A Taste of Tuscany - finished and framed

Hello all!

It's happy dance time! I'm so pleased to have a finish to show you. Here's part four of A Taste of Tuscany:

A Taste of Tuscany by Rico Designs

Featured in Cross Stitch Crazy issue ??

Stitched on 16ct Light Blue Aida 2 over 1

Stitch count 54 wide by 55 high

Started - 4th August 2014

Finished - 14th August 2014

Total stitching time - 20 hours

This final piece has stitched up very quickly but only because I have been able to put in some solid hours of late night stitching due to it being school holidays.

And here is the Tuscany quartet in my custom-designed frame from ezeframe.co.uk:

And the individual framed pictures up close:

With hindsight I should have made the black mount another 1mm wider but that's only a tiny niggle and was my choice. Other than that I am extremely happy with the frame and have had some really nice comments about it. Thank you.

Being small pieces I did not have to worry about stretching or lacing them so they are only (cringe) stuck onto the back aperture with double-sided tape. Some 2oz wadding was placed behind to make them stand out a little which is just about visible on the photos.

Despite the whiskers and french knot eyes being a pain to get correct (and I am REALLY glad I changed them back from blue to yellow) I have thoroughly enjoyed stitching all four Tuscany pieces and would not hesitate to stitch them again if the need arose.

Yet again my mum has claimed this project for her room. She lives in our front lounge but as that is where I do the majority of my stitching I'm not complaining!

As for my my next ten hour stint of stitching I have already returned to Millie, otherwise known as Hang In There, filling in the odd gaps of confetti. I aim to work on her until she too is completed, so hopefully I'll be back soon with a Millie update. Until then,

All the best and
Happy stitching :)
Rachel x

A Taste of Tuscany - parts 2 and 3 completed and annual target met!

Hello all!

Very long time, no see! I can't believe I haven't posted for over a month! I've had no real progress to show, but it wouldn't have hurt to just let you know that I am still here! At least I have kept up-to-date with all of your blogs and am impressed and totally jealous with the amount of stitching, buying and framing going on!

Behind the scenes I have been preparing for two major stitching projects. The first is a very demanding in-at-the-deep-end restart of a current WIP and the second is a ridiculous amount of stitching within a ridiculous amount of time. I won't reveal any more yet but disclose them when the time is right - probably the next couple of months or so.

On the actual stitching front, I've finally finished the second and third of the four Taste of Tuscany pieces. The variegated green and pink threads that I used for the plants on the first piece didn't work on these two so I frogged the lot and stitched the plants in their given colours with much better results. Finishing parts two and three also means I have met (and exceeded) my target for the year for this WIP! Yippee!

Here they are with their details then:

 A Taste of Tuscany by Rico Designs
Featured in Cross Stitch Crazy issue ??

Stitched on 16ct Light Blue Aida 2 over 1
Stitch count 54 wide by 55 high

Started - 19th April 2014

Finished - 29th July 2014
Total stitching time - 22 hours

A Taste of Tuscany by Rico Designs
Featured in Cross Stitch Crazy issue ??

Stitched on 16ct Light Blue Aida 2 over 1
Stitch count 54 wide by 55 high

Started - 1st July 2014

Finished - 3rd August 2014
Total stitching time - 23 hours

I'm really unhappy with the whiskers on the third piece despite trying to get them right umpteen times. As soon as this has been posted I'm going to frog them yet again and persevere until I am happy. Oh joy!!

EDIT - I have now re-done all of the eyes and whiskers of each cat in the yellow used on the charts. I am now one happy bunny as they look so much better (but I still hate French Knots!)

In anticipation of finishing all four Tuscany pieces (and because I'm impatient) I have already ordered and received the frame from ezeframe.co.uk. It's a black painted 13mm frame with a mid-green top mount, black bottom mount and non-reflective acrylic glazing. With hindsight I should have made the bottom mount slightly wider but, ho-hum, it still looks fine. It cost just under £20 - about half the price of going to a framers - and was made to my exact specifications. I am really happy with the result and as a teaser here's the first piece framed:

The fourth piece of Tuscany is about to be started with the intention of finishing and framing the complete set before the end of August. I shall then return to my larger projects which have been neglected for far too long and are crying out for attention.

Hopefully I shall be back soon with Tuscany completed and framed. So until then,

All the best and
Happy stitching :)
Rachel x

Where did "A Taste of Tuscany" come from?

Hello fellow bloggers!

It's time for a small confession.... The more eagle-eyed among you may have noticed a new WIP goal and progress tab called "A Taste of Tuscany". These are four small magazine charts which I have been wanting to stitch for years.

I started the first one back in April as I wanted a quick-stitch project to work on between the larger HAEDs. Being small designs I did not originally set up a WIP tab but guilt set in so one has now been created. Afterall, a project should be a project, no matter how small it is. I don't know why I like these charts do much - I'm not especially a cat lover, not particularly fond of blue and have never been to Tuscany! I suppose I just like them because I do!

I don't pick them up very often or for a long stretch but find them convenient if I've got the odd 30 minutes or so. They're on my Mini Wizard so are easily transportable if need be.

Here's the first completed picture:

A Taste of Tuscany by Rico Designs
Featured in Cross Stitch Crazy issue ??

Stitched on 16ct Light Blue Aida 2 over 1
Stitch count 54 wide by 55 high

Started - 8th April 2014

Finished - 16th June 2014
Total stitching time - 20 hours

The three green foliage threads were substituted with variegated, likewise the pink flowers (although the photos don't really show that clearly) and the yellow cats eyes and whiskers became blue.

I'm also half way through the second chart but will just post a picture of that when it is completed.

I have already chosen the colours of the frame and mounts from ezeframe.co.uk. My only decision, though, is - do I frame the projects individually (about £40) or take advantage of their multi-aperture mounts and frame them together horizontally (£25), vertically (£25) or as a 2x2 square (£20)? My inclination is towards the square - not because it's the cheapest but just because I think it will look the best. But I need to get all four projects finished before I ask for your opinions and make my decision.

Meanwhile, I've been slowly beavering away at Hang In There so should be back with a progress report on that soon.

All the best and
Happy stitching :)
Rachel x