floral hoops and HAED update

Issue 293 of The World of Cross Stitching is out now and there are two beautiful floral hoops in it by Jenny Van De Wiele that were a real joy to stitch.

If I remember correctly, they took around 10 hours each, so they`re fairly quick projects to whip up for a birthday, Mothers` Day or as a housewarming gift.

The finishing team had this interesting idea of turning them into 3D pieces of art by extending the flower stems beyond the edge of the hoop, and there`s a handy tutorial too in the magazine on how to do this.

Finally, due to other commitments, I had to put my HAED aside, but I`ve done about 10 hours on it so far. Since I always start stitching from the centre, I almost made the same "mistake" (which couldn`t be helped, really) as with the tv test card that got really bulky and heavy towards the end (I stitched that on 16ct aida, 4 over 2 to enlarge the design because I wanted a standard sized, 70x50 cm cushion). So in order to hold as thin/light a roll of fabric in my left hand, and for as long, as possible, I skipped and hopped to the right edge of the HAED design and the plan is to go from right to left in more or less equal width vertical strips - um, as you can see, I already failed 🤣 because at the bottom I just keep going leftward until my thread runs out of a particular colour but hey. 😉 Hope you`re all staying safe, at home, and enjoy your stitching! 😊

perforated paper cards, a finish and a new start

Well, it`s been a couple of months but I`m back with a new post - hope you`ve been all doing smashingly in the meantime. 😉

Cross Stitch Crazy 267 is out now in the UK and the free gift is a perforated paper card kit - just the one, mind, so you`ll have to choose between the blue tit and the teapot (both designed by the very talented hands of Durene Jones). I was lucky enough to stitch both, so here they are:

Yesterday, after two months (but in reality, after 60 hours in total), I finally finished Emma Congdon`s tv test card design that I fell in love with as soon as I saw it in Cross Stitcher (issue 349). I already bought the brown fabric to use for the back of the cushion I want to make but knowing me, it might be a while before I have a finished product so I thought I`d better share a pic now, before I forget. 😄

And before you say, `but how long would it take to go round the 4 sides and make a cushion cover?`, first of all, I don`t like sewing and second, I already started on my next project, which is much more fun than sewing boring straight lines... 🙄😉

OK, I`ll be realistic here: it may be a little while before I can show you the finished picture - according to the pattern tracker, I have 200 sts down, 75,000 to go 🤪 but one day, it`s going to be this HAED pic called Museum Shelf. Until then, happy stitching! 😊

Cross Stitcher 353

Happy New Year, peeps! Can you believe it`s 2020?!? 😲 Today`s the first day of Back To Normal in our household, so I thought I`d share some pics of the latest issue of Cross Stitcher magazine that came out on the last day of 2019.

As it happens, I have two projects in this issue - the snowdrops by Susan Bates on the cover and a cute hairstyles poster designed by Durene Jones.

I was lucky enough to get two of Susan Bates`s seasonal windows to stitch - you may recall the summery seaview with the tulips from the cover of issue 247 (you can read about it in the second half of this blog post from last July). This wintery still life took 51 hours to stitch and, call me weird, but I liked adding the backstitch to it - all 7 shades of it 😉 - because I enjoyed seeing the whole picture come to life.

It`s a gorgeous picture and I love the finished photo of it in the magazine too, the pastel props and frame complement it so well:

A few pages on, there`s the cute sampler of women`s hairstyles, designed by Durene Jones.

As always with her designs, I had great fun with this project too: even though I like to tackle large, painting-like pictures, in between these I enjoy smaller, card-sized projects and I love when these build up to create a larger image. I enjoyed stitching one or two of these girls a day - it`s such a great feeling when you can start and finish something on the same day! - and they made me smile, which is always a bonus. Hope you`ve all had a wonderful holiday and that if you`re back to work already, you look like No. 3 in the top row and not No. 2, like me this morning! 😁

Cross Stitch Crazy 263 and The World of Cross Stitching 289

New month, new blog post - which btw sounds like I know what I`m talking about but I`m only aware that it`s now December because the other day we started on our advent calendars. 🍫😋 But in reality (?), I sat down to stitch sometime after the October school holiday and only just stood up now, so I`m not entirely sure what`s happened to November, and while I`m trying to wrap my head around the fact that it`s almost Christmas, I`m about to start on a cover kit for Christmas 2020 😳 so no wonder I occasionally get confused as to what date it is on any given day.

Talking about cover kits: there are TWO new magazines out that have `my` free gifts and the latest WOXS also features my biscornus but I shall proceed in chronological order so first up is issue 263 of Crazy:

This cute Margaret Sherry cat was a joy to stitch, as always (I`ve had the good fortune to work on many of her designs, I wrote about them in this post). And I love the cheerful card that comes with the kit, it`s a great finish:

With issue 289 of WOXS, the free gift is another cutie: Herbert Hedgehog! 😍  

First I thought he was King Herbert, then just as I convinced myself that it must be a paper crown from a Christmas cracker, it turns out it`s a birthday card... but whatever he`s celebrating, I just love that adorable smile and the two tiny paws 🦔😍😁

Finally, in the same issue of WOXS, there are 4 biscornus, designed by Faby Reilly:

I have close-ups of all 8 pieces - fair enough, the 4 bottoms are not as exciting as the 4 tops but 1) I spent some time on them so they might as well be seen 😉 and 2) they complement their matching top and make the biscornu whole.

These 8 pieces took 22 hours to stitch - the magazine says each biscornu takes 18-22 hours to sew, so that gives an idea how much assembly is required... I wouldn`t know because I still haven`t made a biscornu myself 🙄 but maybe now, as I have a bit more time on my hands, I`ll give it a go. First though, I managed to finish this little heilan coo (just have to put the fridge magnet together) that I`d bought while travelling around Scotland in the summer - I thought I`d better do this before I get seduced by Rhona Norrie`s cute little coos in the same Crazy that`s got my cat, this poor wee fella has gathered enough dust already! 😊 Hope you like him, happy stitching!

Christmas sampler and Monarch framed

The latest issue of Cross Stitcher is in the UK shops now and in it is this gorgeous Christmas sampler, designed by Faye Walsh:

It took 60 hours to stitch and before posting it, I`d taken some close-ups of the individual motifs - I love how vibrant the colours are on the lavender fabric and the stitches lay so nicely on the 32ct evenweave. 😊

And as promised, here is one last photo of the Monarch of the Glen: we just got him back from the framers and he`s already in pride of place on the wall - happy stitching, peeps! 😊

Christmas baubles, cats and dogs, and finished Monarch 😊

The latest issue (261) of Cross Stitch Crazy is out now so I can share my picture of the cute cover kit:

Designed by Durene Jones, these were so much fun to stitch I did them twice 🤣 and the free gift includes 2 bauble shaped wooden frames too so the finished decorations are ready to go on the tree or in a card with added oomph.

The other day, I was browsing the worldwide web, and I came across the 2019 catalogue of DMC (here). Remember the Vintage Circus range I mentioned in a previous post? Here they are, all 5 together:

Hmm, I`ve just noticed I got the last two with the drapes - there must be something about me that screams "curtain!"...? 😂 Def. not in the `that`s it, no more` sense because my next DMC commission was this set of 6 hoops, 3 cats and 3 dogs:

I loved this set, they`re such clever designs: they only use 1 colour each but utilise both XS and BS in 1 and 3 strands to create depth and even a sense of movement.

Again, I can only repeat myself: these were so much fun to stitch I did them twice... plus a few (few?!? 🤪) more times: 

Finally, as promised, here`s the finished Monarch of the Glen! 😍 In the end, it took 230 hours, 65 days spread over the past 5 months, and it`s already at the framers (I`ll post a photo of the end result too when we get it back). Thank you for visiting my blog, happy stitching! 😊