Cross Stitch Crazy 263 and The World of Cross Stitching 289

New month, new blog post - which btw sounds like I know what I`m talking about but I`m only aware that it`s now December because the other day we started on our advent calendars. 🍫😋 But in reality (?), I sat down to stitch sometime after the October school holiday and only just stood up now, so I`m not entirely sure what`s happened to November, and while I`m trying to wrap my head around the fact that it`s almost Christmas, I`m about to start on a cover kit for Christmas 2020 😳 so no wonder I occasionally get confused as to what date it is on any given day.

Talking about cover kits: there are TWO new magazines out that have `my` free gifts and the latest WOXS also features my biscornus but I shall proceed in chronological order so first up is issue 263 of Crazy:

This cute Margaret Sherry cat was a joy to stitch, as always (I`ve had the good fortune to work on many of her designs, I wrote about them in this post). And I love the cheerful card that comes with the kit, it`s a great finish:

With issue 289 of WOXS, the free gift is another cutie: Herbert Hedgehog! 😍  

First I thought he was King Herbert, then just as I convinced myself that it must be a paper crown from a Christmas cracker, it turns out it`s a birthday card... but whatever he`s celebrating, I just love that adorable smile and the two tiny paws 🦔😍😁

Finally, in the same issue of WOXS, there are 4 biscornus, designed by Faby Reilly:

I have close-ups of all 8 pieces - fair enough, the 4 bottoms are not as exciting as the 4 tops but 1) I spent some time on them so they might as well be seen 😉 and 2) they complement their matching top and make the biscornu whole.

These 8 pieces took 22 hours to stitch - the magazine says each biscornu takes 18-22 hours to sew, so that gives an idea how much assembly is required... I wouldn`t know because I still haven`t made a biscornu myself 🙄 but maybe now, as I have a bit more time on my hands, I`ll give it a go. First though, I managed to finish this little heilan coo (just have to put the fridge magnet together) that I`d bought while travelling around Scotland in the summer - I thought I`d better do this before I get seduced by Rhona Norrie`s cute little coos in the same Crazy that`s got my cat, this poor wee fella has gathered enough dust already! 😊 Hope you like him, happy stitching!

Christmas sampler and Monarch framed

The latest issue of Cross Stitcher is in the UK shops now and in it is this gorgeous Christmas sampler, designed by Faye Walsh:

It took 60 hours to stitch and before posting it, I`d taken some close-ups of the individual motifs - I love how vibrant the colours are on the lavender fabric and the stitches lay so nicely on the 32ct evenweave. 😊

And as promised, here is one last photo of the Monarch of the Glen: we just got him back from the framers and he`s already in pride of place on the wall - happy stitching, peeps! 😊

Christmas baubles, cats and dogs, and finished Monarch 😊

The latest issue (261) of Cross Stitch Crazy is out now so I can share my picture of the cute cover kit:

Designed by Durene Jones, these were so much fun to stitch I did them twice 🤣 and the free gift includes 2 bauble shaped wooden frames too so the finished decorations are ready to go on the tree or in a card with added oomph.

The other day, I was browsing the worldwide web, and I came across the 2019 catalogue of DMC (here). Remember the Vintage Circus range I mentioned in a previous post? Here they are, all 5 together:

Hmm, I`ve just noticed I got the last two with the drapes - there must be something about me that screams "curtain!"...? 😂 Def. not in the `that`s it, no more` sense because my next DMC commission was this set of 6 hoops, 3 cats and 3 dogs:

I loved this set, they`re such clever designs: they only use 1 colour each but utilise both XS and BS in 1 and 3 strands to create depth and even a sense of movement.

Again, I can only repeat myself: these were so much fun to stitch I did them twice... plus a few (few?!? 🤪) more times: 

Finally, as promised, here`s the finished Monarch of the Glen! 😍 In the end, it took 230 hours, 65 days spread over the past 5 months, and it`s already at the framers (I`ll post a photo of the end result too when we get it back). Thank you for visiting my blog, happy stitching! 😊

kits galore

Me again - the other day I forgot something (but just as well, it`d have been a rather long post otherwise). Remember the Margaret Sherry design I mentioned here? I stitched it a few months ago but now that it`s published, I can show you the pic:

The kit can be ordered from Immediate Media here

It took 40 hours to stitch, plus the wee mouse another 3, and I was smiling the whole time, not only because her characters are so cute but also because her artwork is so expertly translated into cross stitch charts by Fiona Baker.

8 hours

15 hours

25 hours

40 hours

And I`ve just noticed that DMC`s new Vintage Circus collection is now available from various online shops - yay! 😊 There are 5 kits in the range, designed by Emily Peacock, and I was lucky enough to stitch two of the covers. Both `Dancing Horse` and `Clowning Around` took roughly 20 hours and I had great fun sewing them, I love big blocky stitches where you can just let your needle fly. Hope you like them and check out the other 3 in the DMC collection too (`Ringmaster Reginald`, `Strongman Stanley` and `Acrobat Alice`), happy stitching!

Highland cows, Christmas trees and astrolabe

Hello peeps, another flying visit from me because (surprise, surprise) I`m in a stitching frenzy - but I`ve decided to use my lunch break to add some photos here because new publications are coming out almost daily just now and I`m going to get lost among the projects. 🤪
First up, obviously, is Amanda Gregory`s cute mom-and-baby duo of Scottish Highland cows:

And I say "obviously" because if you thought I had a thing for puffins, that is nothing compared to my obsession with heilan` coos! 😁

I bought that book in the gift shop at the Falkirk Wheel and the glasses case in our local post office, but these are just the first few items I grabbed for this photo, there are a lot more in the house. 🙄 And the moo coo was the first souvenir I bought for myself in Scotland in 2000, so it`s older than my son 😲 and he still moos when you press his tummy (the cow, not my son).
OK, I`ve finished my lunch and I`m still yapping on, so I`d better get these pics attached. Actually, the ones for this 52-hour project are strung together in a wee film (and there`s also a short film on the WOXS Facebook page, a behind the scenes at the photo shoot that you can watch here):

In the same issue of The World of Cross Stitching (286), there are Fiona Baker`s 6 Christmas tree cards that were the most fun I had with beads for a long time. 😊 My favourite was the one with the bugle beads - there`s something strangely pleasing about them being exactly 5 squares long on 14ct fabric. 🤪

Finally, digital copies of issue 9 of XStitch Magazine are available now, and in this issue, I stitched Australian designer Christabel Seneque`s astrolabe.

In case anybody needs a refresher course on what an astrolabe is 😉, this astronomical instrument was used by navigators *peeks into Wikipedia* to measure the altitude above the horizon of a celestial body, day or night. Furthermore *reads on*, it can be used to identify stars or planets, to determine local latitude given local time, to survey, or to triangulate. *breathes "That`s so cool!"* 

So, given that Issue 9 is titled Orient, what better tool to orient oneself in this big wide world? 😉 Hope you like it, thanks for not asking about the Monarch and happy stitching! 😊