7 Box of Shame Finishes

Good afternoon all!

I've been a successful busy little bee again this week, rummaging through my and my mum's collection of previously used and/or "might-come-in-handy-one-day" frames and framing a few more of my Box of Shame pieces. It was so nice to find suitable frames and not have to buy any new ones. However, it does mean that all the glass is standard and decent photos were very difficult to get.

Here we go then:

April Showers
I finished this Lickle Ted piece in 2015 and have been procrastinating about framing him since. He looked wonderful with tan and red mounts, but equally good without them. So without them it was! It's a 7"x9" gold-edged mahogany-effect frame which came from a cheapy-bits-and-pieces shop a few years ago for about £3.

Friends Forever
Sam and Peeps were also stitched in 2015 and have finally come out to be displayed. This cheap 5"x7" teal frame was bought from Asda years ago for a massive 97p! I knew it would come in handy one day!

Let's Eat Dessert
I finished this in 2016 but was always wary of how I would frame it given the amount of colours in the fabric. Surprisingly, a gold-edged mid-wood frame looked really good, so that's what I used as that's all it needed.

October Fairy
This was a piece I stitched in 2016 and (obviously) one of a set of 12. I had no idea how I would frame the series but came across this wonderful bright orange 5"x5" frame in Tiger for a massive £1. I can't remember if they stocked colours that will match the other fairies in the series but then I haven't stitched them yet so will worry about that when it comes to it!

Cats In Love
You should recognise this piece as it was a new start and finish last month. I wanted a black frame but found this black and silver 8"x10" frame which came from Poundland. I wasn't sure if it would look right but think it works really well. And it's something different to plain black for a change.

And finally...

Playful Puss 3 and 4
The first two Playful Puss pieces were stitched and framed in 2015. The other two were finished last summer so goodness knows why it has taken me so long to add them into the frame! It's a simple black frame with bright green and pink mounts to match the grass and flowers. Unlike the other this was custom made so not cheap!

So, that's another 7 out of my Box of Shame... but still loads more to go. Hopefully I'll be back with some more finished-finishes soon.

Happy stitching (and finishing!)

Rachel x

Challenge Finish 17

Good morning everybody!

I hope everybody has had a good Christmas or restful break over the last few days? Was Santa good to you? I'm excited to see any new goodies you have received and might be stitching on in 2016.

Santa was good to me and gave me a few little second-hand charts which he'd apparently bought on ebay - clever Santa! So I have a little Halloween Kitty and some more Lizzie Kates to add to my collection. My daughter also made a fabric case for me to carry a project and the accompanying thread bobbins. It took a long time and required a lot of work so I will blog about it later as it definitely deserves it's own post.

Our family had a quiet but busy festive period but not so busy that I couldn't do a fair amount of stitching! So, as the title has given away, I have another Challenge finish to show you. This will definitely be my last for 2015.

Once I'd picked this piece up I couldn't put it down and somehow knew I would work on it until completed. I left him back in June having only stitched the umbrella and rain but now Lickle Ted looks like this:

Lickle Ted - April Showers

Featured in Cross Stitch Crazy issue 110

Stitched on 16ct Iced Coffee over-dyed Aida by Fabric Flair 2 over 1
Stitch count 86 wide by 111 high

Started - 8th January 2015
Finished - 28th December 2015
Total stitching time - 32 hours 40 minutes

Some of the umbrella and scarf were supposed to be stitched using satin threads but I just used normal DMC. Compared to the original picture I don't think it makes much difference. I love the half stitching for the rain and the variegated thread used for the puddles. I even enjoyed watching him come to life as the backstitching was added. Unfortunately the subtle shading of the fabric has not come out too well in the photograph. :(

For the time being Lickle Ted will become an Orphan in my Box of Shame until I decide how to frame him.

17/59 Challenge pieces down, 42 to go!

Now to go and make sure everything is ready for my 31 new starts in January. I must be mad!

Happy stitching everybody!
Rachel x

June Progress on DSDUCJFC 2015 Pieces

Hello again!

First of all a big thank you to everyone who reads and comments on my blog. I really do appreciate your comments and will eventually reply to those still in my inbox. If you don't receive a reply it's because you are a no-reply blogger, so please consider this an extra big thank you to you too.

I promise July will definitely be the month when I gradually catch up with reading and commenting on blogs.

But for now, it's time for another progress update on my remaining 47 DSDUCJFC pieces. Don't the months fly past when you're having fun!

My June targets were to finish one Challenge piece and stitch on at least four more. Here's how I did:

I did indeed finish one piece.....

* autumn

..... and I did stitch on at least four more; six to be exact:

Dreaming of Dolphins from 7th January

completed the second dolphin (the gap is for the fin of the fourth dolphin)

Lickle Ted - April Showers from 8th January

added the rain

Tatty Ted - A Tatty Friend from 13th January

finished stitching the teddy

Polar Bears from 7th February

finished the head of the first cub and started the second cub

(as you can see from the amount of progress, I found it hard to put this one down!)

Little Black Cat - Cream from 9th February

added some of the pot

Ravenclaw from 18th February

continued the raven

That's a good amount of progress which I'm very very happy with.

My July targets for Challenge pieces remain the same - finish one and stitch on at least four more. Any suggestions as to which ones you might like to see me work on during July would be welcome, although Dreaming of Dolphins, Polar Bears and Ravenclaw are already on the list!

And how about a nice wry smile to finish with?

I realise we're only just halfway through the year but I thought I'd let you know I've already chosen my 31 projects for next January's Challenge! Note, I said 31 for January, not 59 (or rather 60 as it's a leap year) for both January and February. Over half of the charts are fairly small (less than 20 hours) so should stitch up quickly. That gives me six months to collect the fabrics and threads together and get working copies of the charts. I think that should be long enough! I just wonder how long it will be before that list of 31 gets increased to 60???? Hmmm, I give it to the end of August!!!  ;)

See you soon,

Take care and happy stitching!
Rachel x

March Progress on DSDUCJFC 2015 Pieces

Good morning everybody!

Although I'm posting my Challenge finishes as they happen, I thought I would also do an end-of-month posting about progress made on other Challenge pieces just to show (1) what I am working on and (2) that they are not being neglected.

So on top of finishing 6 Challenge pieces in March I also made the following progress:

Daisy Hugs from 6th January

continued down and backstitched the petals
and the mouse on the right has a tail!

Dreaming of Dolphins from 7th January

finished the first dolphin
absolutely adore this piece!

 Lickle Ted April Showers from 8th January

finished the umbrella hood

Cookie and Cream from 16th January
stitched some of Cream and backstitched the window
can't say I've ever seen a cat quite that yellow!

Lickle Ted Flower Power from 18th January

finished the flower (mostly) and started Lickle Ted's head

Winter Owl from 3rd February

finished the owl's head as far down as his scarf

My Treasure from 27th February

finished stitching the dragon

My original plan for the Challenge pieces was to work on one at a time until completed. This sort of worked for the first few as they were small and I was desperate to finish them.

Then I changed my plan to work on one focus piece but stitch on others as my mood took me. That way I would definitely be heading towards one finish whilst working on others.

But now I've decided to just stitch what I want when I want! If that means continuing with a piece until it's finished that's fine. If it means stitching for a bit then moving on that's fine too. I want to enjoy stitching these pieces, not feel bogged down or in a rush to complete them.

With so many Challenge pieces to choose from, goodness knows which ones will make an appearance in April. Will they be the same ones? Will they be different? Or will there be a mixture of both? Watch this space to find out!

Love and hugs
Rachel x

DUCJC 2015 - Day 28

Morning all!

I love Lickle Ted designs and thought that him holding his bunny was just irresistible! Here's my progress of 1 1/2 bunny ears!

Lickle Snooze

Featured in The World of Cross Stitching issue 174

Stitched on 16ct Clay over-dyed Aida by Fabric Flair 2 over 1

Love and hugs
Rachel x

DUCJC 2015 - Day 18

Good morning all!

Another cutie today I'm afraid. Stitching was limited as it was a "do housework" day but I did manage a good stint from 9pm. I love the subtle colours in this one, especially on my chosen fabric.

Lickle Ted - Flower Power

Featured in Cross Stitch Crazy issue 82
Stitched on 16ct Sunshine over-dyed Aida by Fabric Flair 2 over 1

Heather had a good time at Frost Camp, surviving the cold by wearing eight layers on her top half and four on her bottom half! Although she's got waist-length hair, long fingernails and is a vegetarian she's not a girly-girl at all and was proud to have done the more bloody and gory survival skills that made some of the boys squeamish! I won't go into details, but YUK! Girl power!

Back tomorrow with another Margaret Sherry.

Love and hugs

Rachel x

DUCJC 2015 - Day 8

Hi all!

Today's start was just meant to be.....

I decided a couple of months ago the order in which the Challenge charts would be stitched. So it was ironic that, having got drenched on the school run (mainly thanks to passing motorist and big puddle!) I came home, got changed and settled down to stitch an umbrella! Up to now most of my Challenge stitching has been browns, creams and blues so it was nice to pull out some cheery pinks and reds for a change.

April Showers

Featured in Cross Stitch Crazy issue 110
Stitched on 16ct Iced Coffee over-dyed Aida by Fabric Flair 2 over 1

See y'all tomorrow!

Love and hugs,
Rachel x