A beautiful blend of greens and golds, like sunlight streaming across a grassy landscape or slanting through a forest canopy."  and named after part of my address because I inspired this fabric.

Purpleberry Spludge by Sparklies

I also shop online for charms from Ang's Attic and for scrapbook papers and embellishments from Scrapping the Magic and Papermaze.  All three are small, family run businesses who deserve to be supported.  In real life I have a local craft shop which sells alot of scrapbook papers and embellishments too but they cater mostly for the card-making people rather than cross stitchers.  Hallowe'en isn't really a thing for them!

Finally, Hallowe'en is fast approaching so it must be time to launch the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop.  Regular followers will know the format.  Leave a comment here saying you would like to take part in the hop as a Picture Poster.  When I have everyone signed up I will choose a Mystery Phrase and allocate each Picture Poster a letter of the alphabet.  On 31st October they must make a blog post showing their letter and a photo of something they have stitched on a Hallowe'en theme.  On my blog there will be a list of all the contributors so people can hop around and collect the letters to work out the Mystery Phrase.  You don't have to be a Picture Poster to collect the letters and join in with the competition but all Picture Posters do get an extra entry in the competition.

Here is last year's post if you want to see how it all works:

2014 Halloween-trick-or-treat-blog-hop

Mystery Stitching

I've done quite a bit of stitching this week but I can't show the piece because it is for an exchange.  How frustrating!  Maybe just a little peek?

 or two?

I can reveal the design I was stitching on when I posted my TUSAL post.  Remember this was all you could see:

Here is the finished piece:

Roaming Reindeer by BRD

From JCS Christmas Special 2012

(Much better photo for showing the colour of the fabric.)

This is the second design I've stitched from this series of four by Blue Ribbon Designs.  I changed the fabric to a 32 count Twilight Blue linen and the white to B5200 because it really pops against the blue fabric.

Companion piece - Woodsy Winter from JCS Ornie Preview 2012

I love the bright red of the cardinals.  Before I discoved blogging I did not realise these birds were actually that bright in real life!  I thought it was a little artistic license on the designers' part.

Finally, Hallowe'en is fast approaching so it must be time to launch the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop.  Regular followers will know the format.  Leave a comment here saying you would like to take part in the hop as a Picture Poster.  When I have everyone signed up I will choose a Mystery Phrase and allocate each Picture Poster a letter of the alphabet.  On 31st October they must make a blog post showing their letter and a photo of something they have stitched on a Hallowe'en theme.  On my blog there will be a list of all the contributors so people can hop around and collect the letters to work out the Mystery Phrase.  You don't have to be a Picture Poster to collect the letters and join in with the competition but all Picture Posters do get an extra entry in the competition.

Here is last year's post if you want to see how it all works:

2014 Halloween-trick-or-treat-blog-hop

September Stitch from Stash

Month: September
Spent:   £ 0.00

Earned: £ 0.00

Stitch from Stash is hosted by Mel from Epic Stitching

Essentially the idea behind Stitch from Stash is that we are limited to spending US$25 (or £15) per month. There are various exemptions (Birthday money, existing mag subs, clubs etc) but the idea is not to try and pervert the rules and to stitch some of that stash!  I will be posting on or around the 20th of each month because that is when I get paid!

July Budget	£ 15.00
July spend	£   7.75
August Budget	£ 15.00
August spend	£ 14.57
September Budget	£ 15.00
September spend	£   0.00
Current Balance	£ 22.68

So you can see it was a great month!  In fact the whole of last month was a real zero personal spend.  I had to get the Large Boy a new pair of shoes and a new pair of trainers for school (sports shoes for the foreign!) so all I spent on myself was £3.20 for some curved needles.

But never fear, I did not go without this month because it was my Birthday and my friends are ever generous!  Here are the presents I received in addition to a lovely Crafty Kitten voucher from the equally lovely Crafty Princess, stunner!

From Jocondine, a beautiful hand made card and packaging for the ribbon which came in a vintage box.  It might even be vintage ribbon.

Close-up of that ribbon:

see, it has my initials on it!

From Nicola the Everlasting Diary featuring a number of samplers from the Fellers' Collection plus the gorgeous Needlelace cards from Catherine Barley.  I fell in love with the Snow Queen cards, there is a wondeful video of how they were made on her website here.

From Mouse, two Just Nan charts which I didn't have and some lovely ribbons.  There seems to be a conspiracy to get me to use more ribbon!

It has been IHSW this weekend so I've been working away on Elizabeth Shephard or Lizabeth Shephard because I haven't done the first E yet. I stitched most of her name and the brown motif in the top left hand corner.

stitched on 30 count linen

Finally, Kaye had launched yet another new blog - Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics.  Basically you pull out any WIP or UFO and stitch it on a Friday.  You can carry on frolicing throughout the weekend and post your progress when you are done.  I chose to continue Just Nan's Ghoulies and Ghosties which I started in August for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL.  Here is my current state of WIPness:

stitched on 28 count tan evenweave.

Gifted Gorgeousness September Link-Up Post

  

For newbies, this is my first year long SAL.  Click on the picture above for the full details.

We will be posting and linking up on the 15th of each month, because it is 2015.  Should be easy to remember.

Elizabeth Shephard by Scarlet Letter - a gift from Nicola

stitched on 30 count linen

 Book of Spells by The Goode Huswif - stitched on gifted fabric

stitched on 40 count Jewel Butterbeer linen

Hobby Horse by JBW - a gift for my cousin's daughter

stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

Sugared Almond Cottage by Nutmeg Company - a gift from Susan Yellow Flower Meadow

stitched on 28 count pink and 36 count white evenweaves

Witchy Brew by Witchy Stitches - This was a gift from Sarah (no longer blogging)

stitched over one on 28count light beige evenweave

And now over to you - Here is the place for you to link up so we can see what Gifted Gorgeousness you have been stitching so far this year.  Please use your name or your blog name in the field NOT the words "September Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month.  

And link to the actual post, not just your blog.  People are still getting this wrong!  It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.

Thank you.  I can amend links if you make a boo-boo though.

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Finally, let's have a little Giveaway to celebrate my Birthday in two days time!  Followers of The Alphabet Club will know how much I enjoy stitching lettering and alphabets.  So here are two charts featuring alphabets.

Prize 1 - Tea Cozys and Sampler

Prize 2 - Ribbon Alphabet

Once you have linked up with your GG post just leave a comment letting me know which chart you would like to win.