The Seasons Sampler SAL (Abi Gurden) - Part 1

On Crafty Kitten Spring Crocus 32ct Murano.
Threads used for part 1:
- Ladybirds: DMC 817 and 310
- Leaves: Gloriana Florimell #200, Leaf Green
- Stems: The Thread Gatherer Sanibel #S005, Vermont View
- Lazy Daisy stitch: DMC perle #8, white
- Yellow Smyrna stitch: Dinky Dyes cotton #32, Sunflower
- Yellow Jessica stitch: Gloriana sil #004, Narcissus

Party at Halloween Castle SAL (AAN) - Part 1

On Crafty Kitten Abalone Belfast, using recommended threads

HAED Happy Dance!

Happy day, happy dance! My very first Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED) finish: QS Mystic Garden, artwork by Ciro Marchetti.

This was my choice of chart for the 2013 HAED BB SAL, and it turns out that I won't get to keep it. My mom fell in love with it, so under the Christmas tree it goes....

Stitched 2 over 1 tent, with an added border of black stitches for a more "finished" look.

Two Finishes, One Floss Toss

Just finished this week, the Halloween SAL designed by Love Thy Thread. A bit late for this year, so we'll consider it early for next Halloween ;)

Stitched over 1 on a dusty dark purplish mystery 28 count evernweave I got on ebay last year, with DMC 51 and 310.

Next on my frame was Nora Corbett's Sweet Pea. This one has a very big dress and a lot of beads for such a small pixie, but I powered through it and here she is:

Stitched on 32 count opal evenweave Silkweaver solo, a light mauve. To be honest it was not a fun fabric to stitch on: it's very thick, and feels a bit like a jobelan that's been starched. The threads kept splitting so it was a bit hard to find the right hole sometimes.

Anyway, here are some artsy fartsy shots of the beading:

I substituted the Caron Waterlilies 210 with DMC Color Variations 4000.

And finally, last but not least in today's news, here is a gorgeous piece of fabby:

Isn't it gorgeous? This is the December 2012 Limited Edition that was sent only to Sparklies' FOM club members. I saw it in real life in a friend's stash and it was just the perfect fit for the next project I had in mind, so I contacted Kate from Sparklies and she very nicely made a new one for me.

Mirabilia's Persephone, next under my needle :)

Pudding Frenzy!

Pudding frenzy indeed, I just can't stop going back for more. Chatelaines, HAEDs, Mirabilias, Joan Elliotts, nothing is getting in the way of this one!

Did also a bit of finishing finishes... The two freebie SALs from By the Bay Needleart are now framed:

And I used Falling Leaves to make a cute little felt-backed pincushion, which I filled with all my ORTs from 2012:

QS Mystic Garden Page Finish

On Saturday, I finished the first page on the HAED BB SAL chart.

QS Mystic Garden, by Ciro Marchetti:

Finish: Let's Stitch!

Remember that little SAL chart from my last post? It was supposed to look like that:

This is really not the style I like, a bit too old-fashioned for my taste. So I thought I would modernize it a bit by using a few variegated threads in brighter colors.
And then I got carried away a little bit (just a little) and it ended up looking like that:

I actually quite like it :) Of course the total absence of natural daylight, or sunlight for that matter, makes for a craptastic picture but you get the idea...

Chart Modifications:

- Added in my initials on the left and a couple buttons and beads on the right, instead of the random bits that were called for
- Added in one stitch to the ''C'' in ''Stitch'', as it was missing
- Moved the entire right half of the design two stitches to the left in order to not fill in that hole the designer left in the border
- Used French knots for the flower centers instead of cross-stitches (I may or may not have an unhealthy love for French knots)

Colorway:

- Borders: DMC Color Variations 4030
- Urn: DMC Color Variations 4130
- Stand: DMC Color Variations 4135
- Steams and leaves: DMC Color Variations 4045
- Bobbins wood: DMC Color Variations 4000
- Small bobbin: DMC Color Variations 4050
- Large bobbin: DMC Color Variations 4060
- Flowers: DMC Color Variations 4120 and 4124
- Writing: DMC Color Variations 4075
- Flower centers: Madeira 109

HAED Update & New Start

Hi everyone,

I'm happy to have reached the first milestone in the HAED BB SAL, the first half page (4,000 stitches) on my QS Mystic Garden is finished :)

I am amazed at how fast I stitched it, compared to other HAEDs I have on the go, even though it was filled with confetti!

I also have a new start, which is part of another SAL, this time with the Emerald Isle Cross Stitchers (Yahoo group). It is a chart by Patty Carbaugh called ''Let's Stitch'', which can be purchased here on Etsy.
The design is quite traditional and not really my usual style, but I am actually having lots of fun making it my own; the idea is to stitch it entirely in brightly colored DMC Color Variations, to give it a bit of a modern edge. I might even throw in a few beads at the end if I feel it calls for it.
I don't really have a set plan on what colors to use where, I will decide along the way; the beauty of cross-stitch is that I can easily undo something if I don't like it :)

Here is the stitched model from the designer:

And here is where I am at so far:

Stitched 2 over 2 on 30 count light brown linen.
Outside border: DMC 4030
Inside border: DMC 4020

HAED QS Mystic Garden - Day 2

Here is where I am at, after a second evening of stitching:

First finish and first start of 2013

Here is my first finish of the year:

Darth Vader Cookies, by Dork Stitch

I'm a bit of a nerd/geek, so this will be my new mouse pad at work :)
I have also finally been able to start on QS Mystic Garden, by Ciro Marchetti, as part as the HAED BB SAL. I am tent-stitching 2 over 1 on 28 count beige lugana, and here is what it looks like after a couple of evenings:

Lots and lots of confetti stitches, but it's all worth it in the end, those greens are gorgeous.

Not much to see yet, but if you click on the Long-Term WIP tab, you'll see an image of the final product.

Thanks for looking!

Three new starts

Three new starts to show today...

First up is Wheel of Fortune, a design by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law charted by HAED.
This is what it will look like eventually:

And this is where I left it last night, page 1 is completed and page 2 is started:

This one is being stitched 2 over 1 tent stitch on 28 count beige lugana.

Next is the Autumn SAL from By the Bay Needlearts:

I've made quite a few color changes on this one, which I will list once it's finished.

Finally, the famous little Darth Vader cookies chart from Dork Stitch, which eventually will become a mousepad:

Stitched on 18 count white Aida, with recommended DMC colors.

How Does Your Garden Grow Update

I think the last time I showed you How Does Your Garden Grow I had only finished the first 4 parts, ie the top third. I have advanced quite a bit on this one as I am now stitching parts 11 and 12!

A few photos - sorry about the smudged parts, looks like I need to clean my camera lens

Top Third

Middle Third

Bottom Third so far

Whole piece so far

Almost there! I just have parts 11 and 12 to finish stitching and then all the beading. I think I'll finish it as a bellpull (if I can figure out how to do that), and it will be a present for my mother-in-law, who has been so supportive of my stitching.

Mystery Summer Sampler SAL Part 3

Here is part 3 of the Mystery Summer Sampler SAL organized by Donna at By the Bay Needleart:

The last part comes out tomorrow, and I am a bit sad that it is already almost over, I really enjoyed it...

Stash and Mystery Sampler Sal

Hi all,

I've spent most of the week working on the ''secret'' project for hubby, which I will be able to show you after I give it to him on Father's Day, but I also have a small update to show you, the second part of the Mystery SAL organized by By the Bay Needleart:

Funny how things are sometimes, this is not something that I would have chosen to stitch on my own, but now that I am doing it I am really enjoying it. It is quick, cheerful and thoroughly enjoyable :)

I also got some new fabrics in this week, here is some stashy porn:

These are the goodies I won in a game on crossstitchforum.com (thanks again Sam!):

And this is the result of Melanie's giveaway:

She is such a sweetheart, she enclosed some extra goodies to help my rebuild my stash. Make sure to visit her blog here, she has some gorgeous projects going on.

And finally, I won two ebay auctions, where I got a piece of hardanger fabric and a smallish cut of beautiful purple mottled jobelan for dirt cheap. Obviously the photo doesn't do it justice, 'cuz that would too much to ask, right?

Oh, and this weekend is time to hermit!!! Don't forget to sign up for IHSW here.

Keep on stitching, peeps!

Maud

Mystery Sampler SAL

Hi all,

Here is part 1 of a mystery sampler SAL organized by Donna from By the Bay Needleart. This SAL comes in 4 installments every Friday during the month of June, it's free, and the chart is available on Donna's blog here.

It's a lovely quick stitch, the finished size on 28 count will only be 4x6 inches, perfect for any number of frames. This part is missing a few French knots and some backstitching, which I plan to do all together at the end.

The second part came out today, so that's on the to-do list for this weekend, along with a new start which I can't disclose yet as it is a surprise gift for hubby for father's day.

He knows about this blog and hasn't professed any interest in it whatsoever, but you never know what might come upon him; he could all of a sudden develop some stitchy curiosity (yeah right!) and see this, so I'll post the finished picture after he receives the gift.

Happy stitching everyone!

Maud

How does your garden grow parts 1-4

Well it's been a productive week working exclusively on How Does Your Garden Grow. I couldn't get enough of those gorgeous specialty stitches, so much so that I mostly went to bed at 3am every night (morning?) and was a zombie at work all week. Oopsy daisy.

Here is a photo update, including parts 1 to 4:

Happy stitching everyone!

Maud

Mystery SAL & New Stash!

Hi everybody!

First of all, thank you for following/reading my blog, and thank you for your lovely comments.

I just signed up for a small mystery sampler SAL and I thought I would share the love. Donna from By The Bay Needleart is organizing it, and it is the perfect Summer format: not a huge commitment at 56x84 stitches over 4 weeks, and free!

All necessary information is on Donna's blog, here, including this little preview into the final design:

Also I am very excited to report that I have received the stash I ordered from 1-2-3 Stitch, so you will soon see happy dances for a couple WIPs that have been patiently waiting for missing threads or beads. 

Happy stitching!

Maud

IHSW Report & New Start

Well this was my first International Hermit and Stitch Weekend and, although I didn't get to hermit as much as I wanted (hard to do with a toddler...) I did get a good chunk of stitching done.

First up was Celtic Fire, below are the before and after pictures.

 

Celtic Fire is pretty confetti-heavy and those over 1 crosses are so tiny that I needed a little break from it. I enjoyed so much stitching those few eyelets in the Tiny Rose Mandala that I went through my stash to look for something with specialty stitches and found How Does Your Garden Grow (HDYGG), which was the 2008 Papillon Creations SAL.

Here is the floss toss, it is stitched on 28ct antique white lugana and I chose to use DMC 935 & 3364 for the greens, and DMC 920, 926, 3779 & 3821for the floral colors.

And here is part one (out of 12) finished.

I. Just. Love. It. Although I love love love stitching and cannot get enough of it, those specialty stitches are a whole new level of delight and enjoyment! So much so that as soon as this one is done I'll move on to the next Papillon Creations SAL, Castle in the Air, and who knows, maybe I'll manage to catch up with the new one Around the World in 80 Stitches.