A Completed Project & TUSAL July 2012

22^nd July  2012

It’s time for the monthly TUSAL over at  It’s Daffy Cat’s Blog  and if you visit there you will find out all you need to know to join in with this monthly bit of nonsense for stitchers.

As normal I’m a few days late again but I’ve managed to take my photo and I’m pleased to say that this will be the last time you see it filling up with dark shades for thread.

And the reason it’s the last of the dark colours is because I’ve finally finished the portrait of BoJangles after six months of stitching.

Here's some of the detail

Next job…………..

sort out and enlarge a few charts for some Kids Company cushions.

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Total Disaster, My June 2012 TUSAL and a cute Give-a-Way

Oh, I’ve spent the last six months working on the portrait of BoJangles and last night I had a major catastrophe and succeeded in messing the whole thing up.

Somehow I managed to get the fabric caught in the screws on my seat frame and it had pushed it up into the hole the bolts go through, firmly trapping it there.

No matter what I tried I couldn’t get it free without breaking the threads in the fabric and I’ve ended up with two damaged sections.

So far I’ve managed to darn one hole but it’s going to show because it’s in a place that’s not going to be stitched over.  I’m hoping that the second one will end up under the mount but at the moment I can’t be certain, it’s going to be close.
What a bummer!  

I’m nearing the end of the project now but after what's happened I’m really disheartened and am on the verge of chucking it in the back of the cupboard.  I won’t do that though because if I did it would never get picked up again, so I need to persevere.

This is where I'm at.

My TUSAL is still filling up with the dark shades but very soon I’ll be stitching in pretty colours again because I’m about to start on the Kid’s Company project again.

  It’s Daffy Cat’s Blog  has all you need to know to join in,  so collect up all your Ratty Old Threads and come and join in the fun.

I’ve also come across a fab give-a-way this week and it’s this cute little bunny made by the very creative Millie .

 
This little Lilac Bunny is looking for a new home and she comes complete with sewing goodies for the lucky winner too, so it’s well worth popping across to her blog to join in. 

So that's it for me, it's back to the fabric and another attempt at darning the second hole.....wish me luck.

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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TUSAL - May 2012

23^rd May 2012

I’m a day or two late with my TUSAL ( Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long) this month, but I’m a firm believer in better late than never so I’m going to go for it.

If you don’t know what on earth I’m talking about, then nip across to  It’s Daffy Cat’s Blog  where she explains what TUSAL is all about and why loads of us show off our Ratty Old Threads every New Moon.

Here’s mine this month and if I’m honest I’m missing stitching with the pretty coloured threads that are sitting at the bottom of my jar.

My little pot is filling up with shades of Black and Brown because I’m still plodding away with BoJangles portrait. 

I suppose I could start stitching something else alongside it but I always like to work on one thing at a time, especially if something is a little tedious…..that’s when I’m in danger of putting it away, never to see the light of day again, so for now I shall keep going and hopefully it won’t take me too much longer.

 
As you can see, I’ve finished his eyes now and his Ginger patch around his Right eye is almost done.

What I did notice as I was stitching though is that when the photo was charted they somehow managed to miss off his whiskers on the Right side when they removed the background. 

I contacted then to see if they kept copies of the charts....my thoughts were that I could maybe use his whiskers from the Left side,flip them over and somehow make them fit on the other side but they kindly offered to re-charted it for me and sent it back to me within half an hour, which was fantastic.  They even offered to send me extra threads if I needed them, so a big thank you to  Photo-2-Stitch  for their amazing customer service.

So now it’s back to the Black threads for me and Until next time……….

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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BoJangles emerges - TUSAL – April 2012

21^st April 2012

Can’t believe it’s really a month since we were last here showing our TUSAL’s, but it definitely is TUSAL time, because there’s going to be a new moon tonight, not that it’s going to be on show thanks to all the rain clouds.

Still, I’ve duly taken a picture of mine and if I’m honest, it’s not very pretty this month.

The reason is that I’ve only been concentrating on the picture of BoJangles rather than all the colourful squares for the Kid’s Company project that I usually stitch.  I don't feel bad about it though because there are 23 squares already on their way to Switzerland  so they should keep Nicki busy while I’m working on Bo.

I’m making quite a bit of progress with him too, but I wish that someone had reminded me how hard, working on 28ct evenweave can be. 

I used to stitch on it no problem and it’s still my preferred fabric but since having the detached retina two years ago it’s definitely had an effect and I now find I can’t stitch for as long as I used to in one sitting before I start to feel a bit of eye strain, even with the aid of a lamp and magnifier

Working in shades of Black and dark Grey and Brown isn’t helping much either but I’m still slogging away and intend to finish him off before I start on anything new.

So this was where I was last month.

And this is where I'm at now.

As you can see, he’s starting to emerge.
Look at those lovely long whiskers and his cute Pink nose, the trouble  

is, there are so many individual stitches in it that it’s hard to keep the back looking tidy.

I’d love to know what others do in situations like this.....how do you stop the back from becoming a big mess…....…..any tips would be much apreciated please.

And to finish off, here’s a picture of the little man himself. 

He was sunning himself in the garden last week on one of the rare dry days and having a chat and compairing notes with my previous cat Emily.....wonder what they were saying to one another?

If you fancy joining in with the TUSAL, call in at   It’s Daffy Cats  and show us your Ratty Old Threads. 

It’s all a nuance really but a great way to meet fellow stitcher and see what interesting things they are making.

Until next time……….

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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March Round-up

 It’s been another busy month for me stitching squares for our  Kid’s Company Project   but I’ve not yet sent any of them out to Nicki in Switzerland for making up because she’s having a little break from them at the moment.  Can’t begrudge her a rest when you consider that she’s made more than 500 cushions to date and that’s without the quilts she’s made too. 
When she gives me the nod I’ll get all packed up and on their way but for now I’m accumulating a nice little stock pile.

Last month I was concentrating more on the little boys and did the collection of Space Bots,   so this month I’ve done some squares for the girls and made a collection of little cupcakes that look almost good enough to eat.

The charts were in a copy of Cross Stitch Card Shop.

Panel 70

Panel 71

And here's a close up of the cushion that Nicki made with the panel above.

Panel 72

Panel 73

Panel 74

Panel 74

Here's the rest of the cushion covers that Nicki made.

The next six panels were all stitched using some of the free kits that come with various cross stitch magazines and some have been knocking around in the bottom of my thread cabinet for years, so it was about time I got around to stitching them.

Panel 75 - Winnie The Pooh (Free kit from The World of Cross Stitching)

Panel 76 -  Dumbo (Free kit from Cross Stitcher)

Panel 77 - Woodland Folk-Toby Fox (Free kit from Cross Stitch Card Shop)

Panel 78

Panel 79

At the beginning of the month I was struggling with the photo chart of BoJangles and left it alone for a couple of week but over the last few days I’ve made myself  pick it up again.

I’m still not really feeling comfortable with the colours, so it has the potential of easily becoming one of those ‘unloved’ projects that sits in the bag never to be finished, especially as I’ve already almost given up completely on several occasions, but at the moment my head is telling me I need to keep at it.

Talking of ‘unloved’ projects I came across two other projects that were started but never finished .

The first was a kit called Siberian Gold that I won for being Stitcher of the Month in The World of Cross Stitching back in 2002. I actually made a good start on it to begin with but I was put off by the number of individual stitches in it. 

 Come to think of it that may be the reason I’m having the problem I am with BoJangles picture and I’m just using the colour thing is just an excuse.

The other piece that is ‘unloved’ is a sampler called Time and Season designed by Moira Blackburn and is even older.

I started this one in 1993 and I stitched slightly more of this one before giving up on it. It was the fabric that put me off, it’s worked on Rustico Evenweave and it’s really hard on the old fingers because it’s so rough.

Mind you, having shown it the light of day again I think I may well stark working on it again because I really do like the design and the muted colours of the threads.

Check back at the end of next month to see if I’ve kept my word and actually put a few more stitches in it and to see the latest batch of squares for the charity project.

Happy Stitching!
Sue
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Clowning around with Dumbo - TUSAL – March 2012

22^nd March 2012

This evening will see a new moon and that can only mean one thing in the stitching world……a TUSAL.

My Old Ratty Threads have grown considerably since last month and my glass bowl contains lots of Lavender and Pinks because of the little cupcake panels I’ve been working on for the Kid’s Company project. 

I’ve also tried to do some more to BoJangles portrait but that one is proving to be hard going.

Seeing as Bo was posing for me I just thought I would include a photo of the little man himself.

And here’s my latest WIP.

This little Dumbo picture was a free kit on an old Cross Stitcher magazine and the design is just the right size for the  Kid’s Company  cushions. 

 All I have to do is stitch it onto a larger piece of Aida, usually 9 x 9 inches but I really slipped up because I didn’t realise that the Aida I used had a smaller stitch count and now I’ve run out of the Grey thread. I’ve tried matching up with my set of Anchor threads and some of the DMC threads that I have but none are a good match so all I do now is unpick some of it and change the shape of Dumbo’s head slightly, keeping everything crossed that it doesn’t look too odd.

Don’t forget to drop by at the end of the month for a full rundown of all this month’s stitching and if you fancy joining in with this month’s TUSAL (Totally Useless Stitch-a Long)  pop across to  It’s Daffy Cat,  where you’ll find all you need to know to join in the fun.

So until next time

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Wishing you a 'Stitchy' New Year

January 2012

So here we at the start of a new stitching year and boy am I glad to see the back of the last one.

What started out as a four day trip to Germany at the end of November ended up being an almost three week trip because my cousin who I was traveling with had a stroke on our first evening there and finished up in hospital.
Fortunately it wasn’t too bad and she received the most amazing treatment there but it meant an awful lot of time spent just sitting around, as you can imagine and would you believe that I didn’t even take any stitching away with me, which is really unusual for me, so I had nothing to do and there were no shops near to where we were.

Anyway, since being back I’ve finally made a start on the picture of BoJangles that I had charted but I’m not sure I’m liking it.

I know from when I stitched the picture of Emily you come across colours that you’d never believe should be in there and I’m finding the exact same thing Bo’s picture. 

Experience tells me that I need to wait until it’s finished to appreciate it but I’m already finding it hard going because for a Black, White and Ginger cat there’s an awful lot of Pink and Beige in it and I’m doubting it’s going to look right but I shall plod on.

Here’s where I’m up to.

The chart is spread across 12 x A4 sheets and this is about ¾’s of the first sheet, so I’ve a long, long way to go.

Chart a Photo

October 2011

I’ve been thinking it’s about time I started on another large project as I’ve not done one for some time.

If you’ve been a reader of my blog for a while, you’ll know that back in 2002 I stitched a picture of my little cat Emily and won a prize for it.

Well for some time now I’ve been meaning to do a cross stitch of BoJangles and have this lovely photo of him.

Looks like butter wouldn’t melt doesn't he,  but don’t be fooled…..this little man is a cutie but he has real attitude!

Anyway, when I did Emily’s picture I charted it myself on my computer but for some reason the program’s not working now, so I’ve had it charted on line by a company called Photo2Stitch.

You can either just have the chart from them or they will put together a kit that contains the chart, Aida in the count you prefer and all the threads.

I have to say I was really impressed with the company.

I liked the idea of the kit but I wanted to stitch mine on Evenweave fabric so I email them and asked if it was possible to have just the chart and threads, which they were happy to do.

I then just  emailed them the photo, told them the size I wanted it cropped to (I want the finished piece to be the same size as Emily’s picture) and I asked them to remove the background, which they did.



Once they had charted the picture and removed the background they emailed me a picture so I could see how it looked before I had to pay for it and a couple of days later this little lot arrived in the post.

I’d also already ordered my Evenweave fabric from  Sew and So,  and no sooner than the kit popped through my door I had started to stitch.