Grow Your Own - finished!

Hello everybody!

Oh, bleurgh to May and June!

With the start of 2022, I thought I'd left my stitching blips behind but, no, they have returned. So, rather than beat myself up about it, I've *shock horror* taken a step back from my monthly plans.

During June, instead of getting bogged down with deadlines and 'compulsory' stitching, I'm going to work on WIPs and aim for a few finishes. A change is as good as a rest, so it's said and, let's face it, finishes aren't exactly a bad goal to work towards!

First out of my h-u-g-e WIP box came a favourite piece, a Hannah Dale design I lovingly named Walter. There wasn't too much to go, so he became a finish quite quickly.

Here's how I left him back in January after 60 hours of work:

And here he is now, with his complete crop of vegetables:

Grow Your Own by Bothy Threads

Stitched on 16ct Tumbleweed over-dyed aida

Started - 25th December 2019

Finished - 13th June 2022

Total stitching time - 65 hours 45 minutes

Isn't he just gorgeous?! I think Walter has to be one of my top ten favourite finishes, and will always be particularly special as he was a birthday gift. Thank you so much again to the fellow stitcher who enabled the enabling - you know who you are.

Now I'm going to dive back into my box of WIPs and see which one calls the loudest. Depending on size, there may be more finishes this month.

Christmas In July

Next month the focus will be 'Christmas in July' with the intent of encouraging last-minute stitchers to make an early start on their Christmas ornies and gifts. I'll be stitching a Christmas Small and then working on Lizzie Kate's Merry Christmas By The Letter. There won't be a linky-thingy, or anything like that, but if you fancy a bit of off-season stitching, then please do join in!

Take care,

Rachel x

Link-up For Fully Finished Gallery SAL - June 2022

Hello all!

It's the 10th of the month so time for another Fully Finished Gallery SAL, the place to show your FFOing achievements since your last link-up.

The link-up for this SAL opens on the 10th of each month and stays open for 10 days so you can join in whenever you're ready.

I have three FFOs this month.

First up, an FFO with a little story...

When I FFOd my last Snuffles, the wonderful Katie, Jeremiah's mom, commented how it should not belong to me but to her. Selfishly unwilling to part with it, but knowing her birthday was in May, I quickly stitched a Snuffles in her favourite colour and posted him off to her.

He was FFOd as a mini pillow with coordinating Purple Pixel Blocks fabric and an abundance of purple beads. And now I know he's been received I can show him and give his details:

Snuffles In Purple by FuzzyFoxDesigns (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Azelea over-dyed aida in DMC 208, 210 and 550

Started - 7th April 2022

Finished - 12th April 2022

Total stitching time - 4 hours 35 minutes

Then it's back to my own FFOing with April's Smalls SAL, Strawberry, finished as a hanging ornie using coordinating fabric and barley twist cord:

Then Watercolour Dolphin was finished as a mini pillow with coordinating fabric and barley twist cord. The fabric for this one is called Flutterby, and if you look closely you can see small butterfly silhouettes. But if you overlook the butterflies, the fabric and colour almost look like an underwater seaweed world, so that's why I chose it.

Now it's over to you.

Please link-up using the URL of your FFG SAL post and not the home page of your blog, adding a thumbnail of a finish and either your name or your blog name as the caption. The link-up will remain open for 10 days, closing at 6am UK time on 20th June.

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Let's see what you've been FFOing this month.

Next month's post will go live on 10th July at 6am UK time. Hope to see you there!

Take care,
Rachel x

People's Choice SAL - Beads

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 Beads.

I love beads and, looking through my list, realise I could have added them to so many past projects if I had thought about it at the time. I have been using them more recently and will continue that trend if I remember!

Some projects use lots as standard - think Mirabilia or Mill Hill - whilst others are added by the stitcher for effect (especially as a replacement for french knots!) I admire the patience of attaching sometimes hundreds of beads to projects, but the end result is definitely worth the effort.

In chronological order, here are my top three beaded projects:

Lavender and Lace's Celtic Christmas required a lot of beads in the border. However, because I was stitching on 16ct and Mill Hill beads are made for 14ct they looked untidy so I adjusted the pattern and density of beads to fit:

The borders around my monthly birthstones are beads. Each one is a different pattern, although it's not easy to see or tell from this picture!

I used beads for three of Sue Hillis' Dark Shadows Halloween designs for the drape-y bits of the chandeliers:

More recently, I started using beads to FFO projects, most notably my collection of Snuffles The Dragon. I thought the beads looked a bit like dragon scales (well, they do if you squint!) and they certainly make a change to using barley twist cord!

I'm also in the process of using beads to FFO the 10 variegated dragons I have recently finished. My plan is quite fiddly and time-consuming and I'm not yet happy enough to show a progress picture. I would say watch this space, but don't hold your breath!

Next month's theme is Pets.

Take care,

Rachel x

Smalls SAL - May 2022

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's small is a little bit bigger than something I would usually class as a 'small' but once I'd stitched one, which was my intention, I couldn't not stitch the other. OK, I could have stitched it next month, but the thought of leaving one on their own was too upsetting! See what I mean:

Seahorses by FuzzyFoxDesigns (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Bermuda over-dyed aida

Started - 1st May 2022

Finished - 11th May 2022

Total stitching time - 10 hours 55 minutes

For next month's small I'll be staying with the same designer but heading to the trees.

Take care,
Rachel x

Link-up For Fully Finished Gallery SAL - May 2022

Hello all!

It's the 10th of the month so time for another Fully Finished Gallery SAL, the place to show your FFOing achievements since your last link-up.

The link-up for this SAL opens on the 10th of each month and stays open for 10 days so you can join in whenever you're ready.

This month I actually have more than one FFO... but only just, as it's two!!

First up is JBW Design's French Country Squirrel, finished off as a mini pillow with coordinating Autumn Swirls fabric and burgundy barley twist cord:

And then it's JBW's French Country Pumpkin, finished off as an ornie with - yes, you've guessed - coordinating Orange Marble fabric and burgundy barley twist cord. However, it is not been FFOd as a square, but as an oval to match the shape of the pumpkin. I'm glad I tried something different but must admit I'm not keen on it as it's too messy for my liking. Too late now though!

Now it's over to you.

Please link-up using the URL of your FFG SAL post and not the home page of your blog, adding a thumbnail of a finish and either your name or your blog name as the caption. The link-up will remain open for 10 days, closing at 6am UK time on 20th May.

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And once again I'm looking forward to seeing your achievements for the month.

Next month's post will go live on 10th June at 6am UK time. Hope to see you there!

Take care,
Rachel x

People's Choice SAL - Witches

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 Witches.

Witches are normally associated with Halloween and, up until I started blogging, this was not a topic I was interested in stitching. Now I find myself liking certain types of Halloween designs, although witches tend not to feature too much. Let's see what I can find...

Sorciere, or French Country Witch, by JBW Designs was my first witch. Stitched in 2016, this was the design that started me off using variegated threads on JBW's 'French Country' designs, not that you can really see that this thread is variegated, but it is, just:

Then it wasn't until 2019 when I stitched my second witch, the sickeningly cute Soda Stitch's A Little Witch Of The Night:

I could also include my Witchy Spookie Hootie; is it a witchy-owl or an owl dressed up like a witch?

And since every witch needs one, how about a lone witch's hat:

Now for stash...

In my collection since 2000 has been Alluring Sorceress (and her male compatriot, Midnight Enchanter). I keep saying I want to start them, but never do. Give it another 22 years and she might end up on my scroll bars!

Although I don't have Mill Hill's Wanda The Witch herself, I do have Wanda's Wands and Wanda's Witchery because, just like a hat, every witch needs her own house and cupboard in which to store her goodies and create her concoctions!

And, finally, back to a hat. This is Tribal Witch Hat by White Willow Stitching. I've never started this as I don't really know how to stitch it... One colour? One variegated colour? Each symbol in black or green or purple or orange? The possibilities are endless and, as yet, unresolved!

That's it for my trawl through witches. Next month's theme is Beads! I have a feeling Mirabilia and Nora Corbett will crop up quite often in this one!

Take care,

Rachel x

Watercolour Dolphin - finished!

Hi all,

April was definitely an 'I can't concentrate on big projects' month, so I switched to finishing off a few smaller pieces, most of which needed minimal brain power!

Following on from French Country Squirrel and French Country Pumpkin, I picked up Watercolour Dolphin, another which needed no thread-changing and therefore no symbol following. After a few hours it had gone from this tiny start:

To this lovely finish:

Watercolour Dolphin by StitchItPicasso (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Bermuda over-dyed aida using ThreadworX 11382 Blue Swirl

Started - 5th September 2021

Finished - 30th April 2022

Total stitching time - 9 hours 25 minutes

This was the final piece started during the Tokyo Paralympics and has now become the final finish, so I'm really happy with that. All 13 projects for the Paralympics used ThreadworX variegated threads and I loved every one of them. I'm not usually a big fan of how variegated threads stitch up stripy, but these all worked for me, probably because I chose threads dyed with hues of one colour rather than threads dyed with multiple contrasting colours.

Now I need to focus on getting back to the bigger more complicated projects - it's catch-up time... again!!

Take care,

Rachel x