51. Mary Cherry

The Small Boy loves numbers and counting rhymes, in fact you can track him round the Playgroup Hall by the sound of his Keyworker's voice reciting 1,2,3,4 as she goes!  I found this beautifully illustrated children's Nursery Rhyme book and knew I'd found the inspiration for her end-of-term stitched present.  Here is the illustration that inspired me:

I just sketched her onto graph paper then backstitched onto 28count linen.  I added some little beads for the cherries and now I have to frame her.

50. Birthday Card

This is my block for a secret quilt project we made for Nicola's 50th Birthday.

I took a motif from Scarlet Letter's English Transitional Sampler.

You can see more of the quilt

here

49. JBW Alphabet Cat July

July's cat is stitched in sunny yellow on a piece of Summer Sky 28 count evenweave from Crafty Kitten 

48. Shepherd's Bush Bilberry

I stitched this piece on 32 count Antique White linen.  They didn't have Ivory so originally I tried Antique Ivory but it was far too dark.  This is perfect.  It only took a few days too.  I have framed it in a nice dark wood frame from a chain store (Wilkinsons for the English) which came with a mount.  I looked up "bilberries" on Google Images and found a nice woodcut of bilberries which I copied onto the corner of the mount using felt tip pens.

Companion to Mulberry

47. La Di Da Rose is a Rose

Rose freebie from La D Da.
Stitched on 18 count linen for the Needlecraft Haven July Challenge
Finished into a little bag.

46. Mirabilia Round Robin Shimmering Mermaid

My Mermaid is Shimmering Mermaid for Karen's Round Robin.  She is beautiful with her lovely free-flowing hair.  Karen stitched the shells and seaweed first then specified which parts of the mermaids to stitchso they are not confined to boxes but float on the sea of her fabric.

And here is the full piece, only one block to go.  This is a Large Mirabilia RR, each block is 5,000 stitches rather than the usual 2,500 so we have been given longer to stitch each round and there are three groups of four stitchers.

Final completed piece:

45. Stitcher's Hideaway Hear the Sea Call

Hear the Sea Call by Stitcher's Hideaway

The chart was a prize from Riona of Oubliette, 

the fabric is Summer Sky by Crafty Kitten 

and the hand-dyed thread is from Jodyri Designs.

I sourced some little mother-of-pearl fishes from an Ebay shop, the shells came from some old trim in the craft box and the abalone type stones came from the local craft shop.  I framed it in a simple raw wood box frame. 

44. Thread Pickerz Heartz SAL

This is another FB exclusive, the Heartz SAL from Threadpickerz.  They released two hearts every Sunday for eight weeks.  

I stitched them on 32 count plain white evenweave using a rainbow artificial silk from De Havilland threads which has been in my stash for over 15 years!  Just waiting for the perfect design.  

The first heart was charted as a solid heart to show off the variegated threads people were using.  I changed it to show our initials, mine, hubby's and the boys'.

 I've framed the hearts in a simple raw wood box frame:

43. Carand88 Mummy Kitty

This is for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL blog June choice, mummies or tombs.  I couldnt find a design that really appealed to me so I adapted one of the kitties from Carand88 into Mummified Kitty.

I stitched him on 28 count black evenweave using threads from my scraps bag so I'm sorry I don't have DMC numbers for them.  I stitched the outline exactly as charted for Frankenkitty then stitched the grey lines in an elongated stitch one thread high, two threads wide then just filled in with two shades of cream.  I used two because I didn't have enough of either to stitch the whole kitty!

42. Dragon Dreams Sixth Dragonlet of Christmas

On the Sixth Day of Christmas my True Love sent to me - 

A rather startled Goose a'hatching

Technically should be Geese a'laying but how would we know there was a dragonlet in the egg if it didn't hatch?

The sixth in a series designed by Dragon Dreams exclusively for their Facebook page

Stitched in DMC on 28 count green evenweave.

I used a DMC Light Effects for the egg to give a nice eggshell sheen.

41. JBW Alphabet Cat June

June's kitty is a patriotic red, white and blue kitty to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday and also the 60th Anniversary of the Coronation.  The Queen's Diamond Jubilee was last year as she ascended to the throne in 1952 but it took a year to plan her coronation.

Kitty is stitched on some pale blue 28 count evenweave.  I drew an Union Jack pattern on graph paper using pencil then carefully inked in the letters in red, blue and yellow (so it would show up).  Then just stitched as usual.  The white isn't very clear and the alphabettiness isn't as obvious on this kitty but as part of the set it will look good.

I stitched the flag ribbon onto a piece of aida then used it to back the ornie. 

40. Val's Stuff Boo

The choice for May's Hallowe'en Ornie was Ghosts.

This is a sweet little design from JCS 2012 Hallowe'en Ornie Special issue.

A new designer for me, Val's Stuff.

Stitched on Twilight Blue 28 count linen.

39. Joan Elliott April Dragons

Joan Elliott April design from the 2013 Diary.

The fabric is a piece from a Crafty Kitten grab bag, a sort of blue sky effect.  I used all the recommended colours but added backstitch in metallic purple to the purple fronds and also metallic silver bs to the wings.

38. The Little Stitcher There's No Place Like Home

The Needlecraft Haven Freebie Challenge for May.  

A great design fromThe Little Stitcher called "There's No Place Like Home":

I stitched this on a piece of Emerald Green aida using DMC threads and a thick Madeira metallic red for the shoes.  I got the Maderia threads free from a magazine and I'm not a fan but it was good for this design.

37. Birthday Card

No Picture.
Card missing in postal system.

36. Dragon Dreams Fifth Dragonlet of Christmas

On the Fifth Day of Christmas my True Love sent to me - 

A Dragonlet and Fiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvvvve Gooooooooooooooold Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiings

The fifth in a series designed by Dragon Dreams exclusively for their Facebook page

Stitched in DMC on 28 count green evenweave.

I used two different metallics.  One darker and thicker from Madeira and one lighter and thinner from DMC.  The DMC was nicer to stitch with on this count.

35. JBW Alphabet Cat May

Pink and Green for the May Blossom.

The gingham backing fabric was chosen by a vote on my blog.

34. Sophia's Celtic Band Sampler RR

Sophia's theme was a series of Celtic Knot bands in rainbow colours.

I stitched yellow and orange.

33. Snowflower Diaries Tulip and Bunny

Freebie from Snowflower Diaries

Stitched on 28 count yellow evenweave

April Needlecraft Haven Challenge

32. Quaker Bunny II

Quaker Bunny mini bag from Palko-Lap Blog

Stitched on 18 count pink linen over 1

Sent as part of a giveaway