Smalls SAL - May 2017

Good morning!

As it's (just gone past) the last Friday of the month it's time to post my project for this month's Smalls SAL. Thank you once again to Heather of Stitching Lotus for continuing to run this fun little stitch along.

I continued with my calendar and had great fun stitching up this lovely little dog:

May Calendar by Durene Jones

Stitched on 16ct Nantucket from Sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitch count 43 wide by 56 high

Started - 1st May 2017

Finished - 15th May 2017

Total stitching time - 10 hours 50 minutes

Yes, there were a million pink french knots in the flowers, no I don't like doing french knots and yes, they are really scruffy. But it doesn't bother me in the slightest... let's call it my "feature"! I did enjoy the backstitching though and watching each little flower come to life.

Here's the whole calendar so far:

.

I'll be back at end of June with a cute tortoise family.

Take care,
Rachel x

Dreaming of Dolphins - finished

Morning all!

It should come as no surprise that I've now finished this gorgeous project. It required only a few more hours of stitching, plus a tiny bit of backstitching. I actually finished it a week ago, just haven't got around to posting about it until  now.

This is another finish from Debbie's Super Duper Ultimate Crazy January February Challenge (DSDUCJFC) 2015 and is the 20th finish out of the 59 starts. So, yes, I've now reached the 1/3 mark although, to be fair, 17 were finished in 2015 itself and those I've got left are generally the larger pieces. I've obviously still got a long way to go but I'll get there slowly and surely.

Anyway, here's the last progress picture from the end of April:

And here's the finished piece and details:

Designed by Karen Couchman and featured in Cross Stitch Collection March 2001

Stitched on 32ct Atlantic Depths hand-dyed Opalescent Murano Evenweave
by The Crafty Kitten 2 over 2
Stitch count 211 wide by 122 high
Started - 7th January 2015
Finished - 21st May 2017
Total stitching time - 59 hours 30 minutes

(estimated 69 hours)

It goes without saying that I thoroughly enjoyed stitching the dolphins, especially on the sparkly fabric, which really doesn't show up in the photos. There are only 6 colours in the piece and probably about half of the stitches use blended threads, but there are huge blocks of colour so it was very easy to stitch. Oh and I left out the little fish as I didn't think they were necessary.

However, now that I have unrolled the fabric I am quite annoyed - if you look closely at the top and bottom you might be able to make out distinct stripes where the fabric has more colour. This is where it was rolled on the frame so obviously some of the colour, namely the blue, has faded whilst I have been stitching. It'll be covered by the frame so won't actually show but it is annoying that my finished piece is not on the colour fabric I started out with. I'm trying to remain positive that at least it didn't fade too much and is still a lovely backgound for the dolphins.

I've already ordered the frame for this, along with the frames for a few other pieces, so there will be another chance to see it, and some other finished projects, soon.....

Take care,

Rachel x

New Start - Birds With Umbrella - 10 hours

Hello all!

In between all of my Challenge WIP stitching I have managed to sneak in a couple new starts. They're very slow-going as they're the last projects on my to-do list each month but at the end of April I finally reached the 10 hour mark on the first one:

Birds With Umbrella

Free pattern from my-cross-stitch-patterns.com

Stitched on 16ct Tea Rose overdyed aida by Sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitch count - 100 wide by 98 high

Started - 25th March 2017

I won't show what the completed pattern will look like but, from the title, I bet you can guess which part I'm stitching first and which parts are left to stitch! It's mostly big blocks of colour which makes it a pleasingly simple stitch. Sometimes less is more.

Take care,
Rachel x

April Progress on 2015/2016 Challenge Pieces

Hello all!

It's the end of the month so time for another update on my Challenge WIPs. My plan for April was to finish one piece and work on three more. And I succeeded!

I finished The Milk Train (posted previously) and gave attention to the following three:

Dreaming of Dolphins from Cross Stitch Collection March 2001

started 7th January 2015; last stitched on March 2017

worked on the final dolphin - not much left to go on this now

Gryffindor by Theworldinstitches (etsy)

started 4th February 2015; last stitched on March 2017

continued filling in the background and started the lion

Cream by Heritage Crafts

started 9th February 2015; last stitched on June 2015
started working my way down, filling in the background
(note to self... please give the cat his eyes!!)

In May I aim to finish Dreaming of Dolphins and work on three more WIPs. I may also reach the 10 hour mark on one or both of two new starts, depending on how I divide my time between each project. As always, I have an exciting and variable month of stitching ahead!

Take care,

Rachel x