April 2017 Update

This month, I finished both the pieces I was working on! My Summer Sampler is now complete, but I’m going to wait to post any pictures until it’s framed. I was originally going to make it into a cushion but seeing the terrible state sofa pillows got into in my house, I changed my mind. I would be pretty sad if it got ruined before it had even made it to Summer!

I’ve also finished Pokemon Page 12:

And here’s how it’s looking so far altogether:

It’s hard to give a good sense of the size of it, but when it’s done it would be big enough to be a small blanket or a large wall hanging, which is what I want to do with it in the end!

I’ve moved on to papercraft for a while, and made a start on my Christmas cards for this year just for a complete change of pace and theme 🙂

Hopefully I’ll have a framed sampler for you soon!

March 2017 Update

My last post for March! I can’t believe it’s come around so fast! I haven’t had much time to work on my Pokemon picture this week, but I started the birds’ heads – that’s the orangey blobs towards the lower left. That will eventually be a Dodrio!

I spent most of my stitching time on the Summer Sampler:

It’s actually come along a little further than this now, I added a couple of butterflies and a fuzzy little bumble bee to finish off the lower middle cornflowers motif – but I guess I forgot to take a photo! I think there is a good chance that one or both of these will be finished by the end of next month.

In the meantime, we have a mother’s day walk in the park planned for tomorrow and good weather forecast! I hope you all have lovely mother’s days too, if that’s something you celebrate!

Spring is Here!

The daffodils are out, the sun is no longer hiding away behind rainclouds and the world seems like a happier place just now 🙂 Winter has its charms, but I’m so glad to be seeing the light at the end of a dreary tunnel. On the subject of seasons, here’s my latest update on my Summer sampler:

I’ve finished the band of white herringbone and roses, and started on the little birdhouse motif to the left. I’m hopeful to have this motif finished by the end of today. The camera has done some odd things with the rose band, so here’s a close up that looks a little less wonky:

I’ve also made a little progress on my Pokemon pattern, again mostly in white by coincidence!

The ghosts Gengar and Haunter are now complete, and the seal (Seel!) just needs a little more shading on his cute little face and fins 🙂

I’m still having a very good time stitching both of these, I know I completely lost the ‘stitchy bug’ a few months ago but it seems to be back with a vengeance now! The only thing that might stop me is the release of Mass Effect Andromeda this week – exciting!

Belated February 2017 Update

Yes, it is mid-March…I am aware…

February was a very exciting month for me. Spring is almost here, I’ve been offered trial period promotions at BOTH of my jobs, I blew up a TV, threw a surprise party and ate a TON of cake. Can’t wait to see what March has in store!

Even still, I found time for some stitching. I started the next whitework band of the Summer Sampler:

I realise now that the white doesn’t show up super well on the fabric I chose, but I love the fabric so much that I’m just going to accept that and try not to let it bother me.

Plenty more work has gone into the Pokemon project:

The outlining is probably 80% done now, you can see the cutest little seal face and the ghosts are almost finished now. I’m really enjoying working on both of these pictures, there’s so much colour and joy in them. I’m even happier now there’s light to stitch in the evenings after work.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful spring (in the Northern hemisphere at least!)

x

Summer Sampler Halfway Point

I’m back to (almost) full health now and have had plenty of energy to stitch my little heart out this week! I haven’t made much progress on Pokemon this week – 

I’ve fallen completely in love with the Summer Sampler, spending almost every day stitching it instead. i love how quickly each motif comes to life as I’m backstitching each one as I go along instead of leaving it till the end. The colours are so pretty and fresh, and it makes me feel so happy and optimistic for the Spring. Here’s where I’m at now:

As usual, this is a terrible quality photo, sorry! That’s another reason to be excited for Spring – I can actually stitch in daylight after work! So a little close up of the top centre to show off the Algerian eyes and the pretty colours:

I’m just over halfway now, as you can see. There are some lovely flowers and bumble bees to go in the bottom half as well as some cute birds and a few more speciality stitches, then a backstitched frame all the way round. I can’t wait 😀

Stitching While Sick

I’ve had the Annual Winter Plague this week, so I’ve spent a lot of time lying on the sofa binge watching Once Upon A Time and feeling sorry for myself. That also means I’ve had a lot of stitching time!

Progress continues on Pokemon:

The tubby little ghosty in the middle almost has a face and arms now.

And the Summer Sampler has a border and a flower wreath:

Disaster struck when I ran out of pink thread, but my very kind housemate took pity on me and make the trek into town to fetch some for me, despite having never stepped foot in the haberdashery before and not having the first clue what he was looking for – Crisis averted!

A Summery Surprise

Soon after my last post, in which I decided to take a short break from cross stitch, I received a surprise parcel in the post. It seems that I am on a lucky streak, as I had won yet another subscriber competition from the World of Cross Stitch magazine! The prize was this absolutely wonderful ‘Flowers’ chartbook by Susan Bates. It’s one of a series, and I would also like to get the Vintage motifs one to go with this.

There are a ton of designs in here I want to stitch, and I really feel inspired to start sewing again. I did go out and get some quilling materials to give that a go, and also some more card making supplies and some model kit pieces and…well, to be honest, I spent a lot of money but didn’t actually do much crafting. Shame on me!

The designs are all bright and modern, and super clear to read with beautiful inspirational photos showing the finished pictures. The pages are thick and glossy and the whole book has a really high quality feel to it. Here’s the design I’ve chosen to stitch first – I want to sew this onto a little runner to go under my potted herbs in the kitchen, by the window.

Happy Summer, everyone!

Floral Earring Keeper, or, More Things to Make with Cover Kits

After last week’s foray into Christmassy, wintertime things, I’ve returned to the land of bright, Summery florals, just in time for the English weather to perk up once again and bring a last blast of warmth before Autumn sets in.

I had a little root through the old cover kit stash to find something small enough to take to work and discovered a lovely padded ornament kit. I duly stitched it up and even managed to stick to the instructions this time, but when it came to making up the ornament, I just couldn’t do it as I was told! So, instead of a hanging ornament, I now have an earring keeper:

I added some sequins and beads, because everything has to be as shiny as possible or I am dissatisfied. I also did NOT add enough wadding – as you can see, it’s not the most circular circle in the world! It doesn’t help that my sewing machine is AWOL being borrowed by a relative, so I stitched it together quite hurriedly by hand, but with the pretty backing fabric and the shiny sequins, I’m pleased with it nevertheless 😀 Now it can hang on an arm of my jewelry tree and keep all my earrings in nice neat pairs for me!

May 2015 – Pansies Kit Review

I spent most of May working on larger projects, none of which are finished enough to show here, but I did get time to make a birthday card for my mother-in-law.

Pansies birthday card – DMC Floral Quick Kit

I found this little DMC Floral Quick Kit in yet another bag of inherited stash. I think it must be very old as I can’t find any internet references to this series of kits, except for one or two eBay listings, but it has held up well  and had no wear or damage at all. I did make one small change and backstitched the leaves and stems of the flowers in green instead of black, because I had a lot of green left over at the end and I thought the black looked too severe on the model. Looking back, I think the leaves lack definition now, so I should have either stuck with the black and just did as I was told, or looked for a darker shade of green. I’m not the best at following instructions, I tend to just wander off with my own ideas sometimes when I really shouldn’t!

DMC Quick Stitch Floral Kit – Pansies

Even though you probably can’t buy these any more, and it is a super tiny kit, here’s a quick review.

Pros – 

• Tiny and very quick to stitch, as the title suggests! I think it took me about two evenings to get this done. Also a good size to be turned into a card or small gift.
• Lovely traditional design, perfect for someone with more classical tastes.
• High quality materials and printing. Chart was easy to read and the threads had not worn or frayed over time.

Cons – 

• Black and white chart only, backstitch instructions were therefore unclear but manageable. No suggestion on number of strands to use, so I just went with what felt right.
• Ran out of pink thread about half way through, and had to salvage a similar colour from another kit. No thread numbers provided to make an exact match,