Solo September Success!

Yet again I have had success with Justine's OAAT SALs!  Head on over to her blog to see how everyone else has done - I need to catch up too!

I chose a new start, Alice in Wonderland by The Little Stitcher,  for my Solo September piece and am happy to report I put the final stitch in her last night.

 

I had hoped to stitch her in 100% of Nina's threads, but overcame my OCD about this when it came to the central quote as I couldn't find a colour strong enough for 1 over 2 stitching on this shade of fabric.  I figured that AVAS Soie d'Alger would be a silk worthy enough to sit by Nina's beauties, so went with that - the rest are my  own assortment of Nina's silks and cottons.

 

 

 

Thank you for another great solo stitching month Justine!  I shall be back with another post next week about my stitching plans and thoughts for 2017 (yes you read that correctly!) and can definitely see myself incorporating a bit more OAAT stitching as it has worked well for me this year.  No more stitching for the remainder of September for me, I have a TBR pile that needs working on, so will dedicate some time to that hobby instead!

 

I have three WIPs left and plan on working on one for each of the remaining months of the year as well as shoehorning in a new Winter start in the hope of having another clean slate for the start of the new year.

 

So until next week........Happy Stitching!

Solo September after an Abismal August!

I can count on one hand the number of times I picked up my stitching in August, I blame the Olympics!  Also I'm not brilliant in the summer with big projects, I lack the concentration!  Anyway, here is my paltry progress on my two samplers:

Stephanie Desmidt 1844 stitched on 40ct with DMCs

Band Sampler (SANQ) stitched on 40ct with DMCs

Thanks to my little stash sale, I have been indulging in the other joy of stitching: planning and stashing for future projects!  I have the majority of my projects for next year planned out and I'm very excited about them, some of them I have wanted to stitch for years so I am looking forward to 2017!

 

On to the matter at hand - Solo September!  This is a SAL being officially hosted by Justine and you can join in the fun here.  The idea being that you stitch on one project for the entire month, or until you finish it then you may start another but only stitch on that one!  I was quite successful in April and July with this idea so figured it couldn't hurt for September.  Now I could have chosen one of the samplers above to stitch on for September, however I felt a new start was necessary to get me stitching again after such a drought this month.  So here are my materials for my new start tomorrow:

 

 

 

Looks quite autumnal doesn't it!  The design is by an Italian designer and is based on a classic English children's book, I think the (Disney) thread colours of the main character laid on top in the picture above give it away.......... any guesses?

 

I'll put you out of your misery, this is what I will be stitching for Solo September, one of four new starts that I hope to squeeze in before the end of the year:

 

Alice in Wonderland by The Little Stitcher

I'll be stitching Alice on 40ct Vintage Country Mocha linen with a selection of Nina's lovelies, silks and cottons probably knowing me :).

 

I look forward to seeing what everyone else will be stitching in September!

 

Happy Stitching!

September Operation Threadporn Report

This month saw fantastic results for Operation Threadporn, but before I talk statistics, here are the projects!

Firstly there was September's SOTW Hardanger square.  I decided to change things up a bit with my materials by using a chocolate brown lugana rather than my usual white.  I also chose to use a much stroked but lesser used perle in my stash, my only silk #5 perle.  Try as I might I could not get a photo showing the true colours of this piece, but here it is anyway:

 

 

I really like the satin stitch braid border and will try and remember that one for future smalls.

 

 

In celebration of the last series of Downton Abbey airing in the UK, I stitched this freebie from The Sampler Girl and *shock horror* actually finished it!  I will add that my baking skills far far outweigh my sewing skills lol!

 

 



 

Loved loved loved using 100% Nina loveliness for this stitch, they made the project extra special!

 

So how do the Threadporn stats read after all those new starts?

 

Percentage of hand dyed thread stash used to date: 21.36%

Number of different stitches used to date:                57

Number of finishes to date:                                     33  (10 of which are FFOs)

I've surpassed the 20% mark, which in real terms means for this year I have used well over 200 hand dyed threads in my projects!!  Not sure if I can make it to 25%, but that would be a tidy number to round off the year with.............

Happy Stitching!

July Operation Threadporn Report

The results are in, the threads have been counted - here are the designs for this month!

First up July's SOTW Hardanger design by Mabel Figworthy.  I chose another unusual colour combination, until you actually stitch with a thread it's hard to know how the colour variation will stitch out.  I'm quite pleased with the results and who knew how easy it is to add beads to hardanger:

Introducing ermine stitches!

 

A slightly more summery feel to my chosen freebie for this month, a design by The Snowflower Diaries, who incidentally posted a new freebie design to her blog this past week.  For this one I chose a OOAK hand painted sea effect jobelan that Sam from Chromatic Alchemy very kindly gifted to me last year along with cottons and silks from Nina's Threads that Chiara gifted to me via her Enigma (it has just occurred to me that I really should have used this finish for a Gifted Gorgeousness post..........muppet!):

 

 

 

Yes I know, epic fail on the finishing front but I'm just not in the mood for it at the moment.  If I force it, everything will just get finished for the sake of it into pillows or something easy that I can do - I have better ideas, just lacking the inclination at the moment :).

 

I am ecstatic to report that I have this month hit the magic number as far as thread usage percentage is concerned - probably helped out by the lack of thread buying going on here at the moment!  Here are the monthly totals to date:

 

Percentage of hand dyed thread stash used to date: 15.51%

Number of different stitches used to date:     48

Number of finishes to date:                          24  (9 of which are FFOs)

 

So seven months in and my target of 15% has been reached!  Maybe I could reach 20% by the end of the year - but a thread binge could strike at anytime.......vigilance must be maintained!

 

In other stitching activities this past week, I've put in few stitches on Sleeping Beauty by The Primitive Hare - she is no longer levitating:



 

 

I also completed Part 4 of Milady's Blossom Garden by Abi Gurden which came out on Sunday:

 

 

 

Loved stitching the drawn thread bands with all those coral knots!

 

Hoping I can stitch a word or two on my L*K before the month is out and then 1st August sees the release of the final block for Box of Delights!

 

Happy Stitching!

Emma and Eliza in the Garden

I figured this one would be the first of my finishes for my Summer Starts - it was just too darn cute and I adored the theme and colours!

Spot the hedgies and the incy wincies!

 

I can see why these designs are so addictive and I expect there will be more like them to follow!  I changed a few of my original colour choices as is my prerogative - but still another 8 threads to add to my threadporn totals so it's all good :).

 

This brings me to finish number 22 for 2015!  I know I drive certain stitchers to distraction over the fact that most of my finishes end up in "The Drawer", I've always been more of a process stitcher than a product stitcher.  I do have five pieces of my stitching hanging in my house, two of which are huge Chatelaines - there really is only so much stitching I can take hanging in my house, otherwise it would be a "can't see the wood for the trees" situation!  I just love everything about the actual physical stitching, from picking colours of thread and fabric to deciding on which individual stitches to use for a piece.  Once a piece is finished, I'm ready to move on to the next one, taking what I've learnt from all my finishes and putting that experience into a new start, whilst always being open to learning new things along the way.  I've always been about the journey and not the destination.  Stitching for me is like the colouring in "Art Therapy" that so many people are in to nowadays.  No one asks them what they are going to do with all the colouring books when they've completed them, the act of colouring means it has served its purpose - that is like me with my stitching :).

 

I've finally got around to picking my threads for my Hardanger and Snowflower Diaries freebie for this month (no prizes for guessing which design I'm doing lol!):

 

 

Nina's lovelies put to use!

 

Lastly on the subject of freebies, if you love history and stitching, then head on over to the Stitchory FB group (it's public), where Chase has flexed his designing muscles and created a beautiful Aztec inspired turquoise mandala design - educational AND fun, would more could you want!

 

Happy Stitching!

My Wimbledon Fortnight!

It was a fantastic tournament as always, the best man won on Sunday, I just wish that man had been Roger Federer :).

Anyway I managed a fair bit of stitching in between all the excitement - four new starts and two parts on my SALs, here are the pics!

Firstly I completed Block 5 on Box of Delights - the colours:

Top L-R: Hearts and Flowers Ltd Ed PB24, Argentine Tango PB59, Clockwork Orange PB49
Bottom L-R: Rainforest, Blue Morpho Butterfly PB18, Over the Rainbow

  

The "sweets":





 

One more block to go!

 

 

Up next was Part 3 of Milady's Blossom Garden:

 

Hello coral knots!

 

Then on to the new starts, firstly Living with Charm by Lizzie*Kate:

 

Slightly wishing I'd chosen my own colours on 40ct but still enjoying stitching it this way!

A levitating Sleeping Beauty by The Primitive Hare:

 

I changed the colour in her dress from GAST Banker's Grey to an unknown GAST Ltd Ed

 

Just Nan's Emma and Eliza in the Garden:
 

 

Absolutely adore this one!
I changed my choice of purple Mo cotton with a Dragonfloss one

And finally The Butterfly Garden by The Drawn Thread:
 

I just have to remember to add in the French knots to the Tansy.
I'm stitching this one in hoop and didn't want to squash them!

 

It was great to get back to regular stitching after quite a few months where it's been a bit hit and miss.  Unplugging from social media was definitely a bonus and is something I will be carrying forward.

 

In exciting international post news, I had a wonderful parcel of joy from Chiara over at The Grey Tail when she sent me the prize for winning her Stitching Enigma.  To say I was thrilled with the contents is a complete understatement and I cannot thank Chiara enough for her generosity (as well as the time and dedication organising the Enigma took!) and also Nina who chose and included the beautiful silks.  Despite knowing about Nina's Threads since 2011, I'm ashamed to say that these are the first in my collection - but after a bit of shuffling they now have their own dedicated drawer as I plan on adding to their number next year when I'm back on the thread wagon :).

 

Behold the Beauty!  Purples!

 

That's me all caught up!  I haven't pulled my Threadporn threads for this month's projects yet.  I'm feeling uninspired for Summer themed projects courtesy of the dull, grey, damp and misty weather we're currently experiencing - I can't believe it hit 30 degrees a few weeks ago!  I'm sticking with my Just Nan for the minute, maybe I'll be OAATer for a while, well at least a few days ................

 

Happy Stitching!