People's Choice SAL - Freedom

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 freedom.

Two things spring to mind with freedom; the first is the USA and Land Of The Free, and the second is animals. Not being American, that version of freedom doesn't resonate with me, so I'm going to go with the second.

I don't like to think of animals being held captive in zoos etc. but also understand that this is necessary to protect them from humans and possible extinction. At least animal welfare has dramatically improved; what a difference between me going to the zoo as a child and taking my own children 30 years later.

I've stitched quite a lot of projects which could represent animal freedom but have narrowed it down to just a few where, in an ideal world, these animals would only be seen in their natural habitats.


Midnight Elephant by True Colors was my first ever project in 1993/1994. It was stitched on 14ct black and I distinctly remember starting and finishing each thread length with *cringe* knots! Well, I didn't know any different back then!

Dolphin Splash followed soon after, on a piece of shiny aida which was only available in 11ct. I'd quite happily stitch this one again, only on a higher count.

Koala was a magazine project stitched in 1999, when DMC were having trouble with the consistency of their greys. To get the right shades I had to use a mixture of Anchor and DMC but, as a lot of the design called for blended threads, you wouldn't know!

As for WIPs, I think the best 'freedom' WIP to show you is Pandas by Gloria and Pat. This was started in 2015 with just the grass and backstitching now left to do. My pandas are actually the proper black, white and grey, not a green shade as picked up in the less-than-colour-accurate photo!

On a tangent, when I see pandas I always think of one of the best British commercials ever from the 1990s. If you're in the UK you might know which one I'm talking about. I found it here on YouTube if you're interested.

As for stash, well, Elephant Stampede has to top the list. It's quite a large project but I've found (although not yet bought) some fabric which mimics the background, so all I'd have to stitch is the elephant and dust clouds. Maybe one day...

Hummingbird In Flight by John Clayton is another bird chart I've inherited from my mum. I don't have a bucket list but if I did seeing hummingbirds in the wild would definitely be on it.

And there concludes my interpretation of 'freedom' and the wildlife we would only see in their natural habitats in an ideal world. I hope you enjoyed it.

Next month's theme is geometric. I have a feeling this might involve the use of lots of hand-dyed variegated threads.

Take care,
Rachel x

Smalls SAL - July 2020

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.

July saw another little kit from Mouseloft which I stitched for my mum to add to her collection. Out of all of them so far, this is my favourite by a long way:

Tiny Toadstool Mouse by Mouseloft

Stitch Count 23 wide by 25 high

Stitched on supplied 14ct Cream aida

Started - 7th July 2020

Finished - 8th July 2020

Total stitching time - 2 hours 45 minutes

In this Smalls SAL I'm also re-showing other qualifying small projects I've stitched during the month. This month it's just my Monarch again, the unscrupulous Richard III:

Next month's Small will be a different colour version of one stitched a couple of months ago. But which small, and which colour?

Take care,
Rachel x

Spring Into Summer New Start Binge - #17 Gatekeepers

Hi everyone!

So this weekend marked the final start of the 17 weekend-long Spring Into Summer New Start Binge. As a reminder, this binge was undertaken as a way of starting the 17 new projects originally planned for starting during the 17 days of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Tiff and Annie have been accompanying me along the journey.

This weekend would have seen the opening ceremony and first couple of days of competition, so it seemed fitting that the final start was taking place over the weekend when the Olympics should have been beginning. The timing was not a coincidence!

My new start was Gatekeepers by Whispered By The Wind.

I'm not a fan of blackwork, but do like the way it's been used to create some of the wrought iron detail. Plus it stitches up quickly, and who doesn't like that?!

The gate is charted in 3799 but I chose to use one strand of 3799 and one strand of Etoile 3799 to create a little bit of texture and sparkle. It's looking good so far.

Gatekeepers by Whispered By The Wind

Stitched on 32ct Vintage Grey Murano evenweave

Stitching time to date - 5 hours 10 minutes

I really don't want to put this one down and am tempted to stay with it for the rest of the month. But that would be at the expense of Hogwarts. Again. Decisions decisions.

So that's the end of this Spring Into Summer New Start Binge. In a week or so's time I'll do a round-up post, summarising the starts, my thoughts and revealing some exciting news!

Take care,
Rachel x

The Loneliness Of Autumn - 70 hours

Hi all!

It was back to normal this month, stitching the allotted 10 hours on The Loneliness Of Autumn, the big project Leonore and I are SALing over the next 4-5 years.

During this 10 hours I finished off the second colour, dark blue 939, and made a very small start on the third, 3865 off-white.

Here are the comparison pictures between the completion of the first and second colours. This is now 14.81% complete with 9,866 stitches after 69 hours 30 minutes.

Very luckily I didn't find one counting error with the black. There was always the possibility that, stitching extreme cross country with un-gridded fabric, some of the first colour would be in the wrong place but, nope, all is well and I am pleased to report I can obviously count!

And here are the 60 and 70 hour comparison pictures with the start of the off-white. The 30 minutes remaining from my allotted 10 hours was enough to stitch all of 3865 on the top four pages, not that there's much (about 50 stitches) and not that you can really see it against the cream fabric but, trust me, it's there!

There will eventually be 3,086 stitches of 3865 which will generally make up the lamp lights and their reflections on the ground. There's lots of block stitching to look forward to as I get further down the design. For a bit of fun I thought I'd show you the chart I'm working from, basically 16-and-a-bit sheets of A4.

I scour the chart and highlight the colour to stitch in pink, and when I've worked the stitches go over the pink with blue. I know Pattern Keeper is the obvious choice with full coverage pieces but I'm an old-fashioned girl and do like my paper copies and highlighters. Or, to put it another way, if there's an easier way I won't take it!!!

I'll add Leonore's progress after 7 months here once she's posted. Remember, she's stitching a bigger version by a different company so our stitching is not exactly comparable, but that's the exciting part of the SAL; it would be boring if they were both the same.

Take care,
Rachel x

Spring Into Summer New Start Binge - #16 - Mouse With Books

Hi all!

It's hard to believe that almost four months of a new start every weekend have passed and that this weekend was the penultimate start of 17 new projects. Tiff and Annie have been joining in the fun of this Spring Into Summer New Start Binge too, so pop over to their blogs to see how they have been getting on.

As I mentioned last week, I knew which of the two remaining projects I would be leaving to last so had no choice as to which one to start this week. It's another of these Merry Mice:

But which one to stitch? I chose number 22 which I have called Mouse With Books.

With the other mouse I started, number 21, I just stitched some of the book and not the mouse itself, so this time I concentrated on the mouse and left the books. Here's my start over the weekend. I just love his expression; he's so happy!

Mouse With Books by CutePatternsbyMaria (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Glacier over-dyed aida by sewitall.com

Stitching time to date - 4 hours 40 minutes

Next week I'll be starting a Whispered By The Wind design. I hope it doesn't cause me as many problems as the other Whispered By The Wind chart I started way back on weekend number one!

Take care
Rachel x

A Monarch A Month - Richard III

Hello all!

This month's monarch of the month is number eighteen, the infamous Richard III. I have no idea what his pose is supposed to represent but he does look as if he's strolling with purpose.

Richard III from Kings and Queens by Bothy Threads

Started - 1st July 2020

Finished - 6th July 2020

Total stitching time - 4 hours 55 minutes

For clarification, there are two Edwards and two Richards in this summary:
Edward IV and Richard III were brothers
Edward V and his brother Richard were the sons of Edward IV and known as The Princes In The Tower.
I hope this doesn't cause too much confusion!

RICHARD III
Preceded by Edward V (nephew, never crowned)

Succeeded by Henry VII (a distant cousin)
Lived - 1452-1485
Reigned - 1483-1485
Married - Anne Neville 1472
Fathered - 1 legitimate and 2 illegitimate children

Richard III became king following the death of his older brother, Edward IV, and his declaration that Edward's marriage had been bigamous and therefore his sons and heirs, Edward V and Richard, illegitimate.

During Edward IV's reign, Richard had been loyal to his brother, resulting him being named Lord Protector of the young Edward V. However, after 'escorting' Edward to the Tower Of London to await his coronation, Richard proclaimed himself King and was crowned in July 1483.

Those loyal to Edward rebelled. They failed but did start the myth that Edward and Richard, The Princes In The Tower, were dead, and that Richard III was responsible.

In 1485 Henry Tudor led a second rebellion.

Like Richard, Henry was a descendant of Edward III - Richard being the great-great-grandson of his fourth son, Henry the great grandson of his third son - although being descended through a Beaufort, who were barred from the line of succession, his claim was questionable.

They met at Battle of Bosworth Field where Richard was unhorsed and killed, leaving Henry to take the crown.

Originally buried in Greyfriars Church, Richard's remains were lost and famously rediscovered under a car park in Leicester in 2012. He was re-interred in Leicester Cathedral in 2015.

During his reign Richard improved law, order and the judicial system all over the country, including making all aspects accessible to more people. But it is his connection to The Princes In The Tower that will always tarnish his reign.

Richard was the last King to die in battle and, because his son had predeceased him, the last Plantagenet King.

So next month, Henry VII, and the beginning of the Tudor dynasty.

Take care,
Rachel x

JBW Advent Calendar - Days 2, 10, 22 and 23 finished!

Hello all!

This year I am hoping to stitch all of the 24 designs which make up JBW Designs' Advent Calendar.

At the end of June I squeezed in three borders and one finish, all of which appeared in the #24 post. Now I'm posting about them properly, as they're all finished!

Day 2 - Gifts:

 Started - 29th June 2020

Finished - 10th July 2020

Total Stitching time - 2 hours

Day 10 - Christmas Tree:

Started - 29th June 2020

Finished - 15th July 2020

Total Stitching time - 2 hours 10 minutes
(I'm thinking of swapping the gold beads for red beads as they would show up better)

Day 22 - Little Tree:

Started - 30th June 2020

Finished - 30th June 2020

Total Stitching time - 1 hour 25 minutes
(the skinniest and saddest-looking tree I've ever seen!)

Day 23 - Birds:

Started - 30th June 2020

Finished - 13th July 2020

Total Stitching time - 1 hour 30 minutes
(why are they green???)

That means I've now finished 13 of the 24. Given that they are really quick projects, I don't think it will be too much of a problem to finish the others in plenty of time for December.

Take care,
Rachel x