Watercolour Gerberas - Riolis

This kit was sent to me free of charge from Riolis a while ago.  I hadn't stitched on it since I started it in July 2016.  When I got all the supplies out of the folder I wasn't looking forward to stitching on it.  The chart is in colour and there are a variety of different styles of stitch - half stitch with 1 strand; cross stitch with 1 strand, 2 strands and 3 strands; and back stitch.  I had almost decided to give the project up for adoption but decided I would stitch on it for a few days and then see how I felt.

For some reason I really struggle with the colour chart, I think I'm just used to working with black and white charts.  It helped me to stitch this with my mag eyes on as I normally enlarge my charts.  I haven't made much progress over the last 5 days as I have been on a course at work and have been very tired every evening, but progress, however small, I have made.  Also I am pleased to say that I am going to be keeping this and will stitch on it again.  Below are my progress pictures.

It's hard to see a lot of the progress as it is half stitches in yellow but I am pleased with what I got done.

My next project is a new start for 1st February and it is Monkshood by Nora Corbett.

Keep stitching and smiling

Hanging Loose - Cross Stitcher Magazine - Finish?

Today I reached the point on the secret project I am working on which I had wanted to and decided to move on to my next project.

You may remember from my last post that the project I would be working on next was Hanging Loose - this was a set of charts from Cross Stitcher Magazine from November 2011.

Here's where it was the last time I worked on it.

So I pulled the project out.  I looked at it - I looked at the ornaments I hadn't stitched yet.  I looked at some threads and thought about how they might work together and I made a decision.

I am retiring this as a WIP, I'm calling it a finish.  I'm not that interested in stitching any more of the baubles at this moment and to be honest I have too many ornaments for our Christmas tree already.

So that means I get to choose a new project to stitch on.

Type of project wheel spun and chose - WIP

WIP wheel chose - Watercolour Gerberas by Riolis

I will be working on this project up to Thursday and then on Friday 1st February I will be having a new start which is going to be Moonkshood by Mirabilia.

Keep stitching and smiling

I Love You to the Moon and Back - FINISH

Once I picked this piece up I was surprised at how close it was to being finished.  So I decided to stitch on it until I had completed it before spinning the wheel.

This was stitched on a piece of hand dyed silvered aida from Jodyri Designs and all the threads I used were also from Jodyri.  I designed this piece myself and this is what I always used to say to my son at bed time and I couldn't find a chart that had exactly those words.  I have to say stitching on the dark silvered aida wasn't easy and I had to use my magnifier to stitch most of it.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

The first photo is my starting point and the next photos were taken at 7pm each day.

I also managed to put some stitches in on my Perpetual Calendar piece.

I am going to stitch on my secret project for a few days but thought I would spin the wheel now so you know what you will be seeing next.

Project type wheel chose - calendar

So I will stitch on the piece that it has been the longest since I worked on - which according to my spreadsheet is Hanging Loose.  This was a design from a cross stitch magazine of Christmas ornaments.

You should see an update in the next few days.

Keep stitching and smiling

Perpetual Calendar by Samsarah Designs - 13.01.19

For the past 10 days I have been stitching on Perpetual Calendar from Samsarah Designs.  I decided that I would stitch on each project for 3 days before spinning the wheel.  For this project the "Stick/Spin" wheel landed on stick twice so I continued to work on it for 9 days - I added the 10th day as it was more convenient to stitch on this project than switch today.

So I'm bringing in a new rule for my wheel spinning decisions.  Once I have stitched on a project for 9 days then I will definitely switch to a different one.

I am not stitching these in the called for colours.  I am substituting them with my own choices from stash.  The threads used are mainly from Jodyri Designs but I have used some others as well.

The first picture was my starting point and then the following pictures were taken at 7pm each day.

Today I finished the number "4" so I count that as 3 mini finishes as the ones pictured below were all partially started when I picked this project up.

I have really enjoyed stitching on this project and intend to try and put at least one length of thread into it each day.  Once I get to the filling in of the background it is very meditative and I don't need to look at the chart. 

Tonight I spun the wheel to see what type of project I will work on next - the wheel spun "WIP".

I spun the WIP wheel and it spun "I Love You to the Moon and Back".  This is something I charted myself and am stitching for my son.  I last stitched on this on 30th October 2017.

Keep stitching and smiling

Roses of Provence by Mirabilia - 03.01.19

My first new start for 2019 was Roses of Provence my Mirabilia.  I am stitching her on a 28 count evenweave called Smokey Rose from KLT Charting, unfortunately Kim has stopped dyeing fabric so it is no longer available.

I take a photo of my stitching each day at 7pm and post on Instagram.  Here is my progress over the last three days.

So tonight I spun the wheel to decide first of all whether to stick with this project or switch to another one.  The choice was switch.

I then spun for the type of project to work on.  Originally the choices on this wheel were WIP, Calendar or Designer.  I've added in a category for Birth Sampler as I have a secret project I'm stitching on for a family member, I won't be able to share pictures of this until it has been gifted.

Tonight the wheel choice was Designer.  On spinning the Designer wheel it chose Samsarah Designs.  I only have one project I am working on from Samsarah which is Perpetual Calendar.  The last time I worked on this was in November 2012!!  High time it came out and got some love.

So I will be stitching on this project for the next three nights then repeating the above process again.

It's the 3rd January and up to now I am sticking with my 2019 plans.  Let's see how long it lasts.

Keep stitching and smiling