Winter Bird - finished!

Hello everyone!

A few of you correctly guessed that it would not be long before I finished this little project. He was the second of my seven new starts over the summer and is now the third one to be completed.

Here's a reminder how I left him after a weekend and 4 hours of stitching:

And now all finished:

Bird by Hobikolik (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Stormy Sea over-dyed aida by sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitched in Threadworx 1140 Moonlit Skies

Stitch count 80 wide by 80 high
Started - 27th July 2019
Finished - 17th September 2019

Total stitching time - 6 hours 55 minutes

He was. as always, an absolute joy to stitch; those colours are so soothing and Threadworx threads a delight to stitch with. He will be FFOd to match the other three in the set, after which I will photograph and show all four together. I wonder if I (or you) will have a favourite?

Take care,
Rachel x

Autumn Bird - finished!

Good morning all!

With so little left to stitch I think it was quite obvious it wasn't going to be too long before this little birdie was completed. I had a 'spare' evening before starting my weekend new start (and didn't want to get Hogwarts out for just one day) so decided to work on this piece until finished.

He was the third of my Summer Of New Starts binge and I left him like this:

Now he's been given the rest of his wings:

Bird by Hobikolik (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Peach Cobbler over-dyed aida by sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitched in Threadworx 1076 Honky Tonk

Stitch count 80 wide by 80 high
Started - 3rd August 2019
Finished - 23rd August 2019

Total stitching time - 7 hours 45 minutes

I'm really pleased with the way he's turned out. I have the fabric and the cord so now all I have to do is FFO him. I've got a few pieces piling up in my Box Of Shame but hopefully he won't be in there too long.

Take care,
Rachel x

Summer Of New Starts #3 - Autumn Bird

Hello all!

For start number 3 I chose the final seasonal bird, autumn, working on the tail first so you weren't just seeing a duplication of last week's Winter Bird. Time was on my side so I was able to stitch a bit more than usual and consequently made a really good start.

     

Bird by Hobikolik (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Peach Cobbler over-dyed aida by sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitched in Threadworx 1076 Honky Tonk

Stitch count 80 wide by 80 high

Stitching time to date - 5 hours 35 minutes

This will only take a couple of hours to finish off, whenever that may be (although hopefully sooner rather than later!)

Take care,
Rachel x

Summer Of New Starts #2 - Winter Bird

Hi again!

For new start number 2 I decided to stay with the winter theme. This is my winter version of a bird I plan to stitch in four colourways to represent the four seasons. Spring and Summer were completed in 2017/2016 so I thought it was about time I stitched the other two!

I was only able to stitch on this piece on Saturday as most of Sunday (11am-11pm) was spent travelling. As much as I love trains, they are not a place I can stitch anything other than a hand-held small, so I made the most of Saturday stitching this and used Sunday to start the August birthstone a few days early.

Here's my Saturday progress then:

Bird by Hobikolik (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Stormy Sea over-dyed aida by sewitall.com 2 over 1

using Threadworx 1140 Moonlit Skies

Stitching time to date - 4 hours

This only requires another 3 hours or so of work so will be a quick finish when picked it up again. But for the last three days of July I have to return to Hogwarts; it's been a bit neglected this month. Ooops!

Take care,
Rachel x

2 Box of Shame Finishes - Birds

Good morning!

I have two bird-themed finishes to share with you today:

A couple of years ago I bought some seasonal-coloured Threadworx variegated threads on the premise I would "use them one day" but didn't have a clue on what! Then I found this chart by Hobikolik on etsy and thought it would be perfect stitched in the four colour-ways. So far I have stitched Summer (red/yellow/green) and Spring (pink/purple).

I found some suitable backing fabric:

And made them into little (they measure about 6.5 inches) pillows/cushions in my usual way. I wasn't sure whether or not to include a hanging loop but thought it better to include one and not use it rather than not include one and regret it later.

Although the fabric has no right-way-up I'm convinced the green fabric is upside down - or maybe it's just an optical illusion that's less pleasing to the eye (not that the back will be seen very often!)

At the same time as purchasing these fabrics, the backing fabrics for Autumn and Winter just happened to slip into my basket (you know how it is!) However, they are not on my stitching schedule until 2019 (yes, I'm sad (organised?) enough to have already planned what I will be stitching NEXT year... and even into some of 2020 if I'm being honest!) Having said that, though, I'm making fantastic progress this year so may find myself with a bit of spare time to slot an additional project or two into my schedule... :)

In the meantime, I think I'll have to make a little corner where all my little finishes can sit.

Take care,
Rachel x

Spring Bird - started and finished

Hello all,

In between all of my WIP and Smalls SAL stitching in February I managed to fit in my second new start and finish of 2017.

Back in the spring of last year I purchased some Threadworx hand-dyed threads in seasonal colours not really knowing what I was going to do with them. Then I found a simple bird pattern which I decided I would stitch four times using these threads. Last year I stitched Summer and now I have stitched Spring:

Bird by Hobikolik (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Dried Petal over-dyed aida by sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitched in Threadworx 1006 Berry Nice

Stitch count 80 wide by 80 high

Started - 23rd February 2017

Finished - 26th February 2017

Total stitching time - 6 hours

Here's a reminder of Summer, stitched using Threadworx 11511 Jam Rock on Lime:

Looking back at my records I noticed that Summer took 7 1/4 hours to stitch compared to 6 hours for Spring. Why the difference? Because for Spring I was listening to music, for Summer I was watching TV. It just goes to show how distracting a screen can be!

Like Summer, Spring has gone into my Box of Shame... but... I already have the backing fabric to make them both into little cushions. Watch this space!

I say this about most of my projects, but I really did enjoy stitching this and am looking forward to stitching Autumn and Winter. However, they are not on this year's stitching plans so I'll have to pencil them in for 2018!

Back in a couple of days with a progress report on my Challenge WIPs.

See you then,
Rachel x