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

Balloon - DUCJC 2016 Finish 7/31

Good morning bloggers!

Well, as you can see from the title of this post, my February finishing streak continues.

When I put this one on my frame I only intended to stitch the balloon. But then I just HAD to stitch the dog too which left just the backstitching and I couldn't leave it there, could I? So on I plodded (it's a hard life sometimes) until he was finished!

Here is how I left Odd Dog back in January:

And here he is all completed:

Odd Dog by Lili of the Valley

Stitched on 16ct Cloud Blue aida from Sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitch count 45 wide by 85 high

Started - 15th January 2016

Finished - 27th February 2016

Total stitching time - 8 hours 20 minutes

(estimated 10 hours)

I know that, like me, a lot of you find Odd Dog really sweet. He's by a small English company called Lili of the Valley. They only have 22 charts in their catalogue (dogs, girls, boys and nativity) so really are a small company! I do hope they design and release more Odd Dog charts soon.....

I loved stitching both of the Odd Dog charts but now have to move on to something else. I may make March a month of Lizzie Kates..... or I may not. We'll see, as I never really know where my needles will take me next!

Back soon!
Rachel x

Sleepy Book - DUCJC 2016 Finish 3/31

Good morning!

Woohoo! I have another finish to share with you! That's two in one week and four so far this year! This girl is steaming!!

This is Sleepy Book from the Odd Dog range and was my start for day 16 of the challenge. Here is how I left him:

Here he is after completing the stitching:

And, finally, here he is after adding the backstitching:

Sleepy Book by Lili of the Valley

Stitched on 16ct Cloud Blue aida from Sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitch count 64 wide by 43 high

Started - 16th January 2016

Finished - 5th February 2016

Total stitching time - 12 hours 45 minutes

I can't stress how much I love this cute piece, even though the colours have not come out quite as bright as suggested by the cover picture. The sleepy yawn is exactly what happens to me when I try to read and, judging from previous comments, a lot of you feel like this when you pick up a book too!

I haven't yet decided how to finish him so, for the time being, he will join my other Orphans in my Box of Shame.

So, what's next on my frame I hear you ask? Well, I have chosen a piece on which I only intend to make a few hour's progress before moving onto another finish. However, I have a feeling I will not be able to put it down. I suppose it just depends on my cattitude!

Back whenever!
Rachel x

DUCJC 2016 - Day 16 - Sleepy Book

Hello again!

So we're now into the second half of this crazy challenge. Time really does fly when you're having fun!

For day 16 Toby chose the other chart I have in the Odd Dog series. This is my favourite of the two and definitely how I feel whenever I pick up a book! I took advantage of it being a Saturday and stitched during the day too so made a lot of progress:

Sleepy Book by Lili of the Valley

Stitched on 16ct Cloud Blue aida from Sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitch count 64 wide by 43 high

Estimated stitching time 14 hours

Stitching time to date - 5 hours 5 minutes

Whilst stitching I did not have the colour picture to hand otherwise I would have noticed how washed out the pillow looks compared to the picture. I'm definitely using the right colour so am really disappointed. But I've done too much to unpick now. Maybe it won't look so bad once I've added the backstitching.

We have a slight dusting of snow this morning. I hope the happy campers are keeping warm!

Back tomorrow with a Christmas Pal who would feel quite at home in our current weather.

See you then,

Rachel x

DUCJC 2016 - Day 15 - Balloon

Good morning!

We're now at the point where, for many stitchers, this is the end of their new starts. If you've made it through to day 15 - well done! I know there are a couple of bloggers whose daily postings I shall miss.

But this is also the point at which the more mad among us carry on for another 16 days..... or longer.

Heather chose this small design for day 15. I'd been secretly willing her to select it from day one so was really glad she finally chose it. I only sat down with my needle at 11pm so here's my progress in that hour:

Odd Dog by Lili of the Valley

Stitched on 16ct Cloud Blue aida from Sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitch count 45 wide by 85 high

Estimated stitching time 10 hours

Stitching time to date - 1 hour

Heather's away with the Scouts this weekend on what is aptly call "Frost Camp" and, yes, they're sleeping in tents! In my opinion they're all mad as the temperatures are around 0-2 degrees C! But they also have my complete admiration - even dropping her off at 9pm last night was too cold for me to handle. It was so nice returning home to a warm house and cosy bed! Toby's much more sensible and chose not to go.

Tomorrow's new start is another by the same company.

See you then!
Rachel x