Saturday 2 April 2016

A Change is as Good as a Rest!

That is certainly true when it comes to my stitching, as thanks in part to a Bank Holiday weekend, four of the seven new starts I had kitted in my last post are now finished and I even bought some new threads which I haven't done in months and months!

Firstly I started and finished a small that I just loved the moment I clapped eyes on it - it's a freebie from Hands Across the Sea Samplers which you can find on their blog.  So looking forward to future releases from Nicola and Sandra, but in the meantime I stitched this little design on some 40ct using AVAS silks from stash:

Hands Across the Sea Samplers Freebie 1
As is usual for me - pictured with its proposed finishing materials -
though has yet to be actually finished lol!
 
Next up was a design I've had in my stash for four years or so, as it was a spring design it seemed appropriate to finally get on and stitch it!  Initially I'd picked out Glorianas for this one, but I changed them out for Dinky Dyes silks and Caron cottons as I wanted a softer look to it.  The design is Spring Basket by Abi Gurden, you can see I changed the original design a bit as I swapped the jessicas for spider web roses to balance out the texture of the basket.  Here it is stitched on 28ct soft yellow (would you believe!) linen:
 
Spring Basket by Abi Gurden
 
Then I moved on to a band sampler by Alchemy Stitchcraft (AKA Christine) - again another design that has sat in my stash for years - why?!  It certainly feels good to get stitching on these!  Natasha's Violets was a pure joy to work on, I had forgotten how much I love whitework and pulled threadwork, so I've put projects containing them in the queue for a later date!  Again as I am stitching from stash I subbed out the silk serica with a #5 DMC perle and I didn't have the right shade of PTB, so used a strand of DMC with a strand of blending filament to create my own :) :
 
Natasha's Violets by Stitching Alchemy
 
This chart ticked so many of my favourite boxes: band sampler, purple, pulled work, white work, bargello - needless to say, more of Christine's charts will be making it in my TBS pile.
 
Finally another finish that it feels good to tick off my list!  The Mojo Sampler by Abi Gurden was a SAL on The Stitch Specialists Yahoo Group back in 2014.  I can't link to it directly as it has yet to be put on general sale and only 60 people have this chart - but you can see Abi's version here.  This design has been buzzing around my brain since its release as I could never settle on my colour choices.  Purple was a no brainer of course, but what would I use for the contrasting colour, green, blue, pink?  None of them were pushing my buttons until it came to me that I could use purple as the contrasting colour :).  So I chose light, medium and dark purple solid Dinky Dyes silk and 2 light and dark HDF purple variegated silks stitched on 28ct lugana and here is my version:
 
Mojo Sampler Close Up 3
Mojo Sampler Close Up 2
Mojo Sampler Close Up 4
Mojo Sampler Close Up 1
The Mojo Sampler by Abi Gurden
Now if only I was any good at cartonnage, that would make a very good box lid!
So that has been my stitching over the past two weeks - no idea what this month holds stitching wise but at least I seem to be back on track!  Hopefully as long as I can get the mix of projects right, size and content (even if it does mean abandoning Cinders for a few months) then business will resume as normal.
 
Happy Stitching!

16 comments:

  1. Such beautiful stitching! I really admire all your speciality stitching. Gorgeous colours in them all too.

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  2. Beautiful stitching. I especially love the Mojo Sampler I will have to look out for it to see if it is ever put on general release.

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  3. you did really well, I managed to finish only ONE this month! 😀
    you chose really gorgeous pieces - and not just plain cross stitch, so that's always fun to do and to look at ❤️ your thread choices were ace!
    looking forward to seeing what this month stitching will bring! ❤️

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  4. Oh my I'm seeing many beautiful projects

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  5. Four finished projects, and all of them are so beautiful. All these specialty stitches are wonderful, I particularly love the Jessicas and the spider web roses. They are really spectacular. I'm sure that you can find a little wooden box the size of your last finish so that you can use it to decorate the box lid.

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  6. Beautiful progress on everything! I love your purple choices

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  7. Awesome finishes! I love your basket. I'm another one that couldn't decide on colours and I haven't stitched it yet either. Glad you're but came back with a vengeance!

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  8. Wow! what a lot of gorgeous stitching and finished projects. The Mojo Sampler is adorable, so delicate and definitely stitched in the correct colours! Looking forward to seeing what the next couple of weeks hold for you. :)

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  9. Beautiful stitching as always :)

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  10. Absolutely gorgeous stitching! I love your idea of using purples together. The effect is lovely :D

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  11. Wow you have been busy. Makes me sort of guilty that I've been avoiding my WIPs lol

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  12. Your work is just so lovely--I can't get over all of those specialty stitches. Each one is perfect!

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  13. Always perfectly perfect stitches and colors and projects!

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  14. Lovely work this month! And how funny, you are stitching designs by two of my favourite people - Nicola and Christine! I actually had no idea you could buy Christine's designs. How did I miss that opportunity? I had a quick look and I can see quite a few which really should be in my stash.

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  15. Wow you have been very busy! Such beautiful finishes too. All those speciality stitches are just gorgeous.

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  16. Beautiful projects and great finishes here! Once you start there's no stopping you and thank goodness for that. I love all the pieces and I especially love the band sampler. I look forward to the rest of the years work.

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