A Tatty Friend - finished!

Morning all!

Not having any plans means that all year long I can delve into my my WIP boxes (yes, plural, I have three!) and pull out whatever I want.

First out was this little project, A Tatty Friend, which I started for Day 13 of Debbie's Super Duper Ultimate Crazy January February Challenge (i.e. a new start each day for two months) way back in 2015. I last worked on him in September that year, spending more than an hour backstitching around his head alone. It was the thought of many more hours of backstitching that kept him as a WIP for so long.

But I felt ready for him. Sort of. The backstitching was intense and, although I didn't follow it exactly, I could not do more than twenty or so minutes at a time; it was the type of backstitching that splits threads and overlaps itself in order to give that tatty look.

But small steps lead to big things, and after four more hours of backstitching, plus taking out some of the grass on the right so I could miss out an additional flower, and adding a few pink petit beads to the flower instead of french knots, here he is all finished; he only took me a day under eight years!!

A Tatty Friend (magazine project) by Dimensions (using DMC conversions)

Stitched on 16ct white with silver lurex aida

Started - 13th January 2015

Finished - 12th January 2023

Total stitching time - 14 hours 30 minutes

It feels really satisfying to have completed something started so long ago that I'm now itching to finish more WIPs. Watch this space for which one jumps out next!

Take care,

Rachel x

September Progress On DSDUCJFC 2015 Pieces

Good morning!

It's unbelievable that yet another month has gone by. Just where does time disappear? The children have been back at school a month and some of the shops already have their Christmas cards, papers and chocolates out!

I had a fairly successful September of stitching on my Challenge pieces with two finishes and progress on three more.

My finishes were: (scroll down for their postings)

* Ravenclaw
* Polar Bears

And the projects worked on were:

A Tatty Friend from 13th January

stitched the grass and started the monotonous backstitching
(believe it or not that's over an hour's worth of backstitching just to his head!)

Winter Owl from 3rd February

gave him his scarf

Spotted Owls from 21st February
stitched and backstitched the body of the first owl
(how cute is that?)

Considering at the beginning of the month I wasn't sure what to work on I think I've done quite well. I haven't planned any projects to work on during October so I'll just see what takes my fancy.

Regarding the 2016 Challenge, with the exception of a few threads I need to order and bobbinate, my 31 projects are all ready to go. Chart photocopies/prints made. Fabrics chosen and cut. Threads picked. Everything filed in popper wallets. Nothing like being prepared! I wanted to get mine out of the way before a month of birthdays and then Christmas took over. Roll on 1st January 2016!

Has anyone else started preparing for January yet or is it f-a-r too early? And if you are considering taking part in the Challenge next year will you be doing 15, 31 or 60 new starts? I'd be very interested to know.

Take care everyone,
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

DUCJC 2015 - Day 27

Hello again!

Back to the lovely silver lurex aida today for another wintry Tatty Teddy design. Again, I thought I'd start with the colours to give the fabric a bit of depth, so both teddies have most of their hats. The missing sections require white with Kreinik blending filament but, given the fabric, I'm not sure if I want to add any more sparkle so have left them out for the moment.

Winter Hugs

Featured in The World of Cross Stitching issue ???

Stitched on 16ct White Aida with Silver Lurex by DMC 2 over 1

I notice that DMC now have the license to produce Tatty Teddy. I've looked at some of their releases and have to say that they are not as good as the Anchor ones. The colours are simpler and they don't have the backstitching that give the teddies their furry look. However, they would be much easier (and certainly less frustrating) to stitch!

Love and hugs
Rachel x

DUCJC 2015 - Day 20

Good morning all!

Two-thirds of the way through the Challenge and I'm still loving each and every day!

I would like to say another big thank-you to all the wonderful comments you have been leaving. I've not been replying to many recently but you are on my to-do list!

This very cold looking Tatty Ted was very reminiscent of the weather outside whilst I was stitching him. I'm glad he is wrapped up warmly against the elements!

Christmas Wishes

Featured in Cross Stitcher October 2007
Stitched on 16ct White Aida with Silver Lurex by DMC 2 over 1

As you can see, I started with the blue as I wanted to put a colour rather than greys onto the white fabric first.

Back tomorrow!

Love and hugs
Rachel x

DUCJC 2015 - Day 13

Morning!

Today was my first Tatty Ted design. At the moment, and without any backstitching, it looks like a big splodge of greys, although you can at least make out the shape of the head. The Anchor to DMC colour conversion has one of the greys looking a bit green but I won't know for certain until I see it in proper daylight. If I'm not happy I may frog that colour. I've got some bigger Tatty Teds lined up so need to be happy with the colours before I start them.

A Tatty Friend

Featured in Cross Stitch Crazy
Stitched on 16ct White Aida with Silver Lurex by DMC 2 over 1

Another magazine cutie tomorrow. Hope you're not getting too bored of the same sort of cute designs appearing daily.

Love and hugs
Rachel x