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

Challenge Finish 16

Good morning everybody!

It's been a couple of months since my last Challenge finish but I am happy to report that Winter Owl has now been completed. Like all of my projects, Wilfred was an absolute joy to stitch, especially with those eyes watching me all the time! Here he is then:

Winter Owl

UAHomeMadeStudio (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Misty Blue aida 2 over 1

Stitch count 88 wide by 87 high
Started - 3rd February 2015
Finished - 8th November 2015
Total stitching time - 27 hours 5 minutes

To add some sparkle to the snow I used Kreinik #32. The snow on top of his scarf had already been stitched so, to save unpicking it, I simply added a cross of single strand Kreinik on top. It's very subtle but just catches the eye. The blue and white snow on the branches was stitched using one strand of thread and two strands of Kreinik. It's quite bold but gives the impression that there is at least some sunshine on what is obviously a cold winter's day. Naturally, none of the sparkles show up in the photo!

Wilfred will, for the time being, be going into my Box of Shame. But he shouldn't be there long - I just need to find a suitable 8" square off-the-shelf frame so that he can join some of my other projects on the wall.

I'm hoping to finish at least one more Challenge piece before the end of the year but am not going to rush or worry if I don't. Que sera sera is very much how I feel at the moment.

16/59 Challenge pieces down, 43 to go!

See you soon,
Rachel x

October Progress on DSDUCJFC 2015 Pieces

Good afternoon everybody!

Thank you again for all of the lovely comments you have been leaving me. And welcome to the new followers I have recently gained. I hope you are enjoying my ramblings.

October was strange month for stitching on my Challenge pieces as making two little initial ornaments and starting two new projects during my Stitching Retreat ate into my usual stitching time. I didn't have any finishes but I did manage progress on:

"Wilfred" the Winter Owl from 3rd February

stitched his chest/tummy

Spotted Owls from 21st February
the first owl now has the beginnings of a companion
(don't you just love those eyes?!)

I'm not an owl person but all three pieces I have stitched on this month have been owls. Just a coincidence perhaps? Or is somebody trying to tell me something?

November might see a bit more progress on my Challenge pieces but that very much depends on how obsessed I remain with the monochrome Owls in Love.

As for next year's Crazy Challenge..... I may have recently increased my stash of charts but I'm sticking to my plan and definitely only joining in with the 31 new starts in January. In fact, most of my stitching for the whole year has been planned so no amount of hinting will get me to change my mind - sorry!!

I'll be back soon with an Owls In Love update.

Take care and if you celebrate it, Happy Halloween.
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

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

DSDUCJFC 2015 - Day 34

Good morning!

Today's start was appropriate for the weather. We awoke to about half an inch of snow and amazingly the schools remained open and life seemed to go on as normal! Not that I'm cynical or anything but us Brits can't usually cope with such "adverse" weather conditions!!!

Winter Owl

UAHomeMade (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Misty Blue Aida 2 over 1

I thought I'd start with this little owl's face. I love his nose sitting above the scarf and wanted his eyes watching me as I stitch. I hope you don't find them too creepy!

Also, when I get there, I plan to add Kreinik into the white (or perhaps all of the) snow for an added bit of sparkle.

Happy stitching,
Crazy Rachel x

Final New Stash of the Year!

Hello one and all!

I intend to join in with Stitch From Stash next year, so as I still have some birthday money left over (and I know my mum wants to buy me some stash for Christmas) I decided to have a final splurge on charts before being tied down to a budget. Also I have a stinking cold and feel awful so the retail therapy has been good medicine for my recovery!!!

I naughtily bought:

Rabnann (ebay)

Elephant Herd

Stitch count 248 wide by 174 high

theworldinstitches (etsy)

The Four Harry Potter Houses

Stitch counts 95-97 wide by 117-118 high

UAHomeMadeStudio (etsy)

Winter Owl

Stitch count 88 wide by 87 high

UnconventionalX (etsy)

OMG Tigger is Out

Stitch count 162 wide by 200 hig

This is the most expensive single chart I have ever bought. I just love the realistic-looking raindrops and the sadness of the cat so it had to be MINE! It is definitely going to be started once I have completed my latest stint on Dolphin Ruins and it already has a WIP progress bar waiting to be filled!

Gloria and Pat

Young'uns

Stitch counts 71-149 wide by 73-124 high

How cute are these?! They are not as small as I thought they would be, measuring about 100 x 100 but I don't care. I love and want to stitch them all!

Love Thy Thread
Lyx
Stitch count 170 wide by 170 high

So that's it! I certainly don't NEED any more charts. I just have to force myself not to look ever ever ever ever ever ever again!

I hope all of your Christmas preparations are going well. We've still got the tree and a few more decorations to put up but there's plenty of time yet. We tend to do a little bit each day rather than all at once as it gives the children something to look forward to when they come home from school.

Until next time.....

All the best and

Happy stitching :)

Rachel x