Spring is here

There have been a few mags coming out recently and Spring is definitely in the air - not just IRL but as far as cross stitch charts are concerned.

In Cross Stitch Crazy 254, the cover kit is a pair of mice, designed by Helz Cuppleditch. I loved stitching both but my fave has to be the one in the hammock: 😄

Still on the subject of cover kits, I also stitched this month`s free gift with issue 280 of The World of Cross Stitching:

This birdcage bookmark is such an elegant design by Fiona Baker and a really easy stitch too, just a few quick backstitch lines between wee bits of cross stitch, so it`s an ideal last-minute gift, for example (it`s Mothers` Day on Sunday here in the UK. Just sayin` 😉).

Finally, issue 343 of Cross Stitcher has hit the UK shops today and in it Part 1 of 4 seasonal samplers by Faye Walsh is published, called Spring Is In The Air.

 It took 62 hours to stitch and I enjoyed it a lot - samplers made up of smaller pictures always build more quickly and I rarely have the chance to blend colours (as I had to here for the sea waves in the image in the centre), plus I liked the colours, the virtually no backstitch and the fabric too, it`s a beautiful lavender shade (in case you can`t tell from my photo 😂).

I took some close-ups of the individual scenes - my pics might not be exactly well lit but at least there are some details there that might not be spotted at first glance. Hope you like all these Spring-themed projects, happy stitching! 😊

Vermogh key fob

Despite of piling up commissions, I was hit by sudden inspiration the other day so I dropped everything and gifted myself with a key fob. 😊 If you follow this blog, you may know that I hardly ever stitch anything for myself, but having seen these beauties in the latest issue of Cross Stitcher (342), I felt I just had to.

It started with Becky Spencer`s interpretation of Van Gogh`s Sunflowers (naturally. How could I not stitch that?!?). 😉 Since I don`t have the frame used in the mag, first I wanted to stretch it over a mini frame that I`ve got (one of those 10x10 cm wooden frames with its own little easel). But by then I fell in love with the idea of stitching the Girl with a Pearl Earring as well and somehow display both together - so I decided to sew them together, add a little stuffing and turn it into a key fob to hang on my handbag.

My only problem was that I wanted it to look like the original by Johannes Vermeer:

Obviously, the mag`s challenge required Cheryl McKinnon to use only 8 colours, so she had to repeat some of them, i.e. the red of the lips on the turban or the green of her eyes on the dress - but I didn`t have such restrictions so I tried to pick colours closer to the original.

(For those of you who want to stitch this 31x40 design from Cross Stitcher, here`s a list of the DMC threads I used: 793, 794 and 3047 for the turban, 351 and 352 for the lips, 3828 for the eyes, 3045 and 3046 for the dress, 945 and 948 for her skin, Blanc and 3799).

To save time, I didn`t stitch the background with 3799 as the mag suggests but rather used a piece of dark navy, almost black, aida instead. I`m absolutely chuffed with the end result and I`ve already hooked it on the strap of my bag so I can see my little key fob every time I go somewhere. 😊 Happy stitching!

Cross Stitcher 342

The latest issue of Cross Stitcher is in the UK shops this week and as it happens, this mag has several of my pieces in it too - they are like buses (she said, referring to her last post, `Immediate Bonanza`).

I stitched both the fresh and vibrant Spring sampler by Becky Spencer that`s this month`s cover star and two of the 3 bird-and-cup hoops by Felicity Hall (bottom left corner). Sticking to their chronological order, first up are the hoops.

This was the project I stitched around Christmas, and either because it was holiday time, or because of the amount of backstitch on each, I got the two smaller ones and another stitcher worked the top one in the green hoop.

The smaller one took 8 hours and the other one 10, and apart from the birds` tail feathers, they were an easy stitch. If I`m honest, the chart made my eyes water from time to time...

...but I got there eventually. 😉

And then because of the Christmas break, I had less time than usual to complete this Spring sampler - but after the birds, I relished the total lack of backstitch so I felt like I was sailing through it. 😊

14 hours

21 hours

30 hours

49 hours - finished

Since I`m a save the best for last kinda gal, I finished with the row of wee bird houses around the edge. For this mag, I have to keep a record of every inch of thread I use, so I thoroughly enjoyed cutting the lengths and knowing they`d be enough for 2 houses, 3 roofs or 4 middles - call me sad but I like the order and predictability of that. 😂 I love the finished cushion and I`m glad the colours show up the way they`re supposed to - I took my pics in the dead of winter so you can`t even tell the fabric was blue! 🤣 Hope you like all these Spring projects, happy stitching! 😊