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

The Songbird’s Garden Series – Cottage Garden Samplings

 

Happy November………………..but where did October go?

I didn’t have much going on during the month of October  apart from a couple of doctors’ appointment for flu and Covid 19 vaccinations, trips to the chiropodist and hairdressers and a much more enjoyable ‘Ladies that Lunch’ get together with a group of friends, but none the less the month just flew by.

On the up side, that translated to lots of time for stitching and I worked on five projects, one of which was the new start you have already seen and three finishes.   

Ok, nothing spectacular in that really, but what was amazing is the fact that I had 14 fully finishes. 

Admittedly, five of those went to make one bigger finish, but I finished each piece the way I would an ornament,  but without the hanger, so that justifies counting them individually in my opinion.

Two of the FFO's were projects from back in 2019 and since finishing the stitching, they have sat in my ‘Stitching Box of Doom’.

‘Forever & Ever’ was the first panel from Cottage Garden Samplings 'The Songbird's Garden' series and the first I stitched from the series.

And ‘Winters Wisdom’ was the third in the series.

I framed both of them myself with made to measure frames from Picture Frames Express

The two wips I worked on were ‘Santa’s House’, also from Cottage  Garden Samplings.

And the second one was 'Dream of a Winter Garden' from Modern Folk Embroidery 

This was an extra gift in my 2022 Christmas Countdown box from Evertote, and another of my 12 in 12 starts on New Years Eve last year, when I stitched on it for just 1 hour.

And here it is now

It uses the left over Roxy Floss Co  threads from the countdown and I have to say, it's so pretty.

Last but not least is a little bit of haul.

I usually stitch in a hoop if I'm not working on a large project that needs scroll bars and up until now I've been using Morgan Hoops, which I love. 

I like the way they 'trap' the fabric, keeping it taught, in the grove that runs around the inside but just recently I've found I have to keep tightening it up more often, to keep it as tight as I like it.

I've seen lots of people singing the praises of 'Nurge' Hoops and how they have the same type of ridge and how they hold the fabric drum tight too, so I thought I would treat myself and give them a go.

I've been using them for the last week and so far I'm impressed!

Well that's it from me for now.  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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 Santa’s House

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

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

Threads – Cottage Garden Threads & DMC

 

Dream of a Winter Garden

Designer – Jacob de Graaf – Modern Folk Embroidery

Fabric – 36ct Linen – Doubloom – Picture the Plus

Threads – Roxy Floss Co

 

Log Cabin Bunnies - Little House Needle Works

 It’s been back to some Christmas stitching this week, with the part finish of a larger project and a re-start of something that I started on New Year’s last year.

First up is the finish.

This is where I left Log Cabin Bunnies the last time you saw it.

It’s part 2 of 9 and this is it finished.

Still in the mood for some festive stitching, I decided to pull out Santa’s House from Cottage Garden Samplings, which I hadn’t touched since starting it on New Year’s Eve.

There was a reason I hadn’t put anymore stitches into it and that was because I wasn’t totally happy with the colour of the fabric. Fortunately I hadn't done very much, so I started again on a piece from X JuDesigns.

I also have some fully finishing in the pipeline which I will be able to share with you soon.

I’ve ordered two custom frames from Picture Frames Express for these two Cottage Garden Samplings pieces that have been sitting around  since 2019.

And Butterfly Lace Mandala, my Chatelaine has gone in to

 Frames of London to be professionally framed and should be back in a week or two.

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)

 

Santa’s House

Designer – Cottage Garden Samplings

Fabric – 36ct  Linen – X JuDesigns – Grey Sand

Threads – Classic Colorworks & DMC (Called For)

 

 

Newcastle Bouquet Bisconu – Teresa Kogut

 

I’m happy to report that I have finished and fully finished my first ever Biscornu, which is the ‘Newcastle Bouquet Biscornu’ from Teresa Kogut. 

When you last saw it, I was working on the underside of it,

although the bottom panel is just as pretty as the top!

It’s the way you join the sides of the two pieces together that give it it’s unique shape, one corner point to the centre of the other panel and then pulled together at the centre after it's stuffed.

 Sadly mine wasn’t quite as neat I had hoped, but that said, it’s a learning curve and I’m sure that my next Biscornu will be better.

Chart -  Newcastle Bouquet Biscornu

Fabric – 36ct Linen – Baby Sheep – X JuDesigns

Threads – Called For – Classic Colorworks, Weeks Dye Works & DMC

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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When I Dream of Autumn – Puntini Puntini

The last couple of days here in the UK have been beautiful and I’ve been making the most of them in my garden, because it’s unusual to have temperatures of 22 degrees this late in October.

And speaking of Autumn, it was a good time to finish and fully finish ‘When I Dream of Autumn’ from  Puntini Puntini, 

I love Paola’s designs for this set of seasons and how they come with two buttons for finishing and a matching set of pins to purchase that go with each of them.

I finished the edge of my little pillow with a crocheted picot edge, that I made using a skein of DMC cotton pearl.

While I had my sewing machine out I decided to get a couple other bits FFO’d that have been sitting around waiting to be done.

The first was stitched in November last year, but because Halloween had already been and gone, it was put in the unfinished box of doom.

This is ‘Smell My Feet’ from La-D-Da.

The other thing I pulled out was ‘Black Sampler 2021, from Whilst Iris Naps.

Originally I had planned to put this on a spool but because I didn’t have one, I decided to make a little bolster pillow instead and pinned the sampler along the top.

Then it was time for a new start, and I pulled out Log Cabin Christmas from Little House Needleworks.

 Happy Stitching!

Sue

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 Project Details

Chart – When I Dream of Autumn

Designer – Puntini Puntini

Fabric – 14ct – Mystery Aida

Threads – Some called for DMC and various threads from stash

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Chart – Smell My Feet

Designer – La-D-Da

Fabric – 36ct One of a kind linen – Roxy Floss Co

Threads – Silky (Black) & DMC’s

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Chart – Black Sampler 2021

Designer – Whilst Iris Naps

Fabric – 36ct Millstone Linen  - Lagacy Fiber Artz

Threads – Silky (Black)  Roxy Floss Co, The Gentle Art & Classic Colorworks

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Chart – Log Cabin Bunnies (part 2 of Log Cabin Christmas)

Designer – Little House Needleworks

Fabric – 32ct ‘Raw’ Belfast Linen

Threads – Classic ColorWorks

Spooky Owl – Shannon Christine Designs

You’ve gotta love this cute little owl!

He was one of a set of four ‘Halloween Silhouettes’ charts from Shannon Christine, that I came across in an old copy (246) of ‘The World of Cross Stitching’.

He was a hoot to stitch……..sorry, I couldn’t resist  Lol …….and a great way to use up a mystery scrap of linen and some left over mill hill beads.

I found the hanging pumpkin board in Hobby Craft and gave it a quick coat of orange paint before mounting the little fellow in the centre.

The chart is available  Here. 

 Happy Stitching!

Sue

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