Festive finishes and the first finish of 2015!

Firstly the first finish of 2015! Started on New Year's Eve and finished on New Year's Day it is Peace on Earth, number four in the Just Dropping in Series from Just Nan.  The instructions suggest that this should be stitched on 32ct Alluring Blue Belfast linen, I'm not sure that this fabric is correct but it's the one the chart came with when ordered from America.  This was stitched with the recommended DMC and Kerinik floss. I have tried several times but cannot get a decent photo, this is as good as it gets.

My other finishes have a festive theme starting with Hark from Shepherd's Bush.  This was in the 2014 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue.  The fabric was from my stash, not sure what colour, but the ornaments were stitched with the recommended over dyed floss.  This ornament was my family Christmas ornament for 2014 so I stitched it five times!  i only had one of the special buttons so had to design my own horn for the other ornaments.

Another Shepherd's Bush finish with a a festive theme is 'Tis the Season. This came as a kit and is stitched on 32ct lambswool linen with over dyed floss.

Other festive Just Nan finishes are the Gingerbread Angel Mouse, I stitched this twice, once for me and again for a gift.  I also stitched her Gingerbread Garden Cube.  these were both stitched on 32ct Gingerbread Belfast linen using DMC.

Here they are made up.

My final Just Nan finish was an impulse project.  Blitzen Glistens was stitched on some left over 32ct opalescent natural Belfast linen with DMC floss. I framed it in a three inch frame from Framecraft.

Now for some other finishes.   I started the Snow Days Bell Pull  from Waxing Moon Designs last New Year.  It became a UFO which I finished over the school holidays. In fact most of the projects in this post have been stitched over the last two weeks. All I need is to get some bell pull ends and this is ready to hang up when/if it snows!

Again with a seasons theme is the Winter Jumble from The Drawn Thread.  This was stitched on 34ct Puritan Grey Legacy linen with the suggested silk floss.

This fits a 6" x 4" photo frame. I still have the Autumn Jumble to do and some of their larger jumbles, so watch this space in 2015.

And finally, I was stitching this the last time I posted, I think.  Fall Ewe All  followed by Autumn Sheep from Shepherd's Bush. Again these was stitched on the recommended fabric with the recommended over dyed floss.

I have not decided what the 2015 rotation is going to look like but there will probably be a Shepherd's Bush week, a Just Nan week, a Drawn Thread week and possibly a Glendon Place week.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. best wishes for 2015.

Happy stitching!

October round up!

The nights are drawing in here in the UK and I've made an effort to stitch most evenings. I now need to work on the blogging!

Here is a round up of what has been going on since I last posted, there is a distinct Halloween feel.

Lizzie*Kate's ABC Halloween has been a WIP, actually a UFO for quite some time. Pictures haven't appeared on here as it was my Yorkshire sewing to be done when staying at my husband's house in Yorkshire before his house sold.  That was in February.  Anyway it's finished now.

This was stitched on 32ct Dirty Belfast linen with the recommended DMC and Crescent Colours floss.  When I finished this I started another Lizzie*Kate Halloween project, the Mystery Sampler Club Very Scary from 2013.

This is part 3 as I usually start at the bottom and stitch upwards.

 

 

For me Halloween would not be Halloween without some Just Nan. So here we go.

 

Firstly the Cure Hoots Ollie and Percy.  Ollie is stitched on 30ct carrot linen from Weeks Dye Works and Percy on 30ct Peoria purple linen also from Weeks Dye Works.  Both were stitched with the recommended DMC floss.

 

 

 

Made up they look like this.

 

 

 

Next up Miss Witchy Mouse. this one is so cute I've actually stitched her twice. Once for me and once for my Mother-in -law.  She is stitched on 32ct raw Belfast linen with DMC floss.

 

 

 

 

 

Careful use of the Peoria purple linen supplied with Percy Hoot meant that I had enough to stitch the Spooky Witch Hat, a limited edition tin from the Over The Top  series from 2009. so far I have stitched the base of the hat. 

 

 

 

Stitching the rest of the hat has been suspended as a Halloween themed birthday gift has taken its place.  This is the Halloween Frights Treat Box from Praiseworthy Stitches.  I spent two evenings reading the finishing instructions.  Too much glue for my liking so what you see here has been hand finished from the lining inside the tin, which you can't see, the Frankie Needlebook and the purple ribbon around the lid lining.

 

 

 

The scissor sheath is being stitched at the moment.

 

 

I'm yet to work out how to finish this without using glue. Still to complete is a beaded scissor fob, pumpkin pyn cushion and candy corn pyn disc.

 

Not all my stitching has had a Halloween theme. There has been some festive finishes too.  These are from Shepherd's Bush. The Grey Snowman and Hark from this year's Just Cross Stitch Christmas ornament issue.  Both are stitched with the recommended floss.

 

 

 

 

Has anyone else done the Shepherd's Bush snowmen?  I do not want to get them framed individually as there are too many of them.  has anyone found a novel way of displaying them? I was thinking of making them into bunting to hang some where in the house.  Any suggestions gratefully received.

 

Happy stitching!

 

 



Summer round up

Every post this year I seem to be apologising for my lack of posting.  As per usual though, there has not been a lack of stitching.  In no particular order, this is what I have been up to since last time.

Firstly the Easter Quadrielle from The Sweetheart Tree.

This came as a kit and is stitched on 28 ct Buttermilk linen with DMC floss.

Here it is made up.

Next The Drawn Thread's Summer Jumble. This was stitched on 34 ct Cafe au Lait Legacy Linen, I think, not the recommended Devonshire Cream linen. it was stitched with the recommended silk floss.

I replaced the Stars and Stripes heart with a butterfly of my own design.

Next up are three Just Nan finishes. Firstly Sherry's Scissor Pocket, an exclusive design for Country Crafts in Colorado.

This was stitched on 28 ct Zweigart Opal Rainbow Dreams Cashel Linen with the recommended DMC floss.

Next is Oakley Owlet.  I stitched this last year. this one is for my mother in law, who took a fancy to my one the last time she came to visit. This is stitched on 32 ct Platinum Belfast Linen rather than the suggested Stone Grey linen with the recommended DMC floss.

The final Just Nan finish is Lorelei Lamb. This was stitched on 32 ct white Belfast Linen again using the recommended DMC floss.

And finally, my last two finishes to share with you. These are both from Shepherd's Bush. Firstly A Full Heart followed by My Home Fob. These are parts one and two respectively of the Shepherd's Fold project. these both came as a kit and are stitched on 32 ct hand dyed linen stone stems with the recommended silks and other floss.

I an eagerly awaiting the next art of this project and some new arrivals from Just Nan.  There are still a few weeks of the school holidays left and I have another two projects on the go, both of these are from Lizzie*Kate. Hopefully I will be able to show you those next time, which, fingers crossed will not be in another four months!

Happy stitching!

Progress since January

So  much for the New Year resolutions! Despite the lack of blogging there has been activity on the stitching front.  This is what I've been up to.

Firstly I have a number of Just Nan finishes to show you. As per usual these are stitched on the recommended fabric with the recommended DMC floss. Lets start with Love Birds Tree, the first in the Charmed Heart Trees series from last year.

When I finished this project my next Just Nan one was Little Princess Snow, one of this year's limited edition ornaments.  Here she is before finishing.

And made up.

My final Just Nan finish was the Porch Garden Mice humbug, again before finishing and then made up.

I finished, but not in time for Valentine's Day, B My Valentine from The Drawn Thread.  This was stitched on 34 count Cafe au Lait Legacy Linen with the recommended NPI and over-dyed silks.

Each of the blocks are just under and inch square, the magnifier was needed to stitch this one!  I will probably finish this as a bell put when I find some suitable backing fabric. I enjoyed stitching this one so much that I decided to start the Spring Jumble also from The Drawn Thread. With it being the school Easter holidays I finished it in three days!

This one was stitched on 34 count white Legacy Linen again with the recommended NPI and over-dyed silks.  I do not have a massive stash of silks. These two projects came kitted up from The Nimble Thimble.  I did frame this myself putting it into a wooden photo frame from Wilkos.  The other Jumbles in the series are the same size so I will swap them in and out of the frame according to the season, when I have finished them.

And finally, some Halloween finishes.  This is the Hocus Pocus Freebie from Shepherds Bush, the chart came free with the button.  They recommended stitching this on 19 count Cork Summer Khaki linen.  I do not have any 19 count anything but I did have some 28 count Summer Khaki left over from another project.  To make this approximately the right size, so the button did not seem too big, I used three strands of floss over three strands of the fabric.  I tried to use the suggested over-dyed floss. Where I didn't have the correct colour I substituted on that was almost there.  Again I framed this myself in another photo frame from Wilkos. This took a day to stitch.

Another project that I will frame myself will be this next one, The Boys are Back in Town, a freebie chart from Just Another Button Company which you get when you but the button pack.

This was stitched on over-dyed linen, the chart suggests 30 count graphite from Weeks Dye Works but I don't think this was the fabric used.  It was stitched in the correct suggested floss with the exception of the spider's web which I did with glow in the dark white thread from Krienik.  I also finished the remaining circular Halloween ornaments from JBW Designs that I had been working on but then photos were not very good so I will need to redo them.

At the moment I have three things on the go, one of which is near completion.  That leaves a space on the rotation, which has gone out the window, and it will be taken by the my latest Shepherd's Bush acquisition! More about that next time, hopefully, and fingers crossed next time will not be in three months!

Happy stitching!