July- Smalls SAL Update

Good Afternoon,

Sorry for the delay but I totally forgot about the last Friday of the month.  It just kind of sneaks up on you all of a sudden.

Thank you Mary at Mary's Thread for hosting this SAL.  I love stitching smalls, especially on the weekends when my stitching time is limited.  This month I decided to do my own version of Christmas in July.  Since I didn't have any wips, I chose to work on Christmas Ornaments this month.  I always have the best intentions on stitching tons of ornaments, but somehow it is never the right time until December.  I go to set up the Christmas tree and then get disappointed on my lack of homemade decorations.

Well, I was able to complete 4 but I only took pictures of 3.  I will have the opportunity to ffo them next month when the boys go back to school.

What I love about stitching ornaments is that I can use random or scrap floss and material.

I chose to select projects out of the 2010 JCS Ornament issue.

#1- Star by JBW Designs.

My only change was that I omitted the word Star.  I used random 28ct Linen that was tea dyed and Limited Edition Carrie's Creation Silk floss in red.

#2- Joy by LadyBug Lane Designs

My fabric was 32ct White Chocolate Linen and misc red floss.

#3 Regal Red Christmas by Milady's Needle.

My fabric was the same 28ct Linen that was tea dyed.  I chose to use an old hand-dyed floss in my stash.  Can't remember who, but it is over 10 years old.  I used a color called Evergreen to match the backing fabric for the ornament.  I had to alter the design because the skein was small (about 5 yards) and it was too big.  They used a 40 count.  Overall, I think it looks pretty.

My plans for the next month, I am in the process of doing another Christmas ornament and I hope to get it done over the weekend.  I have a biscornu wip that needs done and I also need to do July and August for the Year In Cupcakes series.  Then I will be up to date.

Thanks so much for looking and all of your wonderful comments.
Mary

Finally A Finish

Good Afternoon,

 I hope everyone has had a great weekend and had plenty of stitching time.  I really haven't stitched since last week when I finally finished my larger project.  My son Blake, is off of dead period and is now in football practice full time.  We also attended our last football camp for the year.  It was quite an experience that I am sure we will have to do again next year.  

Anyway,  I have a finish that is larger than a small and that isn't a ffo.  Because of this, I decided to make a new blog post.  Besides, I was too excited to wait until the end of the month.

My finish: 

The Key

By: Stitchyfish Designs

From: 2016 JCS Halloween Special Edition

Floss: DMC 310

Fabric: 32ct Belfast Linen (hand-dyed by me)

My son, Brentley, decided that he would like this once it was finished.  I did make some changes per his request.  I omitted the wording at the top and changed the bottom to gate.  He also didn't like the key dangling from the crow's mouth. I now see I have some of the bottom railing of the gate to do.  I will do that tonight.  

Eventually, this will get framed.  I will probably wait until after school starts which is August 9th this year.

Well that is all for now.

Thanks for looking and I always enjoy reading your comments.

Mary

July's FFO SAL Check-In

Good Morning Y'all,

I hope everyone has had a great couple of weeks with tons of stitching time.  I have been stitching everyday but only have one FFO to show you today.  That is ok, hopefully I will have more done in August.

Before I forget, thank you Rachel at the Ten Hour Stitcher for hosting this SAL.  It really does motivate me to fully finish my stitched pieces.

So, I was going through my collection of hand-dyed floss and decided I wanted to make something with them.  When you only have a skein or two, biscornu's are a great way to use them up.  I found the perfect pattern here on Louison's blog.  She is so generous and has hundreds of free biscornu patterns.  I chose #332 and I stitched it on 25ct white Lugana (3 over 2).

Side 1:

I am not sure of the color but it is Mo's Sales Thread.  I only had one skein so I had to improvise on side 2.

Side 2:  

I found some DMC #67 in variegated Baby Blue. It is a great match to the Mo's Sales Thread.  For the middle I used a brad (from the Scrapbook section) instead of a button.

Well, I am off to do some errands and then hopefully some stitching later.  Unfortunately, I have to rip out some thread and redo a section because the hoop messed up my stitches.  I guess that is why I normally stitch in hand.  Oh well, it was worth a try.

Hope you have a fabulous day!

Mary