WOXS 327 & 328, Disney 111

If you are a regular visitor here, first of all, thank you 🥰, and second, you may have noticed that the gaps between posts are getting wider and wider. This is because I started to work, and even though I still cross stitch whenever I can, the publications with my models in them are getting fewer and far between. I also have less time to spend on the computer, but this morning I`m free (until we go to do some Christmas shopping - Christmas?!? Where did this year go?? 😲), so I thought I`d better review the past few months` crop and add some photos here.

Issues 327 and 328 of The World of Cross Stitching both have my wee cards as the cover gift: the first one is a lovely wintry wreath designed by Durene Jones, and the latter a thank you card from Emma Congdon:

Issue 328 of WOXS also has this gorgeous winter floral composition by Amanda Gregory that took 75 hours to stitch - the magazine says 90, a 20% markup 🤣,which to be fair is probably closer to realistic expectations if someone doesn`t have to chase deadlines like yours truly. But whether you spend 20 hours on it or 200, it will feel like no time at all, because you can finish one section at a time, including the backstitch - I love designs with mini-finishes, they grow so quickly! 😁 

Finally, there is a new sampler starting from issue 111 of the Disney Cross Stitch mag from Hachette Partworks, dedicated to Winnie the Pooh and his friends. I love Winnie and I`m still working on the step-by-steps for this sampler, so I`m glad I can spend many more happy hours with these guys. Hope you`ve liked my wee collection of photos, thank you for visiting, happy holidays to you all and see you in 2023! 😊

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! 😊

latest publications

Another quick post because we only got back last night from holiday and am currently wading my way through a pile of laundry, but there are a couple of new magazines that have come out while we were away.

First up, issue 284 of The World of Cross Stitching and the set of 6 Maria Diaz cards that sample ladies` fashion through the decades:

And here they are made up with complementing card colours:

Next up is issue 347 of Cross Stitcher, and the cover star is the Susan Bates sea view that I stitched a couple of months ago.

It took 52 hours to finish and if I remember correctly, almost 10 of those hours were spent just on the backstitch (there are loooooads of tiny windows there! 😂) but it was all worth it because the backstitch really makes this piece pop. For this project, I also made a record of not just the hours but the number of days too (sometimes it feels like I stitch all day but it turns out, it`s about 5 hours per day on average).

Finally, I came across this sneak peek on The World of Cross Stitching`s Facebook page of Amanda Gregory`s highland cows that I stitched a few months ago. I hope I can add the link here but if no, they`ll soon feature here anyway when the new issue of the magazine comes out. Now, back to dealing with the laundry - happy stitching, folks! 😊

WOXS highland cows sneak peek

kingfisher cushion - The World of Cross Stitching 252

Subscribers have already got their copies of the latest issue of WOCS so even though it only hits the UK shops next Tuesday (I think), I can now show you pictures of this lovely kingfisher I stitched last May - yes, 8 months ago! :O Usually, we don`t work this far ahead, I think I only got this one so early because it is part of a quartet of `birdy cushions` designed by Amanda Gregory. As I happen to know her on Facebook - and I happen to NOTHING about botany -, I asked her to tell me the names of the flowers featured on my cushion, so that now I can look all knowledgeable and say: I hope you like the marsh marigolds (top left - oh and btw these grow in or near water *looks up from notes*), the reed mace (top right; these are often mistakenly called bulrush - may I just add, I would NEVER make that mistake! 😝). The mauve flowers are violets (which even I knew - yay, go me!) and the yellow ones in the bottom right corner are primroses (I thought these were the marigolds, just shows you how much I know about flowers).

So here they are, all these lovely blooms and paisley motifs, surrounding my gorgeous wee kingfisher. I really enjoyed stitching this picture, I love projects where you can get on `chunk by chunk` and as you`ll see from my mini-vid, the colour blocks are just so that you can get quite a lot done in five hours, which is always a good morale-booster when you work on larger projects. Hope you like this and the other 3 cushions too, happy stitching! :)

The World of Cross Stitching 229

Although you wouldn`t know at first glance but the latest issue of WOCS is so `me` that it`s surprised even yours truly! ;) I`m not only talking about my own pieces in it, but the magazine as a whole - from the Dachshund on p. 13, featuring the Riolis kit I`d stitched a year or so ago for my Gran, to the model on p. 37 that I stitched for the Hen Fun kit for Bothy Threads. I also recognise model pieces or kits that friends of mine are/have been/will be stitching, oh and of course there are my Fathers` Day cars previewed from next month`s issue... However, I`d better stay with issue 229 for the noo, as it has not only one but TWO of my stitched pieces in it (cf. buses analogy).

So, the first one is a gorgeous cushion from Amanda Gregory. Now, you might remember that the only colour I don`t like is purple, so it says a lot about the design that despite its hues, I still like this cushion. It`s an interesting thing about model stitching, that it very often yanks you out of your comfort zone and you end up stitching - moreover, surprisingly, enjoying working on - designs that otherwise you wouldn`t have chosen for yourself. When picking my own, I`d go `too big, too small, too purple, too much backstitch, fractionals, French knots, yada yada`, but if it`s a commission, you just get on with it - and you`ll find the sense of accomplishment at the end is the same, maybe even greater.

Before my string of progress pics on this hydrangea, let me show you a close-up - if there`s ever been a project where BS made all the difference, eh? Love it! :)

And now the `short film`: pics taken every 5 hours, as usual, until all the cross stitch was done after 68, then another few hours backstitching (the picture was completed in 78 hours).

Hehe, did you notice how I delayed starting on the purples as long as I could? Tried to stick to the lovely shades of blue (my favourite colour) as long as possible, lol. ;) And if this wasn`t colourful enough, here`s the other end of the rainbow: a most cheerful, sunny cottage, á la Clarice Cliff, by Susan Bates - yet another project that I thoroughly enjoyed in-between two larger ones, so I`m afraid I don`t even have progress pics for this piece, only The Final One:

This project took 42 hours and was so much fun - if you`re feeling even just a teeny bit down, I`d recommend it as therapy: by the time you finish that great big sun alone, you`ll be smiling. ;)

And I love the orange frame they picked for it, as do I the finish on the hydrangea cushion - so all in all, a very good little issue from The World of Cross Stitching, I hope you`ll agree! :)

prodigal stitches

Well, I didn`t expect to have anything to report so soon but then earlier this week, some of my prodigal stitches have returned to me and I could not be happier! :D Lookee what Postie`s turned up with:

I am so thrilled to have these two back! I loved working on them and I also loved the way they were made up for the photo shoot. So now I`m going to find (or make) a cushion to fill Amanda Gregory`s bunny cushion cover (from Gold 109 - you can read more about how it was made here) and I also need to find a hoop big enough to frame the sunflowers the way you can see the picture in Gold 113. I have stitched quite a few Durene Jones designs (you can read my blog post about this sunflower picture here) and have enjoyed every one of them, from cards to BAPs, from bold colours to traditional Christmas charts - so it`s a special delight, and the perfect ending to this gift-filled week, that my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cross-Stitch-A-to-Z) got a Like from her - how awesome is that?? Every time I think of it, or look at my stitchy goodies, I can`t stop grinning - all in all, an unbelievably good week! ;) Happy stitching, everyone! 

Cross Stitch Gold 109

I might as well come clean: I have no idea how it`s already the middle of February. All I remember is, it was Christmas, my parents were here, then they flew back to Hungary on 12 January and I started to work like crazy on my latest commission for Collection (a massive, 180x180 picture by Maria Diaz with stunning detail, partly thanks to the miles of backstitch and 320 French knots, eek!), for which my deadline was 3 February. Eventually, I was a few days late with this one, due to a cold `epidemic` that swept through the whole family (Gregory brought some bug home from school and I got it from him, then DH from us), so in my capacity as a patient-and-nurse, I lost a week or so of precious stitchy time. Luckily, I managed to more or less make up for it by stitching solid 10 hours per day for the past couple of weeks. Now I`m working on a Durene Jones gorgeousness for Gold - and this reminded me that the current issue of Gold has my bunny wabbit in it so here I am to share.

Another confession: I didn`t take progress piccies for this piece, only one photo of the finished piece, front and back. Now before you accuse me of `stitchers` snobbery`, I couldn`t care less what the back of anybody`s work looks like - I know it`s a hotly debated topic in many stitchy circles but I, personally, don`t care how others work, I just try to make mine as mess-free as possible (couldn`t do it any other way with my slight OCD, lol). Anyway, thanks to Amanda Gregory`s clever design, it was almost impossible to make a mess of this rabbit`s back (until I started the backstitch, that is), and I liked the mirror-effect so much I took a photo of it.

   

It`s such a cute little bunny, isn`t it? I stitched it just before the run-up to Christmas, around the time when the shops started to put their festive CDs on, together with their fake-tree decorations, and in the middle of all this, I was stitching for Easter. Never mind, in return I`ll be working on Santas and snowmen in June.

Talking about Christmas, I did some knitting while my parents were here - remember that big entrelac rectangle? My Mum claimed it for herself, and despite all my efforts to persuade her that I can`t turn a rectangle into a garment with arm and neck holes, she insisted that it`d make an excellent vest (=sleeveless jumper) for her. So with plain blue, I knitted a back for it, i.e. another rectangle, then started to sew up the two halves but got so frustrated that we packed up the whole thing into her suitcase, in the firm belief that if anybody can turn this into something wearable, it`s my Gran.

And for her, my Granny, I knitted a Fair Isle tam, similar in colours to the one that`s been her favourite for these past 15-20 years, and which hat is about to leave her after this rather lengthy partnership. Here are some pictures of my colour combo, a variation on this pattern, proudly donned by my lovely Gran who, you won`t believe this, is 80 years old - she hasn`t changed in looks for the past 20 years and no, it`s not just because she`s `always wearing the same hat`, lol! I hope to be as wrinkle-free as she is when I`m 50, let alone 80!