Emma Congdon gift tags (free gift with WOXS 298), penguins, camper vans and Field of F*cks

 Is that my most random blog post title yet...? Very possibly. 🤪

The latest issue of The World of Cross Stitching is in the UK shops now and the cover kit is a set of 8 gift tags that cover every occasion from birthdays to `just because`. 😉

I love cover kits anyway, they`re such a breath of fresh air between two larger projects, but I especially love when each colour uses just 1 length of thread at a time - it saves all the brainwork, most efficient route planning, etc. and I can just get on with the task. And as a bonus, the end result looks fab too: 😉

Since my last post, I`ve had the odd day that I selfishly declared a day off from commissions (😱🤣) but rather than dutifully bringing out the Museum Shelf - and quickly getting sick of it as my Only Alternative To Work Pieces -, I pottered about with smaller kits that I`d come across while I was tidying up my folders (a.k.a. culling my magazines, to the great delight of local charity shops). First up, I found this little penguin by Maria Diaz - I`m not sure why I had 2 kits but I stitched them both, at least they can keep each other company in the drawer until I decide what to do with them (seeing that I don`t send hand stitched Christmas cards as a rule).

Next on my list was that VW camper van from an old issue of Cross Stitcher - but by the time I sewed it up, I realised it was the perfect size for my phone and I actually needed a cover for that more than for my sunglasses (especially as both my pairs already have cases... so yay, at least they won`t get scratched wherever they are, I simply can`t find them, have looked everywhere, searched all the spare/empty bags, you name it and I just cannot find them anywhere - meh, I`m sure they`ll turn up when I least expect it, probably towards the beginning of December 🙄).

Finally, I just finished a Field of F*cks sampler for DH - I`ve been eyeing that (probably, most well-known) version that looks like it`s a Bayeux Tapestry replica for ages, and I still might buy it for myself yet, but in the meantime, hubby saw it and wanted a simple version `for work` 😂 so I made a very basic sampler for him, just the text and a tiny illustration of a barren field (the size of the letters was more important, so that it can be read from a distance... not that the intended audience is that far from his work station 😜).

Hope you`re all doing well, stay safe and happy stitching! 😊

City of Romance and some glasses cases

Happy New Year, everyone! First blog post of 2018, woohoo! :) Issue 327 of Cross Stitcher has just come out and lookee what`s on the cover: the Emma Congdon design I stitched a few months ago.

I loved stitching this City of Romance: loved the theme, the colours, the blocky stitching, the lack of backstitch, everything. You know that feeling when you enjoy a project so much that even when it`s finished and you`re already working on something else, you still have flashbacks of yourself stitching this one, and the memory makes you smile? That. ;)

10 hours

20 hours

30 hours

40 hours

50 hours

60 hours

70 hours

83 hours - finished! :)

Now that Christmas is over and my parents have received their presents, I can also show you the 3 glasses cases I`d made for them. My mom got 2 with bears (one for distance, one for reading. Glasses, not bears) and for my stepdad, I stitched a manly Spitfire:

I also ordered 3 pairs of those springy metal things that you sew in the top of glasses cases so that the glasses won`t just fall out - but uncharacteristically for me, I guess I never read the Ebay ad properly because a few weeks later, 3 lots of FIVE turned up from Hong Kong, so as soon as I have time, I might go into mass production of glasses cases. (It might be a while though. I had my work cut out with these three, if I`m honest). But I`m quite proud of the end result and what`s more important, my parents were very happy with them too:

And I`m especially chuffed with the spring action, as demonstrated here by my little hand:

Thanks for scrolling down all the way here, happy stitching! :)

The World of Cross Stitching 230 - Fathers` Day cards

Lol, please don`t ask about the granny square! Its growth can be measured in mm, rather than cm, since my last post. As always, Life has happened: am stitching 3 projects simultaneously, my own cushion idea and two commissions. The plan is to crochet at night, as a wind-down, but I`m at that early stage with the stitching when I do not dare to put it down, I just keep going until I fall asleep, because I don`t know how long each`ll take. Plus, with my usual acute perception of time - i.e. I never have any idea what day of the week, etc. it is -, the deadlines are not something tangible (yet) either, just random numbers sometime in the future. I was surprised the other day, when the librarian stamped the books and the return date is now in June - how did that happen? It was Christmas only a few weeks ago...? (By the way, am working on lovely Xmas pieces just now for the magazines, and being 6 months out of sync also doesn`t help someone as woolly-headed as me when it comes to Time - I usually tell what day it is by watching which bins the neighbours put out). #calendarbyrecycling

Anyway, I thought I`d better grab this opportunity to blog for a few minutes before the school run, since the latest issue of WOCS hits the shops today, and in it are the lovely Lucie Heaton cards I stitched. Actually, they`re not all cards - it was a great project to work on because all 4 classic car pics were of different sizes: a card, a bookmark, and two larger pieces. I started with the largest one of the lot (my DH would be shouting the name of this car now but he`s away to work) - shall I call it an Aston Martin DBXZ85874HKL? Whatever. Here it is:

Hehe, probably it`s a Jaguar. Anyway, here`s the whole lot of them together:

And this is how they`ve been made up in the magazine:

Well, the card and the bookmark were quite obvious, but I was wondering what they`d make with the other two - a glasses case and an iPad cover! I love this set, I think it looks awesome - as long as you don`t grab your tablet with gardening gloves or shove your glasses case in your dirty overalls pocket... but as hard as it is to find the suitable stitchy project for the men in our lives, I think these vintage cars are perfect. I remember thinking at the time I was stitching these, seeing Hubby`s eyes getting a bit misty, that I might stitch this... Aston-Jaguar-MG GT5XYZ (?) for him for Father`s Day - ha! Personal project?? When will I ever learn? ;)

However, on a more positive note: do you remember George, my cuddly knitted hippo?

You can read his story here, where I also promised to keep y`all posted: so the latest info is that George has moved to Ireland - the lady who`d originally commissioned him never got back to me, but last week a sweet Irishman bought George for his girlfriend - and, I hope, they all lived happily ever after! :D Happy stitching, everyone!

Twilleys of Stamford glasses cases

Good job I`ve reminded myself earlier today: I was so concentrating on the latest issue of WOCS that I almost forgot another two of my `debutantes`. I stitched these two funky glasses cases around last October... and, apparently, somebody else stitched matching bookmarks to go with them - I wonder why they were split between two stitchers like this? Anyway, I was in such a rush around that time last year that I never took pictures - probably just as well because they look so much better all made up and professionally photographed on Twilleys` website.

So here`s the link - and enjoy browsing the rest of their products too ;)

 Twilleys of Stamford

`Exotic Blooms`

`Jazzy Blooms`