Advent Calendar Blog Hop 2022

Sorry, I've just discovered that this blog post disappeared. I wondered why I received just one comment. I hope it stays up this time

I might not have been stitching recently but I didn't want to miss Jo's Advent Blog Hop. Each person taking part posts a photo of something we have stitched with a Christmas or Winter theme. In addition we answer a question which this year is "What's for Afters?", otherwise known as dessert.

Jo has listed this year's participants for each day here. Day 3 will be from Clare at Aimetu's Stitching.

My photo is a small Christmas ornament called Joy Ambigram by Meg Shinall of The Flower Thread Company. This design features in The Gift of Stitching, Issue 69, November 2011. The fact that the word "Joy" in the design is an ambigram (can be read right-side-up or upside down) appealed.

Joy Ambigram - Meg Shinall, The Flower Thread Company

Fabric: 28ct Zweigart White Linen

Threads: DMC - Blanc; Carrie's Creation - Frosty Pine, Colonial Red

Growing up we always had a choice of 'After's' on Christmas Day. It was either Christmas Pudding with custard or Sherry Trifle with whipped cream. I usually chose the Christmas Pudding and had my Sherry Trifle in the evening. As Christmas Pudding isn't a 'thing' in France, I settle for keeping the tradition going with Sherry Trifle and the second choice of dessert is a butter cream chocolate Buche Noel.

Gifted Gorgeousness and Fully Finished Gallery - September 2022

At Needlecraft Haven we exchanged summer themed pincushions. This is the pincushion that I sent to Julie using a free design from Hello at Liz Mathews and it is my sole Fully Finished item for the past month.

Summer Celebration Small - Hello from Liz Mathews

Fabric: 28ct Zweigart White linen

Threads: Recommended DMC threads

In return I received this beautiful sunflower pincushion and threads from Gill. The sunflower is appropriate as so much of the surrounding countryside is full of them during July and August.

I also sent to Clare these two initials (J and Q) for her church Christmas tree. If you read her blog you will have seen her finishing of these here. The J initial is a free design from Fox and Rabbit Designs' Cherry Monogram Pincushion.

 J from Cherry Monogram Pincushion- Fox and Rabbit Designs

Fabric: 32ct Zweigart Vintage Blue linen

Threads: Suggested DMC threads but substituted Atalie's Carmen for red

Q from Country Alphabet - Leisure Arts

Fabric: 32ct Zweigart Silver Moon linen

Threads: Recommended DMC threads

For those of you unfamiliar with Jo's Gifted Gorgeousness and Rachel's Fully Finished Gallery SALs, further details can be found here and here.

Until next time, enjoy your leisure interests.

Stitching Friends Summer Blog Hop

 

This year's Summer Blog Hop from Jo of Serendipitous Stitching is another opportunity to get to know our stitching friends. We each write something to describe our stitching friend and choose a design we think they might like. I will reveal my partner at the end of this blog post.

My UK Stitching Friend has been blogging for the past nine years though of course she has been crafting for much longer. You will note my use of the word 'crafting' as this stitcher can turn her hand to crossstitch, quilting, applique, lace making, salt dough and card making to name a few. However, by her own admission, knitting is not one of her strong points and she has not acquired a liking for it.

I tried to determine if this stitcher has a style but I think her style (in her own words) is best described as unique but I discovered that she definitely has a weakness for dragons. I thought she might like this scissor fob I stitched for an exchange some years ago. It is by Dragon Dreams Inc and it is her 2011 Thanksgiving Facebook Sample Chart. I changed the wording on my version.

Even though this stitcher will work on more than one project at a time she focuses on that project while it is in her hands, even when that involves some dreaded backstitch. Her two main projects currently appear to be her Wednesday night SAL with her friend and her Sunday stitching time while she listens to the speakers at her church. 

Before I reveal my Stitching Friend I have another design that I think she would like. Based on some of her patchwork and quilting projects as well as recent crossstitch I think this Celtic knotwork Crosses design from Teresa Wentzler would appeal.

Celtic Knotwork Crosses by Teresa Wentzler

In case you haven't guessed by now, my Stitching Friend is Deborah from A Patchwork of Crafts. 

All the participants in the 2022 Summer Blog Hop can be found at Jo's Blog, Serendipitous Stitching.

Gifted Gorgeousness and Fully Finished Gallery SAL - July

Between visiting family and this heatwave I managed to squeeze in some stitching during the past month.

For those of you unfamiliar with Jo's Gifted Gorgeousness and Rachel's Fully Finished Gallery SALs, further details can be found here and here.

Increasingly I find it difficult to find birthday cards that I like to send. My taste hasn't kept pace with that of the card industry. As a result I stitched this card for a 60th birthday and it is both my Gifted Gorgeousness and Fully Finished item this month. The cupcake design is free on Durene Jones's Facebook page.

Cupcake - Durene Jones

Fabric: 28ct Crafty Kitten Jobelan Just Peachy

Threads: Recommended DMC threads

There has been no progress on my Alpine Seasons Garden this month but I have managed to catch up on my Jardin Privé Temperature SAL. Here is the midway point at the end of June.

Projet Météo 2022 - Jardin Privé

Fabric: 32ct Zweigart Light Lilac linen

Threads: Suggested range of cool, warm and other DMC colours

and using a 4 degree Celsius range between colours

As the heatwave continues, stay cool and safe.

Fully Finished Gallery - June 2022 and Needlecraft Haven Jubilee Exchange

I actually have something to show for this month's Fully Finished Gallery which is hosted by Rachel, The Ten House Stitcher.

At Needlecraft Haven we had a Jubilee coaster exchange and I stitched this Commemorative Crown free design for Gill (no blog). It was my first time putting stitching in a round coaster and I imagine it will be awhile before I do it again. It was fiddly! I added some lettering, ER II and 70 years in silver but I couldn't get it to show up well in any photographs. I should have used another colour such as purple. Why purple you might ask.

Commemorative Crown design - Jenny Barton www.gathered.how

Fabric: 28ct Brittany Ivory evenweave

Threads: Suggested DMC threads except Krenik 102HL for

DMC Light Effects Gold and a gold sewing thread for backstitch

Well, it so happened that Clare stitched the same design for me and she used purple which as you can see below is more effective. As an aside, purple is one of my favourite colours.

This is not the first time that Clare and I have stitched the same design in exchanges.

Finally an update on my Jardin Privé Temperature SAL. Here is how it looked at the end of May. As you can see, it is definitely getting warmer. I haven't started on the strong reds yet but I'm getting there.

Projet Météo 2022 - Jardin Privé

Fabric: 32ct Zweigart Light Lilac linen

Threads: Suggested range of cool, warm and other DMC colours

and using a 4 degree Celsius range between colours

Happy Easter and Gifted Gorgeousness - April 2022

Happy Easter. We had an Easter card exchange at Needlecraft Haven and I received this pretty card from Clare. These colours are so delicate. I wish I had an Easter egg tree in my my garden :)

Easter card from Clare, Needlecraft Haven

For this exchange Clare was my partner and I stitched an egg design from The Cricket Collection.

Tisket-a-Tasket Egg - The Cricket Collection

Fabric: 28ct Jobelan, The Crafty Kitten, January 2018 Limited Edition

Threads: Suggested DMC threads

I'm still stitching on my Jardin Privé Temperature SAL and this is my progress as at 31 March 2022. The range between my daily and minimum temperatures in March is broad.

Projet Météo 2022 - Jardin Privé

Fabric: 32ct Zweigart Light Lilac linen

Threads: Suggested range of cool, warm and other DMC colours

and using a 4 degree Celsius range between colours

In recent weeks I wasn't able to stitch as much as I would have liked on Chatelaine's Alpine Seasons Garden nor Wiehenburg's Cottage Garden SAL but at least some progress was made.

The final side of the border on Alpine Seasons Garden has met up (bottom border) and I am currently filling it in. When that is completed I'll have 'just' the corner flowers to stitch and then it will be time to start beading.

Alpine Seasons Garden - Chatelaine as at 9 September 2022

Fabric: 32ct Belfast Sand linen

Threads: Recommended silk threads

I'm still stitching the first part of the Cottage Garden SAL. While I like it on the cream fabric I wonder if it would 'pop' more if I had used a fabric that was slightly darker. I'm not inclined to restart it so I will continue on cream.

Cottage Garden SAL - Wiehenburg

Fabric: 40ct Zweigart Ivoire/Cream

Threads: Suggested DMC threads

To see who else has taken part in April's Gifted Gorgeousness and to learn more about it, please visit Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.

Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop

Thanks to Jo I am again taking part in the annual Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop. For this Blog Hop, Jo has asked us to post a photo of something seasonal that we have stitched (e.g. Easter, Spring, Floral) as well as an alphabet letter which will form part of a mystery phrase.

To collect all the letters to discover what the mystery phrase is and to see who has taken part, please visit Jo's blog with all the information here.

My seasonal stitching is Spring Tulip mini bouquet from Jeanette Douglas.

Tulip Mini Bouquet - Jeannette Douglas

Fabric: 40ct Zweigart Light Mocha linen

Threads: Suggested DMC conversion

My letter for the mystery phrase is E. 

To collect the next letter in the phrase, please visit Tiff at Tiffstitches a Blog.

Smalls SAL - February 2022

It's time for my Smalls SAL linkup hosted by Mary of Mary's Thread. I haven't alot of stitching to show for this past month but here it is.

First up is my Mini Valentine Bouquet which you would have already seen on my Valentine's day post. I'm loving this free series from Jeannette Douglas and I'm looking forward to downloading the next design tomorrow from here. 

Valentine Mini Bouquet - Jeannette Douglas

Fabric: 40ct Zweigart Light Mocha linen

Threads: Suggested DMC conversion

As it is the end of the month here is my update on Jardin Privé's Projet Météo. I'm expecting more variation on the colours of my flowers over the coming weeks as Spring arrives. 

Projet Météo 2022 - Jardin Privé

Fabric: 32ct Zweigart Light Lilac linen

Threads: Suggested range of cool, warm and other DMC colours

and using a 4 degree Celsius range between colours

Gifted Gorgeousness - February 2022 and a Valentine Exchange

It's that time of the month when we show off the Gifted Gorgeousness that we have sent, received or stitched/crafted during the past month. This is hosted by Jo and a list of other participants can be found here.

First up is my Alpine Seasons Garden. I feel that I've made good progress on this during the past month. I've almost completed the outer border.

Alpine Seasons Garden - Chatelaine as at 9 September 2022

Fabric: 32ct Belfast Sand linen

Threads: Recommended silk threads

I've been following DJ's progress on her Cottage Garden SAL which is this year's Wiehenburg SAL. I loved what she had stitched and when I showed it to DH he insisted on buying the SAL subscription for me. Naturally I didn't argue. This is what I've done to far. It's a small start but I couldn't wait until I had more time to spend on it.

Cottage Garden SAL - Wiehenburg

Fabric: 40ct Zweigart Ivoire/Cream

Threads: Suggested DMC threads

This year we had a non-stitching Valentine exchange at Needlecraft Haven. Our secret parcel had to contain a reusable shopping bag, the type that comes in a pouch and is handy for your handbag. Ideally the bag would have hearts or be red or pink. The parcel also included thread that matched the bag's colours. I forgot to take a photo of the one I sent to Julie but this was the style.  

The threads I chose to match the bag were DMC 746 (cream), 824(blue) and 833(gold/brown). As I was unable to get a bag in my local shop that matched the brief I also included a skein of DMC 986 (a pink).

My exchange partner was Christine and I received this colourful bag and threads. As someone who carries far too much in her handbag these cheerful colours will help me find it more quickly.

 

I'm still knitting the sleeveless sweater for my sister. It's taking me longer than it should as I keep losing concentration and making errors in the pattern. I'm determined that it will be finished next month.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart blog hop 2022

Jo has organised the Secret Stitching Sweetheart blog hop again. Each participant receives a photo to post online from a secret stitcher. We hop around the blogs of those taking part to see who received our photo and to reveal ourselves as the Secret Stitching Sweetheart.

To find out who has taken part and to visit their blogs, please visit Jo of Serendipitous Stitching.

I have received this lovely pillow. The saying brought back many fond memories as I remember my Granny used the expression "you're as cute as a button".

It's not fully finished but I've stitched Jeannette Douglas's Valentine mini bouquet. The links for this design as well as January's mini bouquet can be found here. This was a quick stitch and I completed it over two evenings.

Valentine Mini Bouquet - Jeannette Douglas

Fabric: 40ct Zweigart Light Mocha linen

Threads: Suggested DMC conversion

Have a lovely day everyone.

Smalls SAL - January 2022

It's the first 2022 link up for the Smalls SAL hosted by Mary and I'm pleased to say that I have some stitching to show.

First up is Baked Goods from Little House Needleworks. If you think "I'm sure I've seen that recently" you are right as I stitched it for our Needlecraft Haven Christmas Ornament Exchange. I liked it so much that I had to stitch one for myself. This pattern was a gift from Clare and at Needlecraft Haven we have made it our Travelling Pattern in 2022.

Baked Goods - Little House Needleworks

Fabric: 32ct Zweigart Sand linen

Threads: Suggested DMC threads and chose 3865 for ecru like colour

I've admired Jeanette Douglas's designs for some time and her free Mini Bouquet Sampler during 2022 has given me the opportunity to try some of her designs. I am stitching each month's design individually with the intention of completing each one as a scissor fob. I am using her suggested DMC thread conversions and I'm pleased with the end result in the mini pineapple bouquet.

Pineapple Mini Bouquet - Jeannette Douglas

Fabric: 40ct Zweigart Light Mocha linen

Threads: Suggested DMC conversion but used 3011 for both stems and leaves

My final 'show and tell' is not really a small. I'm taking part in Needlecraft Haven's Temperature SAL and here is my progress as at 30 January 2022. I know temperature SALs have been around for some years but I had never done one as I had no idea what I would do with the finished piece. When I saw the floral temperature SAL from Jardin Privé, I knew immediately that I wanted to stitch this one. I plan to finish it as a cushion cover.

Projet Météo 2022 - Jardin Privé

Fabric: 32ct Zweigart Light Lilac linen

Threads: Suggested range of cool, warm and other DMC colours

and using a 4 degree Celsius range between colours

Gifted Gorgeousness - January 2022

During 2022 Jo of Serendipitous Stitching is again hosting the link-up for Gifted Gorgeous. What is basically allowed is anything connected to the word "gift", whether is is a gift to you or from you. 

I have taken out my Chatelaine's Alpine Seasons Garden in another effort to complete the stitching on it. I had a 'nudge' from DH who asked me at the beginning of the year when I was going to complete the project he bought me. When Clare introduced a Large Project SAL at Needlecraft Haven I knew it couldn't be ignored any longer.

Here was my starting point:

Alpine Seasons Garden - Chatelaine as at Late 2020

Fabric: 32ct Belfast Sand linen

Threads: Recommended silk threads

And here is my small progress as of last Sunday. If you look closely you can see that I've added some stitches in the upper band. There will definitely be more to show next month.

Alpine Seasons Garden - Chatelaine as at 9 September 2022

Fabric: 32ct Belfast Sand linen

Threads: Recommended silk threads

I'm also knitting a sleeveless tunic for my sister. The back is almost finished.

Zola tunic - Rowan

Wool: Katia Merino Aran, color 81

Needles: 4.5mm needles and 4.5mm double-pointed needles