Hallowe'en SAL Update

There aren't enough days in the weekend

~ Rod Schmidt ~

Hi there!  I know I have been very re-miss with my monthly updates for the Hallowe'en Ornie 2014 SAL Blog.... that's because I haven't really been doing any Halloween stitching lately!  I sort of got stuck in May when my job changed and I went back to working 5 days a week - less time at home to stitch translated to less stitching being done!!

But today I do actually have a Halloween styled WIP to show you all!  My last update on the Halloween SAL blog was back in April with the cute little Owl I stitched on plastic canvas.

May was a bit tricky because I couldn't find a monster that I liked enough to stitch.... so I moved on and started to look around to see what I could stitch for June & July.....

I have been eyeing off a design in the 2013 Just Cross Stitch Halloween issue for quite some time... and I decided to stitch it this year.  Of course, me being me... I took ages to get organised to start... but my train of thought for this design went along the lines of:

May - monsters: nope, no monsters
June - free choice: yep, design is my choice!
July - pumpkins: excellent, this design has a pumpkin
August - ghosts: oops, no ghosts in my free choice design....
September - black cats: yep, there are black cats - 3 actually!

Yippee, my free choice design covers off three out five months.  So while I am still behind in this SAL, my free choice designs does sort of help me get back on track... all I have to do is finish it before the end of the year!!!

So here it is... my latest Halloween WIP:

"Witch and Friends"
Designed by Donna Giampa

As I mentioned earlier, this design was published in the 2013 JCS Halloween magazine.  You can see the finished version of the design on the front cover of the magazine below:

Next month's theme is "Trick or Treaters".  I have found a design for this one... but so far I haven't managed to start stitching October's theme.... but that's ok, after all the month has only just begun!!!

Hallowe'en Ornie SAL
2014 Themes
October - Trick or Treaters
November - Bugs, insects or spiders
December - Free choice

Still to stitch:
May - Monsters
August - Ghosts

Well, that it for another stitching update.  Can't promise you what I will have to show you in my next post... it will be a bit of a lucky dip I think...

Til next time, happy stitching!

Stitching Update....

A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books

~Walt Whitman ~

Hi there!  How about a bit of a stitching update?  It surely must be past time that I showed you what I have been stitching over the last couple of weeks.

Now when I last posted I had just started my Lizzie Kate "Jingles" SAL - but more on that in my next post....

This month I have also been stitching on my April design for the Halloween Ornie SAL 2014 blog.  The April theme was Owls and I chose to stitch a rather cute Diane Arthurs design.  Surprisingly this month I have actually managed to get my Owl stitched and posted before the end of the month!!

Say hello to "Owliver and Punky"!

"Owliver & Punky" - designed by Diane Arthurs
Stitched April 2014

This design was published in the Just Cross Stitch Halloween 2013 Special Edition magazine.  I stitched this lovely design on plastic canvas which I will back with some felt at some stage before turning it into a hanging ornament.

Next month's theme is "Monsters" - but I am yet to find a design that I like.... so let the hunt begin!

Hallowe'en Ornie SAL
2014 Themes
May -Monsters
June -any freebie chart
July -Pumpkins
August -Ghosts
September -Black cats
October - Trick or Treaters
November -Bugs, insects or spiders
December -Free choice

**********************

So that was Halloween.... now onto the MS Lovers Blog SAL's.

Remember I said at the beginning of the year that I had signed up for three MS SAL's this year.... well finally four months into the year I have managed to start stitching my first one!

SAL #5 - Spring Bouquet
started 26/4/14

The fabric that I am using to stitch "Spring Bouquet" is a 14ct white Aida with pink spots that Heather sent me for the MS Christmas Exchange.  Now that I have started stitching on this lovely design I think it is going to be hard to stop... except that I will very soon be hitting the white on kitty.... not looking forward to that!!

Before I leave you, let me show you the secret stitching that I mentioned last month in my TUSAL report. For those of you that follow Nia's blog you will know that little Lourenço was born on 7 March 2014.  I decided to stitch a little piece of Australia to send to Nia and her little man.  But as always happens with me, time went by and I didn't get it sent off before he was born. But maybe I should say I planned it that way so that I could add his birth date to the final stitching.

I stitched part of a birth sampler design from Carrol Nielsen.  I love Carrol's designs especially her Koala's.

This was my first flat fold finish....  The fabric that I used was another one from Stitches and Spice.

I also sent some little Aussie friends for Lourenço - just a little piece of Australia for a little Portuguese baby!

My next couple of posts will be my TUSAL post and an update on "Jingles".  See you then!

Til then, happy stitching
Stitching Noni xx

Where's Witchiepoo??

When witches go riding, and black cats are seen,

the moon laughs and whispers, ‘tis near Halloween.

~Author Unknown

Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo was one of my favourite characters from H.R Pufnstuf!  I just loved her!  However when it came to choosing my design for the March Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog I couldn't find a Witchiepoo to stitch....  so we will have to make do with the image that I found on the web!

Web image

So what did I stitch for my March ornie?  Well, it could only be one of the lovely seasonal witches from Maja's Snowflower Diaries blog!

Jo mentioned in one of her posts on the SAL blog that three (3) to thirteen (13) witches make a coven... and then when I was deciding what to stitch Jo also commented on my post that three witches can make a coven and how two of Maja's Spring Witches had already been stitched... so if I stitched Spring we would have a coven!

So I stitched the Spring Witch, and we now have a coven of the Snowflower Diaries Spring Witches for March!

Spring Witch (The Snowflower Diaries)
Started 23 March 2014, Finished 4 April 2014

This little witch is such a cute design, and very easy to stitch.  I stitched my little witch in DMC threads and it was stitched on some gorgeous sparkly fabric which unfortunately doesn't show up on the photo very well.

The fabric that I used to stitch my witch on is 32 ct Belfast (yes I know, 32 ct!!) and is called Wintered Marble (grey)"" but it is actually cream not grey.   This fabric is new to me and comes in a pack of fabric that I recently ordered from an Australian hand dyed fabric on line store - Stitches and Spice.  Their hand-dyed fabrics are lovely and this is the second piece of their fabric I have stitched on.   (Can't show you the first piece yet as it is travelling to a location far, far away!)

So now onto the April stitch which is "Owls".  I have already picked my owl design out and started stitching. I am stitching another design from the Just Cross Stitch Halloween 2013 special edition magazine.  Will post an update soon.....

So til next time when I will either be updating you on my owl friend... or showing you my secret stitch.... have a great week, happy stitching!

Big hugs,
Stitching Noni xx


Hallowe'en Ornie SAL 2014 Themes
April -Owls
May -Monsters
June -any freebie chart
July -Pumpkins
August -Ghosts
September -Black cats
October - Trick or Treaters
November -Bugs, insects or spiders
December -Free choice

Count Me In!

Sewing: A creative mess is better than tidy idleness

~ Author Unknown ~

Well hello again!  I am back to show you (finally) my finished February stitching for the Hallowe'en Ornie 2014 Blog.

My February design was "Count Me In" by Nancy Greenburg of Pickle Barrel Designs.  This design was published in the Just Cross Stitch Halloween Collection 2013 issue.  Such a fantastic source for Halloween designs.

"Count Me In"
Started 20th February 2014, Finished March 2014

I love how the orange stands out on the purple coloured Aida.  Very Halloween-ish colours!!

The March theme is Witches.  I have found so many different designs to stitch which contain witches, but I am still not sure which one I particularly want to stitch!  Although the Snowflower Diaries Seasonal Witches are very high on the list.

That's it for the time being.  Unfortunately not a lot of other stitching has been done lately except for the Count!  So now I had better get myself organised with some of my other stitching projects that are either on the go and waiting in the wings otherwise I won't have anything else to show you on the next post!

Til next time, happy stitching
Stitching Noni x




Hallowe'en Ornie SAL 2014 Themes
March -Witches
April -Owls
May -Monsters
June -any freebie chart
July -Pumpkins
August -Ghosts
September -Black cats
October - Trick or Treaters
November -Bugs, insects or spiders
December -Free choice

February 2014 IHSW Update

We all need empty hours in our lives

or we will have no time to create or dream

~ Robert Coles ~

Woo Hoo!  There's a happy dance happening... for the first time in months I have managed to remember to sign up for the IHSW!  That's not to say that every weekend I don't park my behind on the couch and stitch - because I most certainly do!  It's just that on the IHSW 3 day weekend I have an official reason (excuse) to do so!!!

And even more surprisingly I have actually managed to get onto my Blog and post some pics.... Things must be looking up!

So what did I stitch on from Friday to Sunday?

Well, on Friday I finally started stitching my Hallowe'en Ornie SAL 2014 choice for February (I know it's halfway through the month again and I have only just started it!!) and most of the weekend was spent stitching on my Count Dracula.

"Count Me In" as at Sunday 23rd Feb 2014
Designed by Nancy Greenberg (Pickle Barrel Designs)

My February choice is "Count Me In".  This cute little fellow was designed by Nancy Greenberg of Pickle Barrel Designs and he can be found in the Just Cross Stitch Halloween 2013 Special Edition magazine. Think I will be stitching a few more designs out of this magazine as the year progresses!

I did also manage a little bit of time stitching on my next Chatelaine - Mini Mandala II "C" - over the weekend as well.  I actually started stitching on this earlier last week, however I have now put it away as I am trying to concentrate on Count Dracula over the next week or so.

Chatelaine Mini Mandala II - C
as at Sunday 23rd Feb 2014

That's it for my first IHSW report for the year!  The next one will occur on the third full weekend of March (21st - 23rd March).  If you want to sign up for these fantastic stitching weekends, all you need to do is check in over on Joyce's blog and then stitch, post and read all the stitching news on Monday or Tuesday after the weekend.  It's all good fun!!

Now before I sign off, I would like to say a big Thank You to everyone for all your lovely comments on my last post and for the good wishes and congratulations to my Mum and Dad on their 50th Wedding Anniversary... it was lovely to read your comments and I will pass on all the messages to my parents.  I have tried to reply to everyone that comments... however there were a couple of "no-reply" bloggers...

Til next time, lots of happy stitching hugs
Stitching Noni xx

1 plus 1 equals 2!

She watched and taught the girls that sang at their embroidery frames while the great silk flowers grew from their needles.

~Louise Jordan Miln, The Feast of Lanterns ~

Hello!

I am doing a bit of a happy dance this weekend..... I have three finishes to declare.... eventually, but in this post I have only two to show you.  The third one will be posted when the finished product reaches its final destination next week.

Finish #1

Hallowe'en Ornament SAL 2014

January finish - "Where's Spooky?"

Started 28th January 2014; Finished 7th February 2014

"Where's Spooky?" - January ornie choice

"Where's Spooky?" is designed by Eileen Gurak of Handblessings Patterns.  This design was published in the Just Cross Stitch 2013 Halloween Special Edition magazine.  This magazine has some brilliant designs and I suspect I will be stitching one or two more from it yet!

You can see my post on the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL 2014 blog and while you're there you can see some of the other lovely stitching from some of the other bloggers following this SAL.

Finish #2

Chatelaine - Mini Mandala II - chart B

Started June/July 2013; Finished 14th February 2014

Mini Mandala II - B

This picture is a bit wonky but the stitched piece is straight... I promise!

Close up of "pond" and "gazebo" area

I loved stitching this Mandala - the blue of the pond is such a gorgeous colour.  I am amazed how different the finished piece is compared to the photo included with the chart pack.  There isn't a lot of speciality stitches or beading in this one, but it is just as pretty as the first one of the series.  I have now started the third and final one in the series, so hopefully it won't be long before I have another update for you.

Finish #3
Still to be revealed!!

That's it for now... I'll be back in a few days to show you my secret stitching which is of course Finish #3!

Happy Stitching,
Stitching Noni