Gifted Gorgeousness, September

  Another month gone - this year is disappearing fast. The 15th of each month is the day on which we can report our 'gifted' stitching - those items destined to be gifts, or stitched using gifted supplies.  

This month I once again have just one project to talk about. I have made good progress on Christmas Dreams, which I am stitching for myself using gifted chart, fabric and most of the floss. This time last month I had stitched 28 pages, today I am stitching on my 34th page. I still have a bit under a quarter of the 34th page to stitch, but I expect to finish the page tomorrow, as it's all plain stitching in just one floss colour (black). I have passed the half-way point now. I am keen to have Christmas Dreams framed and on my wall for Christmas 2021. However my immediate goal is to finish row 6 of charts by the end of September. 

Gifted Gorgeousness Report for August

 I'm a little late for the GG report this month, but better late than never as my Granny used to say. Jo at Serendipitous Stitching hosts the Gifted Gorgeousness Report on the 15th of each month.  Anything stitched with gifted supplies, or stitched to be gifted, qualifies for the GG report.

While I was touring in the caravan, I made these three cotton crocheted sundresses - two for Miss 3, and one for her doll.

And since I got home, I have been stitching madly on Christmas Dreams, and finished two more pages. It's not a great pic, but the best I could do today.  It actually looks so much better on the phone.  I have now finished 28 of the 66 pages.

Summer Blog Hop - Stitching Friends

Please be kind when reading my post. I am just at the end of a caravan trip through outback NSW and Queensland. I have only my mobile phone with me. Usually I can do a blog post on the phone with no problem. Horror of horrors, when I got onto my blog I didn't recognise it. It must have updated. All the soothing words have been replaced by icons that mean nothing to me. I have no idea how to put in links, for a start. Help! 

Jo at Serendipitous Stitching is hosting this Stitching Friends Blog Hop.

My stitching friend is a very busy crafter, with many years of stitching experience. As well as cross stitch, she likes quilting and knitting. Unlike me (I can cope with just one project at a time), she has a number of gorgeous projects on the go.  Again unlike me, she is not particularly fond of Christmas stitching, but she does like stitching Halloween projects, and she seems to be likely to choose band samplers and quaker-style charts. She stitches lovely gifts for her family.  She likes working specialty stitches, and  stitching with silks.  

I wish I was able to put up a pic of a project I think she would like, but I have a steep learning curve to master before I can do that. A chart I think she might like is Lila's Studio's Halloween Quaker. I found it on the 123stitch site.

 

 My stitching friend is Sandy 

http://stitchinginsunnycal.blogspot.com/

Gifted Gorgeousness Report for July

Here we are again - 15th of the month, and time for the monthly Gifted Gorgeousness report.  GG is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching. Anything stitched to be gifted, or stitched with gifted supplies is eligible for the GG report.

My report will be short. All my stitching in the past month has been on my HAED Christmas Dreams.

This project counts for GG as the chart, fabric, and most of the floss was purchased with birthday gift vouchers. I am very pleased with my progress.  I brought CD down to my stitching corner on 11th June. This is what I had completed before packing it away last.

I had finished 19 pages, and was working on 20th page. I have been stitching obsessively on it every day, and I am very happy to have finished another 6 pages. I am now working on the 26th page, which is close to finished.

I'm about to head off in the caravan for a month or so (provided the state border remains open for holidayers), so after I finish this page Christmas Dreams will be resting again until I get back home. In the next stitching session (hopefully September) my aim is to reach my 50% complete goal. Three more pages should see that.

Gifted Gorgeousness Report for June

This year is just slipping by for me, despite the changes we have all been experiencing recently.  As it's the 15th June, it is time for the monthly Gifted Gorgeousness Report, hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  The things that qualify for GG are items made with gifted supplies, or items made to be gifted. Most of my stitching qualifies for inclusion.

I have two name samplers to show this month. There is a little story about them.  Way back in 1993 I bought my first real cross-stitch book, because I really liked the cover chart- which was Allura's Australian Alphabet designed by Guy Hayes. It ticked many of my boxes - I have a particular fondness for stitching samplers, alphabets, birds, and animals. Over the years I often looked at the chart, but didn't have the opportunity to actually stitch from it.

Eventually, a niece moved to New York, married and had a baby boy. I decided to stitch a name sampler for Jude using the Aussie alphabet, to remind him of his Australian heritage.

My niece and her family have since relocated back home to Australia,
and when I offered to stitch a design for each of her other children, she asked me to use the Aussie Alphabet again. So, the book came out and I have just finished stitching the samplers.  This time I followed the chart more in using the different colours for the letters (though I did swap some of the colours around). I also added more backstitching to the birds and animals, and I swapped acacia (wattle) for the Australian flag in Niva's 'A', just because I thought the acacia was more appealing to a small child. Boden's sampler is stitched on pale blue 28 count evenweave, and Niva's is stitched on antique white 28 count evenweave.

I will be taking these to my framer, along with George's birth sampler which I finished last month, just as soon as he reopens. Fingers crossed that he does reopen. Lots of businesses here are closing. When framed, these samplers will be Christmas gifts.

I've almost finished my 2020 'to stitch' list, so I have brought out my HAED WIP, 'Christmas Dreams' (artist Dona Gelsinger, charted by Michele Sayetta). I categorise this as a gifted project, since I used birthday money and vouchers to buy the chart, fabric, and most of the floss.  This one is being stitched for me. I started stitching this in 2016, and when I last packed it away I had stitched about 31% of the 260,000 stitches, and was stitching on my 20th page - just 46 more pages to go.  When finished and framed, Christmas Dreams will measure about 89 cm wide and 64 cm high (that's around 35" x 25"). The stitched area will be 74cm wide x 49 cm (28.5" x 19"). It's my biggest project so far.
Hopefully, one day I will have something like this hanging on my wall.

My floor frame wasn't wide enough to take the fabric, so I am stitching this project sideways, which has been quite challenging.  It has caused  me quite some angst at times. It's been quite a steep learning curve! For a start, I had kitted it up prior to realising it would be stitched sideways, and as is my habit, I had carefully drawn the 90 floss symbols onto the floss cards. It is amazing how different a symbol looks when the chart is turned 90 degrees. Since lots of the symbols are similar shapes reversed or rotated, it made stitching harder than necessary. This time I have made new floss cards, complete with rotated symbols, so I am hoping it will be easier on my ageing mind. I have also learned to check and double-check where the repeated rows and columns on each page are - they are never the rows marked on the chart as repeats. I spent a month learning just how important it was to get it right, when I stitched a page with 3 duplicate rows along the top. It took twice as long to frog the area than it had to stotch it. I'm not going there again!

So, here is where I was when I took Christmas Dreams up to rest in December 2018.

And here it is on the frame, ready for stitching. It always takes me a while to get back into the swing of it, but I really hope to be making some real progress on this over the next few months.

And finally, a photo taken at the end of tonight's stitching session. I have finished the 20th page and moved on to the 21st (which is actually page 37).

I always enjoy reading all the GG posts, and I am sure that this month will be no disappointment. In this time of social isolation, the diversion is much appreciated!

Gifted Gorgeousness report for May

It's May 15 - time for the monthly Gifted Gorgeousness (GG) Report. Jo at Serendipitous Stitching hosts GG.  Anything that is stitched to be gifted, or is stitched with gifted supplies, qualifies for the GG report.

I have no Christmas ornaments to show this month. Hopefully there will be a few next month. I do have some gift stitching, though.  have stitched a birth sampler for my newest great nephew. I used the same dinosaur alphabet (designer Clare Cromoton) I had used for his first cousin's birth sampler a few years ago. I am hoping that my framer will be able to re-open his business soon so I can get it framed for his first birthday in September. I had intended to use the dinosaur alphabet for his second name, but I was limited by the size limits of my lap-frame, so I reduced the letter size and eliminated the dinosaurs to fit his second name on the fabric width I was using. I added the dinosaurs on the bottom row for balance. I was quite happy with the result. The photo really doesn't do it justice. The fabric is a pale blue 28 count evenweave.

My second piece is an unfinished name sampler for another young great-nephew. I have just one more letter to stitch - the B to make the name Boden. I'm using Allura's Australian Alphabet (designer Guy Hayes) for this one.  For non-Aussies, the O is a native orchid, the D is a Delicate Mouse, the E is an echidna, and the N is a numbat. The B will be a brolga (a native bird). Again, the photo is not great. The fabric is the same pale blue evenweave I used for George's birth sampler. I used DMC floss instead of the charted floss, and changed floss colours  in some of the letters.

I'm working my way through my 2020 stitching list. Just one more name sampler (for Boden's sister Niva) and a few Christmas ornaments left. I am starting to think about bringing my HAED Christmas Dreams out to the stitching corner. It's been a long time since it saw the light of day. My memory is pretty hazy, but I think it's over 3 years since I have touched it. I can recall stitching on it in February or March 2017, but not since then.  It's about 30% finished, so there's a lot of stitching waiting to be done.  

Smalls Report for April

The last Friday in each month is the day for the Smalls SAL Report, hosted by Mary at Marys Thread.  Today marks the end of our seventh week of self-isolation. It's starting to feel quite normal  which is a bit of a worry.

I have more Christmas ornaments to show. I have now stitched all of the Christmas ornaments on my 2020 Christmas gift list. Two still need to be made up into ornaments - they are waiting for names to be added once the babies are born.  I do have seven ornaments to stitch for myself, so it's not the end of my ornament stitching just yet.

Here are my April ornaments:

And here is a pic of all the ornaments I have finished so far this year: