Lots of Framing

Hello everybody,

Nothing new in the way of stitching to show today, just lots of framing I've been doing. This means I now have 8 less pieces in my Box of Shame. It's a start!

Here we go then.....

1) Winter Owl
I completed this piece towards the end of 2015 and am so pleased to have now framed him. Even though he looked good with brown and red mounts, I opted for just a simple black frame with non-reflective glazing and leaving the minimum of fabric showing. He's quite small measuring just 6.5" by 7".

2 and 3) Odd Dogs - Sleepy Book and Balloon
I absolutely adore these little pieces I finished in 2016 so treated them to some custom-made frames in Airforce Blue with non-reflective glazing. They were a little expensive but well worth it, especially as they allowed me to keep a lot of the cloudy background fabric showing. I love them to bits!

4 and 5) Ocean Critters - Seahorse and Dolphin
Because I wanted a lot of fabric around these projects I was able to fit the designs into standard 10" x 8" black frames costing just £2 each from Asda. Having normal glass, it was not easy to get a good photo but I think this is OK.

6 and 7) Cattitudes - Cantankerous and Contentious
I didn't want anything fussy for these cat designs, so these simple 7" x 7" black frames seemed purrfect! I ordered 6 from ezeframe.co.uk so that when I stitch more of this series I will already have matching frames. They have normal glass so, again, getting a good photo was a little problematic.

8) Mini Midnight Manor
This was framed in the same 7" x 7" frame as the cats above. Simple but very effective. Sometimes less is best.

So that's 8 projects fully completed. Now to do a bit of rearranging to fit them all on the wall!

More (slightly more interesting) framing coming soon - I'm on a roll!

Take care,
Rachel x

Contentious - DUCJC 2016 Finish 16/31

Hello All!

So finish number 16 of my 31 January starts has now been completed.

As usual she was an absolute joy to stitch, especially once I'd backstitched her face and eyes so that she could watch my progress. I'm impressed how Margaret Sherry never fails to get facial features spot on.

Here's how I left Contentious on 3rd January after just over 5 hours of stitching:

And here she is completed:

Featured in Cattitudes Calendar 2003 by Margaret Sherry

Stitched on 32ct Lime Murano evenweave 2 over 2

Stitch count 79 wide by 71 high

Started - 3rd January 2016

Finished - 20th August 2016

Total stitching time - 22 hours 45 minutes

For the time being Contentious will join her sister, Cantankerous, in my Box of Shame until I decide how I want to finish them. I hope it's not too long before I come up with a good idea as I definitely need them on display.

Next up, the Small's SAL on Thursday.

Happy stitching :)

Rachel x

Cantankerous - DUCJC 2016 Finish 4/31

Good morning all!

So, here I am back with another finish from my stack of January starts!

This piece jumped onto my frame as soon as I had finished Sleepy Book and just stayed there until I had finished it! The orange fabric was really nice to work with and it doesn't bother me in the slightest that it shows through under the white.

Here's where I left her back on 9th January:

And here she is all finished:

Featured in Cattitudes Calendar 2003 by Margaret Sherry

Stitched on 32ct Tangerine Murano evenweave 2 over 2

Stitch count 79 wide by 65 high

Started - 9th January 2016

Finished - 13th February 2016

Total stitching time - 19 hours 35 minutes

The border was adjusted very slightly and stitched using two strands of black, to give it more definition, as opposed to one strand per the instructions.

I'm not sure yet how to finish-finish her. I may wait until I have completed some others in the series and then frame them all together, I may frame them individually, I might scrap-stitch them or I may make them into an ornament of some sort. Decisions, decisions. I really really don't know. But there's no rush.

Time to move on to another WIP then. This time I think I'll pop down to the woods to look for some wildlife.

Hope you're all having stitchy fun too,

Rachel x

DUCJC 2016 - Day 9 - Cantankerous

Good morning!

Another moody cat reared it's head for day 9, and another piece which my children have likened to me (although I think this is more my daughter's mood on being woken up for school in the morning!) I took advantage of it being a Saturday and stitched for much longer than I should have.  ;)

Featured in Cattitudes Calendar 2003

Designed by Margaret Sherry

Stitched on 32ct Tangerine Murano evenweave 2 over 2

Stitch count 79 wide by 65 high

(not stitching background)

Estimated stitching time 27 hours

Stitching time to date - 5 hours

This time I deliberately concentrated on getting the face and expression stitched first so (s)he can look on in exasperation as I try to stitch the rest of him/her. It was so much fun watching the expression take shape with each backstitch, and adding the whiskers was the icing on the cake. Hope you like it!!

For day 10 I shall be returning to a cutie.

Back then,
Rachel x

DUCJC 2016 - Day 3 - Contentious

Good morning!

Thank you for your comments again yesterday. A lot of you seem to like the little Woodland Folk.

For day 3 of DUCJC 2016 the children chose this funny-cute chart. If you familiar with Margaret Sherry you will be aware how many fractional stitches are usually involved, so I immediately opted to stitch it on evenweave. But... guess what? There are no fractionals! What? A Margaret Sherry with no fractionals? Not even the backstitching splits the fabric! I was (almost) speechless!!

Here is my progress for the day. I will not be stitching the background, hence the coloured fabric. With hindsight I should have stitched the face and expression first and although I tried to squeeze them in before midnight I just couldn't do it. Nevermind, it's something to look forward to when I return.

Contentious by Margaret Sherry

Featured in Cattitudes Calendar 2003

Stitched on 32ct Lime Murano evenweave 2 over 2

Stitch count 79 wide by 71 high

Estimated stitching time 30 hours

Stitching time to date - 5 hours 15 minutes

I mentioned yesterday that today's project was "so me". If you are wondering, contentious means to be controversial or likely to be the cause of or involved in a heated argument. It's not so much the wording that makes the children think of me, rather the cat's scowl and hand-on-hips-do-as-I-tell-you-or-else pose. Apparently I do this quite a lot!

Another cutie tomorrow.

See you then,
Rachel x