Winter Alphabet - finished; all 4 Seasonal Alphabets framed

Hi all!

So this is finish 31/31 from Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge 2016 and is, of course, Winter Alphabet by Lizzie Kate.

At the end of October I had stitched this much:

And now all completed it looks like this:

Winter Alphabet by Lizzie Kate

Stitched on 16ct Cloud Winter Sky aida by Sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitch count 112 wide by 159 high

Started - 26th January 2016

Finished - 10th November 2018

Total stitching time - 36 hours 35 minutes

And as the title of this post gives away, I have also framed all four Lizzie Kate Seasonal Alphabet pieces. Thanks to easyframe.co.uk I found the same frame in four different colours to match each season - red for spring, green for summer, brown for autumn and blue for winter. It makes them a bit more interesting than them all having the same generic gold-edged wooden frame, which was my other option. Here they are before framing...

... and after...

... and all together:

I think they look really good, but then I am more than slightly biased and would say that! I'm a very happy bunny indeed.

Considering samplers are definitely not my thing (are these truly samplers?) I thoroughly enjoyed stitching all four pieces. There was a great sense of satisfaction in working on them and watching them grow, especially as psychologically each letter of motif counted as a mini-finish!

And, of course, framing them all means my Box Of Shame is getting emptier! It definitely won't be empty by the end of the year, but it won't be far off.

Take care,
Rachel x

October Progress on 2015/2016 Challenge Pieces

Hello there!

Another month gone and another month of steady progress to show you on a couple of projects I started for Debbie's Challenges back in 2015/2016.

During October I finished and framed Pretty Little Paris (posted previously) and made progress on:

Winter Alphabet by Lizzie Kate

started 26th January 2016; last worked on last month
continued alphabetically (the gap is for a picture which covers two rows and three columns)

Hufflepuff by theworldinstitches (etsy)
started 11th February 2015; last worked on August 2015 (oops!)
finished the top section and started on the name

In November I plan to finish Winter Alphabet and make further progress on Hufflepuff, the last Challenge piece I will be stitching on in 2018.

Take care,

Rachel x

September Progress on 2015/2016 Challenge Pieces

Hello there!

Another month gone and another month of steady progress to show you on a couple of projects I started for Debbie's Challenges back in 2015/2016.

During September I finished and framed Tea from the Little Black Cat range (posted previously) and made progress on:

Pretty Little Paris by Satsuma Street

started 19th February 2015; last worked on last month
finished the bridge and added the Arc de Triomph

Winter Alphabet by Lizzie Kate

started 26th January 2016; last worked on in March 2016
continued alphabetically, adding two more rows

In October I plan to finish Pretty Little Paris, make further progress on Winter Alphabet and bring the final Hogwarts House Crest, Hufflepuff, out to play. If all goes well, all three pieces will be finished by the end of the year.

Take care,

Rachel x

Summer Alphabet - finished

Hello all!

This month's finish from my Challenge WIPs was Lizzie Kate's Summer Alphabet, the third of the four seasons I've now stitched and the 30th finish out of the 31 pieces I started for Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge 2016.

At the end of last month the alphabet looked like this:

And now complete with the charms and buttons attached:

Summer Alphabet by Lizzie Kate

Stitched on 16ct Cloud Lemon over-dyed aida by sewitall.com 2 over 1
Stitch count 112 wide by 158 high

Started - 12th January 2016

Finished - 18th July 2018

Total stitching time - 36 hours 55 minutes

As usual I want to say how much I thoroughly enjoyed this piece. Samplers and alphabets are definitely not my thing but with each letter or picture feeling like a mini-finish there was a real sense of how quickly it was moving along. And it was nice to branch out from stitching 'cuties' for once!

Here are the finished Spring, Summer and Autumn together:

So that just leaves Winter to finish later this year and then I can frame the complete set. I'm not sure yet whether to go for matching frames or the same frame in different colours. I'll have to see what's on offer from my framing shop.

Take care,
Rachel x

June Progress on 2015/2016 Challenge Pieces

Hello there!

Time for another progress update. Let's see how I did in June on those many WIPs I still have left from the projects I started back in January/February 2015 and January 2016.

During June I finished Sugar (posted previously) and made progress on:

Summer Alphabet by Lizzie Kate
started 12th January 2016; last worked on last month
continued alphabetically (gotta love the little pink fishy!)

Pretty Little Paris by Satsuma Street
started 19th February 2015; not touched since then
more of the Moulin Rouge as well as parts of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower have appeared

So far this year I have kept up with my plans; very slowly but surely my Challenge pieces are being worked on and finished. Fingers crossed that will carry on during the second half of the year too.

Frustratingly, however, my stitching time has been down by about 1/3rd for the last three months so I've hardly worked on the Haunted House Bell Pull. Even if I don't make much progress on it in July I am determined it will be finished during August.

Take care,

Rachel x

May Progress on 2015/2016 Challenge Pieces

Hello there!

May has been and gone (I swear each month goes quicker than the last) so it's time for my monthly progress report on outstanding WIPs started back in 2015/2016. Remember that my aim is to finish one and work on two more each month.

I finished the adorable Spotted Owls (posted previously) and made progress on:

Sugar from the Little Black Cat collection by Heritage Crafts

started 16th February 2015; last worked on last month
stitched only the background (mind-numbingly easy but what a difference!)

Summer Alphabet by Lizzie Kate
started 12th January 2016; last worked on February 2016
continued alphabetically

If all goes well in June, Sugar will be finished, Summer Alphabet continued, and a WIP pulled out which I haven't worked on since the day I started it back in Febuary 2015.

Take care,

Rachel x

PS if you're wondering what's happened to Haunted House Bell Pull, I've had no free time to work on it in the last two months. :(  Fingers crossed that will change in June.

Spring Alphabet - finished

Hello all!

This month's finish from my Challenge WIPs was Lizzie Kate's Spring Alphabet. I'm going to repeat myself by saying it was another enjoyable stitch, especially as each little section felt like a mini finish.

At the end of last month I left it like this:

And now completed, including the charm and buttons:

Spring Alphabet by Lizzie Kate

Stitched on 16ct Cloud Pink over-dyed aida by sewitall.com 2 over 1
Stitch count 112 wide by 158 high

Started - 22nd January 2016

Finished - 9th March 2018

Total stitching time - 34 hours 40 minutes

Amusingly, the large motif under the Q is a bug (presumably a ladybird?) on a leaf, not a badly-coloured straw hat or a flying saucer as I originally thought!

Autumn was finished back in 2015 and I plan to finish both the Summer and Winter Alphabets later this year after which I will frame them all at the same time.

Take care,
Rachel x

February Progress on 2015/2016 Challenge Pieces

Hello there!

Another month has flown past already so it's time to check in with my stitching for February on my outstanding WIPs started back in 2015/2016. Remember that my aim is to finish one and work on two more each month. So, how did I do?

Well, I finished Spring from The Four Seasons (posted previously) and worked on:

Spring Alphabet by Lizzie Kate

started 22nd January 2016; worked on last month

completed fifth and half of sixth rows

Canal Crossing by Heritage Crafts
started 10th February 2015; last stitched on 26th April 2015
worked my way down and across from the top right

I also ripped out and re-stitched the green I was not totally happy with on the Spring Alphabet. I chose the best brightish olive green match I could find so now the 'wrong' green...

has been replaced with a better green (particularly noticeable in the trefoil):

Much better, don't you think? I'm certainly a lot happier and think it was definitely worth the additional 5 hours it took to rip and restitch these sections and a few more odd bits.

In March I should be able to finish Spring Alphabet and make further progress on Canal Crossing and another project from my very slowly shrinking bag of WIPs.

Take care,
Rachel x

January Progress on 2015/2016 Challenge Pieces

Hello there!

At the beginning of each month I like to post the progress made during the previous month on the WIPs started in 2015/2016 for Debbies Ultimate Crazy January/February Challenges. Although I was still stitching towards the end of last year, I failed miserably with these postings but, you know, new year, new start so let's try again.

My aim with my WIPs is to finish one and work on two more each month, culminating in 12 finishes by the end of the year.

During January I completed Winter from The Four Seasons (posted previously) and worked on the following two pieces:

Spring from The Four Seasons

started 1st February 2015; not touched since then

completed down to the horizon

Spring Alphabet by Lizzie Kate

started 22nd January 2016; last worked on March 2016

almost completed third and fourth rows

I'm a bit annoyed at the Lizzie Kate greens again - I had an issue with them when stitching her 'Green' series and should have remembered. On the picture below, look at the border around d, the letter G and the right half of each trefoil leaf - the recommended green I used (bottom picture) certainly doesn't look like the olive green shown, even taking into account the colour variations between the two photos.

So it looks as though I may be doing a bit of ripping and re-stitching with a better match. It's annoying but at least it's not a major problem. There are a few other bits sewn in the 'wrong' green (mainly leaves) but I'll probably leave them. We'll see...

During February I should finish Spring from The Four Seasons, make further progress on Spring Alphabet, and work on another project from my WIPs.

Take care,
Rachel x

Autumn Alphabet - DUCJC 2016 Finish 22/31

Good morning all, and Happy Halloween if you celebrate.

I've got a little celebration today - yet another finish from my January starts.

This is Lizzie Kate's Autumn Alphabet, topical for the time of year I thought. I put in a lot of stitching hours over the weekend whilst binge-watching The Man In The High Castle (for the umpteenth time). I honestly think it helped me stitch faster!

Here's how I last left it the last time I stitched on it:

And now it's finished and looks like this:

Lizzie Kate

Stitched on 16ct Cloud Brown over-dyed aida by Sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitch count 111 wide by 159 high

Started - 7th January 2016

Finished - 30th October 2016

Total stitching time - 34 hours 35 minutes

(estimated 59 hours!)

I'm so glad I greatly over-estimated how much time this would take to stitch as I will have a pleasant surprise when it comes to finishing the other three in this series, which I also started back in January. I did make a few small changes from the pattern but they're hardly noticeable so I won't point them out!

As for framing, it should fit in a standard A4 frame; I just need to find one of a suitable colour!

Next up, something Christmassy I think.

Have a good Halloween,

Rachel x

March Progress on Small WIPs

Hello again!

It's time for another round-up of my monthly stitching. As you may remember, I dedicated March to LK WIPs with the plan of finishing one project (but hopefully finishing five) and stitching on three more. I actually achieved.....

Four finishes:
*  Keep Our Air Clean
*  Save Water
*  Plant A Tree

*  Be Kind To Animals

And made progress on another three:

Winter Alphabet from 26th January

Spring Alphabet from 22nd January

Autumn Alphabet from 7th January

So all in all a very successful LK month!

In April I still plan to finish one, possibly two, projects (miaow!) and work on three more older WIPs (think Harry Potter). However, I have other more time-specific projects which will have to be prioritised so I honestly don't know if the above can be achieved. I'll just see how the month pans out.

And then there's my exciting news! All I'm going to do today is give you a teasing glimpse of some wonderful fabric I am finally happy with for a project I have been desperate to stitch for two years. My regular and long-term followers may guess which project it is but for those of you who are newer (or can't remember) I will do a big reveal on 3rd April. I can't tell you how excited I am!!

Finally, regarding the April A-Z Challenge, I chose not to reveal my theme on the "Big Reveal" day, instead leaving it as a surprise. I know these types of challenges and daily posts are not to everyone's liking but I hope some of you will stick with me as I've tried to make each post a little bit interesting. Some of it has involved research but with the use of the www this has not really been difficult or very time-consuming. You'll see what I mean in two day's time.

I've a Smalls SAL posting tomorrow, and then let the April madness begin!

Take care,

Rachel x