October Update / November Plans

Image from Princess Sassy Pants website/blog

Oh that is so true... slow progress is my only progress...  I have been stitching and getting some good progress on a couple of projects but my posting/blogging progress is almost no existent!!

So in an effort to fix that... here is an update on everything that I haven't shown you for October and a little bit about of info what I am going to try and do in November.

Gifted Gorgeousness Stitching
I completely missed posting for GG during October.  I managed to stitch on two pieces that could fit in the GG brief during the month - I will show them here as I have something up my sleeve for the November GG post.

Happy Howloween - Brooke's Books
(Freebie chart) the link to the freebie page is here
The last time I showed this was back in July 2015... and that was the last I stitched on it.... I can't believe that, but it must be true as this is what it looked like when I started stitching on it in October.

Happy Howloween - July 2015

It now looks like this:

October 2017

Dream Big - Country Cottage Needleworks
(Gift from Tiff)
The last time I showed you "Dream Big" was back in August 2017.  The gorgeous design is a gift from Tiff and I am almost done...

August 2017

This cute little bunny now looks like:

October 2017

So that's it for GG stitching.... now onto Smalls stitching (such that it is!)

October Smalls Stitching
The only "small" that I stitched/finished during October was my Peek-a-Boo Pals - Libra, which you have already seen for the Zodiac SAL.

Finished 8 October 2017

I did however have a couple of new Smalls starts... 

Hocus Pocus Trilogy - Muriel
Mill Hill kit
Started 13 October 2017

Peekaboo Pals Zodiac - Scorpio / November (Deborah Flynn)
Started: 25 October 2017
Fabric: 28ct Brittney "Dawn of Spring" - Jodyri Designs
Threads: DMC
Chart: World of Cross Stitching magazine, issue 142

My little Scorpio girl is not quite finished... but I will try and get her done by the end of the week!

So that's it for Smalls... no new finishes but hopefully by the end of November that will change!

WIPocalypse Check In
Woeful progress on my WIPocalypse projects during October.  The only pieces I worked on you have already seen... I finished Halloween Happiness on 1st October and 12 Days of Christmas Day 9 was finished on 15th October.  I haven't even started Day 10 on 12 Days!!  Now I am going to be in trouble with my plans to finish that one this year if I don't get a move on!!

Halloween Happiness - Sandra Cozzolino

12 Days of Christmas Day 9 - Plum Street Samplers

This month Mel has posed a second question... I will answer that one first and then answer the monthly question.

Do you have any plans or instructions for your stitching projects and stash for after you’re gone?
I don't have any plans for any of my stitching projects or stash for after I go.  No one in my family stitches... it is something that I have jokingly talked to Hubby about and his solution is to get 2 coffins - one for me and some stash and a second one for the rest of the stash - after all I am going to need to take something with me when I go!! 😄

How did you begin stitching?
I started stitching way back in the early 80's when I was 20-something.  My mum used to buy a craft/home magazine (Better Homes & Gardens I think it was called) and they used to occasionally have embroidery or cross stitch patterns in them.  You could also buy some kits that you could embroider aprons, pillow cases or table cloths with and I bought a couple of those to try.  But my first introduction into embroidery was by my Mum's mum.  She used to hand embroider doiley's and she got me to try some when I was about 10 or 12... I didn't enjoy the embroidery but when I found the stamped cross stitch versions I decided that I could do this!  From humble beginnings as they say!

OK... so that's the missing October stitching progress done and dusted.... how about some other stitching pics?

New Start
Shimmering Mermaid - Mirabilia (Nora Corbett)
Started: 6 October 2017
Fabric: 32ct Opal Belfast "Oceans" Colour Cascade Fabrics
Threads: as per chart - DMC

October 2017

Pumpkins 4 Sale - Little House Needleworks
Fabric: 28ct Jobelan "Silver Springs" Colour Cascade Fabrics
Threads: as per chart - DMC, Classic Colourworks (Crescent Colours)

I last showed you this back in September.  I had hoped to stitch this for the SAL that Vonna was running over on the CCN/LHN facebook page but alas that was not to be!  But I will keep stitching on this over the next few months and it will be finished eventually!  This month Stitch Maynia's Designer SAL is Little House Needleworks so I will put in a couple of stitches during November for that SAL.

September 2017

It now looks like this after stitching on this a number of days during the last few weeks including trying to stitch on it last weekend at the Colour Cascade Fabrics stitching retreat (more talking than stitching being done on Day 1!!):

October 2017

During the month of October I also stitched on the following:

Castles in the Air - Long Dog Samplers
Fabric: 32ct Belfast "At Last" Colour Cascade Fabrics
Thread: DMC White (accents will be in gold or silver)

August 2017

I spent a Sunday stitching on this during October and it now looks like this:

October 2017

Queen of Peace - Mirabilia (Nora Corbett)
Fabric: 32ct Opal Belfast Linen "Hole in the Sky" - Colour Cascade Fabric
Threads: DMC, Kreinik
I hadn't since on this beauty since April 2017... so I took her to the Colour Cascade Fabrics stitching retreat last weekend and spent a number of hours stitching on her on Day 2....

April 2017

I carried on stitching on her when I got home on Sunday night and she now looks like this:

Ok... that's my October stitching update.  I have been thinking about what I want to do in November and have come up with a plan!  I have 15 WIPocalypse projects left for 2017 - I know I won't finish them all but there are some that I haven't touched all year, so my plan is to stitch at least 50 mins on each one in November.  Stitch Maynia is having a SAL relating to 50... it's a spin-off of a writing challenge so I thought I could use that to touch all of my other projects and who knows there may be another finish before the end of the year!

So that's it for today... 
Sorry it's such a long one!
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

Progress Reports on my WIPs

Hi there! I'm back with some updates on my WIPs that you haven't as yet seen.  I have some new starts as well but given that this post will be quite long I think I will leave them for another post!

Advent Animals - Peter Polar Bear
Designer: Brooke Nolan (Brooke's Books)
Freebie - Brooke's website
Fabric: 32ct Belfast "Moonbeam" from Stitches & Spice

Then: I started stitching on the Brooke's Books Advent Animals for the DUCJC2015 and unfortunately not a lot has been done on these cuties done since then.... (25 designs - started 3, finished 1)

Yesterday I decided that it would be a Brooke's Books Sunday and Peter Polar Bear came out to play...  I last stitched on him in April 2015 and left him looking like this!

Peter Polar Bear - April 2015

Now: After a day/evening of stitching while watching Flosstube he now looks like this:

Peter Polar Bear - Oct 2016

Nora Corbett's Christmas Couriers - Comet
Designer: Nora Corbett
Fabric: 32ct Belfast "Arabian Nights" from Stitches & Spice

Then: Comet has been getting a little bit of love over the last few weeks.  I stitched on him during the Olympics and left him looking like this:

as at August 2016

Now:

as at 26 Sept 2016

Lakeside Needlecraft / Durene Jones Fantasy SAL
Designer: Durene Jones
Fabric: 32ct Jobelan "Silver Springs" from Colour Cascades Fabrics

Pegasus is not quite finished yet....

as at 30 August 2016

But I just had to start the Wizard as soon as he came out.....

as at 28 September 2016

He is nearly done as well.... the latest design has now been released but I will try and finish these 2 before starting the next one!!

Disney's Tigger
Designer: freebie UK Cross Stitcher Magazine

Then and Now: For Stitch Maynia Colour A Day (Orange Crush) on 24th September I found a poor little WIP sitting in the box that would be perfect for this day's stitching challenge.  I started him for an ABC Challenge in 2015 and did manage to do a little bit more on him in between April 2015 and September 2016... which I had to frog before I could restart the orange stitching again!

as at 24 September 2016

Queen of Peace
Designer: Nora Corbett
Fabric: 32ct Belfast "Hole in the Sky" from Colour Cascades Fabric

Then:

Now:

Merry Christmas Grumpy Kitty
Designer: Brooke Nolan (Brooke's Books)
Freebie - Brooke's website
Fabric: 32ct Belfast  "Arabian Nights" from Stitches and Spice

Then:

as at April 2015

Now:

This was supposed to be my Sept TUSAL photo but I forgot to post it... so you are seeing it now! (And I forgot to do my Oct photo.... oh well there is always next month!)

Mini Mandala II - C
Designer: Chatelaine Designs

Then:

as at June 2016

Now:

as at September 2016

So that's it for the WIPs for now!  Lots of stitching has been done recently... but not a lot of blog posting so this post is a little bit picture heavy... sorry...

I'll come back and show you my new starts another day - with a little bit of luck some of them might even be finishes by then!

Til next time, happy stitching
Hugs xx

Stitch Maynia Summer Olympics Challenge (Part 2)

Well, the Olympics have now come to an end which means that the Stitch Maynia Summer Olympics Challenge has also finished.

I showed you in my last post all the pieces that I worked on for the first 11 days and now I can show you what I worked over the last week or so.

I left you at Day 11 which was white for the Olympic flag....

"Santa on a Bike" (New Start)
Christmas Cross Stitch Project Book
Needlecraft Magazine - unknown year/issue
Day 12 - Cycling (or anything with a wheel)

Insert photo shows what he will look like when finished
This motif is part of a larger tablecloth design
I'm not doing his bike tyres in purple....

Day 15 - Medals - Silver

This wasn't my original choice... I did start doing a silver and purple metallic mitten on perforated plastic with some free Maderia metallic thread... and I hated it so much I threw it in the drawer in disgust and quickly stitched the yellow and silver in this one.  The mitten was frogged on Saturday and will not be discussed again!!

Nora Corbett's Christmas Couriers -"Comet"
Shoe-horn alert!!
Day 13 - Medals - Gold
Day 14 - Patriotic/National Anthems (or music related)

Added the browns of his hind legs

For gold I stitched all the gold metallic around the ribbon that forms part of the strapping/ribbon holding the presents on.

Now this is where the shoe-horn appears.... I am not currently stitching anything that could be called patriotic or music inspired so I decided that I would use the rather large shoe-horn I have to lever Comet in as a Christmas National Anthem (ie he is in the song "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer"....) LOL! :o)

Christmas Candle (new start)
Cross Stitch Gold Issue 5
Designer: Pam Johnson (Kooler Design Studio)
Finish #28
Day 15 - Olympic Torch - fire or flames

Started: 20 August 2016
Finished: 21 August 2016

Queen of Peace
Designer: Nora Corbett
Day 16 - Medals - Copper/Bronze

I pulled this beauty out yesterday and did some stitching on her (not quite as much as it looks as I hadn't taken a progress shot last time I put her away!

I did work on quite a bit though from the ribbon in the middle downwards and to the left as I wanted to get to the bronze metallic so that I would be able to say that I stitched on bronze for the last day of the challenge!

So that's it for the Olympic Stitching Challenge!

See you next time!
Til then... happy stitching
Hugs xx

Whine and WIP's update

June is done and dusted... July has begun so it's time for me to show you the rest of the WIPs that I worked on during June for the Stitch Maynia "Whine and WIPs" SAL.

My last WIP update post was on 18th June where I showed you my "Witch and Friends" finish as well as an update on "Jingles" and "Prancer.  My Smalls post that I posted on Friday showed you the 4 x June starts and finishes, but there were also lots of other stitching going on as well during June.

So here goes....

Nora Corbett's Christmas Eve Couriers - Prancer
as at 17 June 2016

as at 26 June 2016

Prancer is now ready for beading.... and then he will be finished!

The Little Stitcher - Red Christmas Deer
as at 21 April 2015

as at 19 June 2016

I am using waste canvas on an Ikea tea towel for this one....

Faces of Joan Elliott - Holly Fairy
as at 6 June 2016

as at 23 June 2016

Managed to stitch a little bit more of her hair,,,,

Mirabilia / Nora Corbett - Queen of Peace

as at 31 May 2016

as at 24 June 2016

"Queen of Peace" was my "Pretty In Pink" piece for the colour-a-day SAL on 24th June and I managed to get quite a bit of the pink in the bouquet stitched.  I have stitched some more of her ribbon but forgot to take a photo....

Nora Corbett "Queen Anne's Lace"
as at 9th April 2016

as at 30th June 2016

So that's it for my WIP update.  I do have another 2 starts for June to show but I will leave them for another post.

Til next time... happy stitching
Hugs xx