People's Choice SAL - Winter

Hello all!

It's the first Saturday of the month so time for the People's Choice SAL run by Jo from Serendipitous Stitching. Continued thanks to Jo for hosting this unique SAL which has a different theme each month.

This month's theme is winter.

Winter in the UK is totally unpredictable and can vary so much between areas which are just a few miles apart. When I was a child I remember winters being cold and snowy, definitely seeing snowfall before Christmas and lasting a good few weeks. Nowadays, where I am at least, we might get a couple of days of snowfall in January/February/March which last a few days. Probably a good job; call me a pessimist, but half an inch of snow and most of the UK grinds to a halt!

But enough of memories, let's go through my stitching history and see what I can find that's Winter related:

Christmas Quacker, a little duckling wrapped up in a snowball, was one of my 2015 starts. I remember this was my first ever time stitching on evenweave. The fabric is a sparkly white and I decided to start with the white thread, more fool me! This is the only piece I've finished off as an 8"x8" scrapbook page.

Winter Owl by UAHomeMadeStudio (etsy) was another 2015 start. I love the way he's trying to keep warm but his beak's still poking out over the top of the scarf! You can't see it in the photo but I added Kreinik blending filament to the snow for a bit of sparkle.

Winter from The Four Seasons, a Maria Diaz magazine chart, was yet another 2015 start. This is probably my favourite of the four seasons, capturing the chill of a winter morning with cold blues and purples.

Winter Alphabet by Lizzie Kate is from 2016. I love how winter blues and creams have been combined with Christmas reds and greens.

I have a couple of winter projects in my WIP pile too:

Winter Hugs, a Tatty Ted magazine chart, is yet another 2015 start. It's being stitched on 16ct silver lurex aida which is incredibly stiff but which I know will soften over time. This project is already on my to-finish list for 2021!

Snow Globe Tree by Lucie Heaton (etsy) was one of this year's Summer Of New Starts. I made quite a lot of progress during November and plan to finish it (and start another from this set) in 2020.

Stash-wise, there are two that stand out:

Winter Wonderland and Holiday Delivery by Mill Hill were presents from my mum a couple of years ago. Now that I'm comfortable swapping the perforated paper for aida they really should become WIPs, and soon!

I hope you've liked my winter-themed post. Now to pop around and see what others have posted. If I see lots of blues and whites they'll make me feel cold and give me a good excuse for curling up with a fleece and a big cup of cream-topped hot chocolate!

Next month, Lizzie*Kate. One single designer but a few hundred patterns to choose from. That's going to be interesting.

Take care,
Rachel x

December In Turquoise - started and finished!

Hi all!

At the beginning of each month I will be stitching a little calendar piece, by Palkolp, in that month's birthstone colour. This idea was inspired by Jo's People's Choice SAL Birthstone posting and from her link to a website about birthstones.

December is the final month and the last time you will have to endure these little poems based around birthstones. Many of them have been quite negative but at least December ends on a more cheery note!

December's birthstone is turquoise:

If cold December gave you birth
The month of snow and ice and mirth
Place on your hand a turquoise blue
Success will bless whate'er you do.

Visit here if you would like to read little interesting snippets of information about turquoise.

And here's the stitched piece. It's a little bit darker than I would have liked, but brings out the darker brown stripes which often appear in turquoise gemstones:

December by Palkolap

Stitched on 16ct Glacier over-dyed aida by sewitall.com 2 over 1
Stitch count 47 wide by 47 high

Stitched with DMC variegated 4025 and Miyuki seed beads

Started - 2nd December 2019

Finished - 4th December 2019

Total stitching time - 5 hours 15 minutes

And so comes to an end my year of birthstones. It's hard to believe a year has gone by!

I was conversing with another blogger about how stitching a similar design every month started to become a bit of a struggle around August/September time, and she gets the same sort of feeling. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed stitching each one, but I had a similar problem when I stitched Durene Jones' Cute Animal Calendar back in 2017 and the LK Stamps in 2015. I have a few more annual sets I would like to stitch but probably not as year long pieces. Instead I'll just pick up a random month as and when I feel like it. Having said that though, do you see the same pattern as me... 2015, 2017, 2019... perhaps in 2021 I'll change my mind!

Take care,

Rachel x

Candelabra - finished!

Hello again!

I have another finish! This is the fifth of the six Sue Hillis' Dark Shadows projects I started for Dark October. Those of you with keen eyes may have spotted this finish in my #24 post, but here's the post with all the details.

This is how I had left it:

And now finished:

Candelabra by Sue Hillis Designs

Stitched on 16ct Purple Potion over-dyed aida by sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitch Count 47 wide by 73 high 

Started - 26th October 2019

Finished - 29th November 2019

Total Stitching Time - 5 hours 45 minutes

It was stitched in 310 Etoile, to give it a tiny bit of sparkle, and silver-lined beads to represent the chains.

Only one more of these Dark Shadows projects to go, which I am confident will be finished in the next couple of weeks.

Take care,
Rachel x

#24HoursOfCrossStitch - November Challenges

Hi all,

Here is my monthly posting for the #24HoursOfCrossStitch Challenge, the brainchild of Jen from QuirksandStitches.

There are three monthly inter-linked challenges but what I really love about this SAL is that the level of participation is completely up to the stitcher - the idea is to enjoy the stitching, not get bogged down trying to meet targets etc. I complete all three challenges simply because I really enjoy them (even though the Holiday Challenges often give me a figurative frustration headache!)

This post is also a good excuse for me to round up and summarise all the stitching I have achieved during the month. I wish I'd done that sooner as it's a neat little reminder. Anyway, let's see what those achievements are:


1) Stitch for 24 hours during the month, including a minimum of 24 minutes each day

Not a problem! I stitched for a total of 59 hours during November, which is a little above average. There were two days when I stitched for less than 24 minutes, but I was able to put in a couple of long days so that made up for it!


2) Fill in the acrostic REWIND TIME, explain the connections and pick a 24 minute, 4 hour or 8 hour goal for each letter.

This month I planned my stitching around the letters rather than the other way round, although these were the projects I would probably have worked on anyway! There were ten projects in total, one for each letter, with goal time adding up to around 33 hours. All goals were achieved.

 R - Haunted Library by Mill Hill (WIP restart)

Connection - Haunted Library was a restart in October

Goal - at least 4 hours

Actual - 5h 5m
(more about this in a post when I reach the 10 hour mark)

E - Kings And Queens by Bothy Threads (WIP)

Connection - my monarch this month was Edward III

Goal - at least 4 hours from start to finish

Actual - 5h 5m

W - Bird Candelabra by Sue Hillis Designs (WIP)

Connection - birds have wings

Goal - at least 4 hours to finish

Actual - 3h 30m (so less than estimated)

I - Candelabra by Sue Hillis Designs (WIP)
Connection - to be a working candelabra the candles need to be ignited
Goal - at least 24 minutes of progress

Actual - 3h 50m to unexpectedly finish it!
(finishing post to come soon)

N - Happy Christmas by Durene Jones (new start)

Connection - another word for Christmas is Noel

Goal - at least 4 hours from start to finish

Actual - 7h 50m

D - Hocus Pocus by Sue Hillis Designs (WIP)

Connection - this is from a set called Dark Shadows

Goal - at least 24 minutes of progress

Actual - 2h 35m

T - November Birthstone by Palkolap (new start)

Connection - the birthstone of the month is topaz
Goal - at least 4 hours from start to finish

Actual - 5h 50m

 I - Snow Globe Tree by Lucie Heaton (WIP)

Connection - the scene is inside the snow globe

Goal - at least 24 minutes of progress

Actual - 6h 30m!

M - Hogwarts In A Bottle by CutePatternsbyMaria (WIP)

Connection - I've been stitching the mountains
Goal - at least 8 hours of progress

Actual - 10h

E - Boo! by Sue Hillis Designs (WIP)

Connection - it's being stitched with Etoile thread
Goal - at least 4 hours to finish

Actual - 8h 45m

3) Connect 12 or more of the given holidays to your projects and stitch for at least 24 minutes on each. 8 of the ten projects went on one holiday, the other 2 went on 2. See above for time spent on each one. I have been finding this part of the challenge increasingly difficult each month, but I'm stubborn and will not to be defeated. Hope you love the one very very very obvious shoe-horn!

1st - National Author's Day - Hogwarts In A Bottle - love or hate the stories, you have to admit J K Rowling and her creation of Harry Potter and Hogwarts have made her one of the most famous authors of the modern era.

2nd - Look For Circles Day - Bird Candelabra - the ornate details of the candelabra look almost circular.

3rd - National Homemaker Day - Kings And Queens - my monarch this month actually cared for and got along with his wife and children!

5th - Bonfire Night - November in Topaz - bonfire night is celebrated in November.

9th - Chaos Never Dies Day - Hogwarts In A Bottle - if you're familiar with the stories you'll know there's never a dull moment at this school!

14th - National Pickle Day - Haunted Library - gherkins are pickled, gherkins are green, the slime left behind by the ghosts in the Ghostbusters films was green and the first place they haunted and slimed was the library, the little pickles!

16th - National Button Day - Haunted Library - this is a Button and Beads kit.

19th - Have A Bad Day - Hocus Pocus - because, when you have a bad day, don't you wish a little magic could make it all better?

22nd - Go For A Ride Day - Boo! - there are part of a witch on this piece and witches ride broomsticks.

26th - National Cake Day - Candelabra - a candelabra holds candles and candles are often associated with cakes.

27th - Pins And Needles Day - Snow Globe Tree - Christmas trees are sometimes fir trees and fir trees drop their needles.

30th - Stay At Home Because You Are Well Day - Happy Christmas - most of us don't have to go to work on Christmas Day so it's a good reason to stay at home, even though we are well.

Phew, done it, and with only a few hours to spare!

December's challenges have been released so I shall now start on those. i wonder what lays ahead in the last month of this year?

Take care,
Rachel x

Smalls SAL - November 2019

Hello all!

It's the last Friday of the month so time for the Smalls SAL. Thank you, Mary, for continuing to host this fun little SAL. Pop over to Mary's Blog to see what other participants have been stitching in the way of Smalls this month.

Each month I stitch a small project specifically for this SAL which doesn't appear elsewhere on my blog. This month it was the first of six Christmas cards by Durene Jones:

Happy Christmas by Durene Jones (etsy)

Stitch Count 45 wide by 45 high

Stitched on 16ct silver lurex aida 2 over 1

Started - 6th November 2019

Finished - 13th November 2019

Total stitching time - 7 hours 50 minutes

I love this little piece, especially with the beads which, I think, look much better than the burgundy french knots they were charted as. I know it's designed to be a card, but I have something else in mind!

For this Smalls SAL I'm also re-showing other qualifying small projects I've stitched during the month.

My birthstone of the month, November In Topaz:

And my monarch of the month, Edward III:

December's Smalls SAL will be another of Durene Jones' little Christmas cards.

Take care,

Rachel x

Boo! - finished!

Hello all!

I've been continuing with my one or two (ish) thread lengths per pay Dark Shadows projects started during Dark October and have now finished Boo!

Here's how you saw it at the end of Dark October:

And now completed:

Boo! by Sue Hillis Designs

Stitched on 16ct Pink Pixie over-dyed aida by sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitch Count 52 wide by 81 high 

Started - 25th October 2019

Finished - 24th November 2019

Total Stitching Time - 9 hours 30 minutes

It almost looks like the witch is carrying a sandwich board which is slightly too big!!

I think I know how I want to FFO these Dark Shadows projects but will wait until all six are finished before making my mind up. I've only got two more to go so if those are finished before Christmas I can plan a good FFOing session sometime over the Christmas holidays.

Take care,
Rachel x

Hogwarts In A Bottle - 130 hours

Hi there!

So Hogwarts barged its way onto my frames and demanded more attention. There were good blocks of colour in this section so a LOT of progress was made during the ten hours.

Last time:

And this time:

And the full piece:

Now to go left a bit to finish the bridge supports and stitch some more mountains. Oh goody!

Take care,
Rachel x