Showing posts with label XStitch Magazine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label XStitch Magazine. Show all posts

Wednesday, 15 June 2022

summer cottage, unicorn, sunflowers and more Rome

You wouldn`t believe the last 2-3 weeks I`ve had! πŸ™ˆ It all started so well: I dug out Rome and enthusiastically threw myself into stitching, but I also wanted to make the most of being temporarily commission-free, so I equally enthusiastically started working on projects around the house that I never have time for, from going through drawers and cupboards to painting the bathroom and the bedroom... and then, just when I had the bedroom half emptied, the front door blocked by big bags and boxes of stuff ready to take to the charity shops, my few hundred magazines neatly organised and two of the three bookcases taken out... I first had a sciatica flare-up (piriformis syndrome, to be precise) and I couldn`t move for days, then out of the blue, first I got the dreaded lurgy (not covid, the other one that`s like flu) and now my two boys are sick too. 😞 Luckily, though, I`m well enough now to look after them and just as well because the `holiday` is over, and I thought before I get too absorbed with work again, I`d better post here re. the most recent publications, the first of which is WOXS 322, with Susan Bates`s summer cottage on the cover:


This lovely colourful project took 75 hours, and after finishing the XS on Pattern Keeper...


... I added the backstitch detail - and just in case the difference doesn`t jump out at you from the first two pics, I add a photo of my paper chart that I marked with felt pens, I think the amount of backstitch shows up better on that.



Also out this week is issue 20 of XStitch Magazine, with this magnificent unicorn by Climbing Goat Designs that was a joy to stitch - I love the clever colour choices, the confetti sts blend so well that there`s more glimmer to this design than to many projects I`ve stitched where I had to add metallics for some extra sparkle.


Apart from not being able to sit in my craft chair for many days, then having a fever, and now having this weird side effect of the lurgy that makes my eyeballs ache (#WTF?!?), a lot less private stitching got done than I`d have liked - but to ease myself back into `stitchy mode` gently, I finished this little cover kit because I needed a needle case...


... and pre-lurgy, I also added more to Rome. I`m actually quite pleased with how it`s coming along, the Spanish Steps are almost completely finished now, and once page 10 in the bottom right is done, page 5 in the top right corner should be a doddle, just a few vertical lines, basically. Hopefully, I won`t have to wait too long before I can work on this again - here are a couple of pics of where I picked it up at the end of May and where I am just now, happy stitching, peeps! 😊



Sunday, 13 March 2022

window CK, movie night and Disney: Let`s Celebrate!

Remember when last Autumn I said I was super busy working on a big batch of cross stitch projects? I`ve been itching to see them in print ever since, and yesterday postie delivered my copy of the book at long last, so I thought I`d share some (= looooaaaads) of pics of this special edition of Hachette Partworks` Disney Cross Stitch, titled Let`s Celebrate! 😊
But first, before I get too engrossed in attaching photos (lol, and before the next issue of WOXS is out), here`s the free gift from issue 318 of The World of Cross Stitching, designed by Fiona Baker:



Also out this week, in issue 19 of XStitch Magazine, entitled Yay!, is this cool movie-themed design by Sweet Annet:



So, as mentioned earlier, here is my copy of the Let`s Celebrate! special edition that arrived yesterday:


It is jam-packed with fab Disney designs to celebrate every occasion from birthdays to the arrival of a new baby to having someone as a friend. I stitched 24 of the 57 designs, some of which have been turned into cards, others into banners, cushions, or pictures framed in hoops, and some were sewn onto a bag or straight onto a Rico hand towel, like this first pic. I`ll add a few photos of the finishes from the book at the end, after the long, loooong list of my own pics. Hope you like them, thanks for visiting and happy stitching! 😊  






























Thursday, 16 September 2021

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. πŸ˜ƒ Hope you`re all keeping well, happy stitching! 😊