February 2018 Stitching Update

Image from Princess Sassy Pants website

February update... lot of pics to show... the stitching shown below is everything not mentioned in either my February Smalls update or my very late February WIPocalypse update.

February Starts
Give Joy - Country Cottage Needleworks
Started: 6th February 2018
Fabric: 28ct Opal Brittney "Elf" Jodyri Designs
Thread: DMC
Source: Just Cross Stitch Ornie Magazine

Reindog - Mill Hill Kit
Started: 12th February 2018

Rosemary & Thyme - Gail Bussi
Started: 13th February 2018
Fabric: 28ct Opal Lugana "Sagebush" Under the Sea Fabrics
Threads: DMC as charted
Source: Cross Stitch Collection magazine June 2012

Bliss Fairy - Nora Corbett
Started: 14th February 2018

Fabric: 32ct Opal Belfast "Pink Champagne" Colour Cascade Fabrics
Threads: DMC as charted

Warm Hands, Warm Heart - The Little Stitcher
Started: 28th February 2018

Fabric: 32ct Belfast "Antique Ivory"
Threads: DMC & Whisper White
Source: Just Cross Stitch Christmas 2017

Other WIP Stitching
The Bookshelf - Little House Needleworks
Started: 8th January 2018

Fabric: 28ct Opal Lugana "Gaia" Under the Sea Fabrics
Threads: DMC as charted

Beach Cottage - Country Cottage Needleworks
Started: 13th January 2018

Fabric: 28ct Opal Belfast "Dawn Light" Stitches & Spice
Threads: DMC, WDW, Classic Colourworks

Flip Flips - Mill Hill kit
Started: 8th January 2017

Rococo Ladies - Soda Stitch
Started: 13th January 2018

Fabric: 32ct Belfast "Fall to Pieces" Colour Cascade Fabrics
Threads: DMC as charted

And here's what all that stitching looks like in graph form!

Stitch From Stash Update
February Check In:
Carry Over Balance: -$89.00
Budget: $25.00
Expenses: $150.60 (ouch!)
Credit: $13.00 (2 finishes)
New Balance: -201.60

Think that is everything for February.... the Olympic SALs meant that I did a lot of bitty stitching during February so apologies for the long post!!

Til next time, happy stitching!
Hugs xx

WIPocalypse November 2017 Update

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

WIPocalypse is run by Melissa over at Measi's Musings and is now in it's 6th year (amazing!).  The object of the WIPocalypse is to stitch on projects that you want to complete before the end of the world! 

At the beginning of January I picked out 17 WIPocalypse projects to work on in 2017.  The full list of my 17 projects can be found on my WIPocalypse 2017 page.

This update is going to be a pretty good update as I have managed to stitch on a number of my pieces over the month of November.  So here we go for the November show and tell!

12 Days of Christmas (Plum Street Samplers)

Fabric: 28ct Jobelan "Gold Digger" - Colour Cascade Fabrics
Threads: Jodyri Designs (Wuthering Heights, Sense & Sensibility, The Olde Curiousity Shoppe, Midnight Hour)

Day 10 has finally been started

I really need to catch up on this one if I am going to be finished by the end of December!!

Christmas Eve Couriers - Comet (Nora Corbett)

Fabric: 32ct Belfast "Arabian Nights" - Stitches and Spice
Threads: DMC as charted

This is what "Comet" looked like in my last update:

He now looks like this:

The border has been started... so we are really on the home stretch now!

Deer & Grapes Mystery Sampler (Jean Farish)
Fabric: 32ct Lugana "Autumn Glade" - Stitches and Spice
Threads: DMC as charted

August/September 2017 update

November 2017

The deer is now done... still a bit more to do on this one - I am not sure if it will be done before the end of the year now!  I have been a bit bogged down by it again....

Dog House Sampler - Little House Needleworks
Fabric: 28ct plain linen
Threads: DMC as charted

The last time I showed this one was back in October 2016... and this month was the first time I picked it up again since then!

September 2016

November 2017

Mini Mandala II - C (Chatelaine)
Fabric: 32ct cream linen
Threads: NPI Silks as charted

March 2017

November 2017

Little bit more progress... the square has increased by one more row of stitches

Fashionista Cat - Design Works
Kit - 14 ct Aida fabric / DMC threads

June 2015

November 2017

I had a good stitching session on this one during November and it's nice to see some progress at last!

and last but not least... this is also a GG WIP....

Moutons de Saisons - été (Collection Tra La La)
Fabric: 28ct Cashel Linen "Fairy Forest" - Stitches and Spice
Threads: DMC as charted

June 2017

November 2017

That border is slowly coming together and then this little cutie will be done and dusted!!

This month's question is: What finishing style have you never tried but would love to do?
Interesting question given I don't do a lot of final finishing.... I have done pillows/cushions and a couple of flat folds for those pieces that I have managed to finally finish, but one of the finishes that I haven't tried yet is a cube finish.  Maybe that is something I will try one day!!

So that's it for this update! The next check in is on Sunday 31st December 2017. That will be the last one for the year... Can you believe it? If you want to see what everyone else has posted for November drop into Measi's blog and check out the November link up page.

Til next time, happy stitching!

Hugs xx

WIPocalypse September 2017 Update

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

WIPocalypse is run by Melissa over at Measi's Musings and is now in it's 6th year (amazing!).  The object of the WIPocalypse is to stitch on projects that you want to complete before the end of the world! 

At the beginning of January I picked out 17 WIPocalypse projects to work on in 2017.  The full list of my 17 projects can be found on my WIPocalypse 2017 page.

Well here we go again... late as usual for my update.... 😌

12 Days of Christmas (Plum Street Samplers)

Fabric: 28ct Jobelan "Gold Digger" - Colour Cascade Fabrics
Threads: Jodyri Designs (Wuthering Heights, Sense & Sensibility, The Olde Curiousity Shoppe, Midnight Hour)

Day 9 has been started but that's all... still have 7 ladies to stitch before month end!

Halloween Happiness (Sandra Cozzolino)

Fabric: 28ct plain purple fabric
Threads: all DMC

The spooky words have been started... I stitched on this last night and finished another word and started on the "Happy" but haven't taken a photo so that might have to be for next time otherwise this post will never get done!

Christmas Eve Couriers - Comet (Nora Corbett)

Fabric: 32ct Belfast "Arabian Nights" - Stitches and Spice
Threads: as charted

Last time you saw "Comet" was back in October 2016 and he was looking a bit sad then...

and now he still looks sad but there is some progress!  The ribbon is all done now as well as the white spots on his body.  I have started adding the Caron Waterlilies to the tree and then it's onto the border and scattered snow (or should I say beads!)

This month's question is:

Which floss (or color of floss) do you absolutely adore and want to stash constantly?
Goodness me how hard is that to answer....

I love the variegated threads from Jodyri Designs and have slowly been building up a collection of them.  I also love silks.... and have recently purchased a grab bag from Silks 4 U which I am looking forward to trying out.  I have some NPI silks that I bought for my Chatelaines and they are beautiful to stitch with but so expensive to buy!  Some of the other over-dyed threads are gorgeous as well but my collection of those so far is meagre and needs to be increased dramatically!

My favourite DMC colour is hard to pick... I love the hot pinks and bright purples but then I see the gorgeous soft pinks and greens that I am stitching Queen of Peace with and I love them....  I absolutely adore seeing orange and purple together which is probably why I am drawn to Halloween designs so much 😋

So that's it for this update! The next check in is on Sunday 29th October 2017. If you want to see what everyone else has posted for September drop into Measi's blog and check out the September link up page.

Til next time, happy stitching!

Hugs xx

April 2017 WIPocalypse Update

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

WIPocalypse is run by Melissa over at Measi's Musings and is now in it's 6th year (amazing!).  The object of the WIPocalypse is to stitch on projects that you want to complete before the end of the world! 

At the beginning of January I picked out 17 WIPocalypse projects to work on in 2017.  The full list of my 17 projects can be found on my WIPocalypse 2017 page.

So what did I manage to work on during April? Well.... surprise, surprise... I have a finish... happy dances all round!!! ;o)

Christmas Eve Courier: Prancer (Nora Corbett)

Fabric: 32ct Opal Belfast Linen "Arabian Nights" - Spice & Spice

Threads: DMC, Caron Waterlillies, Kreinik

Started: 3rd January 2015

Finished:23rd April 2017

The last time that I showed "Prancer" on my blog was back in July 2016 when I had finished all the cross stitching & back stitching.  I did bead the border in August 2016 but it appears that I never did show you the progress at that point...

And now he is finished!

Don't you just love all that bling?  I am so pleased to get this one finished - now I just need to get back to Comet and then I can turn my attention to starting the other 7!

12 Days of Christmas (Plum Street Samplers)
I did manage to get some progress on my Plum Street Samplers "12 Days of Christmas - Day 4" during April but it is not quite finished so I will show that next month.

Halloween Happiness (Sandra Cozzolino)

I showed an update on this one in my latest Smalls post so won't re-show it here!

Queen of Peace (Nora Corbett/Mirabilia)

Fabric: 32ct Opal Belfast Linen "Hole in the Sky" - Colour Cascade Fabric

Threads: DMC, Kreinik

Started: 8 May 2016

Last time you saw "Queen of Peace" was October 2016:

After some love earlier this month she now looks like this:

As you can see by this before and after picture I did do some stitching on her between October 2016 and April 2017 but again it would appear that I forgot to show it on my blog!

Zenia (Nora Corbett/Mirabilia)

Fabric: 32ct Belfast Opal Linen "Beachwalk" - Under the Sea Fabrics

Threads: DMC, Kreinik

Started: 22 October 2016

Now I hang my head in shame because I have never shown you "Zenia" on my blog to date... I started her in October last year but as I missed posting for the last 3 months of the year you never saw her started. (sorry....)

This pic is a before and after my stitching session on "Zenia" at the beginning of the month.

Deer & Grapes Mystery Sampler (Jean Farish)

Fabric: 32ct Lugana "Autumn Glade" - Stitches and Spice

Threads: DMC 

Started: February 2015 / Restarted January 2017

Since I last showed this to you I have completed quite a bit.... I was doing 17 stitches a day but have now changed that to 20 stitches a day (sometimes it's more!)  At the end of April it now looks like this:

This is really coming along now.... I have left the gap where I need to put either my name or something else as I am not sure yet what wording I am going to put in that spot.

So that's it for the April's WIPocalypse project update!  Heaps to show this time around!  The last thing I need to do is answer this month's question...

What projects are in your UFO pile?
I try not to have UFO's.... I have WIPs that are resting..... :o)  I do have some very old WIPs in a box that I try not to think about too much.  I actually did a post back in March 2015 (link is here) showing these WIPs when I found in the box....

Nowadays I keep all my WIPs in one spot and try to get to them at least once a year!!!

So there you go.... a little bit of an update on my stitching throughout the month of April. Next month's check in is on Sunday 28th May 2017. If you want to see what everyone else has posted this month, drop into Measi's blog and check out the April link up page.

Til next time, happy stitching!
Hugs xx

January New Starts... so far...

I thought I would give you a bit of an update on on my 2017 new starts so far... yes, there are one or two of them already!!

Halloween Happiness - Sandra Cozzolino/Imaginating
This is my year long Halloween Ornie Blog piece.  The plan is to stitch a part of the design each month to tie in with the monthly theme on the blog.

Started: 1 January 2017
Also stitched a bit more on 13 January as it was Friday 13th!

Fabric & threads: 28ct fabric from stash and DMC threads

Dressmaker's Daughter - Nora Corbett
Started: 1 January 2017

Fabric: Colour Cascade Fabrics 32ct Belfast "Golden Touch"
Threads: DMC

Flip Flops - Mill Hill Kit
Started: 8 January 2017

Birthstone Dragons SAL January - Ingleside Imaginarium
Started: 14 January 2017

Fabric: Hand Dyed by Stephanie - 28ct Opal Lugana "Frozen Fractals"
Threads: DMC; border in Petite Treasure Braid PB26

Dog Park - Satsuma Street
Started: 15 January 2017

This is going to be my "Ten A Day" piece.  I am in catch up mode at the moment so I did 25 stitches on my first day.

Stitching: 15th Jan 2017

For those of you that might not know, the "Ten A Day" project is a Facebook Group Challenge where you choose a WIP or new start that has approx 3,650 stitches and stitch 10 stitches on it each day with the aim being at the end of the year you will have a finish.  Of course that doesn't mean you can't do a smaller or larger project - 3,650 is a guide only.....

stitching: 16 Jan - 21 Jan 2017

Above is an updated photo of "Dog Park" after Saturday's stitching,  I am planning to post my weekly progress on the FB group every Sunday.  I love stitching on this project and do find it quite hard to put it down after the planned number of stitches each day!  By the end of the month I will be up to date and then will continue with 10 stitches a day going forward.

I do have one more new start but as it is a gift I will keep that secret for a wee bit longer!

That's it for now... lots of stitching ahead on new starts and WIPs!  This week is check in week for the 2017 Smalls SAL so fingers crossed I will have a finish by Friday!

Til next time, happy stitching... and no frogging!
Hugs xx