19. Just Nan Spring!

 

Just Nan Small Delights Spring!
Stitched on 32 count pale green Belfast Linen

skein of DMC shown for colour matching

Framed in a charity shop frame

18. Brooke's Books Stitcher's Alphabet Book

Brooke's Books Stitcher's Alphabet
found here - Brooke's Books Freebies

I started this way back in August 2015 as part of The Alphabet Club.  For 26 months I stitched one block per month and then planned to finish it into a cloth book.

I stitched it on an afghan fabric which I cut into a long thin piece.

Here are the individual pages of the book:

I actually finished the stitching in September 2017 and there it sat until this year when I decided to add it to my WIPocalypse and actually fully finish the thing.

The first thing I did was add a title - My Alphabet Book, a bar code and an ISBN to the back:

And, yes, that is a real ISBN.  Look it up and see why it is appropriate.

The barcode also matches that book as close as I could make it.

Then came the tricky part, sewing it together.  What I did was fold over the top edge along the thicker woven part and whipstitched the top of the first page to the top of the page with D,E,F and G.  Then whipstitched the page with H,I,J and K to L,M,N and O.  and so on.

Then I turned it over and did the same with the bottom of the book pages.

Then I cut four pieces of thin card to size and slipped one inside each page, the openings are at the spine end of the book.  Finally I took the two half pages from the beginning and end of the alphabet and whip stitched them to the page with X,Y and Z.   The orange selvedge marker makes a nice line down the centre of the back of the book.

Here are a couple of videos so you can see how the book looks:

17. Just Nan Holly Berry Snowflakes

 Just Nan Holly Berry Snowflakes

Stitched on 28 count Platinum linen

Frosty

Icy

Chilly

16. My Fanny Quarantine House

My Fanny Designs Quarantine House
Stitched over 1 on 32 count Lavender Murano

Part of the Be Well SAL

15. JBW 12 Days of Christmas Book 2

JBW 12 Days of Christmas Book 2

stitched on 40 count white linen

I added petite red beads for the holly berries

14. CCN Main Street Bookshop

Country Cottage Needleworks - Main Street Bookshop

Converted to Grimoires for my Hallowe'en Town

Stitched on 32 count Murano in Charcoal Slate from Sparklies

I kept the basic colour scheme of yellow and purple but changed it to a more limey-green yellow and darker purples.  The window and door frames are dark brown and the fence went black.  While the tree became an autumnal tree using DMC 4130, a variegated red/orange/brown.  For the books, I followed the original colour scheme but went dark and added black labels instead of yellow.  One final touch was to add the number above the door - 98.  The same number which appears on the door of the shop where I work.

I changed the name from "Books" to "Grimoires"

and made the chimney a little bit crooked:

This is a photo of the original shop:

CCN Main Street - Bookshop

13. Hands On Design Bitter Brew

My second finish in the Scary Apothecary series:

Bitter Brew

stitched on 28 count linen in Radioactive from Chromatic Alchemy

I am using the DMC conversion for this, except for:

the black which is Weeks Dye Works Kohl 

(charted for CC Zack Black or DMC 317).
  

I also substituted: 

DMC E316 (metallic) for Kreinik 5013, 

DMC E317 (metallic) for Kreinik 011HL and 

a blend of DMC 3853 and 5284 (metallic) for 

I finished it in this frame from B&M

For the horizontal frames, I have used some scrapbook paper.  The plan is to stitch some poison bottles on perforated paper and add them to the piece.

Framed with Bat Balm and Broomstitch Fuel

 

12. Just Nan Garden Maze

Just Nan Garden Maze
Stitched on 28 count green evenweave

11. Just Nan Winter in the Square

 

Just Nan Winter in the Square
Stitched on 32 count Light Mocha Linen

Framed with a snowflake charm added

10. Drawn Thread - Be Well

The Drawn Thread - Be Well freebie

Given as part of the #bewellandstitch SAL

Stitched on 35 count sand linen using one strand DMC

Chart found here.

Features satin stitched bees:

Scrapbooked using some ribbon gifted by an Italian friend:

09. Blue Ribbon Designs - Trimming The Tree

Blue Ribbon Designs - Trimming the Tree

From the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Special 2019

Stitched on 32 count Twilight Blue linen

Scrapbooked on a page from a calendar

08. Plum Street Samplers - Fox Few

Plum Street Samplers - Fox Few

Stitched on 32 count Khaki evenweave.

I used the DMC conversion for this with the exception of the yellow for the bees.

 They recommended a brown 435 for Amber but I used 783.

 I backstitched the pale blue flowers as they blended into the fabric colour.

 The chart says to use a dark blue for the centres but the cover picture shows them as white. There is a symbol for white which isn't used anywhere so I guess that is a mistake.

I also used a blend for the hillside rather than a variegated thread. They recommend 3012 which was too close to 3011 which I used for the flower stems. 3013 was too close to the fabric colour but blending it with 3012 was perfect and makes a nice mottled effect for the grass. 

07. JBW 12 Days of Christmas Book 1

JBW 12 Days of Christmas Book 1

stitched on 40 count white linen

I added petite red beads for the holly berries

06. Cross Stitcher Butterfly Card

Cover kit from Cross Stitcher magazine issue 356

Stitched on 32 count white evenweave

05. Just Nan Crystal Heart

Just Nan Crystal Heart

stitched on 32 count Lavender Murano