Three French Hens – Bothy Threads – 12 Days of Christmas

 On the third day of Christmas my truelove gave to me……..

Three French Hens

While stitching this square, I was reminded me of something I read a while back.

It was letters from Emily to Edward, thanking him for her Christmas gifts.

I will share the first three here and then will add her following letters  after completing the stitching each month and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did.

 

So here are Emily’s first three letters…..

Dec 25 (1^st day of Christmas)

My dearest darling Edward,
What a wonderful surprise has just greeted me! That sweet partridge, in that lovely little pear-tree; what an enchanting, romantic, poetic present! Bless you, and thank you.
Your deeply loving
Emily.

 

Dec 26 (2^nd day of Christmas)

Beloved Edward,
The two turtle-doves arrived this morning, and are cooing away in the pear-tree as I write. I'm so touched and grateful!

With undying love, as always,
Emily.

 

Dec 27  3^rd day of Christmas)

My darling Edward,
You do think of the most original presents! Who ever thought of sending anybody three French hens? Do they really come all the way from France? It's a pity we have no chicken coops, but I expect we'll find some. Anyway, thank you so much; they're lovely.
Your devoted Emily.

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Another project I have stitched on recently was  ‘Mary Allcorn 1764’ from Hobby House Press

This was a 2024 New Year’s Day start  and it’s the first time I’ve pulled it out this year.

I have completed the alphabet stitched with Algerian Eyes over four linen threads,

and also the double row of tiny Algerian Eyes, stitched over two threads.. 

 I’m not great at planning project in advance but here I am contradicting myself.

I already have two more  new starts lined up, that I’m hoping to work on and finish and  of course there’s my Christmas stitching on the 25^th and 26^th, so there’s still lots of stitching to come before the end of the month.  I also have some summer stitching ready to go, because this little lot arrived from Megan at Coffee Crafts  this morning.

  

Happy  Stitching!

Sue

x

 12 Days of Christmas

Designed – Bothy Threads - Kit

Fabric – 14ct Zweigart Aida - White

Threads – Standard Cotton, Pearl Cotton and Gold Thread

Mary Allcorn 1764

Designer – Hobby House Press

Fabric – 36ct

Threads –Gloriana Silks and Classic Color Works Belle Soie Silks

 

First Post of 2025

Before I do a quick round up of my stitching for 2024 and tell you about my plans for 2025, I just want to wish everyone a slightly delayed Happy new Year.

I felt like I had a good, productive 2024, with a couple of very special finishes, so here we go with all the stats.

I’ve never really been happy, having too many wips on the go at any one time, because I find myself getting a little overwhelmed and then feeling guilty for not stitching on them and getting them finished. But last year I started with 15 wips, which was way more than I would normally have, and that was due to the fact that at the last minute, I decided to join in with the 12 in 12 sal (12 new starts in 12 hours)on New Year’s Eve 2023……..what was I thinking, Lol!

I also managed 37 new starts through the course of the year and had a total of 49 finishes, during the 350 days that I actually stitched on.

The big accomplishment of the year was getting my first Chatelaine; ‘Butterfly Lace Mandala’ completed, which I started back in 2021 on my 65^th birthday.

I also had a good go at fully finishing things straight away last year, instead of just leaving them in my finishing box of doom.

The good news is that there are fewer projects in there now, than there were at the start of the year. because my total of 42 FFO’s included a few of my older finishes!

My plans for 2025 are to work on and hopefully finish the two stitching boxes I have in progress.

The first is ‘My Stitching Box from Jeanette Douglas

and the other one is Bee Contained by Betsy Morgan from the Helping Hands Book.

The another couple of things I know I’m going to work on and were both New Year Day starts are my second Chatelaine, ‘ Humming Bird Lace Mandala.

By the way, Butterfly Lace is now on my wall and has pride of place above my fireplace in my living room.

The other new start is my first reproduction sampler, Mary Allcorn 1764, from Hobby House Press.

So, all in all I feel like I had a good stitching year and am well on my way this year, with some beautiful charts to keep me busy.

 

I hope you all have a productive 2025 too.

Happy Stitching!

Sue

X

 My Stitching Box

Designer – Jeanette Douglas

Fabric – 32ct Zweigart Evenweave – Antique White

Threads – Classic Colorworks Belle Soie, NPI Silk, Gloriana Silk Floss & Rainbow Gallery Splendor

Beads – Mill Hill

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Bee Contained – from Willing Hands 2

Designer – Betsy Morgan

Fabric – 32ct Linen – Lemon Squash

Dyer – Nicholas Flamel Designs – Etsy

Threads – Gloriana Florimell Silk

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Hummingbird Lace Mandala - Chatelaine

Designer - Martina Rosenberg
Fabric – 28ct Jobelan Evenweave – Antique White
Threads – Called for Silks, DMC and Petite Treasure Braid
Beads – Swarovski Crystals and Delica Beads

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Mary Allcorn 1764

Designer – Hobby House Press

Fabric – 36ct  Thornfield - Needle & Flax

Threads –Gloriana Silks and Classic Color Works Belle Soie Silks 

 

 

 

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

x

 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

Academy of Needlework – ABC Sampler

 

It’s so right when they say you’re never too old to learn, so when Nicola Parkman from Hands Across the Sea Samplers,  said she was going to start an on-line Academy of Needlework,  I knew I had to  join in, despite having stitched for more than 60 years.

You start by downloading the ABC Sampler from her web site and then you tune in to her weekly FlossTube video and away you go.

She starts with the basics, like preparation of the fabric, including how to calculate the size of the piece of fabric you need, to how important it is to insure the edges of the fabric are straight, something I’ve been guilty of never doing in the past. 

  

The tutorials are intended to work through stitches, as well as show ways to enhance those stitches in various ways.

The first week covers cross stitch and reversible cross stitch, as well as ways of starting and finishing threads.

I've never been precious about how the back of work looks, although having said that, I do keep it as tidy as possible and try not to carry threads too far.

Learning how to work a pin stitch start has made a big difference my back of my work though, as you can see here.

The reversible cross stitch makes a big difference too, but I'm not sure it's something I would do often, unless I was stitching on a tablecloth, napkin or something else where the back won't be  covered up in some way.  The reason,  because it uses more thread due to the fact you have to stitch again over threads that have already been laid.

The next stitch Nicola covered was 'Running Stitch' and 'Double Running Stitch'.  She also showed another way to start and finish threads, because pin stitch is not really compatible and would show.

Apparently this was one of the first stitches that was taught because it was used on their samplers to stop the edges from fraying while they worked on them. 

Happy Stitching!

Sue x

Chart -  A B C Sampler - Hands Across The Sea Samplers

Fabric - 36ct - Dunes at Dust Linen - Legacy Fiber Artz

Threads - Gloriana Silks

Black Sampler 2021 – Whilst Iris Naps (no longer completely black) - UpDated with Finishing

 I was hoping that my short break a week or so ago was going to leave  me relaxed and recharged, but no such luck.

For the last week I have been laid up with a summer cold and as per usual it has gone to my chest, leaving me with a hacking cough that I don’t seem to be able to shake off.  I must have been really ill, because I couldn’t even face picking up my stitching!

All joking aside, I did still manage some stitching and finished my Cross Stitch Camp for June.

The task I chose, was to pick a one colour chart and add some pops of colour to it, so I went with Black Sampler 2021 from Whilst Iris Naps.

I have an idea of how I’m going to fully finish it and that will be hanging from a spool, but what I still have to decide is if I should just edge the piece with a nun stitch or edge it with red fabric.  There’s no rush though because I still have to track down a spool.

19th October 2024 - Finishing Update

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.

Happy Crafting!

Sue

x

Black Sampler 2021

Designer – Whilst Iris Naps

Fabric – 36ct Millstone – Legacy Fibre Artz Linen

Threads – Silky (Black) Roxy Floss Co (Fresh Cut & On Holiday) Classic Colorworks ( Weeping Willow) The Gentle Art (Cranberry)

Summer at last! (And the weather has finally got the memo too)

 May is behind us now and I’m set for a summer of stitching, but I can’t let it pass without a quick round up of the month’s work.

I stitched every day but one and in total, I worked on seven projects, of which three were new starts and had four finishes all of which I have already blogged about.

I also had three projects that I got around to fully finishing, so not too bad if I say so myself.

Two of the FFO’s were the Prairie Schooler Santa’s,

that I’ve been stitching as part of the 12 in 24 Christmas Ornament sal,  that Carol from  Stitching Dream Blogspot  hosts.

This is the 1995 Santa, that was my April Ornament

And this is the 2001 Santa,  that was my one for May. 

The other FFO was my Cross Stitch Camp Badge which I stitched onto my camp project bag.

As you probably already know, cross stitch camp started on 1^st June and the challenge is to add a pop of colour to a single colour pattern or take a colourful chart and stitch it in just one colour.

I decided to go with the first option and have chosen to stitch ‘Black Sampler 2021’ which is an original design from Whilst Iris Naps Designs.

I’ll be stitching it on 36ct Millstone from Legacy Fibre Arts Linen, with Black Silky thread and pops of Red and Green curtsey of Roxy Floss Co, Classic Color Works and The Gentle Arts threads.

I worked on Butterfly Lace Mandala for the Chatelaine Weekender again and have hit the top right-hand corner. Here’s where it was on Friday

And this is where I am now. 

Happy Stitching!

Sue

x

 Project Details

1995 & 2001 Santa’s

Designer -  Prairie Schooler

Fabric – 18ct Aida – Tea/Coffee Dyed by myself

Threads – Called for DMC’s

Butterfly Lace Mandala

Started 9^th September 2021

Designer -  Martina Rosenberg - Chatelaine

Fabric – 28ct Jobelan Evenweave – Antique White

Threads – Called for Silks, DMC and Petite Treasure Braid

Beads – Swarovski Crystals and Delica Beads

 

Black Sampler 2021

Designer – Whilst Iris Naps

Fabric – 36ct Millstone – Legacy Fibre Artz Linen

Threads – Silky (Black) Roxy Floss Co (Fresh Cut & On Holiday) Classic Colorworks ( Weeping Willow) The Gentle Art (Cranberry)