SAL update: Bag Ladies #2

Hello everyone!  It’s time to take photos and see how much progress was made on our SAL projects.  Hope you’ve all been busy?  I most certainly have.  Starting a new project is always very motivating, and I’ve been busy in the evenings, with a cat on my lap, with needle and thread.  Last time I showed you a first bag stitched.

For this time, I concentrated on working in four different colours, and covering as much fabric as possible.

So I have the beginnings of 2 new bags and all the black stitched for the first cat.  Eveything is somewhat beige & black for the moment but, by next time, I should have a finished cat to show you.

Time now to click on the following links, to see what other SAL members have been up to.

Avis,  Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Tony, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie, Clare

And I’ll be back on 2nd December.

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Russian dolls X2 (“Cross Stitch Crazy”)

I mentioned, a little while back, that I had renewed my subscription to a UK cross stitch magazine, after letting subs run out a few years ago.  The reason I let subs run out is because I was getting inundated with magazines piling up, and never having time to do any of the projects.  And the reason I renewed my subs . . . I missed the excitement of having a colourful magazine dropping through the door each month.  In previous years, I was signed up for Cross Stitcher magazine, and The World of Cross Stitching.  For this time around, I signed up for Cross Stitch Crazy (inspired by a freebie kit Carole sent me a while back, and which I stitched).

Anyway . . . cross stitch magazines are a little like fashion designers . . . they always have to be a few months ahead of seasonal themes, to give stitchers plenty of time to get things made.  In the November edition, there were several free gifts, one of them being a little kit to stitch up two xmas tree decorations.  I received this magazine in October, and decided it’s never too early to start thinking about Christmas, so, as an extra project, to stitch alongside the SAL, I began work.

Kit came with chart, aida,  plenty of threads, pink ribbon and pre-cut felt for finishing off.  I added a length of turquoise ribbon to one of the dolls just to be different.

I started hand-stitching the turquoise felt, doing blanket stitch all around the outer edge, but then decided it would be quicker, not to mention neater, if I did the final sewing by machine.  You can see, from this second photo, that I really love Russian dolls, and this is just part of my collection.   So, a fun little stitching project which gave me some light relief from my larger xstitch project.  In the December edition of Cross Stitch Crazy there was another Christmas themed kit . . . so I will have something else to show you very soon.

SAL update – “Bag Ladies” #1

On 30th September, I finished my SAL project, and showed you what design would be taking its place for the next months.

“Bag Ladies” a kit by Sunset, from artwork by Bradlt Bralds.  Not only will this be fun to stitch because of all the cats, but I figured it would be quite practical for the SAL, as the chart lends itself to being cut up into sections.   Updates might not always be terribly exciting, as there are a lot of bags to stitch so you’ll have to bear with me.

For my first update

I’ve stitched the smallest bag and discovered something I hadn’t noticed before!  A little mouse, or maybe it’s a hamster, in hiding!

I wonder what other SAL members have been working on this month?  Let’s hop over to their blogs to find out . . . and say a big warm welcome to our newest member, Clare, in New Zealand.

Avis,  Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Tony, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie, Clare

Next update on 11th November.

SAL “ Getting Ready” – happy dance

An energetic happy dance going on here with “Getting Ready”, from the original art work by Ronald West.

You’ll see that Avis is happy dancing along with me.  We both bought this kit: “Getting Ready”, a Design Works kit in the sales on sewandso in December 2016, for something like £6, I believe.  What a bargain!  It has kept us stitching along since September 2017.  So, a full 12 months of stitching fun, with this project.  I started top left, while Avis began stitching somewhere at the bottom, so it’s been even more fun seeing our stitching progress.  In case you think we are both gifted with telepathic skills, to have managed to finish at the same time . . . nah, we’ve been comparing progress by email, so that we crossed the finish line together.

Anyway, a happy dance means the chance to rummage in the cross stitch stash to find something new for next time.  We won’t be working on the same design for the next project.  However, we have consulted and decided on designs which are approximately the same size and difficulty.  I am going to be working on a kit that’s been in my stash for well over a decade!

“Bag Ladies” – stitched on 16 count with finished design size to be 36cm x 25cm.  I’m hoping, with all the cats and different bags, it’ll be “easy” to work on it cat by cat, and bag by bag.  I’ll let you hop over to Avis’ blog to see what project she has chosen.  Definitely not cats!

And, while you’re at it, here is the full list of SAL members, if you’d like to visit.

Avis, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Tony, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie

Next SAL update will be on 21st October.  See you then!

ocean themed crafting

It might be because of this never ending summer, with temperatures still around 30°C during the daytime . . . but I’ve been having something of an ocean themed crafting spurt.

First up . . . Carole, very kindly sent me an unbirthday gift a few months ago.  A little mermaid cross stitch kit.  Well, that gave me some light relief from all the dull browns & beiges I’ve been working on with the SAL project, and she turned out beautifully.

I deliberately didn’t give her a mouth as I think she actually looks prettier without.  And I’m not sure if I’ll be finishing her off as a bookmark, to slip insde the printed card that came with the kit, or coming up with a different kind of finish.  Whatever, she was a real joy to stitch.  The kit was a freebie from a back issue of Cross Stitch Crazy magazine.  I had been dithering about whether or not to renew subs to a UK crafting magazine, and this gift from Carole spurred me on.  I signed up for a 12 month subs to Cross Stitch Crazy, so now have several other pretty freebie kits in my stash.  Perfect for those little projects when you want a quick finish!

Other crafting . . . if you saw my ScrapHappy post on 15th, you’ll have seen the stuffed fish I made, with its upper fin sewn on back to front.  Now, although Viking Parents said Baby Viking would love it (it’s also got a rattle inside so makes a lovely noise) I still wanted to make one that looked right.  So I rifled through scrap bags again and made another one.

Much more successful than the previous one, and with some lovely scraps.  This fishy has white felt circles appliqued on for eyes and a cross-stitched navy pupil.  He/she also has a “squeaker” inside, just below the upper fin. 

Here are the three fish together, all following the pattern by Lauri.

What I love about patchwork, and scraps . . . you get to use up every last bit of fabric, and each of these fishes is a reminder of past patchwork projects.  The one with spotty body was my first fish, made in March.  He’ll be staying here, as a photo prop for my reborn dolls, since he has buttons for eyes, therefore is not 100% baby friendly.  The other two will be swimming their way to Baby Viking.

SAL update – almost there

For those of you hoping to see a happy dance this update – sorry to disappoint.  My crafting agenda has been quite full of crafting, but concentrating more on patchwork & crochet than my SAL project, because of the birth of Baby Viking.

Which means that the last progress photo of “Getting Ready” which looked like this

Now looks like this

The flower tub is finished, and I’ve been adding some more backstitch . . . but you’ll have to wait until next time to join me in my happy dance.

In the meantime, let’s hop over and see what other SAL members have been up to.

Avis, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Tony, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie

And I’ll see you back here on 30th September.

SAL “Getting Ready”

Well I can definitely say that I’m getting there!

Photo from last time

And photo for this time

Waiters now have both feet firmly on the ground!  There’s a teensy bit of backstitch to add to this section, but I’m going to finish off the flowers and tub for next time and worry about backstitch then.  This design is from original artwork by Ronald West, and a kit by Design Works called “Getting Ready”.

Time for some blog hopping, to see what other SAL members have been up to.

Avis, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Tony, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie

And back on 9th September with the next update.