Cross Stitch Gold 114

Cross Stitch Gold specialises in larger projects - as does Cross Stitch Collection which in general has more designs I prefer so I only get Gold from time to time.

This issue 114 has a few designs I like

O Christmas Tree triptych by Lesley Teare.   3 panels looks stunning but individual elements would be useful as well

Also by Lesley Teare a personalised cushion design

Again I like the individual motifs as well as the total design

Some shaped ornaments by Maria Diaz.  Would probably change the colours if I was stitching for display in my home

This last design I picked out is another cushion    This one is designed by Carol Thornton

  

I really like the design but I also realised that it would look great stitched on some new fabric I just purchased from Sewitall.  It's white silvered evenweave from Fabric Flair with printed holly leaves and berries and I was thinking I could just Stich the ribbon, bow and tag

So this is going into my Stitch from Stash list 😊

This month's (very) small finish

As apart of the Small SAL I finished this little coaster for a friend of mine who is a collector of scissors

The design is taken from a needlecase kit I bought from Itching to Stitch at the Craft Show I attended last week.

I used DMC on some tea dyed linen.

It wasn't the smalls project I intended to stitch for September but the piece I started is for me and of course the gift for my friend took priority.    I will be passing it over tomorrow - hope she likes it.

Delighted we are still a United Kingdom and further update from the Craft Show

I am so pleased that Scotland voted to stay as part of the United Kingdom.   I was born and raised in England but consider my nationality to be British and like many English people part of my heritage (in my case a quarter) is Scottish.   Like many other Scots (and Irish) my grandfather left his native land for work in England but remained proud of his heritage his whole life including serving in the Royal Scots regiment in WW1.  So I changed the photo at the top of the blog to a floral Union flag in celebration.

Moving on to stitching matters - I have more updates from my spending spree at the Craft Show.

I enjoy doing needlepoint with wool occasionally and loved this London design which I had seen at a show earlier in the year and regretted not buying it then.  So it was my first purchase this time.

I had been reading on the Blackbird Designs blog about the set of 6 patterns Barb designed in celebration of the Beatles' appearance on the Ed Sullivan show.   As I was a huge Beatles fan I couldn't resist 3 of the designs when I saw them at the show.  There is another one that has been published  (Blackbird);  the other 2 are caught up in copyright issues over the song titles!

Eleanor Rigby

Strawberry Fields Forever

The Long & Winding Road

I also love the quilt fabrics that Blackbird Designs produce for Moda fabrics and my large sampler quilt is made from one of their ranges.  

The Beatles theme designs aren't a uniform size so it wouldn't be easy but wouldn't they look wonderful as part of a quilt? -  using Blackbird Designs fabric of course.  If I am even vaguely considering this I need to use DMC not overdyes which as I know from painful experience run.

After buying 3 newly released patterns I spotted an older design I have loved for years so of course I had to have it.   It combines my 2 main passions - stitching and reading.

The Bookshelf by Little Hose Needleworks

I may change a couple of the names to better reflect my preferences.   I will probably stick with the theme of female writers so am thinking Eliot instead of Wilder and Gaskell instead of Burnett.

And last but by no means least from the same stand I bought:

Christmas Jumble by The Drawn Thread

Some goodies I bought at a recent Craft Show

Had a lovely day out at a Craft Show.  Met a few stitching/crafting buddies for lunch and at the end but most of the time we went our separate ways.

One of my favourite stands was a new cross stitch designer Itching to Stitch who had some lovely charts and kits, many of which could be personalised.  I loved that the kits came with linen and overdyed threads and I couldn't resist this gorgeous needlecase design.

The version I bought isn't on this picture but here is the kit showing the lovely blue linen

I would love to stitch this for myself and for friends.   Just need to locate those missing hours in the day.   "Eight Days a Week" always was one of my favourite Beatles songs and it's definitely what I need.

This Christmas Carol sampler also leapt into my hand - isn't it wonderful the way it can be personalised

Sew Enchanting from Devon always tempts me with their delightful range of fabrics and patterns for quilts and stitchery.   Lynette Anderson has a new range of fabric which I love called Pocketful of Daisies

Another stall selling Lynette Anderson goodies was Patchwork Chicks.  They had a wonderful advent stockings design which had sold out almost immediately.

I bought this pattern for a cushion

Also the pattern and the purse for this fabulous design

and this pattern with initials which I think will be very useful for small stitchy gifts

I am still in the process of going through and drooling over the goodies I bought so I will be updating this post later.

Just Cross Stitch Magazine Christmas Ornaments 2014

I have just downloaded my copy of this year's Christmas Ornaments magazine by Just Cross Stitch.  I adore these magazines and have everyone although this is the first one I have in digital rather than print format.   As always I will spend many a happy hour going through and picking out designs I would love to stitch.   I am doing a Christmas card/ornament/coaster exchange again this year and will probably choose a design from here which will be my Smalls piece for November.

The recipes by the designers are also fabulous though I don't actually use many of them.

Love Quilts UK start and bag of goodies

There wasn't much time for stitching this weekend due to family gatherings and a bit of gardening - both very enjoyable.

I did work out the design for my Love Quilts UK square which I have signed up to stitch.  The theme is superheroes and I am using a Superheroes alphabet design I bought from Etsy and used for a nameplate.   The great thing about Etsy downloadable designs is that you can print them out when you like so I printed a new copy and cut out the 5 superheroes I wanted to stitch.  I then cut off the letters and played around with the layout until I was happy and glued the 5 pieces to make one overall design.  

Then I cut the fabric to size (standard white 14 cont aida as requested) and pulled the DMC threads.  All of this took time so I was only able to make the first few stitches.   This will be The Incredible Hulk in the centre.

I also fitted in time to go through a bag of stitching goodies given to me on Friday by a friend who said she had had a sort out and had a few bits and bobs of cross stitching stuff for me.   It turned out to be a wonderful assortment of threads, fabric bits, charts, a couple of kits, buttons, charms, needles and to my amazement some UFOs.  I plan to finish at least 3 of them and one of them has already been added to my current WiP list as I love the design, lots of it has already been completed and it was easy to find in my stash the DMC threads needed to complete it.  It is called Christmas Village by The Prairie Schooler and is stitched on evenweave.  

Lovely day with my stitching group

Look what was made at my stitching group yesterday.  Mug bags so everyone can bring their own mug safely.   Don't they look lovely

Couldn't resist a Shepherd's Bush scissor fob kit on eBay   Came complete with scissors.  To be added to the Stitch from Stash list 

A finish and considering a new start

I finished the Hearts and Kittens Wedding Sampler just ahead of the deadline so pleased about that.  I had started to stitch a different design on navy sparkly evenweave and my eyes just couldn't cope, even in the summer sunlight so I had to look for something else suitable that would stitch up quickly.  This design from an Etsy store seemed to fit the bill as both bride and groom are cat lovers.   If wasn't designed as a wedding sampler but there was plenty of room to add the names and date.

I am now itching to make another start.   On my principle of trying to stitch from stash as much as possible I looked through my threads and found this pack of Gentle Arts Sampler Threads which I think will work for the Lizzie Kate Christmas design in the current issue of Cross Stitch Crazy.    They are limited edition threads but all the names are Christmas related.    Just need to choose some fabric next.