Let’s talk About Winter

 
It’s the end February at last,  which means the end of meteorological  Winter, and hopefully some bright, sunny days to come…….......now wouldn’t that be nice!

My goal to continue working on ‘Winter’ stitching until the end of the month went well and I finished three more pieces, getting them all FFO,d as well.  

I have to say, it’s very satisfying having them done and dusted and not just sitting in a drawer, collecting dust until I decide to have a finishing day.

I had already finished stitching ‘Frosty Tiny Town’ from   

Heart in Hand and couldn’t decide how I wanted to finish it, but in the end I decided to go with a drum.

Going through my fabric box I was lucky enough to find a small piece of wool which was perfect for the top and I finished around the top edge with sequins and white ball top pins. 

Now I just need to fine a couple of nice pins for the top!

Next, I continued to stitch and finish ‘Let’s Talk About Winter’ from Hands On Design.

I mentioned that I was concerned it wouldn’t look that great on the Pearl Grey linen, because it was originally designed to be a chalkboard effect, but I’m so happy with the way came out.

The frame is from Picture Frames Express.

Then I went on to stitch the ornament from the same chart, making mine into a little (not so round, lol) pin pillow.

The final piece, using the same thread pallet, was a free chart from The Drawn Thread. 

I’ve had ‘First Snow’ sitting in my download folder for years and just never got around to stitching it, but this little chart was perfect for the threads I already had out.

Oh how I love all the little birds sitting in the branches of the tree!

Next up was my two day (25^th & 26^th) Christmas stitching on ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ from Historische Stickmuster, which actually ended up being four days.

This is where it was the last time you saw it

And this is where I am now.

That's the full width now, so the only way up, but still not loving stitching on the raw linen though.

And last but not least, I did manage to sneak in one last new start.

You know I said at the end of January, I had plans for the left over thread and fabric from the Modern Folk Embroidery / Evertote /Roxy Floss Co collaboration for the Quintessential Frisian Smalls Sal, well that's what I made a start on.

In the book there were several bonus charts, so in keeping with the different shaped finishes we have already stitched and some inspiration from the Jeanette Douglass Sewing Box that I finished last year, I came up with my plan

I’ve picked  six of the charts and I’m making a pin cube, which I think will fit in with the collection perfectly.

So that’s the last of my stitching for the month.

My plans for March are very open as usual.

I’ll stitch the next panel from the 12 Days of Christmas and finish my cube and then I’ll have a look and see what spring charts I have and see what takes my fancy, because I’m still trying to stitch what I already have and it’s time to start on them.

Please understand that that’s not me saying I won’t be buying any new charts though, Lol!

Wishing you all bright, sunny and warm days,

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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 Oh no wait, I forgot, I have one last FFO to share and that is the 2025 Holiday Countdown from Modern Folk Embroidery / Evertote /Roxy Floss Co. that I finally framed.

Here’s my shelf with all of the four years of Advents and two other Modern Folk Embroidery pieces.

I decided to frame all the Holiday Countdowns the same and all the made to measure frames were from my usual place, Picture Frames Express.

That really is it this time!

Happy Stitching!

Frosty Tiny Town – Heart in Hand

My ‘Winter’ stitching continues and I have finished stitching another of the Tiny Town series from Heart in Hand.

Given the weather we are having at the moment and all the flooding, it might have been better if I were stitching ‘Soggy, Wet Tiny Town, Lol, but this one is ‘Frosty Tiny Town.

To give the snow a bit of a sparkle, I used some Madeira Glissen Gloss with the white thread.

Despite planning to finishing all of my Tiny Towns in the same way, so I can switch them out on the board from Paisleys and Polka Dots , I’m not sure about this one. 

It’s painted a creamy colour not white, so I don’t think 'Frosty' would look right, so I’m debating whether to ffo it as a drum instead.  I love the way it looks on the cover photo, so we shall have to see.

In the meantime, I’ve started another winter stitch on the same piece for fabric, using the same threads as before.

 It’s going to look totally different from the original because it should have been a chalkboard effect.

This is ‘Chalktalk – Let’s Talk Winter’ from Hands On design.

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Chart – Frosty Tiny Town

Designer – Heart in Hand

Fabric – 36ct Mystery Linen - Grey

Threads -  Classic Colorworks, Weeks Dye Works & DMC with some substitutes

 

 

Chart –  Chalktalk - Let’s Talk Winter

Designer – Hands On Design

Fabric – 36ct Mystery Linen - Grey

Threads -  Classic Colorworks, Weeks Dye Works (My colour conversion)

Part 2 - ‘Hindeloopen Strawberry – ‘Quintessential Frisian Smalls’ Sal

 The final part of the sal is FFO’d  and if I’m honest, I did find this piece a little challenging in the finishing of it.

I want to give a shout out to  Jacob, Caroline and Kerri, for this collaboration between Modern Folk Embroidery, Evertote,  and Roxy Floss Co, and say a big thank you for the five wonderful projects that we started stitching back in August last year.

Here’s a quick reminder.

In August we started with the Peacock Pin Pillow

September we stitched a Scissor Fob

In October we started the first of three items that were a little more tricky to finish, starting with a Biscornu.

November was the Hindeloopen Pinwheel

And finally, after a break in December for the Christmas Countdown, we stitched the Hindeloopen Strawberry in January, bringing the collection to an end.

I've also managed to sneek in one last new start before the end of the month and because I've decided to still stitch 'Winter' during February, I made a start on 'Frosty Tiny Town' from Heart in Hand.

I'm trying to stitch from stash as much as I can this year, so I found a piece of 36ct Grey mystery linen and pulled as many of the called for threads that had, but still had to make a few substitutions which are listed below.

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Quintessential Frisian Smalls Sal

Designed – Modern Folk Embroidery

Fabric – 36ct Linen -   Porcelain – Roxy Floss Co/Evertote

Threads – Roxy Floss Co – Falu Red (hand-overdyed cotton)

Frosty Tiny Town

Designed - Heart in Hand

Fabric - 36ct Grey mystery linen

Threads - Called for Weeks Dye Works & Classic Colorworks

Substitutes - CCW - Classic Colorworks,   WDW - Weeks Dye Works, RFC - Roxy Floss Co.

CCW Chesapeake Bay to RFC Slate

CCW Eves Leaves to CCW Weeping Willow

CCW Thundercloud to CCW Barrel Cactus

WDW Hunter to WDW Blue Spruce

WDW Sun Dried to CCW Cherry Cobbler

Log Cabin Fox - Little House Needle Works

 Time for my November round-up.

Sadly, I didn’t get around to stitching my 12 in 24 Christmas ornament in November, so to keep up with the sal, I’m going to try and stitch two this month.  Having said that, I still won’t have all twelve to hang up, because the two Mill Hill ones have already been given to my Goddaughters two girls, so they can hang them on their own trees.

I did manage quite a bit of stitching though, despite a busy month, including a couple of short break away.

To start with, I had three new starts, Log Cabin Fox from Little House Needleworks, the third part of Log Cabin Christmas, was also a finish.

My other new starts were Country Charm by Fiona Baker and Toy Shoppe from Dimensions Gold Collection Petites.

Country Charm is definitely not for those who are not a fan of back stitching because there’s a ton of it this one.

The original was stitched on Aida but I decided to stitch mine on Linen and love th way it’s looking.

As for the Dimensions kit, I’m asking myself why I wanted to stitch another one of these after the fun and games I had with ‘ A Kiss for Snowman’ last year.  

If you’ve ever stitched one of these, you stitch with varying numbers of threads throughout and I had to frog so many times while working on it.

Long story short, nothing had changed with this one either;

The frog has visited several times already!

I’m still loving it though and have yet another one in the wings, waiting to be stitched.

My second finish for the month was ‘Dream of a Winter Garden from Modern Folk Embroidery.

The only other wip  I stitch on in November was 'Santa’s House' from Cottage Garden Samplings, which I made some great progress on.  This is where it was the last time you saw it.

And here it is now.

So all in all I got through quite a bit last month and am looking forward to an equally productive month of December.

 

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Log Cabin Bunnies

Designer – Little House Needleworks

Fabric – 32ct Belfast Linen – Raw (called for)

Threads – Classic Color Works (Called For)

 

Country Charm – from The World of Cross Stitching Magazine

Designer – Fiona Baker

Fabric – 36ct Linen – Parchment – Nicolas Flamel Designs

Threads – DMC’s

 

Toy Shoppe  

Kit - Dimensions Gold Collection Petites

 

Dream of a Winter Garden

Designer – Jacob de Graaf – Modern Folk Embroidery

Fabric – 36ct Linen – Doubloom – Picture the Plus

Threads – Roxy Floss Co

 

Dream of a Winter Garden – Modern Folk Embroidery

I know ‘it’s a thing’ that we Brits are said to like to talk about the weather and that’s exactly what I’m about to do, so please forgive me.

November so far has been dull  and murky and I’m so fed up with it if I’m honest.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not been wet and windy as it can sometimes be in November, but we have had low cloud that’s trapped, making it grey and miserable and it's seems like it's been like this for weeks. In fact, apparently some places have had less that 2 hours of sun light breaking through so far this month! 

 I guess I shouldn’t complain though and be thankful that we haven’t had to cope with the horrific flooding that Spain and India has been dealing with and the hurricanes out in the USA.  

For all those doubters out there, Climate Change really is a thing.

My thought have definitely been turning towards preparing for Christmas this week, with a visit to a Garden Centre on the outskirts of Cambridge that’s around 1 and a half hours drive from where I live, with my good friends Susan & Edd.

It’s a trip we make every year, to have a nice lunch, look around all the Christmas decorations and get into the spirit of the season.

I was restrained in my purchases but still managed to spend over £50 on these three light up parcels and some pretty Mauve/Plum coloured foliage, among other bits and pieces.

Talking of the Season, I finished stitching on ‘Dream Of A Winter Garden from Jacob de Graaf of  Modern Folk Embroidery this week.

It was stitched on  36ct Linen – Doubloom – Picture the Plus using the left over Roxy Floss Co  threads from my 2022  Christmas Countdown Box from Evertote, in Canada.

Which reminds me, this year’s box is here and ready to make a start on come December 1^st, if I can hold out that long, lol!

I had two new starts this week too.

The first is ‘Log Cabin Fox’, the third part of Log Cabin Christmas series from Little house Needleworks.

I guess I should get a wriggle on with this because the 9th and final chart dropped through my letter box this morning.

My second new start was Country Charm, a chart that I came across a few years back, in an old copy of The Word Of Cross Stitching.

I have a cousin who really loves Hares, so I thought I would stitch it for her as a gift for her 70^th birthday in January.  I’m going to make it into a straight forward pillow, as opposed to a bolster as the chart shows though.

I’m stitching mine on 36ct Parchment linen from Thomas Flamel Designs, using the called for DMC threads.

And finally, the last thing I was stitched on was my wip, 'Santas House', from Cottage Garden Samplings.

 Well, I think that’s about it for this week, so have a good week, take care and …….

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Dream of a Winter Garden

Designer – Jacob de Graaf – Modern Folk Embroidery

Fabric – 36ct Linen – Doubloom – Picture the Plus

Threads – Roxy Floss Co

 

Santa’s House

Designer – Vinniey P. S. Tan- Cottage Garden Samplings

Fabric – 36ct Linen – Grey Sand – X Ju Designs

Threads – Cottage Garden Threads & DMC

 

Log Cabin Fox  (Log cabin Christmas)

Designer – Little House Needleworks

Fabric – 32ct Linen – Raw - Zweigart

Threads – Classic Colorworks

 

Country Charm – from The World of Cross Stitching Magazine

Designer – Fiona Baker

Fabric – 36ct Linen – Parchment – Nicolas Flamel Designs

Threads – DMC’s