TUSAL August 2016

Hello.... surprise, surprise!! I am on time for this month's ORTs report!

This month's ORTs are sitting with my latest WIP.  This is my wild card entry for the JCS SAL July piece (not quite finished.... just needs beads now which I will do tonight).  The design is called "Christmas Festoon" designed by Patricia Ann Designs.  It was published in the Just Cross Stitch Christmas 2015 edition.

What made up the ORT's this month?

Besides the red and green from the Christmas Festoon piece, I also worked on some other WIP's - pictures below:

Free Gift - Snowman and Penguin Christmas Card
Last stitched on in May for Stitch Maynia

May 2016

Now looks like this:

July 2016

Free Gift - Kate Knight Peacock
Last stitched on in January 2016

January 2016

Now looks like this:

July 2016

Nora Corbett's Christmas Eve Couriers - Comet

16th July 2016

31st July 2016

Halloween Sneak Peek"" - The Trilogy
Last stitched on in October 2015

October 2015

July 2016

I do have one more WIP but I am saving that one for the GG post later this month as it is one of my 2015 GG pieces...

So that's it for this ORT report and WIP update!

Til next time, happy stitching
Hugs xx




What is a TUSAL and an ORT Report??
Essentially TUSAL posts are all about stitching and saving our ORT's (Old Raggety Threads) and every New Moon those of us participating in the TUSAL post a picture of our ORT's, and then leave little msgs for Daffycat on her blog to show that we have been stitching and have posted our wonderful pics. 
Next New Moon - 1 September 2016

July SAL Updates.... August Stitching Goals....

web image

Hello! Another month has flown by and now we are into August, so it's time to do a SAL update post.

July SAL Update:

**JCS SAL (FB Group): "Pure Love" (Designer: Snowflower Diaries) ✘

Fail.... I just couldn't get myself going to stitch this one for some reason (I think it is because it is not very Christmassy...) so on Sunday (I know last day of the month!) I decided to use my wild card and stitch something else from the magazine... pics to come in a day or so

**Christmas Ornie SAL Blog - Theme: Free Choice - Joyful Santa, Tartan Stocking, Punched Needlepoint Card, Noel decoration ✓

**Halloween Ornie SAL Blog - Theme: Witches Accessories - "Stitching Witch" (Designer: The Stitcherhood)  ✓

**Lainey's Christmas Ornie SAL: posted ✓
**Smalls SAL: posted ✓

**Stitch Maynia (FB group)
Monthly SAL's:

It's a Sunshine Day (month long) - stitch on any piece that has a summery, sunshine, or tropical theme) ✓

Stitched on the "Moutons de Saisons été" by Collection Tralala

"Colour-A-Day SAL" - "Back in Black" - stitch the black sections of a design on 24th July ✓
Stitched on "Halloween Sneak Peak" by the Trilogy

"Winter Holidays / Christmas in July" - 25th July ✓

Stitched on "penguin and snowman" Christmas Card

Year Long SAL's:
Year of Starts! (at least 1 start/finish each month): ✓
I had 2 starts and finishes in July (counting all the circles of Lakeside SAL as a start and finish)

Brooke's Books Year Long SAL: no progress on the Advent Animals....
2016 Chatelaine Shenanigans SAL: no progress....

**Cross Stitch Finish Line (FB group) 

"Monthly "Month" SAL - July " - stitch on something with July in it and/or something that has to do with July ✘

"Mill Hill SAL" - stitch on any Mill Hill kit/design ✘

"Christmas in July" - get a head start on Christmas cards and/or ornies ✓

"Now I know my ABC's" 26th July - "B" ✘

"Summer Solstice" - (June to Sept): stitch any summer piece you want through to Autumn Solstice (Northern Hemisphere Solstice) ✓

**Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge 2016 (DUCJC2016):

Modified to 31 starts & finishes 2016: as at the end of July I have 26 finishes for 2016 of which 21 are new starts for 2016 ✓

**Lakeside Needlecraft / Durene Jones Fantasy SAL ✓

As I have previously mentioned I joined another monthly SAL.... this one is being hosted by Lakeside Needlecraft in the UK and is designed by Durene Jones.  It is a monthly fantasy SAL starting in July with the border release.  For July my goal was to complete all the circles - which I did!

August SAL Plans:

**JCS SAL (FB Group): "Dear Santa" (Designer: The Little Stitcher)

**Christmas Ornie SAL Blog August Theme: Christmas Clothing

**Halloween Ornie SAL Blog August Theme: Spooky Words

**Stitch Maynia (FB group) 

"All that Glitters (month long) - stitch on any piece that has beads or metallics in it)

"Colour-A-Day SAL" - "Mellow Yellow" - work only on the yellow sections of a design on 24th August

"Olympics" - daily stitching themes to celebrate the Olympics (5th - 20th Aug)

**Cross Stitch Finish Line (FB group) 

"Monthly "Month" SAL - August" - stitch on something with August in it

"Mill Hill SAL" - stitch on any Mill Hill kit/design

"Now I know my ABC's" 26th Aug - "C"
"Beat the Heat" 15th - 31st Aug

"Summer Solstice" - (June to Sept): stitch any summer piece through to Autumn Solstice (Northern Hemisphere Solstice)

**Miribilia, Nora Corbett Designs SAL: (Nora Corbett Passions FB group) 

**Remember to post for:

Lainey's Christmas Ornie SAL

Smalls SAL

**Lakeside Needlecraft / Durene Jones Fantasy SAL (FB Group)
August design released 1 Aug

**Joyful World SAL - Snowflower Diaires (FB Group)

September design released 10 Aug

So that's it... a bit of a mixed bag this month - just as many crosses as ticks! Oh well there is always August to look forward to!

Til next time...

Take care and happy stitching

Hugs xx

Smalls SAL July 2016

Hosted by Stitching Lotus

And of course I am late... and sadder still I don't really have a lot to show you for July (well no new finishes anyway!) as most of my stitching time in July was devoted to getting the circles finished off for the Lakeside / Durene Jones SAL.  So here's a recap of July's small finish and FFO's :o)

And that as they say is it.... all finishes have been previously shown in an update post so no surprises this month.  I do have some WIP updates to come once I get myself organised to take the photos!

See you again real soon -  I hope!

Til then, happy Smalls stitching...

Hugs xx

Christmas in July Swap

Today is the 25th July... and around the world a lot of people are celebrating Christmas in July. For those of us living below the Equator we celebrate the real Christmas during the heat of Summer, so when July comes around and it's the middle of winter... why not celebrate Christmas and be freezing while you're doing it! And of course, the next logical step would be to participate in a Christmas in July swap!!  If you want to read more about the swap rules follow this link and read on...  there is also a separate blog for the swap which can be found here.

First up I will reveal the gorgeous gifts that I received from my swap partner - Illene from Ret Dairy Queen.

Christmas Tree

Reindeer Bag

Santa, Reindeer, Christmas Tree and Snowmen table runner

Gifts galore...

Thank you Illene, I love all these gorgeous handmade gifts... and thank you for the Mill Hill designs - Mill Hill kits are fast becoming my latest obsession (I keep seeing other stitchers progress.. and I so want to stitch them) and I am very happy to receive these lovely ornie charts!  I must apologise the light was terrible when I took these photos so these gorgeous pieces are not showing up as well as I would like...

Below are pics of what I sent to Illene... I had a day of finishing a couple weeks ago and transformed all of my recent Christmas stitching into finished pieces for the swap.

Margaret Sherry Xmas Mice

Joyful Santa

Tartan Stocking ornie & stocking scissor fob
Penguin Christmas card

A box full of extras....

I also used the needlepoint card that I stitched recently as a box topper and included bon bons full of Christmas buttons, multi coloured beads, Christmas pegs, handmade Christmas angel for phone or scissors, pearl pins and a Christmas notebook.

I had fun putting this Christmas package together and it was great fun to actually "finish" off some of my stitching for once!  I really should do more of it!!!

So that's it for today.... see you all again later in the week for the Smalls update.

Til next time, happy stitching
hugs xx

Whipping those WIP's to the finish line!

WIP update
Isn't it a great feeling to get those long time WIPs (not going to say UFO's!) out and start showing them some more love?  If you saw my last post then you would have seen that I stitched on a 2015 WIP recently.

The other long lost WIP that I have been stitching on recently is Nora Corbett's "Christmas Eve Couriers - Comet".

The last time I showed you "Comet" was way back in June 2015... I have just re-read that post where I rabbited on about a stitching rotation... no, that never really happens in my stitching life no matter how much I try to do it!!!

June 2015....

Comet now looks like this:

July 2016

Over the last couple of evenings I have managed to finish the antlers of "Comet" and I am starting on his head.  As he is still on the q-snaps I might stitch on him again today...

New starts:
I can't believe it... I forgot to show you 2 other new starts that I had in June....

First up is another of those old kits that I had languishing in the bottom drawer of the craft room.  I have no idea when I bought this but it would have been in the late 1980's or early 1990's.  I pulled it out last month to start stitching it for the Vintage SAL on one of the FB groups.  This is as far as I got....

This one is called "Honey Do" and is stitched on 14ct vinyl.... very strange medium to stitch on but, I do like the design so I will get back to it again very soon and get it finished.  The kit came with the magnetic notebook accessories to put it all together.  Once done it will be a nice little addition to the fridge or even a nice little gift for someone... :o)

The other new start that I had in June was the "June" design for the Snowflower Diaries "Joyful World SAL".  I don't have some of the threads for this so I started with what I have got... It is stitched on a pale blue 28ct linen from my stash.

So that's new starts and WIP's covered....onto finishes! :o)

Finishes Update:
First up on the finishes list is a mini finish....

Most of my stitching time over the last week or so was dedicated to the new Durene Jones / Lakeside Needlecraft Fantasy SAL.  When I last showed you the border stitching it looked like this:

5 July 2016

Well, surprise, surprise, I have finished all the circles...

11 July 2016

... and I have now put it away until the first character is released in August.  Depending on how much stitching is involved in each character I may start/stitch the border each month when a character is released or I may leave the border til the end.... who knows!

The fabric I am using for this one is "Silver Springs" 32ct Jobelan from Colour Cascades Fabrics using a variegated thread from Cottage Garden Threads called "Heliotrope".

Finish #26
"Stitching Witch"
Designer: Maria Warmke (The Stitcherhood)
Started: 7 July 2016
Finished: 8 July 2016
Fabric: Name unknown (cardmakers pack) - Colour Cascade Fabrics
Thread: Nevermore - Jodyri Designs

This design is called "Stitching Witch" and is designed by Maria Warmke from The Stitcherhood.  How perfect is this design for my Halloween Ornie Blog July post?  This month's theme was "witches accessories" and this design has a hat and a cauldron - tick... and then needle and scissors!!  It was published in the October 2014 issue of the Just Cross Stitch magazine.

I stitched this on a piece of fabric from Colour Cascades Fabric - no name as it was in a cardmakers pack - just love the colours!  The thread I used was "Nevermore" from Jodyri Designs.  The design called for all black thread but I decided to try something different for a change!!

I think I am now up to date on all my WIP stitching... it's time to sign off now and get back on the couch with my stitching in front of the fire (we have rain with storms forecast today... oh well it is winter!).

Til next time, happy stitching
Hugs xx