June Finish for Cross Stitch Camp

  Blue Bird  is FFO’d, Yah!

 When I was looking for a 6” x 8” frame, I came across a bargain Ivory one in ‘The Range’ for just £3.49.  It had ornate corners, which looked perfect with the design but unfortunately the Ivory really didn’t look that great with the White fabric.

After a bit of thought, I remembered that I had a pot of Sage chalk paint and the colour actually almost matched one of the threads in the piece, so I decided to give it a coat and see how it looked.

Once dry, I gave it a light sanding to distress it, added an organza bow and a ‘year’ charm and I was much happier with the finish.

Don’t you just love the little bugs around the border!

Chart –Blue Bird -  Yuliya Do on Etsy

Fabric – White -  32 count Murano Evenweave

Threads - Anchor Standard threads.

 

Happy Crafting!

(Whatever you passion may be)

Sue

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Summer Cross Stitch Camp

 June 1st saw the first day of summer and that means long afternoons, enjoying the sun and sitting in the garden cross stitching – hopefully!

Now, I know I keep banging on about Flosstube, but since it’s discovery I have found a whole load of ‘stitchey’ activities that have pushed me to try things I probably never would have in the past, like joining in with Stitch Maynia, and an on-line community (Facebook and Instagram) of lovely, generous and likeminded people who share my passion for stitching and other crafty pursuits.

One of the many flosstubs that I watch regularly is that of the Colorado Cross Stitcher, also known as Sheri Truax Berger.    

Sheri owns a wool shop called the Loopy Ewe and every year she runs a virtual knitting summer camp over the months of June, July and August, where she sets monthly challenges.

Not so much here in the UK, but 'Summer Camp' is a big thing in the USA, as are Cross Stitch Retreats and conventions and because all of that has been on hold for the last 18 months due to Covid-19, people I’m sure were getting withdrawal symptoms.

Anyway, what I discovered whilst watching Sherie’s latest Flosstube, was that she was planning to start the first  virtual ‘Cross Stitch’ Summer Camp’, so I was there immediately to book my place!

It will run over three months with challenges set for each one.  You have to post pictures on Instagram of your starts on the first of each month and have to finish and post a picture of your completed work on or before the last day of the month.  Then, there will be prize draws for all those that complete the task, and a grand draw for all those that complete all three months.   Fun or what?

The task for June was to stitch something that has been inspired by someone else, so I chose to do ‘Blue Bird’, designed by Yulia Do, on Etsy.

I found Yulia, thanks to another Flosstuber that I follow, Jan Hicks of Jan Hicks Creates.    She does a segment she calls ‘Let’s Go Shopping’ where she reviews various Etsy shops and web sites and she shared the beautiful charts from Yulia……..needless to say I went shopping straight after and landed myself a few of her charts, Blue Bird being one of them.

So on the 1^st June I duly took a photo of my project, fabric and floss, posted it on Instagram (#CrossStitchCamp) and made a start.

I'm stitching on White, 32ct Murano Evenweave, using Anchor threads and I’m now seven days in and just have the backstitching and French knots to do to finish it.

The chatter on the Facebook group has been fun too as you can imagine, with more than 800 of us joining in. 

We’ve had questions asked, so we can get to know everyone.

Where do you live and where would you move to if they had the chance?  (The majority are in the US, with a some from the UK, Australia and other places)   

Do you have furry stitching companions? 

And what is your favourite family ‘go to’ recipe?

There's been lots of chatter 'around the campfire' and it's been very amusing to read Felicity’s 'Letters Home’ every day!

 The challenges continue through the summer, with July’s being to stitch a designer that you have never stitched before, so I’m planning on doing one of the designs from the Blackbird ‘Loose Feathers’ series.   And the final challenge for August is to use fabric or floss that you’ve never used before.  I’m going to attempt to stitch on 40 count fabric, if my eyes allow me to, although I haven’t decided what I’m going to stitch yet, so watch this space!

 So now dear friends, I’m off to the virtual lake (my back garden with miniature water fall feature) to stitch the afternoon away before the forecast rain arrives around 4pm.

I hope you all enjoy your afternoon too.

Happy Crafting!

(Whatever you passion may be)

Sue

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Stitch May-nia 2021 - Review

 At the start of last month I was wondering what Stitch Mayina would have in store for me, being the first time I had taken part. 

Now, 31 days on, what have I learned:-

 

1 -  It’s ok to have more than one project on the go any one time, even though it was extremely difficult to put them away after stitching on them for just 7 days. The consequence being, I now have more WIP’s than I have ever had in my 60 odd years of stitching

  

2 – It’s fine to stitch every day….. It’s good for the sole.

 

3 – I need to buy more Blackbird Designs charts because you can never have too many Blackbirds!

 

4 – I need a bigger bank balance, Lol!

 

So what was Maynia for me?

It was stitching everyday day during the month, starting five (+2 extra) new projects (a new one every 7 days) and having three small finishes.

 

I started this journey with, Dreaming of Daisies from Roseswood Manor, stitched on 36ct Aqua, Edinburgh Linen, using Weeks Dye Works threads.

 

Next I worked on the June panel for the Joyful World Sal from Snowflower Diaries, which I completed. I then went on to complete the  July panel and made a small start on the August one.  These were stitched on 32ct, Beige, Murano Evenweave, with a combination of Anchor and DMC threads.

 

Then I made a start on Three Butterfiles from Rosewood Manor.  That is being stitched on  32ct, Pale Cream Belfast Linen.

 

Next up was ‘Have Faith’, from the Songbird’s Garden Series from Cottage Garden Samplings.  This is being stitched on 36ct, Pearl Gray, Edinburgh Linen, using Week’s Dye Works Overdyed Threads.

 

And Finally, A little three day stitch to round up May.  This time it was another of the Little Sheep Virtues, ‘Courage’, which I finished and then made a small start on ‘Love’.  These are all stitched on     32ct Vintage Country Mocha, Evenweave using a mixture of DMC and Anchor threads.

Roll on next May!

 

Happy Crafting!

(Whatever you passion may be)

Sue

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The Final Ten Days of Stitch May-nia.

 My last Saturday to Friday stitch for May-nia 2021 was spent working on ‘The Song Bird’s Garden’ series, ‘from Cottage Garden Samplings.  

‘Have Faith’, is the fifth panel I’ve worked on from the series and just like the rest, this one is so pretty.

It was a shame to put it away at the end of the seven day because I’m quite close to a finish, so when it comes out again I should be able to complete it fairly quickly.

 Then, for the last three days of May I thought I would do something small and pulled out Little Sheep Virtues ‘Hope’ from Little House Needlework and managed to finish it and get a small start on ‘Love’.

So, that was my Stitch Maynia 2021, it was my first and definitely not my last.  I had so much fun!

Now it’s onto June and I’m joining in with my first ‘virtual’ Cross Stitch Summer Camp.

Cross Stich Camp is on Facebook and Instagram and is the brain child of Sheri, also known as the Colorado Cross Stitcher in the cross stitch world and it will run through June, July and August, so remember to check back to see what I will be up to. 

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget, if you visit me and have a blog, please let me know, so I can come and visit you.  I would love to hear from you. 

 Happy Crafting!

(Whatever you passion may be)

Sue

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Stitch May-nia Continues

 

I can’t believe how fast we are flying through May and the fact that we are already three weeks into Stitch Maynia, which also means it’s time to move onto my next project.

 

My third stitch was a bargain that I picked up from a de-stash group on Facebook.

Someone was selling the ‘Three Butterflies’ sampler chart from Rosewood Manor complete with all the DMC threads, so I couldn’t pass it up.

The picture on the chart doesn’t do it justice because it is so pretty.

So here is where I got to after 7 days of stitching.

Needless to say, once again, I didn’t want to put it away, but yesterday was the day for my Saturday swap and I now have a little start on The Songbird’s Garden, ‘Have Faith’, which I will be stitching on for seven days before my final swap for Stitch Maynia 2021.

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget, if you visit me and have a blog, please let me know, so I can come and visit you.  I would love to hear from you. 

  

Happy Crafting!

(Whatever you passion may be)

Sue

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Woodland Samplings – Fully Finished at Last!

 At the end of last month, I shared the fact that I had completed stitching the set of six, Prairie Schooler, Woodland Samplings smalls I was working on.

Well, the good news is that I have now finally got around to fully finishing them off without resulting to my default finish of sticking them in a frame or as happens far too often, just sticking them in a drawer, never to see the light of day again.

This time I was determined to display them, either in the lovely wooden bowl or tired tray I brought recently from Home Sense

Thanks to the fab Vonna Pheiffer on Flosstube, I used her videos to guide me through making my first two Flat Folds.  Vonna’s instructions are so clear and easy to follow and I although mine aren’t perfect, I’m really pleased with the way they turned out.  The four smaller panels I made into little pillows.   

Finishing Items

Acid Free Mount Board

Tacky Glue

½ yard Green Spot Cotton – Dunelm

1 x Green Fat Quarter - 1 Russet Fat Quarter

Polyester stuffing

½” Gingham Ribbon

2 x Brown Velvet Brads

3 x skeins each Mauve & Brown DMC floss for cord (made with Krenik Custom Corder)

Rabbit, Acorn, Fir Cone and Year charms

 Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget, if you visit me and have a blog, please let me know, so I can come and visit you.  I would love to hear from you. 

 Happy Crafting!

(Whatever you passion may be)

Sue

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June, July, August

 As ‘Stitch Maynia’ continues, I made my third start yesterday, which was ‘Three Butterflies’  from Rosewood Manor.

The previous seven days I had been stitching on the ‘Joyful World Sal from The Snowflower Diaries and managed to complete June and July and get a small start on August before having to put it down again.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I wasn’t entirely happy with the colour of the fabric I had chosen for the first three panels, nor my plan to do four sets of 3 on different colour fabrics, so after careful consideration I decided to ditch the ones I had finished and start again.

This time I'm going to stitch them all on the same, 32ct Beige Murano Evenweave.    The colour of the threads look more vibrant on it and I’m much happier now, so the three I had already stitched, March, April and May, will be stitched again at the end.

Don’t forget, if you visit me and have a blog, please let me know, so I can come and visit you.  I would love to hear from you. 

 

Thanks for stopping by and ………..Happy  Crafting!

(Whatever you passion may be)

Sue

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