My Stats, For 2023

 I love the start of the year when you look back and take stock of all the stitching you did the year before.

I started off the year carrying over just two cross stitch wips, my chatelaine, Butterfly Lace Mandala and Oh Holy Night Nativity,  and I also had one knitting project, a pair of socks to finish off.

Over the course of 2023 I had 74 new cross stitch/embroidery  starts, 2 knitting starts, both pairs of socks and 1 crochet project which was a summer top, and of those 77 new starts 62 were finished and 1 was ditched.

The ditched project was Celtic Autumn, which was started as a sal back in January, but I really wasn’t enjoying working on it.

I had already stitched it once before in the called for colours but had wished I had done it in the autumn shades, hence deciding to stitch it again.   But I was struggling with it and only worked on it for 5 days last year, so despite having a fair amount stitched, I made the decision to sell it, so someone else could love it and finish it.

I ended the year having 62 fully finished projects, including the crocheted summer top and three pairs of socks.

 Just one of those projects was professionally framed by Frames of London and the rest were finished by myself in one way or another. 

So now I find myself in the slightly uncomfortable position of having a whopping 17 wips being carried over into 2024, after taking part in the NYE 12 x 12 yesterday. 

My other plans include trying to finish the two wips carried over at the start of last year because both received very little attention last year.

It’s going to be a fun year

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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The Advents are Finished and a New Year is on the Horizon

 I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas

After all that preparation, it’s hard to believe that it’s over and we are just two days away from a new year.

Christmas for me was a quiet one, but it gave me the time for some stitching and although there was no new start on Christmas Day, I did instead finish the two Advent Sals I had been working on since the start of December.

The first was the countdownsal2023 which I will frame.

The second was the Advent Tree Sal (2022) from em_bea_roidery on Etsy, using the 25 threads from the countdown sal and I finished it in a hoop.

Both sals were fun to stitch, but really do have to thank the team at Evertote, Kerri  from  Roxy Floss Co, and Jacob of Modern Folk Embrodery, for putting the countdown together for us, as well as the gift of the extra chart on Christmas Day, I can't wait to stitch it!

13/12/25 - Updated to show framing

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Countdown Sal  2023

Designer -  Modern Folk Embroidery

Fabric – 36ct Turtle Dove – Roxy Floss Co / Evertote

Threads – Roxy Floss Co / Evertote

 

Advent Tree Sal

Designer -  – Em BeaRoidery (Etsy)

Fabric – 36ct Pearl Grey – Zweigart Linen

Threads – Roxy Floss Co / Evertote

The Christmas Tree Farm is Growing

 I’m four more day into my Holiday Countdown Sal and it means I’ve added another four trees to the 2020 Sal from  em_bra_roidery on Etsy.

Just two trees to go and then it will be ffo’d into a hoop.

This is where the countdown is after the addition of the four new threads.

 Happy Stitching!

Sue

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My Mystery Daily Stitch

 

In my last post I said that I had been working on something else, alongside my Holiday Countdown Sal and since the last showing I’ve added two more beautiful colours of Roxy Floss  thread to it.

Anyway, going back to the other project, last year I saw that there was a free embroidery sal from @em_bra_roidery, on Instagram, but by the time I saw it, it was a little late to start.  

Beatrice does a free Sal every year but I thought the trees from last year would be the perfect way to show off the flosses used on the Holiday Countdown so far.

So, on the first of December I stitched the three bands of grass and have been stitching one little tree each day ever since.

I didn’t know if there would be Brown or White floss coming, so I went ahead and added them.  The brown is a Roxy Floss Belsnickel, which was in last year’s countdown and the White is Picket Fence from The Gentle Art.

Happy Stitching!

Sue 

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0 Tannenbaum! – Brenda Gervais

 To say I love this stitch is a bit of an understatement because I’m finding it hard to put down.  Everything about it is just perfect!

I brought it already kitted, so it came with all the called for threads, but with Picture this Plus Heartland instead of the called for Legacy linen. I'm guessing that Legacy must be hard to come by hence the change,  but I’ve not used either before so can't compare the two.  What I do know is that I'll definitely be using Heartland again because it’s so pretty.

Anyway, last night I finished the first part of the project

and made a small start on the second.

During the afternoon I also managed to finish an embroidery kit that I had started.  There’s a bit of a story to this.

It’s a kit from Paraffle, a company that I have never heard of,  and it  was given to a friend of a friend as a gift, but she doesn't stitch.  My friend doesn't stitch either, so it was passed on to me to complete. 

  I thought it would be nice to stitch it and give it back to her finished, seeing as it was originally intended for her, so I made a start, but if I’m honest, I didn’t enjoy stitching it.   

The design is printed on to sticky backed fabric that you stitch through and when it’s finished, you wet it and it dissolves away. 

My problem was that my needle kept getting gummed up and it was so frustrating.    It’s far easier to stitch when the design had been transferred directly onto the fabric, so I don’t think I’ll be doing another one in a hurry.

Anyway, I persevered and got it finished and FFo’d.

As you know, last night I opened and stitched the first part of the holiday countdown and here’s what was in the first envelope.

We had the first part of the chart, which I can’t show you, a beautiful piece of 36ct Turtle Dove Linen, ‘Yule Be Pine’ floss, a floss ring, needle minder and a beautiful tree ornament.

And here’s my first evening of stitching.

See you for day two tomorrow.

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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 Christmas Countdown 2023 with 

Evertote,Roxy Floss Co, & Modern Folk Embrodery

 Fabric – 36ct Turtle Dove – Roxy Floss Co

Threads – Roxy Floss Co

Chart – Modern Folk Embroidery

 

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 Chart – 0 Tannenbaum! – Brenda Gervais

Fabric – 36ct Heartland – Picture This Plus

Threads – Called for – Weeks Dye Works, Classic Colorworks and Gentle Arts Sampler Threads

Etui Or Not Etui, That Was The Question……………

After being in a quandary for a day or two, trying to decide if I should finish off my Stitching Wallet or give in the nagging whispers coming from ‘The Song Bird’s Garden'  saying “go on start me, you know you want to” , I finally knuckled down and finished what I had already started. ……

What a good girl I am!!

Right from the start this was a project I wanted to have a go at but was very apprehensive about, given that I have never in all my years of stitching attempted anything of this nature.

But some 110 hours later, I’m pleased to report that the  ‘Virgin Queen’s Stitching Wallet’ is finally complete.

Exterior

Interior

Needle Case

Thread Winders

Scissor Fob

The instruction for this can be found in a beautiful book,

Willing Hands,

The Counted Thread Embroidery Of Betsey Morgan

Please all stay safe and well

&

Happy Crafting!

(Whatever you passion may be)

Sue

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A Future of Uncertainty thanks to Corona Virus

Well fellow stitchers and crafters, 2020 has turned into a very scary year for all of us and who knows when life will return to normal for all of us.

In a strange way it feels like we are all staring in one of those apocalyptic horror films and waiting for someone to save the world!

I pray that those working on a vaccine find one soon and my wish is for everyone to stay fit and healthy, especially those in the NHS who are out there on the front line, looking after those who have succumbed to this horrible deadly virus.

On the up side, and I know a lot of you will identify with this, I have a craft room full of stash to keep me occupied while self-isolating, (I have type 2 diabetes and need to be careful),  so you can expect to see heritage scrapbooking, knitting and much more stitching on here in the coming months.

For now I’m making headway with my Virgin Queen’s Stitching Wallet.

As I mentioned in my last post I said I was terrified at taking this next step but over the weekend I have cut out all of the stitched pieces, three different types of interfacings and all of the silk linings and am now at the stage where I’m ready to start assembling the wallet and it turned out to not be as scary as I thought it would be.

  Stay Well

&

Happy Crafting!

(Whatever you passion may be)

Sue

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Virgin Queen’s Stitching Wallet – 9 – Thread Winders and Scissor Fob

I hope it's not too late to wish everyone a Happy New Year!!

Well, I've finally picked up me needle again after a bit of a break, so this is my first post since before Christmas……..where has the time gone?

After stitching for a further eleven hours 38 minutes, I’ve now completed all the embroidery for the Etui.

All that remained were the two sides of the Needle Fob and two Thread Winders, which incidentally I managed to stitch on wrong side of the linen.  

Fortunately it wasn’t too big deal, but it was a bit stupid of me, Lol.

So after a total 65 hours 28 mins of stitching time, I’ve reached the point I have been dreading since starting this project back in October last year……….the construction of the Etui!

I’m TERRIFIED to cut into the fabric for fear of cutting too close to my stitching and ruining the whole thing.

I’m TERRIFIED fusible interfacings will crease, leaving a lumpy mess.

I’m TERRIFIED the stitching on my linings will look messy.

I’m just plain TERRIFIED!!

At this stage it could so easily end up in a cupboard somewhere and end up being a great unfinished work in progress that never sees the light of day again, so I have to be brave, take a deep breath, take my time and dive in.

Any words of encouragement or tips would all gratefully received.

Wish me luck. 

Happy Crafting!

(Whatever you passion may be)

Sue

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