Seasons Greetings

Just a short post sharing three small decorations I have made this month.  I bought the wooden ornaments from Etsy and then made my own design to stitch on them.

I hoped that the design would remind the recipients of the Poinsettia as this is something that I associate with our family Christmases.

I used some overdyed floss from my stash - I can't remember which ones I used unfortunately as I put them away!  I used the full six strands for the satin stitch to get the coverage.  I then glued some fabric to the back to finish them.  I gave them to three of my relatives and I think they liked them.

I have two more blanks which I intend to stitch the same for myself at some point.

This is definitely my last post before the Christmas season so I will wish you all well for the festive period.

Keep stitching and smiling

Plum Pudding - Glendon Place - 31.12.15 - FINISHED

Plum Pudding by Glendon Place - stitched on 28 count Jazlyn in Candytuft from Crafty Kitten fabrics.  Stitched with recommended Dinky Dyes threads and Mill Hill Beads.

Started 01.03.15 - finished 31.12.15

September Stitching

I managed to not post anything at all in September regarding my stitching so will try and summarise it here.

I stitched a little gift for a friends son's 3rd birthday.  It was from Cross Stitcher Magazine and I started stitching it as soon as I got the magazine home.  I bought it on the Thursday and his party was on the Saturday - talk about cutting it fine.  It was originally meant to be stitched on perforated paper and just be the shape of the monkey.  I originally thought about making it into a badge so stitched it on plastic canvas.  Once I started it though I realised it was too big to be a badge so I filled in the background and framed it.  I changed the thread for the body of the monkey to Bitter Chocolate and the jumper I stitched in Genie of the Lamp - both of these are threads from Jodyri Designs.

I made a small start on A Hug of Owls from KLT Charting.  I chose to purchase the full coverage chart and it is extremely confetti heavy.  Kim has also done a black and white chart which utilises long stitch and cross stitch and I may purchase this chart to stitch instead.  I'm going to show you a picture of the finished design and then my progress.

I started and finished Mrs Clause's Christmas Outfits by Shannon Christine.  It is such a sweet design and I can see myself purchasing a lot more of her charts in the future.  I was lucky enough that Shannon asked me to model stitch this design for her.  It is stitched on 28 count opal Regal Peacock from Jodyri Designs.

I put a few more stitches in Plum Pudding from Glendon Place but not enough to post an update picture.

I also made a start on a secret project which I can't post about until after January when the recipient has received it.  I don't think the person I am stitching it for reads my blog but you can never be too careful.

So I think that's about it for September - I will try and post more regularly in October.

Keep stitching and smiling

Jodyri Mystery SAL - Part 8 - FINISH

The last part of the Jodyri Mystery SAL was released today.  As you all know I model stitched this piece for Michelle so I finished it a few months ago.  It was such an enjoyable stitch and each part only took me 2-3 days to complete.

I stitched this piece on Arctic Splash which is a hand dyed fabric from Jodyri designs and used all the recommended Jodyri threads apart from one I changed the lettering on Blow me a Kiss Goldfish as the recommended thread had blue in it which you couldn't see against the fabric I chose.

Michelle is going to be releasing the full chart for sale in the near future so if you are interested in purchasing the chart please go to http://jodyridesigns.co.uk/

Here is part 1:

And here is part 2:

And part 3:

And part 4:

And part 5:

And part 6:

And part 7:

Last but not least Part 8:

And here is the full piece:

And my little boy holding it.  He loved it when I stitched this and kept asking what the next part of the rhyme was going to be.

I have plans to finish it as a wall hanging but haven't got round to it yet!

This was a very enjoyable mystery SAL and I can't wait to see what Michelle comes up with next.

Keep stitching and smiling

Summer Garden - Little House Needleworks - FINISH - 30th August 2015 - TRAVELLING PATTERN - MOVING ON

Well today I have finished Summer Garden from Little House Needleworks which was a travelling pattern I received a LONG time ago!  I am so sorry that I didn't get round to stitching this pattern sooner but all I can say is life got in the way and this poor little pattern got put at the bottom of the pile.

However it is now stitched up and ready to move on to it's next stitcher.

I stitched it on a hand dyed fabric from KLT Charting called January's Boy a lovely mix of blue and white giving the impression of a cloudy summer sky.  I stitched it with the recommended Crescent Colours hand dyed flosses.  I would say however that Magnolia Blossom, Roasted Chestnut and Queen Bee had no visible variegation that I could see and any future projects that call for these threads I will be substituting the DMC.  The Clay Pot and Weeping Willow threads had a subtle variegation which I was happy with.

There was a group of flowers that was charted to have petals stitched in Magnolia Blossom (the white thread) with long stitch and french knots.  I tried to stitch them as charted but they weren't working out for me so I just made up my own little flowers with a combination of Magnolia Blossom and Clay Pot and was pleased with the outcome.

Here's my finish:

So if you would like to be the next recipient of the travelling pattern please leave a comment on this blog.  I will leave entries open for a month to allow people time to enter so will choose a winner on 30th September 2015.

The random number generator has selected Plum Pudding by Glendon Place to be my next project to stitch on.

Keep stitching and smiling

Violet - Mill Hill Owlet - FINISH

I recently purchased the set of six Owlets from Mill Hill.  This was my first time doing a Mill Hill kit and the first time in a long time that I had done any beading.  I think this took me about four evenings to complete with three evenings of stitching and one of beading.  The best thing about these little kits is that the thread is DMC and the beads are of course Mill Hill - this means any extras left over of which there was quite a lot can be added to my existing stash.

Here's my completed owlet.

I bought some small canvases and easels from the Works recently for £1 each and the owlet fits perfectly on it.

I haven't backed it with anything yet but I think I will at some point just to ensure that none of the stitching or beads come unravelled.

I am very pleased with my little owlet and look forward to stitching the other five.

Keep stitching and smiling

Hugs - Jodyri Designs - FINISHED - 24th July 2015

I have recently been stitching a model for Michelle at Jodyri Designs.  It is one of a set of three and the one I stitched was Hugs the others are Love and Kiss.  It's stitched on 28 count Wild Porcini and the thread used is called Beach Huts.  This was a lovely stitch and I can see myself stitching it again to keep for myself.

I was asked to keep a record of how long it took me to stitch this project and I was surprised that it took me 18 hours to stitch.  It's really eye opening to keep a record of the length of time it takes to stitch a project and I think I'm going to start doing this for all future projects just for my own information.

Keep stitching and smiling

Tribal Hummingbird - KLT Charting - 9th July 2015 - FINISHED

I've had another finish - my second one in a week.  I was stitching Tribal Hummingbird as a model for KLT Charting but it was such a lovely stitch that it got completed a lot sooner than I expected it too.  I actually stitched on this on 9 days and today it's finished.

It's stitched on 18 count hand dyed aida from KLT Charting called Bring Me Sunshine.  The outline is stitched with DMC 3837 and the inside is stitched with Cha Cha Cha from Jodyri Designs.

I really enjoyed stitching this and it looks so vibrant and colourful.  A really lovely Summer stitch.

Keep stitching and smiling

Candy Cane Cottage - Country Cottage Needleworks - 06.07.15 - FINISHED

I joined in an event in a Facebook group I am part of about stitching a Christmas ornament which began on 1st July.  I've decided to stitch the Santa's Village series from Country Cottage Needleworks as individual ornaments.  I am planning to hang them like bunting over the festive season.

I don't have a before photo to show you as I started stitching this on 1st July and finished it today 6th July.  The first one I have stitched is called Candy Cane Cottage.  I used all the recommended threads but I changed the snowflakes from being stitched in DMC white to Kreinik 032 as I wanted them to have a little sparkle.

I used the recommended Poblano Pepper from Crescent Colours and was slightly disappointed with the outcome.  It's not as variegated as it is in the picture and I think I could have got the same effect with the DMC alternative.  I suppose that's the chance you take with overdyed threads.

So here are my progress pictures:-

I've got one more day of my self-imposed stitching holiday before I get back to stitching on the models I have committed to and I think it may be a new start.

Keep stitching and smiling