Shades of Indigo

I'm busy finishing three new quilts for our Capital Quilters exhibition in May. Plus I want to enter at least one of the challenges.  So I'm quilting every day but I can't show you any of that just yet. 

However, in the evenings when I collapse into my chair I pick up my cross stitch and I've made good progress on Shades of Indigo by Nicole of Northern Expressions Needlework. 

There's just one more border to go now.

Of course mine isn't stitched with indigo threads.  I've chosen my favourite greens and blues.  The problem is that when you deviate from the pattern you have to make all the colour decisions yourself!

I started off with Caron Waterlillies, but I've morphed into Threadworx, Weeks Dye Works and Classic Colorworks Belle Soie.  I may have a lot of options but it's still trial and error because what looks good on the skein may not look so good on the fabric.  Last night I unpicked quite a bit of the next border because it just didn't look right.

The end is in sight now and it may even be finished in 2024.  I'm going to another cross stitch retreat in August and it would be embarrassing to bring out the same piece I worked on at retreats in 2022 and 2023.  

Pandemic Sampler

You probably thought you'd never see this day, but my Pandemic Sampler is fully finished and ready for framing!!

I had most of it finished in April 2022 (almost two years ago), but I still had all the back stitching to do, plus my initials - which were the real sticking point.  The back stitch took about a week of stitching just in the evenings.  The pattern is 20 pages of A4 paper so there was a fair bit to work through. 

My initials were an issue because "W"s are wide and I had to figure out how to fit them in.  In the end I came up with a dainty, subtle solution that I think works well. They're there, but they don't jump out at you.

I started this piece back in July 2020 when Long Dog Samplers released this pattern to commemorate the COVID-19 Pandemic.  The pattern is available for purchase here if you're interested.  

I used 28 count linen in Flax colourway because I didn't want to go blind stitching this.  Or give up because it was too hard to see what I was doing.  

I used 2 strands of Madeira silk and it was beautiful to work with, but definitely not cheap.  I possibly could have found cheaper silk alternatives, but my local embroidery shop had this in stock and ordering anything from overseas in the early stages of COVID was very unpredictable.  Things that previously took weeks to arrive were taking months or were just plain unavailable.  So I worked with what I could get and I'm very happy with the result.  

There's a lot of flurry going on in the Long Dog Sampler Facebook groups about Leap Day starts for 29 Feb 2024.  I've resisted all temptations and will continue to work on my WIPs in 2024.  

I have made one small new start since I finished Pandemic and I'll show you that in my next blog post. 

Peppermint Purple 2023 SAL

The Peppermint Purple 2023 stitch along finished on Wednesday and I can now show you what I've been working on all year.  

I love how the outside border is the inverse of the inside border - clever.

Clare from Peppermint Purple has been running mystery stitch alongs for a few years now and she's really perfected the art of running a very well organised programme.  

She releases one little black work design each week and people stitch along at their own pace with their own fabric and thread choices.  It usually only takes about an hour to stitch that week's filler pattern. 

The best bit is that there are so many variations amongst the finished pieces because Clare also releases about 20 different layout designs.  A few are free, but the best ones are the ones you pay a few dollars for and they really are worth it.  

The 2023 stitch along is finished now, but the 2024 version is open already.  It costs nothing to join, and just a few dollars to buy the different layouts.  There's a lot of support in the Facebook group for people who are uncertain about their colours, or are just interested in what everyone else is doing. 

I used hand dyed linen from Cath at Country Stitch in New Zealand and one strand of some variegated DMC that I had left over from something else.  

I've really enjoyed this stitch along and am very pleased to say that I both started AND finished something in 2023! And I'm going to get it framed in the new year.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Free free to link up a recent blog post below. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

All Treats No Tricks

How cute is this design!

I've been enjoying stitching this Halloween design by The Witchy Stitcher. I stumbled across the kit  online at Cottage Garden Threads and I knew I had to stitch it.  I wasn't expecting it to turn up in a box with a fancy thread holder too. Unfortunately I think the complete kits are sold out now, but Cottage Garden Threads are still advertising the threads as a bundle here. 

The threads are just gorgeous because they are silks by Cottage Garden Threads and the colours are so vibrant.  

The linen is my first foray in to Fox and Rabbit and I love it!! I did buy a couple more pieces on my travels to Dunedin and Christchurch in recent weeks.  They have such interesting shades and the hand dyed look really adds to any piece of stitching.  

I still have to stitch the border around the piece and then think about how I will finish it.  I might mount it on padded cardboard and then put is on a wooden board.  It will only be on display for a few weeks each year so I don't want to pay for framing.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Cross Stitch

 I haven't done any quilting in January - instead I've been busy cross stitching.

The online Jingle Ball online event in December rekindled my interest in cross stitching, and seeing all the beautiful hand made Christmas decorations on Instagram definitely got me motivated to stitch more.  

Through the Jingle Ball I became aware of some different designers, so I've been stitching decorations designed by Hands On Design and Erica Michaels.  The one above is part of Christmas Countdown by Erica Michaels and it's going to be finished as a drum - something new for me!

These two below are by Hands On Design and were are exclusive for the Jingle Ball attendees, but will be released later in 2023. I'm still working on the third part - Noel.

  

And then, I finally figured out the finishing for the Twelve Days of Christmas by Hello from Liz Mathews, so I finished two of my trees, and started a third.  

Oh! And I've made two more Mill Hill beaded Santas since Christmas. Here's the first one.

And finally, I somehow got sucked in to the Peppermint Purple 2023 blackwork stitch a long. My justification for that was that it's free, and it's only one tiny square of black work each week.  Surely I can keep up with that.  I found some pretty variegated thread in my stash, but I did have to buy a special piece of hand dyed linen to complement the threads.   Unfortunately I can't show you any progress pictures or I'll be booted out of the programme!

So, my hands have been busy while I've watched the Australian Open tennis matches on TV.  I've even quite enjoyed a break from my sewing machine.  

Now it's time for the Peacock party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.  

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter