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! 😊

feathers cushion

Issue 329 of Cross Stitcher is also on sale this week and in it there`s Felicity Hall`s cushion design, featuring 20 feathers with intricate backstitch detail. I`m not going to lie, this is not for the faint-hearted or those who can`t stand backstitch - some feathers have half a dozen different shades of BS added but if you finish them one feather at a time, it`s less daunting and definitely manageable. And the end result is worth it: I like the contemporary feel of this cushion and the colours seem to pop on the linen that (in case you can`t tell from my dodgy-as-usual photos) reminded me of the darkish teal-ish shade of a snow cloud. I tried to take a few close-ups too but the backstitch detail is almost impossible (for me, that is) to capture but I hope you can see them alright. Happy stitching!

Christmas Eve box

This week issue 325 of Cross Stitcher is out in the UK so now I can share some pics of the Christmassy goodies featured in it. I had so much fun with this trio of designs by Felicity Hall - even opening the envelope and seeing this eclectic mix seemed almost like an early Christmas present! 😊 First up, I got a wee chart of candy canes and hollies, these were to go on shiny gold perforated paper (I was already doing a little happy dance here: it is not often that I get to stitch on anything else but fabric. Don`t get me wrong, I`d choose aida or evenweave any day over paper or plastic but from time to time, it`s nice to do something a little different for a change, and especially if it`s something so small) 😉 Then there was a slightly larger design that said "Christmas Treats" - it was to go on sparkly cream-and-gold aida and I loved stitching with the bright yellows and oranges, it was certainly different from the run-of-the-mill "Christmas colours". Finally, there was the largest of the three, this was to be stitched on bright blue aida (Smurf-blue, to be precise). I thought it was clever the way the design incorporated the candy canes, holly and the orange lanterns of the other two charts, plus added a jolly Santa and a couple of his reindeer to the ensemble. I loved stitching the banners saying "Christmas Eve" and "One More Sleep" and thanks to the nice big blocks of colour, the project grew pretty quickly. I also like the idea of having a special box that comes out every year on Christmas Eve, maybe with some games in it that would keep the children occupied for a little while on the night that seems the longest of them all...?

I only have one picture of the 3 pieces together (because the rest of them are either too bright with the flash or too dark without it and you can never see the sparkle of the gold threads or the perforated paper anyway) but I love how, accidentally, I arranged the 3 the same way the finished items made it into the magazine. Happy stitching, folks!

mandala cushion - Cross Stitcher 308

Out now in the UK shops is the latest issue of Cross Stitcher with this gorgeous mandala cushion (yes, a cushion. I see a theme developing here!) by Felicity Hall. I stitched it in April-May and if I`m honest, it wreaked havoc with my OCD that I couldn`t stitch the complete design, only a section of it (and even that wasn`t bang on a quarter or half) but I loved the colours and how quickly it grew. I stitched it on 20 count evenweave, 2 over 2, which meant the crosses were the size of peppercorns, so it built very rapidly (the magazine estimates the stitch time at 32 hours but in fact it was only 23, which makes it, I think, an ideal last-minute wedding, birthday or housewarming present).

I only have a few progress pics for this one: since stopping every 5 hours wouldn`t have made sense here, I rather just took the occasional break and a photo when I started to add a new colour.

And would you believe it, as it turns out, all the while I was stitching it upside down! :D

stitching galore

This month, instead of one big piece, I have several smaller ones freshly out in print. First up is the latest WOCS, issue 243, and the funky neckties alphabet by Rhona Norrie that I stitched... last September, I think. Quite a long wait - oh, and I`ve seen the Susan Bates sunflower wreath in next month`s preview, I stitched that `only` around Christmas so practically, `the other day`. :D So here`s my snippet of this Fathers` Day alphabet:

Next up is Cross Stitch Collection 263 - before I forget, remember the shoe sampler I mentioned a few months ago? I was just about to give up on it as `lost at sea` but I bought Collection yesterday and spotted it in next month`s preview, it`ll be the giant chart in the next issue. But back to the current one: there`s a cute little card in here by Jenny Barton, of a wee mouse hanging out the washing, nawwww. :)

Hmmm, interesting, I just spotted the stitch time in the magazine and it`s not what I put on the form. We have to record everything, from the lengths of threads we use to the time it takes us to complete a piece - I often wonder why anyway but especially when it`s not even used or taken into account. Oh well. Anyway, mag says 5 hours, I say 8 - and I thought I was a fast stitcher but who knows, maybe I had an off day...? ;)

And finally, here`s my little bouquet of flowers in Cross Stitcher 306 - I love this Felicity Hall design, it was such a pleasure to stitch. I do like the difference backstitch makes to a picture but from time to time, you just want to stitch something without it, gleefully jumping from one block of colour to the next, knowing that once they`re done, that`s it, the whole picture is done.

And finally, here they are in their respective magazines - don`t say that all you ever see here are bleached photos or pics taken in twilight. ;) Hope you`re all keeping busy, happy stitching, peeps!

inspirational motto - Cross Stitch Crazy 211

The latest publication that has one of my stitches in it is Crazy 211 (actually, it`s been in the shops for about a week now, I just forgot to write about it here - I blame it on the run-up to Christmas but maybe I`m just getting forgetful). This design was a welcome little (= 5,5 hours) breather while I was working on a massive big Anchor pic for a later issue of Gold and, as it turned out, it is also one of three designs by Felicity Hall. Here`s my own `shady` picture of this inspirational motto, and a much better one from the magazine, where it`s properly lit, along with the other two pieces. Happy stitching!