2022 Christmas Countdown - Celtic Snow

Day 16 and it's my Celtic Snow cross stitch designed by Northern Expressions Needlework.

There's a few factors that make this piece sing:

- the gorgeous blue linen that's Midnight Tryst 28 count linen from Hand Dyed by Stephanie. It is beautiful and gives this piece a dark mysterious background. It's the shade Nicole used in her sample and the photo on the pattern.
- The beautiful soft (in colour and texture) Overdyed Silk threads from Dinky Dyes.
- All of the tiny beads that make it shine. They took an age to sew on, but they're so worth it.

Thank you everyone who's been following along and leaving lovely comments.  I really do appreciate your support thank you. 

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2022 Christmas Countdown - Beaded Angels

Day 15 of my 2022 Christmas Countdown and it's my Beaded Angels.

This ornament is very special to me because it was tricky to make. I went to classes at Nancy's Stitch Studio and learnt how to do beading.  The beads are threaded together with very fine Nymo thread which is extra strong nylon thread. The way they nest in to each other is called Peyote stitch - frequently used by North American Indians.  

To make this ornament we made the same angel six times, and then did some fancy magic stuff at the top to join them all together.  

Can you believe I was so happy when this was finished that I bought a second kit to make another set? It's sitting upstairs barely started and I don't know if I can remember how to do it now.  Maybe I'll dig it out in 2023 - my year of finishing things.  (Where's the laughing emoji when you need it.)

  

2022 Christmas Countdown - Mill Hill beaded ornaments (part 2)

Day 8 of my Christmas Countdown.

Here's some more of my Mill Hill beaded ornaments.  I do enjoy making these little kits.  They're quite cheap to buy (approx USD10) and everything you need is included - even the needles!

the purple one on the right is Diamond Holiday

When it comes to finishing these ornaments I cut them out carefully being sure to cut one hole away from the stitching.  Then I glue a piece of felt on the back.  It hides all the threads nicely.

Celtic Snow

On Tuesday night I finished my Celtic Snow embroidery. It's a wonderful design by Nicole of Northern Expressions Needlework.

my Celtic Snow by Norther Expressions Needlework

I've been working on this piece since July 2014. Although I have done other things in between, it's been a long journey with this one. It's the biggest cross stitch I've done in the last 10 years. It's 15" x 15".

with an A4 piece of paper for comparison

I always stitch with a hoop because it keeps the tension even. I did all the stitching before I started adding the beads because I knew the beads would prevent me from using the hoop. After I'd done all the beading in the centre with the hoop, I put the piece onto my roller bars so I could continue to add the beads. It wasn't easy working on the roller bars because the linen is quite a loose weave, but I got there in the end. there are 1,400 beads in this piece!

When I'm attaching beads I always go through each bead twice to make a X. That holds the bead straight. I also keep all the beads going in the same direction. That did result in some unpicking because sometimes I accidentally turned the piece 90 degrees. There's no obvious top or bottom, the design is symmetrical. In these cases I tie a piece of coloured cotton at the top, but I must have ignored that at times.

I really felt thrilled when I woke up the next morning and took it off the roller bars. I gave it a light press, took some photos and dashed off to the framers. I took along a piece of dark fabric because I knew their padding was white, and I didn't want white behind the linen, I wanted a dark colour.

The framers will be finished in about 3 weeks and I'll be excited to see how it looks.

For the embroiderers out there:
- the fabric I used is Midnight Tryst 28 count linen from Hand Dyed by Stephanie. It is beautiful and gives this piece a dark mysterious background. It's the shade Nicole used in her sample and the photo on the pattern. Nicole used much finer linen, but I've given up on anything finer than 28 count. If I'd chosen 32, 36 or 40 count linen I don't know if I would have ever finished.
- I used the recommended Overdyed Silks from Dinky Dyes - lovely pastel shades.
- I couldn't get all the exact beads, so substituted to those available locally.
- I bought the pattern from 123Stitch.  It's really cheap - less than USD 20 - so I just don't understand people who rip off these designers by posting the pattern online.

This was the 4th and final item on my Finish Along list for Q1. It means I'm another step closer to getting back to my la passacaglia which I'm excited about. I'm now an administrator of the group on facebook (Millefiori/ la passacaglia English Paper Piecing) so I keep seeing everyone else's progress. I'm itching to get back to mine, but have one more long term project to finish first. Aren't I being good?

I'm making a list

As this year starts to draw to a close, I'm starting to think about my hand sewing goals for 2015. I've had a list forming in my head for a few days, so thought if I wrote in on my blog I would be publicly accountable for achieving at least some of it in 2015.

Before I start though, the good news is that I have made great progress on Your Place or Mine? since I last showed it here in mid October. I now have 3 of the 4 corners sewn on, and just have the 4th corner and two simple borders to attach. The 4th corner still needs to be hand appliqued, so it may take a few weeks yet.

So here's my hand sewing and embroidery list for 2015 in order of priority:

1. The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, Finish the Christmas Celebration Sampler. I estimate that this will take between 1 week and 10 days to finish the border (provided I have enough thread). this has been a mystery pattern, released over the past 4 weeks. I've enjoyed stitching along with others on Instagram.

2. Mill Hill beaded ornaments. Finish the one on the left that I've already started, so it can go on the tree with the one I've already finished in the centre. It should only take about 4 days. The one on the right can wait until next Christmas.

3. Your Place or Mine? final panel. Work on that until it's done. I can't take my extensive Perle 8 collection on holiday, so it must be done at home.

4. Northern Expressions Needlework. I knew when I started the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery that this wouldn't be finished for Christmas 2015, but I can take it on holiday and finish sewing the beads on. It should be finished by mid January and I can then get it framed.

The colours don't look good in this picture, but it's a very cloudy day today

5. The Victoria Sampler Gingerbread Etui. This is another holiday sewing project. I love working on Christmas sewing at Christmas time so I'll take this away with me too. I'll make a start on it, but may swap to the Haunted House by February because Halloween will roll around before Christmas in 2015.

6. Elizabethean Sweet Bag. This only needs about 1 week of stitching to be finished. It's quite a different style of embroidery to what I usually do, so I need to get into the right frame of mind.

7. The Victoria Sampler Haunted House. This looks like so much fun. The ornaments are delighful. I've got everything here to get stated and expect to be working on it by February.

 

8. The Victoria Sampler Needlework Shop. This will be waiting for me under the Christmas Tree this year. The parcel arrived and I haven't even opened the exterior packaging yet. You can see a photo here. 


9. Wool felt applique bag from Flying Fish Kits. This will be fun and bright and should take less than one month.

10. Needlelace - green. This only saw minimal action in 2014 and deserves better in 2015.

11. Needlelace - purple. I need to work on this again while I still remember what to do.

12. Heirloom Christmas Tree decoration. I've had the book, silk and decorations for 2 years but am still putting off starting. I guess I'm worried about mine not being good enough, but I do have plenty of silk, and the decorations could be recycled if I needed to start again. If this was a class I would have had it finished by now. I think I'm just a bit worried about doing it by myself - silly I know.

13. Sundry other projects lurking around which include 2 more biscornus, and some Christmas Decorations from the Just Cross Stitch Special Christmas issues. I've met a lot of stitchers on Instagram and seen some beautifully finished ornaments. I'm inspired to make more ornaments before next Christmas. I've also got 2 beautiful Christmas pieces from The Victoria Sampler which I'd love to do one day.

Wow, what a list. I love everything on it and would start them all tomorrow if I could. And it doesn't even include hand quilting because I tend to do that in the day time at the table. The list above is what I do in the evenings in front of TV. Here's hoping for a very productive 2015. I intend to check back against this list at this time next year - scary thought!

'Joy to the World' is finished

Last night I finished the Mill Hill 'Joy to the World' and I'm really pleased with how it' turned out.

Mill Hill Button and Bead Christmas pictures

The finished product looks better than the picture on the packet - mainly due to the way that the beads bring it to life - especially the gold ones on the lettering.

There's always quite a few beads and threads left over from these kits, so I store them away in these little containers. That way I have spare beads on hand when I'm working on other projects.

Mill Hill buttons and beads kits

I was delighted to receive another Mill Hill buttons and beads kit for Christmas from my mum.

It is called 'Joy to the World' and is very appropriate, because her name is Joy! This one is on a navy background which is new for me. All of my others have been on beige. These kits are actually worked on perforated paper which is quite unusual. I've got used to to now, but it was a bit different to start with. All of the cross stitch is completed first and then the beads are sewn on. The button is the final thing to be sewn on (otherwise the threads would catch on it). The photo shows my progress to date - mainly achieved while watching tennis and cricket on TV.

Below are photos of the other kits I have completed. The Toy Shop is my favourite.

Beaded Angels

Aren't these angels adorable?

I went to a class to learn how to make this decoration. There are six panels, which are completed individually in peyote stitch and then joined together at the top. They drape beautifully over a plain Christmas bauble. I have another kit to make another whole set, but they are very fiddly and I'm afraid I have forgotten some of the intricacies required to move from row to row. Maybe I should make it a priority for 2014.