Now I am Six

I'm as clever as clever

So I think I'll be six

now and forever

It's my Sixth Blogaversary today!  I remember being six quite well, I was in Miss Pearce's class and I got a Timex watch with a red face and a blue strap for my Birthday.  I got the watch because I could already tell the time and Miss Pearce often used to ask me what the time was because her watch didn't keep time well!  We had been living with my grandparents and were moving into a house of our own.

Here are my blog stats:

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6 years

650 posts

597 followers

13,540 comments

682,174 pageviews

WOW

A little check of my Happy Dance blog tells me that I have completed 372 pieces since the start of my blog.  That makes my couple of dozen WIPs pale into insignificance!

I'd also like to wish my Blog-Twins Susan and Calamity Jr a very Happy Birthday too!

This week I've been stitching on my Hallowe'en and Christmas pieces:

Winged creatures from Happy Hallowe'en by Imaginating

Four Calling Birds from Joan Elliott's 12 Days of Christmas

I also did a little finish-finishing and framed a piece from last year:

Mulberry by Shepherd's Bush

I drew a little mulberry sprig in the corner to decorate the mount:

Now for the fun part - a giveaway to celebrate!  I haven't got anything in particular in my stash I want to part with at the moment and postage is so high right now so I thought a PDF would be the best idea.  The one I have chosen is quite versatile, it comes in 9 parts and can be stitched as a large sampler or several smaller ornies.  Best of all, proceeds from the sale go to charity.  Four parts have been released already so I would send them to the winner straightaway and then send each piece as it is released throughout the year.  The giveaway that keeps on giving!  Have you guessed what it is yet?

Stitchrovia - Quotes to Live By

The nice thing about this prize is that if you already have the first four parts then I can still send you the next five, you don't have to miss out just because you've already started it.

So how do you enter this draw?

The usual, be a Follower via the button on the right, leave a comment here saying you'd like to be in the draw AND telling me what your favourite quote is.  It doesn't have to be one from the Stitchrovia SAL, it can be anything you like - serious, inspirational, funny, subversive etc.

You will get one entry for commenting here and an additional entry for each of the following:

Being a participant in the Easter Treasure Hunt on Good Friday

Entering the Easter Treasure Hunt and guessing the Mystery Phrase

Linking up for Gifted Gorgeousness this month.

So the Giveaway is open until the 30th April when the GG link-up closes.  If you do not comment here with a quote, you will not be entered into the draw, even if you do the other stuff, they are for bonus entries!  If you don't want to stitch any of the Quotes, you may nominate a person from the other comments to be gifted the chart on your behalf.  You can do this publicly by commenting or anonymously by emailing me.

Finally, we have another Blogger on the Blogger of the Week blog, don't forget to go over and say Hi!

Who is it this week?

When is a UFO an FO but not an FFO and yet remains a UFO?

When it's Brooke's Books' Stitcher's Alphabet, that's when!

stitched on 28 count afghan

Spaceship, spaceship!

The latest block of the Stitcher's Alphabet is now complete, it's full coverage so it took ages!  The flying saucer is metallic and there are beads too.  

So it's an Finished Object but it's not a Fully Finished Object as we still have V-Z to stitch but it remains a UFO in the picture!

Progress on Joan Elliott's 12 Days is slow as the Small Boy has decided a 30 second dip in the water is sufficient and then another 10 minutes of being told "Back in the bath".  So no photos until I have stitched this month's block 4 Calling Birds.

My two Sew Many Stitches projects are going well.  In March I started 23 Just Nan Smalls and the plan is to stitch 30-a-day on one until it is finished and then move on to the next one.  I should average one a month that way.  The first is smaller than average so will be a nice quick finish.

Here we have the first six days of Christmas Rose (the first photo is two days' progress not one)

stitched on 32 count Antique White evenweave

Meanwhile Spring in the Square is in it's 95th day!  950 stitches looks like this:

And the full 95 days looks like this:

That last big box is intentionally blank to keep the proportions of the other boxes the same!

Finally, we have exciting events coming up - my 6th Blogaversary this weekend and the Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop the following weekend.  And of course, more Bloggers of the Week each Friday.  Life is just one long social whirl!

🌟🌟  Blogger of the Week  🌟🌟

The Uplifting and Useful Alphabet Unit

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 was one of my favourite blocks from the Dark Alphabet SAL - Urmahlullu, the well known Mesopotamian Protector of the Toilet.  Half Lion, Half Centaur, and the colour of an Andrex Puppy.  You can read more about him on A Note of Friendship.

The first Saturday of this month is as early as it can be so I haven't quite finished stitching the block on Brooke's Books' Stitcher's Alphabet, which is quite appropriate in a way because it is U is for Unfinished Object!

stitched on 28 count afghan

It's a full coverage block as there's quite a bit to go too.

What other UFOs have I got?  Depends on your definition of UFO really!  I define it as something which has not been actively stitched since the beginning of the previous year.  So anything which hasn't been stitched since the end of 2015.  Now, I did the Longest Day Marathon last year so everything got a little attention!  These are the ten projects which I am counting as UFOs as I have no plans to stitch on them this year and they only got that one day last year!

You can find all the information about each project on The Longest Day post.

U is for Unicorns and I have stitched two.  The first was a Teresa Wentzler unicorn from The Fantasy Sampler.  I stitched the four corner motifs separately, on aida!  With all those fractional stitches too.

I also stitched a Joan Elliott unicorn for a Round Robin back in 2012:

I do have quite a few unicorns in my stash, all in books.

Top left - Julie Hasler

Top right - Julie Hasler

Bottom left - Joan Elliott

Centre - Lesley Teare

Bottom right - Joan Elliott

I don't have any U designers in my stash and there is really only one well-know one; Ursula Michael.  She is well-known for her typography designs, this one is Wicked!

The blog roll is a real challenge this month!  Lee's blog is a bit of a stretch:

Notes from Under the Mountain

We do have Under the Sea Fabrics

and she has a YouTube channel

Lesley LaFleur

I could shoehorn U-tube but I'm saving that for Y.

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Finally, I hope that you enjoyed the double helping of interviews on the Blogger of the Week blog.  If you would like to be featured or if you can think of anyone you'd like to see, please email me.

March Smalls and Madness

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Stitching Lotus

This year I will be showing both my Hallowe'en and Christmas SAL partworks as well as any actual smalls I stitch.

I stitched the two Es for Happy Hallowe'en from Imaginating:

And a witch plus cat on a broomstick from Oberlin Sampler's Witches:

Plus the Three French Hens from Joan Elliott's 12 Days of Christmas:

I started a large number of small for this month!  23 in total, all by Just Nan.  This was for Kerry's Theme-tas-stitch March Madness where you had to stitch as many projects as possible in March.  I had 8 projects already in the rotation so needed 23 more to make up the 31.

Here's the 2nd collage of the final 10 projects:

These are the designs included above:

Charm Garden

Potpourri

Honeysuckle Rose

Dragonfly Summer

Floral Sunshine

Butterfly Bouquet

Fairy Roses

Happy Bluebird

Jump for Joy

Thanks a Bunch

The plan is now to focus on one design at a time and stitch 30 stitches a day to complete an average of one per month.  Nice 2 year project there!  Here are all 23:

Is that enough Smalls for you, Heather?

Because of the Ten-a-Day and the Just Nan-a-thon Small Challenge, the pie doesn't show all the projects I stitched on this month.  The Just Nan are there for the days when that was the only thing I stitched.  Here is March's pie and you can see the M is for Mary was the focus this month:

The last regular feature is the Stitch from Stash tally-up.  I bought two bargain cross stitch books for 84p each and renewed my Just Cross Stitch subscription.  Magazine subs are exempt from SFS so it was another good month for me.

March
2 stitch books	£1.68
JCS Subs	£25.90
Total	£27.58

🌟🌟  Blogger of the Week   🌟🌟

Finally we have a new Blogger of the Week, click on the link above and find out who it is.
We will also have a special treat for the beginning of the month.  I will be featuring a non-blogging stitcher.  It may be an Instagrammer or a FlossTuber or some other social media.  Or maybe a stitcher who just leaves comments but doesn't blog themselves.  I would also like to feature non-English speaking bloggers.  So if you know anyone who would like to be featured, please ask them to contact me by email.

M is for Mary's Merry Merengue

or Happy Dance if you don't want alliteration!

Yes, Mary is finally finished, although not fully finished and framed yet.  I started her on Friday 10th March and completed her on the 29th having stitched on her for 15 days in total.

Close-ups to show the beads and the Kreinik.

I used the recommended Crescent Colours except for:

Lettuce Leaf which is a bright green and was supposed to be the lighter colour in the M.  Instead I blended DMC 927 and 928.  

DMC Blanc for the wings instead of Cloud

DMC 954 for the skin instead of Cobbled Peach

DMC 356 for the backstitch on the skin

Kreinik 014 for the dangling sparklies

stitched on 32 count Muran in Sunlit Heath by Crafty Kitten

which is more green in person

This will be framed and given to my cousin for her baby girl.

Here are the other four letters I have stitched.

Three have gone to my cousins and one is for me.

You can see more photos of each one at the following links:

C

E

J

S

Finally, don't forget to sign up to participate in the Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop!  I intend to send out the letters to each person on Sunday 9th April so you have until then to make up your mind if you are wavering!

March TUSAL

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 of my current projects:

That's actually a better colour likeness for the top fabric than previous photos.

I was hoping to have a Happy Dance to share with you but alas, not today.  There is only the beading to do on M is for Mary.  I was sitting down for an afternoon's beading today when the phone went.  You know what it's going to be when they say "Hello, it's Mrs M here, he's OK but...".  Yes, my son had injured himself at school.  But not the Small Boy which you would expect, it was the Large Boy.  His leg got in the way of a stone being chipped up when they were all running around and there was blood and plenty of it.  Luckily hubby was here to go and collect him because it's a three mile limp home if Mum has to go.

I did manage to bead the bottom of the skirt in between washing the trousers and administering to the wounded.  A clean plaster and a chocolate muffin were applied.  One to the leg and the other to the mouth!  Then the Small Boy came home and the beads had to go away.

I also realised that I was working away on the wrong project.  I picked up Happy Hallowe'en instead of the Stitcher's Alphabet which needs to be ready for The Alphabet Club this Saturday.  Ooops.  Never mind, I can start that tomorrow after another attempt at beading M.

Finally, it's a short post today so I will just remind people that I will be hosting an Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop on Good Friday.  If you'd like to be a participant just leave a comment.

March WIPocalypse Social Media

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings
Also linking up with 17 in '17

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.  I have chosen my "17 in '17" which are the 17 projects I want to focus on this year.  You can see the full list on this page here.

I have had a good WIPocalypse month again.  I worked on a total of 7 of my 17 projects.  You will have seen photos of most of these on the Theme-tas-stitch post.

1. Just Nan Spring in the Square for the 10-a-day challenge:

Day 85 - working down the left hand border

2. Joan Elliott 12 Days of Christmas for the Christmas Ornie SAL:

regular evening stitching on the thin red line to the left

3. Brooke's Books' Stitchers Alphabet for The Alphabet Club:

4. Imaginating Happy Hallowe'en for the Hallowe'en SAL:

5. Oberlin Witches, also for the Hallowe'en SAL:

6. Nora Corbett M is for Mary which is my focus piece for the month:

Only the beads to be added so you are not seeing the full piece until then!

7. Lavender & Lace Enchanted Alphabet Spooky Conversion:

added the J this weekend

Measi always sets us a discussion topic:

March – What stitchy blogs, groups, or flosstubes do you follow and why?

I follow a large amount of blogs, you can see most of them in my sidebar.  Blogs are my preferred way of connecting with other stitchers.  You learn more about a person from their blog than from other social media and you can easily search for projects they have featured in the past.  You leave a comment, they reply and you start a dialogue together.  Of course we have our SALs, Blog Hops and Linky parties too.

I belong to a few FB groups.  I prefer the designer-specific groups where you will only see work from one particular designer and also comments from the designer themselves.  I do belong to a couple of general stitching groups which I joined for the themed SALs, something I love.

I do subscribe to some FlossTube channels too.  I love having someone chatting away while I stitch and I do feel that you really get to know a person when you watch their videos regularly.  The main difference between FlossTube and a blog is that there is more of a "them and us" feel about it.  "They" make the videos and "We" watch them.  The watchers seem to regard the vloggers as "experts" and ask them all sorts of questions about stitching regardless of whether the vlogger does that kind of stitching or has more than a year's experience!  Many vloggers seem to be either new to the craft or older stitchers who have recently taken it up again.  On the plus side, I love seeing what people's houses are like!  I also love watching FlossTube channels made by my blogging friends, when I read their blogs I can do it in their voice now!

FlossTube and FB definitely promote FOMO (Fear of missing out),  Whether it's joining every SAL released, buying every chart you see, joining every Fabric of the Month club or having 90,000 needle minders there does seem to be a more manic approach to the hobby than I've seen on blogs or forums.

There is a mood change just lately though, with the financial realities hitting people and Stitch From Stash taking off again.  Crazes go in cycles in stitching as with everything else.

🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇

Finally, we are approaching the Easter Holidays and there is still time to sign up for the Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop.  The more people we have, the longer the mystery phrase will be.  Just leave a comment if you'd like to be a participant.

Theme-tas-stitch March Madness

Theme-tas-stitch is hosted by Kerry

Each month Kerry is giving us a theme to stitch to (or shoe-horn our existing stitching into).  We link up on the 21st of each month.  The theme this month is:

March Madness - Work on as many different projects as you can - you could do one a day or have a day when you see how many you can stitch on.

I have my set rotation which means I knew I would stitch on 7 projects in March already.  I also knew I wanted (and needed) to focus on M is for Mary this month so I needed a plan!  Here are the main 7:

1. Just Nan Spring in the Square for the 10-a-day challenge:

Day 80 - 800 stitches

2. Joan Elliott 12 Days of Christmas for the Christmas Ornie SAL:

and regular evening stitching on the thin red line to the right

3. Brooke's Books' Stitchers Alphabet for The Alphabet Club:

4. Imaginating Happy Hallowe'en for the Hallowe'en SAL:

5. Oberlin Witches, also for the Hallowe'en SAL:

6. Nora Corbett M is for Mary which is my focus piece for the month:

Wings and Bling to be added

7. Lavender & Lace Enchanted Alphabet Spooky Conversion:

To reach 31 projects for the 31 days in March I needed another 24 projects.  I didn't want to start pulling out other WIPs for just a length or two so I needed something small or a part-work.  I considered an Advent Calendar (24 days) or another Alphabet (the Erica Michael's one has 24 blocks) but in the end I went for something totally different - a Just-Nan-athon.  Over the years I have collected a lot of her small free charts and have stitched a few.

Here are a few more:

Most days I did one length of thread immediately after my 10-a-Day project before I started anything else.  The one in the middle got more done because I went to work that day and stitched during my lunchbreak.

They are, in clockwise order starting top left:

Christmas Rose

Christmas Star Ornament

Christmas Hearts

Victorian Rose

Royal Blossoms

Snow Forest

Lacy Diamond

Holly Knot

Have a Heart (centre)

Holiday in Ice

Butterfly Rose

Noah's Rainbow Painted Lady

I am just picking fabrics as I go, all 32 count to keep the sizes the same but sometimes the charted colour and sometimes my own choice.  I have 11 more to start for the rest of the month, one for each day and 2 on Saturday.  When I started these I wasn't sure how I would continue with them but Linda had a great idea in her recent post called "So Many Stitches a Week" so now my plan is to pick one and work out how many stitches I need to make each day to finish it in a month.  They average 40x40 but are not full coverage so there are probably only 800-1000 stitches in each one.  Which is roughly 30 a day.

So once March is done I am going to add one of these to the daily rotation and see how many I get done by the end of the year.

🌟🌟  Blogger of the Week   🌟🌟

Finally I wanted to say a Big Thank You to everyone who has visited and commented on the new Blogger of the Week Blog.  We have featured three bloggers so far and have more lined up.  I send a few questionnaires out at the beginning of each month to keep the answers fresh and current.  If you would like to be featured in the blog please do email me.  Also, could you talk about it on your blog to reach people I don't know!  I would love to expand my circle of blogs and I am sure that you all have followers that I don't know yet.