Whine & WIPs = Finish #20!!

Guess what...

web image

"Witch and Friends" is finished.....

I started this way back in 2014 for the Hallowe'en SAL Blog.   When I left it at that stage it looked like this:

October 2014

I then picked it up again on and off during the last couple of months of 2014;

End of 2014

and then again for the Crazy January challenge in January 2015;

January 2015

I was so close to finishing last year but unfortunately I got distracted... and as I heard someone say on Flosstube earlier.. I fell down the rabbit hole with this one!! :o)

So on 8th June I picked her up again... and stitched and stitched and stitched.... each night over the last week I kept thinking I will stitch on something else, but then I kept thinking "no, she is almost done!" so I kept going... and now she is done.... :o)

Finish #20
"Witch & Friends" - Donna Giampa (Vermillion Stitching)

Witch & Friends.... finished 16 June 2016

This lovely lady and her delightful friends is stitched on a Stitches and Spice fabric with DMC threads.  The design was published in the Just Cross Stitch Halloween 2013 magazine.

Besides stitching and finishing "Witch & Friends" I also finished a block on "Jingles"... and I have picked up "Prancer" again.

Finish #21
"Jingles - Joy to World"

There is only a couple more blocks left on this so I would like to try and get back to it again soon... but who knows!

Nora Corbett's Christmas Eve Couriers - Prancer

I have now finished the Krienik at the bottom and started on the border.... then it's the tail and onto the beading!!

So that's it for this update.... The "Whine and WIPs SAL" has certainly helped me touch some of these old and much neglected WIPs... not sure which WIP I will stitch on next... I certainly have enough to choose from. :o)

Til next time... happy stitching
hugs xx

How about a February stitching update!

Hello!  Did you miss me?  After all my prolific posting in January, I seem to have come to a bit of halt all of a sudden!

But I am back again now with a very quick update on some of my WIP's from the Crazy January challenges as well as some updates on my older but much loved WIP's.

Since the end of the January's crazy challenges I have focused my stitching efforts on three WIP's - Lizzie Kate's "Jingles", Joan Elliott's "Faces of JE SAL" and my little Winter Witch.  Below are the latest pics of where they are all at now.

Faces of JE SAL - designed by Joan Elliott
Last update on this SAL was on 16th January 2015 and she looked like this:

Progress as at 16 January 2015

After a bit of a stitching session (SAL within in a SAL) last weekend, she now looks like this:

Progress as at 9 February 2015

I am still way behind in this SAL but eventually I will catch up!  Part of the slowness of stitching on this design is that I decided to stitch the face and skin "over 1".... I am regretting that decision a little bit now as it takes so long..... but I think overall it will be worth it.  As you can probably see I keep taking a break from the "over 1" stitching other parts of the design to give my eyes a rest!

Lizzie Kate's "Jingles" - designed by Lizzie Kate
As you know "Jingles" has been around for awhile now.... and every now and then I do a bit more on them.  I picked it up again the other night and did some stitches, but as I don't officially need to do a "Jingles" update til the end of the month, this will just be a quick sneak peek!

When you last saw "Jingles" on 17th January 2015, it looked like this:

Progress as at 17 January 2015

And now "Jingles" looks like this:

Progress as at 10 February 2015

Slowly but surely this one is inching it's way to the end!  I will try and get a bit more stitched on this section before the end of the month.

and last but not least, there is:

Winter Witch - designed by The Snowflower Diaries
The last time I showed you my lovely little witch she looked like this:

Progress as at 28 January 2015

And after some intensive love and attention Winter Witch and her snowman companion are finished!

Winter Witch - designer: Snowflower Diaries
stitched on "Hocus Pocus" 32ct Belfast from Stitches & Spice
Finished 6 February 2015

So there you go my first finish for 2015!  I decided not to do some confetti white stitches around her wand and instead stitched on some pretty gold beads and blinged her up a bit!

I now have to post her on the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog and I can then tick "Witches" off my stitching list!

I am not sure yet what I will do with her as a final finish yet.... so for the time being she will go in the finished file til inspiration strikes!

That's it for this very quick stitching update.  I will be back over the next few days as TUSAL is coming up soon, as are a couple of other posting deadlines. so til then....

Happy Stitching and no froggin!
hugs xx

Day 25, 26, 27 - the end is in sight!

Well, the end of January is around the corner, which means my crazy January challenges are coming to an end...  quite sad about that, but probably not sad enough to keep going throughout February with new starts!!  I will just work on my 31 WIP's over February!  Which means that all your favourites will get their pictures taken again sometime over the next month or so!!

So onto the latest new starts....

Day 25 - Mary Mouse (designed by Brooke Nolan)
Mary Mouse is the third animal from Brooke Nolan's 25 Advent Animals.  As I mentioned in my last post there is a Facebook group for those stitching these animals, but the charts are actually downloaded from Brooke's website.  The latest animal has just been released and it is just so cute... think it's my favourite so far (but then again I think that about each one as they come out!!)

"Mary Mouse" - designed by Brooke Nolan

Day 26 - You are so Loved (designed by Snowflower Diaries)
Australia Day saw me start on another design from the Snowflower Diairies.  This is a really lovely design and is designed to be stitched with variegated hand dyed threads, but I am using good old DMC for this one as well.  There is also a French version which I think I may also stitch as it just has a nice feel to it!

"You are so Loved" - designed by Snowflower Diaries

I am stitching this on 32ct Belfast Linen "Fairy Tale" from Colour Cascade Fabrics.  It is a bit hard to see the pretty light pink/peach colour of this fabric in the photo, but believe me it is so pretty!

Also on Australia Day I took advantage of some extra stitching time and worked on my Winter Witch.  It is going to be a close call to get her finished by the end of the month!

"Winter Witch" - designed by Snowflower Diaires
progress as at 26 Jan 2015

Day 27 - Christmas Mouse #2 (designed by Margaret Sherry)
Last night I started on the second of the Margaret Sherry Christmas mice.  I am loving this one as it has a big purple ornament to stitch and I am so enjoying stitching the purple!!

"Christmas Mouse" - designed by Margaret Sherry

So there we go, up to date again.  There are only 4 more days of this challenge left and I have lots of designs still waiting to be picked and stitched.... can't wait to see what jumps out at me when I go searching for a new start tonight!  I probably won't get to post again until the weekend as I have a busy week at work and I never seem to get enough time in the evening for both stitching and posting!

If you want to have a look at any of my previous updates for the FB CrosstitchCrazy Event and Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge 2015 (DUCJC2015) the links are below:

Day 1 - Winter Witch    Day 2 - "Eek!"    Day 3 - "Prancer"
Day 4 - "Autumn Fab Fob"    Day 5 - "Comet"    Day 6 - "Koala"
Day 7 - "Sneak Peek - Halloween"    Day 8 - "Printemps"    Day 9 - "été"
Day 10 - "Joyeux Noel"    Day 11 - "Feeling Festive"    Day 12 - "New Year's Magic"
Day 13 - "Grumpy Kitty"    Day 14 - "Happy Howloween" 
Day 15 - "Happy Owl O Ween"    Day 16 - WIP "Faces of JE Mystery SAL" 
Day 17 - WIP "Lizzie Kate's Jingles"    Day 18 - "Witch & Friends" 
Day 19 - "Mini Mandala II - C"     Day 20 - WIP "Spring Bouquet"
Day 21 - WIP "Bonsai & Buddha"    Day 22 - Katie Kitty
Day 23 - Peter Polar Bear     Day 24 - Christmas Mouse #1

Til next time, Happy Stitching!

Day 18 & 19 - Crazy Starts 18 & 19

Well, here we are again....  Today's update is another multi-tasking update (and I can do that because I am a woman!!) LOL!

Last weekend was the first IHSW for 2015 and I did manage to actually get my needle and floss working correctly....  coincidentally, January's IHSW collided with my stitching days 16-18.  I have already shown you what I stitched on Day 16 (Faces of Joan Elliott Mystery SAL) and Day 17 (Lizzie Kate's Jingles) and the link to that update post is here: Day-15-16-17.

So that covers Friday and Saturday, what about Sunday?

Sunday was Day 18 of Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge 2015 (DUCJC2015) and I was again working on a WIP - "Witch and Friends" designed by Donna Giampa.

You last saw my lovely witch and her furry friends back in October when I was quite happily spout how clever I was that I could shoe-horn this design into 3 months worth of Hallowe'en Ornie Blog themes!  Well, umm, yes..... she didn't get finished before 2014 ended and I failed dismally in that challenge last year!  But I did manage to stitch on her after my October update (although I didn't post any further updates) and this is what she looked like before I started stitching on her again on Sunday evening.

"Witch and Friends" - Donna Giampa
Status at the end of 2014

After a couple of hours on Sunday evening, "Witch and Friends" now looks like this:

"Witch and Friends" - Donna Giampa
Status as at 18/1/2015

Not a lot of progress, but I did manage to fill in the bottom half of the owl, some more of the bottom kitty and start on the green cloak.  She is now back in the stitching basket until next month when I pull her out again.

So that rounds up the IHSW part of this post.... onto Day 19's update!

Monday (last night) was Day 19.... and another night of WIP stitching for me.  It is scary how long ago it is since you have seen this one...... almost 12 months ago!!  Day 19's WIP was my "Mini Mandala II - C" designed by Martina Rosenberg (Chatelaine Designs).

The last update on "Mini Mandala II - C" was actually on 25th February 2014.... and I hang my head in shame to say that I haven't stitched on this design since my last update!!

"Mini Mandala II - C" - Chatelaine Designs
Status as at Feb 2014

So after a little bit of love and stitching last night, this lovely design now looks like this:

"Mini Mandala II - C" - Chatelaine Designs
Status as at 19/1/15

I have included the photo from the chart pack which shows that I have a fair way to go yet!!

Tonight will be another WIP night and I also need to take a photo of my very colourful ORT's jar so that I can post my TUSAL update tomorrow.

Til then, if you want to have a look at any of my previous updates for the FB CrosstitchCrazy Event and Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge 2015 (DUCJC2015) the links are below:


Day 1 - Winter Witch  Day 2 - "Eek!"  Day 3 - "Prancer"
Day 4 - "Autumn Fab Fob"  Day 5 - "Comet"  Day 6 - "Koala"
Day 7 - "Sneak Peek - Halloween"  Day 8 - "Printemps"  Day 9 - "été"
Day 10 - "Joyeux Noel"  Day 11 - "Feeling Festive"  Day 12 - "New Year's Magic"
Day 13 - "Grumpy Kitty"  Day 14 - "Happy Howloween"  Day 15 - "Happy Owl O Ween"
Day 16 - WIP "Faces of JE Mystery SAL"  Day 17 - WIP "Lizzie Kate's Jingles"

Til next time, Happy Stitching!
Hugs x

Day 1 / Crazy Start #1: Winter Witch

Happy New Year!

Yesterday was the first day of my Crazy January Challenge!  If you remember I posted a list of new starts relating to a couple of January crazy challenges a few days ago.... if you didn't see that post the link is here.

I listed 20 projects - 15 new starts for the FB CrosstitchCrazy Event and 5 x WIP's that I will also be working on for January.  I still have to come up with some more to complete the 31 projects for Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge 2015 (DUCJC2015)  but I am reasonably sure that won't be a problem!!

I also signed up for the 15 Miras 15 Days but that one won't be 15 Mira's in 15 days for me that will be closer to 15 Mira's in 2015, if I'm lucky!

Seeing as yesterday was Day 1 of January 2015, I had a new start.....

"Winter Witch" - The Snowflower Diaries

My first new start is "Winter Witch" from The Snowflower Diaries.  This is a freebie chart from Maja and I had planned to stitch this one last year but never got around to it.  For those that might like to know... the fabric is "Hocus Pocus" 32ct Belfast from Stitches and Spice, and I am using only DMC threads rather than any speciality threads as mentioned in the design.

You may remember that I stitched the "Spring Witch" for my Witch design for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog last year.

And speaking of the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog, this little darling witch is my choice for this year's January theme - Witches!!  I just need to now find the time to finish her before the end of the month.  I wonder.... does a new start become a WIP for the 31 designs?? No, probably not - don't think that double entry stitching would work for this challenge!!

So I am off to a good start so far..... Day 1 - 1 Start!  Can I keep up the pace? You will have to come back tomorrow and see what Day 2 will bring.....

Before I go, can I show you some bling?

Bling from Gina's Fobs and Froggers

Aren't they just gorgeous?  These little beauties (4 x needle minders, scissor fob and stitch counter) are from Gina's Fobs and Froggers.  Gina is on FB and Etsy, so they are very easy to purchase.  I have been stalking Gina's FB page for ages and drooling over her beautiful creations, and finally took the plunge and bought some.   But now I may have to feed my habit regularly - after all they may have magic powers and make my needle go faster and keep the frogs away!!

That's it for today.... I am off to start my Day 2 stitching - will it be a Mira design or a Lizzie Kate design, or something completely different?  Decisions, decisions.....

Til next time, happy stitching
Hugs xx

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!

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