44 - Cherry Ripe Bird

July Challenge freebie from The Needlecraft Haven.

From Les Chalet des Perelles.

43 - Tralala Cat

This is a little piece I mailed off to Rachael to help raise money for the Cats Protection League.  Hopefully it will be added to a quilt or cushion.  The design is by Tralala from SoCreaStitch and I stitched it in DMC 4215 a lovely variegated blue/lilac and pink.

And for those who like a more artistic photo –

The two cats were bought with the money I got for serving 15 years with my old company.  I also got my stash chest and a jacket (total spend £250) plus a party at the pub shared with a fellow "lifer" for 50 people.  We were supposed to have a nice genteel buffet in the boardroom for 30 but the senior management wanted it too and as we refused to change our date they had no choice but to give us the money and send us to the pub instead!

42 - Joan Elliott Pink Flower in Pot

I finished off a Joan Elliot flower in a pot to match the previous JE flower in a pot.  The frames were cover gifts from Cross Stitch Collection mag but I didn't like the pictures suggested so stitched these two JE designs from the free WOCS booklet - the best free gift EVER.  Hand coloured aida.

41 - Joan Elliott Celtic Coaster

This is the final teacher end of term gift.  The large boy has had this teacher on Fridays for the last two years.  Last year she got a sampler with a Celtic dog (she loves dogs and is quite "celticy" in her dress) and the school name and dates like the other two I stitched this year.  I decided not to do another in the same format but did have a little plastic coaster from SewandSo in my basket.  The design is a Joan Elliot from her card book and fits perfectly.  I used the same mint green pearlescent aida I stitched First Snow on and swapped the beads for petite beads so they fit under the coaster better.   The large boy will be making a back with her name and the dates on.  He will.  I have told him he will!

40 - Number Sampler

My son's year group are streamed for Literacy and Numeracy so he has a different teacher for Numeracy to his class teacher.  Hence the numbers:

This is the design my son drew for me and coloured in.  You can see the finished piece is pretty similar.  We tweaked some of the colours as he'd duplicated a couple.

39 - Nimue Baby Swing

Here is Baby Swing in all it's glory!  This photo is taken without the flash.  The colours are better and more true to life although the fabric is more green than this.

32 count Murano in Sunlit Heath from Crafty Kitten

This one was taken with the flash to show off the metallic and beads a little more.  You can also see the mossy log more clearly.  That was lovely to stitch, 2 different blends and 2 plain colours.

There are little beads along the bottom of the wings, I subbed the recommended for some I had in my stash as I only needed 18.  The little jingly bells are too cute for words, they were a bargain, 99p for 10 from a new craft store in town.  Don't get too excited - it's mainly papercraft and scrapbooking although they do have the DMC display rack from my now defunct LNS, it was like seeing an old friend!

I also added little yellow beads in the centre of the flowers.  They were not listed but the picture definitely had something yellow there and again I had a dozen yellow beads in a little bag.  Throw nothing out!

38 - Edwardian Lady Flower 3

Daffodil

The cards are the free gift with this month’s World of Cross Stitching (WOCS 179).  They are three flowers from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady or possibly The Edwardian Diary of a Country Lady or the Lady's Diary of an Edwardian Country, some such thing anyway.

37 - Edwardian Lady Flower 2

Daisy

The cards are the free gift with this month’s World of Cross Stitching (WOCS 179).  They are three flowers from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady or possibly The Edwardian Diary of a Country Lady or the Lady's Diary of an Edwardian Country, some such thing anyway.

36 - Edwardian Lady Flower 1

Poppy

The cards are the free gift with this month’s World of Cross Stitching (WOCS 179).  They are three flowers from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady or possibly The Edwardian Diary of a Country Lady or the Lady's Diary of an Edwardian Country, some such thing anyway.

35 - Bagpuss Sampler

Here's the second project I've been working on - edited for internet security!!  I always stitch a small sampler at the end of term for the large boy's teacher/s.  I try to make it tie with their special interests and this year the teacher made it really easy - she's a big Bagpuss fan!  For my international followers who may be unaware of the saggy old cloth cat here's a useful link -http://www.smallfilms.co.uk/bagpuss/

The Bagpuss chart came from an old edition of Cross Stitcher magazine (Aug 2002) and the nice little border was from a more recent issue.  Alot of people have been criticising the magazine just lately for being more about sewing and craft rather than straight cross stitch.  Personally I would rather see more needlework if they want to diversify rather than sewing and felt craft.  I have found there are less projects I want to stitch and the free gifts are not really me but it is useful as a "design library".  This is not a very good scanned picture so doesn't do the patches justice.

34 - AOY Girl and Dog

All Our Yesterdays Girl and Dog

This was the cover kit with WOCS 178, the shaped card didn't fit the stitching very well so I needed to trim the card a little.

33 - CS 241 Felt Flowers

I have also kept up my resolution to stitch every cover kit for the two magazines I get.  This week was Cross Stitcher magazine's turn.  As a member of EWBA (Enough With the Buttons Already!) I was not going to be fiddlefarting around with tiny little buttons covered in the hardest aida I have seen, it was like perforated paper!  So I used the aida to stitch the flowers directly onto the felt shapes then pinned them to this lovely tote bag I won in a FB giveaway.  I did use the buttons, I coloured in some scraps of fabric in tones which matched the bag then covered with tiny buttons with them and sewed them on the bag.

32 - Passione Ricamo Fairy Celebration

I finished the Passione Ricamo freebie angel for my little Great-Niece this week.

Stitched on 14 count raspberry aida using white DMC and metallic silver.

31 - Drawn Thread All You Need is Love

I have romped through another Drawn Thread freebie, All You Need is Love.

In this tiny little finish (3 x 2 inches) there are no less than 14 different types of stitch.  How many can you see / name?  No prize, just the satisfaction of being a sharp-eyed clever clogs!

I stitched it on a piece of 32 count evenweave I got from the LNS before it closed.  It is quite a loose weave so not a Murano.  The greens are from my bits bag and the pink is a hand-dyed from Oliver Twists.  I have had it for ages and never used it.  It is quite subtle for a hand-dyed, not much variation but perfect for this.  The frame has been languishing in my stash chest for approx 12 years just waiting for this design.  I bought it at the Olympia Cross Stitch Show.

30 - Drawn Thread First Snow

I have just completed this sweet little freebie from The Drawn Thread.  It's called First Snow and as soon as I saw it I wanted to stitch it so it leaped up the priority list and I completed it in only 2 days!  I stitched it on a scrap of mint green pearlescent aida I got in the closing down sale of my LNS.  I have a nice frame ready with is just a teeny bit wide so I'm planning to get some ribbon to go down the left and right sides.

29 - Joan Elliott Iris in Pot

And yet another from the Joan Elliot Oriental booklet.  The free gift with Cross Stitcher was the blue felt frame with a chart for an orange cartoon fox.  Why?  Apparently foxes are in vogue.  News to me.  Owls - yes, see them everywhere, but foxes?  Anyway the iris in a pot fitted perfectly like it was made for the frame and is much nicer.

28 - Joan Elliott Maneki Neko

I have finished a cute Japanese Beckoning Cat design by Joan Elliott this weekend and framed it in a bargain frame.  The bric-a-brac people left a box of bric and brac in our Toddler Group hall and while I was moving it to a safe place I couldn't help but notice three picture frames.  I was told everything was 10p so I generously gave them 50p for all 3!

The cat is known as Maneki Neko (or Beckoning Cat) and more information can be found here.
招き猫 These are the Japanese characters for Maneki Neko

27 - New Home Card

Stitched for my niece from the Helen Philipps book.

Forgot to take photo before I mailed it off!

26 - WOCS June Rose

Having seen how effective the little bears were and how quick to stitch I decided to try with the rose from WOCS.  The red and green shading effect is simply fabric pens coloured in after the back-stitch was completed.

25 - Train Carriage

This is my railway carriage - it is stitched on a piece of 14 count aida attached to a piece of upholstery fabric.

The design and words are all my own work, the threads are from my scraps bag, the railway line is a long piece of black threaded under the stitches in the sleepers.  It's a really nice effect and very quick to do.

I don't want to get too political (stitching is my stress relief!) but the main thrust of the campaign is to protest about the fare hikes planned.  Rail travel is the greenest way to travel long distances and we should be supporting it.  I commuted 30 miles a day for 17 years by train and loved my journeys.  I met so many interesting people, some of whom changed my life.  I read so many books and stitched so much too.  We also had two weddings thanks to our journeys.  If you're interested then check out the links for The Craftivist Collective