summer cushion - Cross Stitcher 332

On Tuesday, issue 332 of Cross Stitcher hit the UK shops, with my summer animal cushion on the cover - but before I show you piccies of that, first here are two cards that I made (I`m actually so excited that I stitched something just on a whim that I have to start with these):

The first one was the free gift with the latest WOCS (269) and the AOY card I found in my stash. I have a big bag where I chuck in the cover kits and the other day, I suddenly decided I`d do one card a day (after I`d claimed in my last post that I never do cards). Predictably, my determination lasted 2 whole evenings, so I`ve got these two cards to show for it, but that`s me covered for all the birthdays in the family for the next 2 years (usually, I settle for a phone call or a Facebook message).

Anyway, the summer animal cushion. I have to say, I`m rubbish at flora & fauna, so I`d sooner associate ducks and squirrels with autumn but the flowers might be summery...? And the strawberries definitely are. 😉

Designed by Rebecca Spencer, this small cushion (26x26 cm) took 34 hours to stitch and I thoroughly enjoyed how quickly it grew - as daunting as the amount of backstitch might seem, it actually sped things up that I could finish each mini motif (or, more like, 3-4 of them at a time) before moving on to the next group. I think it boosts "stitchy morale" when you know you don`t have to return to a certain bit ever again because it`s done and dusted.

That`s a photo about halfway through the project, and here it is completely finished:

Although I don`t often take a pic of the back of my work, I did with this one because I liked the effect of the black "dotted lines". 😊

And here is the finished cushion, complete with summery props - hope you like it, happy stitching!

Lesley Teare`s sleeping cat (Gold 138) and Margaret Sherry`s cute hedgehogs (Crazy 130)

This week I have received two subscriber copies and thought I`d better post about them before I get carried away with other stuff and forget (I`m reaching new heights of forgetfulness btw: the other day I sent the wee man to school on an inset day. Not that it hadn`t been etched on my calendar for ages beforehand - I just forgot to check my calendar). 😵

Anyway, so first up is this gorgeous cat, designed by Lesley Teare, from Cross Stitch Gold 138:

It was such a joy to stitch you wouldn`t believe... well, you will when you start to stitch it for yourselves. 😉 I took a few photos at various stages - not the usual 5-hourly caper because as you`ll see, the stitchable portions were quite self-evident. I loved everything about this project: the cat itself, obviously, but also the colours, the flowers, the butterflies and I like the finish too, I think the red fabric they used for making up the cushion brings out the red of the strawberries very well.

9 hours

20 hours

30 hours

53 hours

And today I received my copy of Cross Stitch Crazy 230 with the free cover kit that I`d stitched almost half a year ago - the cover kits are done even farther ahead than other magazine projects (I guess because they involve more preparation? I mean the actual putting together of thread lengths, charts, cards, envelopes and what have you). These two adorable hedgehogs were designed by Margaret Sherry and I had so much fun stitching them (I`m mildly obsessed with hedgies anyway). Not to mention one of them is sleeping in a sunflower, my favourite flower - what more would a girl need? Hope y`all are having a lovely weekend and happy stitching!

These hedgies took 4-5 hours to stitch each 😊

I love these gorgeous cards with the matching frames
- more strawberries and especially more sunflowers can only be a good thing in my book! 😉

partridge in a pear tree - Cross Stitch Gold 132

This week the latest issue of Gold hits the UK shops and I can finally share some pics of this lovely design by Porterfields that I worked on around April. Yes, that means I`ve been singing The Twelve Days of Christmas since April. Actually, I just finished working on Christmas designs, so I can take a wee break for Halloween, basically, and then the real Christmas starts - no wonder I`m in a festive mood all year round! ;) 

It took 58 hours and I love its folksy feel, plus - I don`t know if you can see this - but there are 3 variegated threads used: apart from the obvious green one in the frame, the purplish blue and the sandy coloured background are variegated too, and somehow the subtle colour changes make stitching big blocks more enjoyable. #orisitjustme

This Gold is the first really Christmassy issue this year and I love seeing all the reds, golds and greens, and all the Santas, Rudolphs and snowmen starting to appear - maybe that`s why I love stitching them almost all year round? Oh, and lookee what I spotted on the preview page: my gorgeous carol singers will be in the next issue! :) *starts to sing 12 Days of Christmas, again*

patchwork apples cushion - Collection 253

The latest issue of Collection hits the UK shops today - and so does Cross Stitcher 296 by the way: just a wee reminder for those of you who wanted to stitch the little bird cage keyring ;) So finally I can show you some pics of my wonky apples (I hope that`s not slang for anything!). But just in case it is, here`s what I`m talking about:

It was an interesting experiment in pencil sketch style stitching - and not the easiest thing to do on evenweave, with hardly any reference points... basically, just apples floating in mid-air, lol.

The `wonky backstitch` in itself was quite challenging; the cross stitched apples were slightly simpler, as here at least I could use the cross stitches to help me navigate - but the 4 `empty` ones required a lot more concentration. So to start with, I enlarged the chart for one of them, and with different coloured pens, I marked the points on the grid where two lines met. Once I had the steps on paper, it was just a case of following all four lines, one at a time, in a `left 4, down 1`, etc. kind of way.

This is my `work station` - excuse the mess, I was working on Olivia at the same time too. ;) There`s my enlarged apple (again, I`m hoping that it`s not slang for boobs or similar!), and next to it is the first finished one, which I then used to calculate where the other 8 should go. And here they all are:

I think that little paperwork to begin with was well worth it: once I knew what I was doing, it grew quite quickly. The whole project took only 24 hours, so it`s a nice idea for a last-minute birthday, Mothers` Day or even housewarming present. Or the individual apples could be used as cards or coasters... the list is endless. Here`s my favourite, the one I call `apple on the washing machine` - happy stitching, folks!

Cross Stitch Collection 249 and Cross Stitcher 292

Yesterday I went to town and bought my monthly fix of Suguru (my latest craze; first, there was Sudoku, then Kakuro, and now I`m addicted to Suguru). Anyway, while I was in W H Smith, I also purchased some stitchy magazines - it seems my pieces have somewhat flooded the market recently, rofl!

First up, issue 249 of Collection, a.k.a. Part 3 of the doll`s house:

Also, in the same issue there`s the Permin still life I stitched a while back:

As I say in the magazine (under the pseudonym `Our Stitcher`, lol), I love stitching still life because this is the closest I, devoid of all drawing talent, can get to producing a painting, and unlike seasonal or *shivers* cutesy things, these works of art look good on any wall, any time. Apparently, this is part of a larger design - pity I didn`t get the big picture, so to speak... I would`ve loved to stitch the whole lot! ;)

However, after this 27-hour project, I had another one to keep me busy for 18 - this gorgeous floral plate by Maria Diaz for issue 292 of Cross Stitcher:

I only have 2 progress pics - one `halfway through` and one `finished`... but at least both are badly lit, rofl! Thank you for stopping by, in a few days I`ll be back with my duckie in Gold 120, and then that`s my `market domination` over for another few months at least. At the moment, I`m working on a cushion but it`s hardly developed beyond the Fleeting Idea Stage and thus I don`t want to share... oh, and soon I`ll start a BAP for my parents for Christmas... but I won`t be able to share this, either, for obvious reasons. So please rest assured that I`m constantly stitching - and from time to time I`ll inundate you with photos, in between big gaps of silence. Happy stitching! :)

teachers` thank you cards - finished!

The weekend is not even over and I have all five thank you cards finished for Gregory`s teachers and the driver... Is that efficient or what? I`m well-chuffed, especially that it means now I can get back to my other stitching/knitting :)))

apple with toothpick

Just a quick post to show how much DPNs do NOT intimidate me any more: I started to knit a wee green apple with toothpicks! I`m using two strands of embroidery (or crochet???) thread and it`s pretty slow going, not only because it`s fiddly to work with toothpicks (plus they don`t slide) but also because they`re so short, they dig into the fleshy bit under my right thumb so I have to take regular breaks. Yes, I know (or at least I think) that there are proper DPNs this size but I`m all for using whatever I can find around the house. Another topic: last Friday we, parents were invited to the kids` Jubilee Garden Party at school. They were so sweet, singing their little songs while covered in Union Jacks, plus I finally had the chance to meet all the other parents, and quickly discuss the details of next Saturday`s Jumble Sale. Since Gregory took the stegosaurus to school the other day for Show & Tell, word has started to spread that I can knit a dinosaur, so I decided that I`d make another one as a raffle prize (I can`t really take anything else: as I explained it to the mum organising the event, by the time my son`s finished with his "unwanted" toys/books/clothes, they`re usually pretty useless and only good for the bin). Anyway, so here`s the other steg I knitted for the sale:

first encounter of the DPN kind

The major story of this day: Bigyi, who was lost, has been found! The silly fluffless bear disappeared last night (on account of being thrown about in the garden, where he managed to disappear in the hedge). I`m half-asleep while I`m writing this, since we looked for him till about half past eleven last night, but the main thing is that this morning Bigyi finally reappeared, with not a scratch on, so Gregory`s world is a happy, safe place once more. Elsewhere, in the normal (?!?) world, thanks to a lovely visit from a friend of mine, I had my baptism of fire with the dreaded double-pointed needles. So far I avoided any knitting pattern that involved these and tried to opt for the "flat" version, made with straight needles - like the closed banana on the second picture below. But thanks to Jo`s tutorial, now I have knitted my very first item "in the round", a peeled banana! Yay!

The fruit bowl is coming along nicely, by the way: now I have an open and a closed banana, plus a slice of watermelon:

another pear and a Rudolph

Just a quick post (while Blogger`s still working, ha!) to show you yesterday`s crop: another wee pear for my never-rotting fruit bowl and a Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer head Christmas decoration (don`t ask me why!):

new project(s)

A few days ago (on Thursday, 17 May 2012, to be exact) I started on La Scapigliata (`The Tousled One`) by Leonardo Da Vinci - or, in this case, by Maria Diaz, since she designed the cross stitch pattern I`m working from. Here`s the original:

And this is where I am just now:

Not too impressive yet, I know, but 1. I`m working on evenweave, which to me always means slower progress then aida, and 2. in the evenings I`m knitting wee projects so that by the end of the day I can feel that I accomplished something. At the moment I`m knitting a fruit a day: I found the patterns in the June 2012 issue of Knit Today for this pear and apple, and following Gregory`s suggestion, I`m going to create my own patterns for other fruits as well (next on my agenda is an orange). I thought I`d create a never-rotting fruit bowl as a centrepiece for my table. Updates to follow!