Three French Hens - Twelve Days of Christmas - Satsuma Street

I had a mini finish tonight and completed the first small part of my many 2018 goals. 

I am stitching on 32 count Ivory murano.  I am mainly using the charted DMC but I am subbing out some of the colours for Jodyri Designs threads I have in stash.

I'm going to start my New Year New Start now even though it's only New Year's Eve - I'm a rebel like that!

Keep stitching and smiling

New Year - New Start on the Blog!

I think the making of resolutions and setting goals for the new year has resparked my interest in blogging.  I'm hoping to use this blog to make myself accountable for my stitching goals for the year.  I hope you will help me in trying to achieve this goals.

My first goal is to work on each of my focuses pieces each month - where possible completing a part each month.  My focus pieces and the parts that need completing are:-

1.       12 Days of Christmas, Satsuma Street

a.    Three French Hens

b.    Four Calling Birds

c.     Five Gold Rings

d.    Six Geese a Laying

e.    Seven Swans a Swimming

f.     Eight Maids a Milking

g.    Nine Ladies Dancing

h.    Ten Lords a Leaping

i.      Eleven Pipers Piping

j.      Twelve Drummers Drumming

2.       Planets, Stem Stitch

a.    Earth x 2

b.    Mars x 2

c.     Jupiter x 2

d.    Saturn x 2

e.    Uranus x 2

f.     Neptune x 2

3.       I Love You to the Moon and Back

4.       Live Laugh Love, Circus Stitches

5.       Class Schedule SAL, Armada Designs

a.    January

b.    February

c.     March

d.    April

e.    May

f.     June

g.    July

h.    August

i.      September

j.      October

k.    November

l.      December

6.       Nautical Year

a.    April

b.    May

c.     June

d.    July

e.    August

f.     November

g.    December

7.       J, Nora Corbett

8.       Santa’s Village, County Cottage Needleworks

a.    Candy Cane Cottage

b.    Christmas Tree Farm

c.     Elves’ Workshop

d.    Gingerbread Emporium

e.    Hot Cocoa Cafe

f.     North Pole Post Office

g.    Poinsettia Place

h.    Reindeer Stables

i.      Santa’s House

j.      Santa’s Sleighworks

k.    Santa’s Stocking Store

9.       Darth Vader, Stitch Line

10.   Storm Trooper, Stitch Line

11.   Calendar Months, Drawn Thread

a.    January

b.    February

c.     March

d.    April

e.    May

f.     June

g.    July

h.    August

i.      September

j.      October

k.    November

l.      December

I am already a little daunted with all those seeing them all written down!!

I would also like to have a new start each month. 

My final goal is to work on each of my WIPs at least once in the year.  I would like to try and do at least 50 stitches on each WIP.  Listed below are my current WIPs - not including those in the focus pieces above.

1.       Advice from the Ocean

2.       Angel of Love

3.       At the Met

4.       August

5.       Bauble Cushion

6.       Bookworm Fairy Mini

7.       Butterfly Lace

8.       Candy Canes and Wreaths

9.       Celtic Autumn

10.   Celtic Banner

11.   Christmas Elegance

12.   Christmas Owl SAL

13.   Dear House

14.   Dragon Dance

15.   Elegant Trio

16.   English Cottage Sampler

17.   Fire Goddess

18.   Flowers of the Holy Night

19.   Fragile Landing

20.   Froth and Bubble I

21.   Hanging Loose

22.   Hardcore Gamer

23.   Harry Potter Pillow Sampler

24.   I Am a Stitcher

25.   In This House

26.   Knotted Garden Biscornou

27.   Learning Sampler

28.   Love Heart Tapestry

29.   Masquerade

30.   Mini Beach Hut in Moonlight

31.   Nativity

32.   Not Quite Whitework

33.   One Hundred Years

34.   Peacock Band Sampler

35.   Perpetual Calendar

36.   Pumpkin Passport

37.   Quotes to Live By

38.   Renaissance Mermaid

39.   Research Project

40.   Revenge of RYO

41.   Save the Stitches

42.   Seaside Mystery

43.   Sleeping Beauty

44.   Sleeping Beauty’s Castle

45.   Spring Mandala

46.   Stained Glass

47.   Stargazer

48.   The Towpath

49.   Venetian Opulence

50.   Watercolour Gerbera

51.   Year at Hawk Run Hollow

How practical these goals are remains to be seen. 

If you're still reading my blog after my hiatus I would like to thank you for sticking around.  Happy New Year to you all - I would like to wish you health and happiness and plenty of stitching time!

Keep stitching and smiling

Hiatus

It's been a little while now since I last updated here and I think for the foreseeable future I'm going to be taking a break from blogging.

I currently post daily pictures of my stitching on Instagram and these also post over to my Facebook page.

Coming back to my blog and repeating them feels like a bit too much at the moment.

Thank you all for following my blog for so long and I hope you will stay subscribed to the feed in case I post again.

But in the meantime if you want to see my stitching progress please follow me on either:

Instagram

or add me on

Facebook

Keep stitching and smiling

Overview - May/Early June 2017

I have had three finishes since I last posted - one of them was a model for the Jodyri Designs Indian Elephant Mystery SAL so I will be able to show you each part of the design as they are released.  For now I can show you part 1 - there are two versions of the chart one in DMC and one in hand dyed threads - I stitched the DMC version.  If you want to sign up for the SAL all the details are here - http://jodyridesigns.com/products/2017-summer-mystery-sal

DMC colour palette for Elephant SAL

Part 1 of the Indian Elephant Mystery SAL from Jodyri Designs

On May 4th for Star Wars day I picked up C3P0 from Stitch Line.  This was a project I had started on 4th May 2016.  I stitched on it for 5 days and finished it.

Before

After

I then moved on to Sleeping Beauty's Castle from Chatelaine.  I had been intending to bead the entire project at the end but after my success beading as I was stitching with Venetian Opulence I decided to start beading this project as well.  I beaded on part 2 of the chart.

I then switched to H by Nora Corbett and after 9 days stitching I finished it!

Before

After

I then stitched on Angel of Love for one day before starting the Elephant SAL.

I spent the rest of the month and the beginning of June stitching the model for the Indian Elephant SAL for Jodyri Designs.  I will be able to show you the pictures of these parts as they are released.

Keep stitching and smiling

Overview - April 2017

I only worked on two projects this month.  I continued working on Venetian Opulence from Mirabilia and got almost to the halfway point.  I've been beading this project as I go and really enjoyed it.   I am stitching her on a 32 count Murano in Limestone from Zweigart as charted.

Then later in the month I had a new start Froth and Bubble from Long Dog Samplers.  I am stitching this on a 32 count Murano from Jodyri Designs in Woollen Mittens.  I have switched out the thread for the border and I am using a hand dyed thread from Jodyri Designs in Whale Song.  I am using the thread slightly differently than I have done previously.  I am using the loop method and not stitching one stitch at a time to give a tweeded effect.  Instead of using the tweeded thread for the wording I am using a variegated DMC 4240.  I have also subbed out the Gentle Arts Raven for regular DMC 310.  All the other threads are the charted Gentle Arts Colours.

Keep stitching and smiling

Overview - March 2017

Here's the projects I worked on this month.

The first project I worked on was Stargazer by Mirabilia.  I am stitching this on 28 count Brittney in Regal Peacock from Jodyri Designs.

Before

After

 

I then had a new start Revenge of RYO by Ink Circles.  I am stitching this on 18 count cream aida.

Then another new start Venetian Opulence by Mirabilia.  I am stitching this on 32 count Murano in Limestone.  I stitched on this for the rest of the month.  For the first time I am beading this project as I go and up to now I am loving it.  I've got some batting to put between the stitching and the scroll rod as I roll it to protect the beads.  If this works out I think I will stitch all my projects this way.  Also at this point I have no intention of switching out to another project.

I've once again fallen off the stitch from stash wagon.  I don't know if I even mentioned here that I was participating.

Keep stitching and smiling

Overview - February 2017

I've worked on a few projects this month.  I'm really enjoying just picking a project and then stitching on it for as long (or short) as I want to.

Bookworm Fairy Mini - Hannah Lynn

Before

After

Perpetual Calendar - Samsarah Designs

Before

After

J - Nora Corbett

Before

After

Save the Stitches

Before

After

Stargazer

Before

After

I Am A Stitcher - I decided I wasn't happy with the colours I originally started this project with so I unpicked it and started again.

Before

After

Dear House - this was a new start this month

Celtic Banner

Before

After

Keep stitching and smiling

Overview - January 2017

Well firstly I cannot believe that it is already February - wasn't it only yesterday I posted about my stitching in 2016!

I've worked on a few projects in January, three of them new starts and one a project that I hadn't touched for a while.

On 31st December 2016 I started At the Met by Mirabilia.  I have coveted this project for so long and last year I came into a little extra money and kitted it up.  I stitched on this project every day for the first 22 days of January.  I am stitching her on 32 count Permin Linen in Milk Chocolate 2 over 2 with all the charted threads.  This is the first big project I have worked on with linen and I'm surprised to say I'm not hating it.  I can't say I'll be converting totally to linen but I won't avoid it like I have in the past.  So here's what it will look like.

This is what it looked like before I moved the frame.

And this is what it looks like now.

I then heard about the Quotes to Live by from Stitchrovia which is a charity SAL for Mind.  I am stitching this 1 over 1 on 20 count aida in Smokey Rose which was the June 2016 Limited Edition from KLT Charting.  I am leaning heavily on Kim to add this to her regular line because it is an absolutely stunning colour and would work well with so many designs.  Here's the picture of part 1.

And here's where I got to so far.

My next new start was Hardcore Gamer from Charting Creations.  I am stitching this on 25 count easy guide evenweave 2 over 1 tent stitch.  The colour I am using at the moment is DMC Coloris 4507.  Here's a picture of what it will look like.

And here's where I got to.

The final project I worked on was the Perpetual Calendar from Samsarah Designs.  I looked back and the last time I worked on this was in 2013!!  I am really enjoying working on it again.  A couple of days a week I have to wait an hour for a lift home from work so I am taking this along and getting some extra time in on it.  This is stitched on 14 count perforated paper.

Yesterday I was feeling the need to work on a different project but I couldn't decide which one so I used random number generator to pick a project and it landed on Mini Bookworm Fairy by Hannah Lynn.  I am going to do at least 500 stitches on this project and then decide whether to carry on or switch.

I hope 2017 is treating you all well.

Keep stitching and smiling