Smalls SAL - February 2018

Good afternoon everybody!

It's the last Friday of the month again so time to check in with the Smalls SAL run by Heather of Stitching Lotus.

I have a colourful Australian tweety for you this month:

Gouldian Finch by FuzzyFoxDesigns (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Summer Sky over-dyed aida from sewitall.com 2 over 1
Stitch count - 39 wide by 30 high
Started - 1st February 2018
Finished - 3rd February 2018
Total stitching time - 4 hours 50 minutes

He's one of a number of little Australian (and other) birds available from FuzzyFoxDesigns. I have a few of the charts but only one more is planned for stitching during 2018.

And, in the hope of adding no more pieces to my Box of Shame, he's been finished off too with really bright completely over-the-top backing fabric and coordinating barley twist cord. Talk about the perfect match!

As a fun fact my finished ornament weighs 16g - 4g more than the little tiny finch himself!

I hope you like him.

Next month... a second piece of cheeky fruit.
Rachel x

2 Box of Shame Finishes - Birds

Good morning!

I have two bird-themed finishes to share with you today:

A couple of years ago I bought some seasonal-coloured Threadworx variegated threads on the premise I would "use them one day" but didn't have a clue on what! Then I found this chart by Hobikolik on etsy and thought it would be perfect stitched in the four colour-ways. So far I have stitched Summer (red/yellow/green) and Spring (pink/purple).

I found some suitable backing fabric:

And made them into little (they measure about 6.5 inches) pillows/cushions in my usual way. I wasn't sure whether or not to include a hanging loop but thought it better to include one and not use it rather than not include one and regret it later.

Although the fabric has no right-way-up I'm convinced the green fabric is upside down - or maybe it's just an optical illusion that's less pleasing to the eye (not that the back will be seen very often!)

At the same time as purchasing these fabrics, the backing fabrics for Autumn and Winter just happened to slip into my basket (you know how it is!) However, they are not on my stitching schedule until 2019 (yes, I'm sad (organised?) enough to have already planned what I will be stitching NEXT year... and even into some of 2020 if I'm being honest!) Having said that, though, I'm making fantastic progress this year so may find myself with a bit of spare time to slot an additional project or two into my schedule... :)

In the meantime, I think I'll have to make a little corner where all my little finishes can sit.

Take care,
Rachel x

Spring - finished

Good morning one and all!

I have this month's finish from my DSDUCJFC 2015 WIPs. This is Spring from The Four Seasons; a companion for Winter which I finished last month and for Autumn completed in 2015. It's finish number 28 out of the 59 starts for the Challenge so I'm very nearly half way there!

At the end of last month I left it like this:

And now completed:

Spring

Designed by Maria Diaz and featured in Cross Stitch Crazy issue ???

Stitch count 56 wide by 56 high

Stitched on 16ct white aida 2 over 1

Started - 1st February 2015

Finished - 7th February 2018

Total stitching time - 20 hours 50 minutes

And with the other two:

I will be finishing Summer this year, although not for a few months yet. Maybe that was bad planning but in the meantime I've lots of other lovely (in my opinion anyway!) pieces to work on and finish.

2018 has been good for me so far, stitching and finishing wise, and I don't often thank you for the wonderful, positive and encouraging comments you have been leaving. So, thank you one and all! Towards the end of last year I was seriously contemplating giving up on my blog... I'm so glad I didn't!

Take care,
Rachel x

4 Box of Shame Finishes - Halloween

Good morning!

In my continued attempt to decrease the contents of my Box of Shame, I have yet another four finishes. These are all Halloween pieces stitched in 2016 and are all finished off in my usual way.

For Ghost and Halloween from Lizzie Kate's Boo Club I found some lovely Ghost backing fabric on ebay in purple, orange and green (as yet I don't have anything to go on the green but I'm sure that will soon change!) Rather than matching barley twist cord I decided to use black to make them look a bit more Halloween-ish. Here they are before and after:

I also found some Spooky Eyes fabric from the same ebay seller in orange, yellow and green, although again do not have anything to go on the green yet. These Halloween charts are designed by Shannon Wasilieff  and from a Cross Stitch Crazy magazine:

I'm really pleased with how effective the backing fabrics are, although not so pleased with the actual finish of the hat as the corners are all wrong so I may redo it at some point..

I do apologise if you are bored of all of my ornaments being the same but it's a process and result I'm very comfortable with. I suspect it's almost become my trademark! Anyway, I'd rather they all be finished the same than sit neglected. Agree?

Take care,
Rachel x

January Progress on 2015/2016 Challenge Pieces

Hello there!

At the beginning of each month I like to post the progress made during the previous month on the WIPs started in 2015/2016 for Debbies Ultimate Crazy January/February Challenges. Although I was still stitching towards the end of last year, I failed miserably with these postings but, you know, new year, new start so let's try again.

My aim with my WIPs is to finish one and work on two more each month, culminating in 12 finishes by the end of the year.

During January I completed Winter from The Four Seasons (posted previously) and worked on the following two pieces:

Spring from The Four Seasons

started 1st February 2015; not touched since then

completed down to the horizon

Spring Alphabet by Lizzie Kate

started 22nd January 2016; last worked on March 2016

almost completed third and fourth rows

I'm a bit annoyed at the Lizzie Kate greens again - I had an issue with them when stitching her 'Green' series and should have remembered. On the picture below, look at the border around d, the letter G and the right half of each trefoil leaf - the recommended green I used (bottom picture) certainly doesn't look like the olive green shown, even taking into account the colour variations between the two photos.

So it looks as though I may be doing a bit of ripping and re-stitching with a better match. It's annoying but at least it's not a major problem. There are a few other bits sewn in the 'wrong' green (mainly leaves) but I'll probably leave them. We'll see...

During February I should finish Spring from The Four Seasons, make further progress on Spring Alphabet, and work on another project from my WIPs.

Take care,
Rachel x