Daisy Hugs - finished!

Hi all!

Yes, it's another finish, and the second this month from WIPs started way back in 2015. Go me!

After finishing Daisy Umbrella a couple of weeks ago my heart was set on finishing this one too. It's finish number 37/59 for Debbie's Super Duper Ultimate Crazy January February Challenge, and probably my last finish of 2020.

Here's how you last saw the hugging mice (well, the daisy at least!) back in March 2015:

And now finished:

Daisy Umbrella (my title) by Margaret Sherry

Stitch count - 45 wide by 62 high

Stitched on 16ct antique white aida

Started - 6th January 2015

Finished - 15th December 2020

Total stitching time - 23 hours 45 minutes

Due to the number of fractionals, and thread splitting for the backstitching, I think this will probably be the last time I stitch a Margaret Sherry on aida; I say 'probably' because I know I've started two others on aida and will have to decide (when I eventually get to them) whether to carry on or restart hem on evenweave. Luckily they're both small, and I haven't stitched that much, so abandoning/restarting them won't be too wasteful.

Take care,

Rachel x

Daisy Umbrella - finished!

Hi all!

Back in 2015 I started 59 projects during the first 59 days of the year in what was named Debbie's Super Duper Ultimate Crazy January February Challenge.

Up to now I've finished 35 of those projects - 17 in 2015, 9 in 2017 and 9 in 2018.

This year's to-finish list contained a further six but, mainly due to a lot of new-startitus, my good intentions haven't quite gone to plan - at almost the end of the year I've only just finished the first one!

Here's how I last left it:

And now, as finish number 36 of 59:

Daisy Umbrella (my title) by Margaret Sherry

Stitch count - 45 wide by 62 high

Stitched on 16ct white aida

Started - 21st January 2015

Finished - 4th December 2020

Total stitching time - 22 hours 40 minutes

I remember that this was one of my first Margaret Sherry designs, and I regretted using aida because of the fractionals. But it wasn't too bad in the end. The backstitching - all three hours of it - was probably more frustrating as it involved lots of thread splitting. But, again, it wasn't impossible, and well worth it for the effect.

The centre of the daisy was charted for french knots but I used beads because I don't like doing french knots!

I know exactly how this will be FFOd, so it will hopefully be ready for the 10th.

Wonder how long it will be before I finish another from this ages-ago Challenge?!

Take care,

Rachel x

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

May Progress on DSDUCJFC 2015 Pieces

Hello fellow bloggers!

It's the end of May so time for another Challenge progress update.

At the end of April I set myself the task during May of finishing one of my remaining 50 Challenge pieces and working on four more. I also asked for suggestions as to which pieces you would like me to stitch. Replies included Dreaming of Dolphins, any of the Margaret Sherry mice, the Harry Potter crests (especially Ravenclaw), Friends Forever and Pretty Little London.

With all that in mind I set about my May stitching.

I surpassed my targets because I finished not one but two pieces during May.....

* My Treasure from 27th February
* Friends Forever from 12th January

..... and made progress on another seven:

Ravenclaw from 18th February

finished the section above the banner

Autumn from 15th February

completed the sky

Hufflepuff from 11th February

continued with the outside of the shield (mostly)

Tea from 23rd February

finished stitching the teapot

Pretty Little London from 5th February

finished the top of Big Ben and continued with Tower Bridge

and the buildings on the bottom right

Dandelion Time from 15th January

backstitched the mouse where possible

(I was not enthused about stitching this one)

Dreaming of Dolphins from 7th January

started the second dolphin

I really enjoyed the additional challenge this month of trying to stitch on as many projects as possible, as suggested by my lovely commenters. I won't ask for suggestions for June but probably will again for July.

My June Challenge targets are again to finish one piece and stitch on at least four more. I've already decided which ones I'm going to work on but you'll have to wait until the end of June to find out!

I hope Debbie would have been proud of my commitment to and progress on her Challenge. :)

TTFN
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 25

Hello bloggers!

This is my final Margaret Sherry start for January and accompanies those of days 5 and 15. I've started 8 MSs altogether and apart from Book Worm they've all been mice! It wasn't intentional, but obviously I'm drawn towards her cute mouse designs. Sorry!

For a change I thought I'd work on the circle of flowers first. I didn't get much done but even stitching just two buttercups was enough to satisfy my daily addiction!

I Love Butter

Featured in Cross Stitcher August 2009

Stitched on 32ct Antique White Opalescent Evenweave by Fabric Flair 2 over 2

I'm going to enjoy the next chart so hope I can cheekily fit in more stitching time!

See you tomorrow!

Love and hugs
Rachel x

DUCJC 2015 - Day 23

Hello friends!

More Margaret Sherry on more Aida with more fractionals!

This one is so me (and probably most of you out there too!) I'm desperately trying to be good with my eating habits but stitching this has given me an appetite - and not a healthy one!!! But isn't the saying true - when all else fails, there's always chocolate!

Choc-A-Holic

Featured in Margaret Sherry 2008/2009 Calendar
Stitched on 16ct Crocus hand-dyed Aida by Polstitches Designs 2 over 1

A yummy project about a yummy topic on yummy fabric. That's contentment!

Love and hugs
Rachel x