Smalls SAL - March 2016

Good morning everybody!

It's the last Thursday of the month so time to check in for the Smalls SAL run by Heather of Stitching Lotus. This year I am planning to stitch a Christmas ornament each month.

For March I chose Joy from the Lizzie Kate 12 Blessings range and for the third month in a row actually finish-finished it into a little ornament with matching fabric and ribbon:

 Lizzie Kate

Stitched on 16ct Cloud Brown aida from sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitch count 36 wide by 36 high

Started - 6th March 2016

Finished - 6th March 2016

Total stitching time - 3 hours 5 minutes

plus a couple of hours to finish off.

If you are familiar with the chart you will see I messed around with it quite a bit, leaving out the candy cane, altering the stocking from having stitched stars to having gold beads and changing and relocating the charm. This chart was a Christmas gift from Mii Stitch who did not know at the time that my mum's name is Joy so was a very apt choice. I hope you don't mind my alterations!

Next month's small will probably be a CCN rather than LK chart. See you at the end of April!

Happy stitching everyone :)
Rachel x

March Progress on Small WIPs

Hello again!

It's time for another round-up of my monthly stitching. As you may remember, I dedicated March to LK WIPs with the plan of finishing one project (but hopefully finishing five) and stitching on three more. I actually achieved.....

Four finishes:
*  Keep Our Air Clean
*  Save Water
*  Plant A Tree

*  Be Kind To Animals

And made progress on another three:

Winter Alphabet from 26th January

Spring Alphabet from 22nd January

Autumn Alphabet from 7th January

So all in all a very successful LK month!

In April I still plan to finish one, possibly two, projects (miaow!) and work on three more older WIPs (think Harry Potter). However, I have other more time-specific projects which will have to be prioritised so I honestly don't know if the above can be achieved. I'll just see how the month pans out.

And then there's my exciting news! All I'm going to do today is give you a teasing glimpse of some wonderful fabric I am finally happy with for a project I have been desperate to stitch for two years. My regular and long-term followers may guess which project it is but for those of you who are newer (or can't remember) I will do a big reveal on 3rd April. I can't tell you how excited I am!!

Finally, regarding the April A-Z Challenge, I chose not to reveal my theme on the "Big Reveal" day, instead leaving it as a surprise. I know these types of challenges and daily posts are not to everyone's liking but I hope some of you will stick with me as I've tried to make each post a little bit interesting. Some of it has involved research but with the use of the www this has not really been difficult or very time-consuming. You'll see what I mean in two day's time.

I've a Smalls SAL posting tomorrow, and then let the April madness begin!

Take care,

Rachel x

Be Kind To Animals - DUCJC Finish 11/31

Hello all!

Here's another finish from the Lizzie Kate Green series. It's number four of the five I had outstanding at the beginning of the month and went from this:

...... to this:

Lizzie Kate
Stitched on 16ct Muted Garden hand-dyed aida by The Crafty Kitten 2 over 1

Stitch count 40 wide by 63 high

Started - 25th January 2016

Finished 24th March 2016

Total stitching time 6 hours 55 minutes

(estimated 11 hours)

In the back of my mind I was hoping to finish all five this month but with only a week of March left and a few busy days planned over Easter this is unlikely to happen. Nevermind, it'll get finished later in the year.

I'll be back at the end of March not only with my usual WIP round-up but also some rather exciting news about a project which has been a weight around my neck for two years!

Until then, happy stitching. :)
Rachel x

Plant A Tree - DUCJC Finish 10/31

Morning!

A short and sweet post this morning just to show another finish in the LK Green series. You must be bored with seeing these but I did say March was going to be a LK month!

This is how it looked after my January start:

And completed it now looks like this:

Lizzie Kate

Stitched on 16ct Muted Garden hand-dyed aida by The Crafty Kitten 2 over 1

Stitch count 40 wide by 63 high

Started - 8th January 2016

Finished - 14th March 2016

Total stitching time - 7 hours

(estimated 11 hours)

Another easy but enjoyable stitch, and one which means I'm now 1/3rd of the way through completing my January starts (although I have chosen to stitch the smaller pieces first!) Now to work on another one. Don't worry, only two more to go!

Happy stitching everyone,
Rachel x

Save Water - DUCJC 2016 Finish 9/31

Hello all!

On behalf of a very happy Angela, who has now received her gift certificates, I would like to thank you all for the congratulatory comments you left regarding her win on my blogoversary giveaway. You were very magnanimous in defeat and, like I said, please come back next year and try again!

The reason for this post today is self-explanatory by the title - I have another finish to show you. This is the second LK Green chart I have completed this month and the third of six in the series.

After one day of stitching in January it looked like this:

And now it looks like this:

Lizzie Kate

Stitched on 16ct Muted Garden hand-dyed aida by The Crafty Kitten 2 over 1

Stitch count 40 wide by 63 high

Started - 13th January 2016

Finished - 12th March 2106

Total stitching time - 7 hours 45 minutes

(estimated 10 hours)

Once again I overestimated how long it would take to stitch, which is really satisfying and an encouraging feeling for stitching the others.

I have been asked how the set are going to be finished and, to be honest, I don't know. Originally I had a multi-aperture mount in mind but now think I'll make them into some sort of hanging such as bunting. I'll have to browse the good old www for inspiration.

But for now it's back to the grindstone of stitching - the next LK is on my frame and I'm raring to go!

Oh, and an apology..... I am almost a week behind with my blog reading and commenting. I'll try to catch up with you all over the weekend.

Take care,
Rachel x

Blogoversary Giveaway Winner

Good morning everyone!

Thank you so much for all of your lovely comments regarding my second blogoversary. I too hope there will be many more to come!

Altogether 17 of you expressed a wish to be entered into my giveaway with 6 more saying they would like to be entered but already had too much stash - thank you for your honesty! The 17 were allocated a number.....

(1)Mrs Milky Bar Kid;   (2)Jacquie;   (3)Annie;   (4)Katie;   (5)Preeti;   (6)Jo;   (7)Cath;   (8)Keebles;   (9)Claire;   (10)Heather;   (11)Linda;   (12)Aubs;   (13)Diann;   (14)Thoeria;   (15)Angela;   (16)Tiff;   (17)Lindsay.

..... the Random Number Generator was programmed, the button pressed.....

15 - ANGELA from Hooked on Stitches

Well done Angela! You expressed an interest in purchasing a Mirabilia chart so have won a gift voucher for £10 / US$15 / local currency equivalent towards it (or something else if you have since changed your mind). Please get in contact either in the comment section or email me directly (address at top left) to claim your prize.

If you were unsuccessful, sorry, but please come back this time next year for another try!

TTFN
Rachel x

Keep Our Air Clean - DUCJC 2016 Finish 8/31

Hello fellow bloggers!

Thank you for your comments regarding my second blogoversary and your entries into the giveaway. It's interesting to see which goodies some of you would buy with a voucher.

Second, on my quest to finish all 31 January starts during 2016 here's my latest finish. It's Keep Our Air Clean (obviously!) and was another fun and easy stitch. Here's how I left it in January:

And here it is now:

Lizzie Kate

Stitched on 16ct Muted Garden hand-dyed aida by The Crafty Kitten 2 over 1

Stitch count 40 wide by 63 high

Started - 21st January 2016

Finished - 2nd March 2016

Total stitching time - 7 hours 5 minutes

(estimated 11 hours)

I substituted the lighter leaf green from 580 to 731 as the original colours were too close to each other to distinguish the leaves from the veins. To be honest, in a design like this you could do a lot of substituting and it wouldn't really matter.

I'm going to continue with my month of Lizzie Kates and aim for another finish next week.

Don't forget, there's still plenty of time if you wish to enter the giveaway on my previous post for a chance to win a £10 / US$15 voucher for the store of your choice. Just follow the guidelines and keep your fingers crossed!

Back soon I expect!
Rachel x

2nd Blogoversary Giveaway

Hello all!

I'm 2 years old today at the exact time this posting went live!

Happy blogoversary to me, Happy blogoversary to me,
Happy blogoversary Ten Hour Stitcher, Happy blogoversary to me!

Is it really two years since I first published my blog? It seems like only yesterday to me, although probably m-u-c-h longer to you due to my sometimes excessive ramblings!

I have had immense fun over the last couple of years as I've got to know you, even met some of you, and felt friendship across the miles with each and every comment. I've stitched much more than I would have ever thought possible, joined in with sensible and not-so-sensible challenges and been introduced to charts I would never have considered before blogging. Stitchy blogland really is a lovely place to be!

So what better way to celebrate my blogoversary than by having a giveaway?

Up for grabs is a gift voucher for £10 or US$15 (or local currency equivalent) for the shop of your choice (providing they do e-vouchers of course!)

All you have to do is:
1) be a follower of this blog via the members tag on the left,
2) leave a comment on this post saying that you would like to be entered,
3) give an indication of what you would purchase with the voucher (this will not influence the result; I just want to be nosey!)
4) out of courtesy confirm that you would actually use the purchase, not just buy something to simply enhance your stash.

The closing deadline is 9am (UK time) 10th March 2016, giving you one week to enter.

The winner will be chosen by Random Number Generator sometime during the morning of 10th March 2016. I will then publish the name and ask you to contact me with your chosen store so that I can sort out the voucher ASAP. Good luck everyone!

Love and hugs,
Rachel x

February Progress On Small WIPs

Hello all!

It's the end of the month so time to report on the progress I've made on my smaller WIPs during February.

Unsurprisingly, my focus was very much on some of the projects I had started during January for Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge 2016.

During the month I achieved six finishes:
*  French Country Witch
*  Sleepy Book
*  Cantankerous
*  Sally Squirrel
*  Bert Badger
*  Balloon

And made progress on two more:

Summer Alphabet from 12th January

stitched 8 more sections

(this is a satisfying WIP as each section feels like a mini finish!)

Let's Eat Dessert from 5th January

carried on downwards

Seeing as my February plan was to finish one project and stitch on two more I'm going to blow my own trumpet and congratulate myself for doing so well!

I have the same objectives for March so it'll be interesting to see how much I can achieve, especially in comparison to February. At the moment I plan to work on my Lizzie Kate WIPs all month, but we all know how plans can change!

And in case you're interested or don't look at my sidebars, I have "only" 66 small(ish) WIPs remaining from the last two years of new starts.

Take special care to keep an eager eye out for my next post.....

Rachel x