the last year and a bit - WOXS, Disney, Pixar, and now Peter Rabbit

It`s been over a year since I last wrote here and now that I`ve checked my last post, even that was added after a long hiatus - little did I know back then how busy life would become, even though the job I took on was only part-time. Of course, even just a few hours a day (plus commute) add up, and since on top of work-work, I`ve been diligently stitching away "as normal" - while trying to run a house and spend time with DH and DS as well -, social media en masse moved to the back burner. However, I`ve got loads of pics that have piled up in the meantime, so let`s see what`s "new"! 😊

In the case of the World of Cross Stitching magazine, I have to go back as far as issue 331 - after the giraffe in 229 and Popcorn Bear in 330, this cute bunny (designed by Fiona Baker) was the magazine`s free gift:

The following month, in issue 332, I had two mini hoops, a ladybird and a bee (designed by Durene Jones), and in issue 333 an adorable stitching mouse by Lucie Heaton.

After these, there was a bigger gap till issues 340 (snowman "cone"), 342 (cute Margaret Sherry hedgie), and 343 (Elmer). 😍

As for my stitchings in the Hachette Partworks magazines, I think the last sampler I posted pictures of here was the Winnie-the-Pooh themed one. Since then there has been one based on Pixar movies, and more recently, another sampler with a Lion King theme.

Phew, these were quite numerous - if you`ve scrolled this far, well done and thank you! 😉 Once the samplers are done, I also "re"stitch each of these characters one step/colour at a time, but I won`t bore you with hundreds of these pics as well... especially as there`s much more interesting news: Hachette Partworks recently launched a new XS magazine, so after Disney, now we have Peter Rabbit too! 😍🐰 The base of this series is the set of 4 seasonal samplers that, similarly to the Disney samplers, were designed by Durene Jones, and stitched by yours truly. 

 

After I finished the Spring one, I was in such a rush that I forgot to take individual photos of each character, so I only have the sampler pic and a group photo of the 15 steps of the central motif. For the Summer sampler, though, I`ve got the wee ones as well, so here are some MORE photos, lol, because you can never have enough piccies of cute bunnies 😍 Thanks for visiting and I hope to be back sooner than this time next year - happy stitching! 😊

Highland living, fame, free kits and Regency lady

Before I dive into details of my latest stitchy escapades, a warm welcome to anyone who`s seen this in WOXS 317 and thought of checking out my blog. 😊

You might need to dig deep for the aforementioned `handy tips`, but there are more pics of my recently reorganised threads in this post, and examples of my route planning - as evidenced in my progress photos, which I sometimes string together in mini videos - are abundant (as is my waffling, whenever I have the time to go on, and on... and on).

Case in point: now. Not only have I finished my 5th pre-Christmas commission (you know, those tasks trickling in at the beginning of Dec, when mid-Jan and end of Jan deadlines seem so, so far away, and the next thing you know, it`s Jingle Bells... Should old acquaintance... Oh, it`s 20 January!! 😨). Anyway, so not only have I finished those 5 projects but I finally managed to get back to my Mary Hickmott pic too - the second one after finishing this Rialto Bridge for myself. Only this morning, I added the last few clouds:

It`s called Highland living, available from Mary Hickmott`s Etsy shop, and even though the key calls for 16ct ice blue aida, I stitched it on 14ct so that it`ll fit nicely in this gap above the Monarch of the Glen (it`s about 60 x 10 cm on 14ct), whenever I get round to framing it.

Because of the mad rush of the past few weeks, I completely forgot to post here about the previous issue`s cover kit: the free gift with WOXS 316 was this cute little Emma Congdon design:

The magazine`s finishing team turned it into a banner, and this month`s free gift, Lucie Heaton`s leafy plants in macramé hangers can be used either as a card or as a bookmark.

Finally, here`s Heather Nugent`s Regency lady, also from issue 317 - I loved working on this! Not only because I`m a Jane Austen fan, but also because I love stitching big blocks of colour, and this project had not only those but a little bit of everything as well, from intricate backstitch detail to beads and petit point. It took just over 50 hours, and instead of unrolling the fabric for every progress pic, I took a photo of my Pattern Keeper screen at the end of each day. I put them in a mini film, together with my finished stitching and the framed picture as it appears in the magazine. Hope you like them, thanks for scrolling through and happy stitching! 😊

festive mice, adventures in cross stitch and returned projects

The latest issue (312) of The World of Cross Stitching is in the UK shops and the freebie this month is a set of 12 gift tags with Lucie Heaton`s Christmas mice on them:

Issue 17 of XStitch Mag is also available now as a digital download (here). It`s called Adventure and I have 3 pieces in this issue - the first one designed by the man himself, founder of the magazine, Mr. XStitch:

Then there`s a trademark modern take on floral samplers by Peacock & Fig:

And, finally, here`s the ultimate adventure - reading - summed up in a pic by SewModStitches. On the one hand, it`s just a book, lying in front of you, but as soon as you open it, there are entire galaxies in there for you to find. 🤩

In other news, I`m stitching like a woman possessed (I have about a month to wade through 20-odd projects) but I got a lovely boost the other day: some of my old projects that WOXS had finished with found their way back to me and I couldn`t be more chuffed - remember this 1920s house by Maria Diaz? I love everything about it, the house, the car, the couple`s clothes, the colours - can`t wait to see it framed on the wall! 😍 I`m also very pleased with the St. Ives harbour scene and the cards as well, this package was like an early Christmas present from postie. 😃 Hope you`re all keeping well, happy stitching! 😊