SYOA - Swirls - Ravenclaw House Colours

Last night I stitched a bit of the blue for the Ravenclaw house swirl.  Today I hope to finish both the blue and brown swirls.

SYOA - Swirls - Hufflepuff House Colours - finished

I finished the Hufflepuff house colour swirl (yellow & black).  I will work on the Ravenclaw house colours (blue/brown) tonight.

SYOA - Swirls - Hufflepuff House Colours

Tonight I’m working on the top portion of the Stitch Your Own Adventures.  I have the month of April before Chapter 3 is released, so I decided to stitch the swirls above the parchments which represent the 4 houses.  I’m starting with Hufflepuff because it is above Chapter 1 and I know it is correctly placed on the fabric.  I’m not sure if the brown parchment lines are correct for the unfinished chapters.  I will double check them and add the cream/beige as I stitch each chapter. 

Stewart’s design (below) only has the 4 main house colours (Gryffindor red/Hufflepuff yellow/Ravenclaw blue/Slytherin green), but I’m adding the other house colours to my project.  

This photo shows the black completed part of the swirl and some of the yellow started..

Peppermint Purple (Green) - week 12

Last night I stitched week 12 of the Peppermint Purple SAL.  I’m all caught up again until this Wednesday.  Here is a close up of the pattern.  I see a missing stitch and at least 3 wrong stitches.  Everyone complained that this one was really hard to stitch, I agree.  I’ll fix them before this week. 

Here are all 13 blocks so far.

Smalls SAL - March

I’d like to thank Mary at Mary’s Thread for hosting the Smalls SAL.  I stitched a purple clematis.  You can find the free pattern here  http://free-cross-stitch.rucniprace.cz/ .   I stitched the flower on 28ct lavender Lugana evenweave.

I will be sending this stitched flower to Clare for her Christmas Tree which she is decorating for her church.  Each year she chooses a different theme for her tree.  This year she is decorating the tree with flowers that she cross stitches herself and from other stitchers who want to help her.  If you want to help Clare you can read about it here on her blog.

Peppermint Purple (Green) - week 13

I didn’t stitch much tonight, but I managed to finish a small block (week 13).  Tomorrow I hope to stitch week 12.

Snooker Birthday Card

Yesterday was my husband’s birthday and I forgot to show everyone the card I made for him.  Here is the card all folded up to fit inside the envelope.

Here is the card opened up.  It is supposed to look like our snooker table.  I used a wiggly die cut to make the cue ball slide.  This is a joke because you want the cue ball to go straight so you can hit as many red balls as possible when you go to break (shoot).  I even made the cue stick fold in half (to fit inside the envelope), just like the real ones that come in two pieces and screw together.  He loved the card.

Here is a photo of our real snooker table.

SYOA - Chapter 2 - Happy Dance!!

I finally finished all of Chapter 2.  I love how this chapter turned out.


After seeing photos of Hufflepuff banners completed on Facebook group, I realized I forgot to backstitch the inside of the Letter H.  I wasn't going to do the zigzag pattern stitched along the edges of the banner but my youngest son Jordyn said it would look better, so being the good mom I did it.  I agree it does look fancier.

This is how they look together. 

SYOA - Chapter 2 - Quidditch - update #12

I stitched a lot yesterday.  I finished the blue Ravenclaw tower, added some striped grass (like in the movie) and a small snitch.  The golden snitch is a free pattern from Little Mojo, I stitched it over 1 to make it smaller, and I only used 3 colour (2 DMC metallic threads and 1 DMC floss ) to make it less complicated to stitch.  Then I backstitched everything except the snitch and the uniform shirt.  I  just need to finish the cream/beige along the edges of the parchment and I will be done.  I have never stitched with so many metallic threads in one project but this one seemed to call for it.

SYOA - Chapter 2 - Quidditch - update #11

Last night, I worked on the blue tower and Gryffindor colours along the sides of the Quidditch field.  I also added part of a left sleeve to the uniform shirt.

SYOA - Chapter 2 - Quidditch - update #10

Last night I finished 90% of the broom.  I still need to add the metallic gold label on handle and backstitching (not on pattern, but I like the look of it).

SYOA - Chapter 2 - Quidditch - update #9

Last night I stitched with DMC metallic gold for the accessory (brake?) on the broom.  1 strand of light gold with 1 strand DMC 833 and then for the darker gold with 1 strand of DMC 833.  Then I finished the broom bristles, that was all I could handle working with the metallic floss.

Now I’m off to do some more stitching.  I hope to finish the broom handle tonight and maybe start the blue tower.

SYOA - Chapter 2 - Quidditch - update #8

Last night, I decided to stitch the green/silver tower on the right side.  After that I continued on to the broom.  Here is a close up of the tower.  I used 1 strand of metallic green blended with the light green for the flag.  I also used 1 strand of metallic silver blended with a light grey for the checkers on the inside (left).  I didn’t use metallic on the rest of the tower (dark side) or the light green side.

Tonight I will continue with the broom.  I will backstitch the Slytherin tower after I do the Ravenclaw one and the sides of the Quidditch field (Gryffindor & Hufflepuff colours).  I am enjoying this stitch-a-long so much.  I love the freedom to personalize the project.  

Question - some stitchers think there is too much space beside the shirt and the parchment edge.  Should I do a partial sleeve on the left side? 

SYOA - Chapter 2 - Quidditch - update #7

Last night, I finished the club underneath the second bludger and backstitched around both items.  Then I started working on the cream edge along the right side of the parchment.  I think tonight I will start on the Slytherin team tower close to the right edge.

SYOA - Chapter 2 - Quidditch - update #6

Last night, I finished the second bludger and started the backstitching around it.  Tonight, I hope to finish the club handle.

Here is the whole project.  I noticed after looking on the Facebook Group that I forgot to backstitch inside the letter H.  I will go back and do the backstitching in the H after I finish stitching Chapter 2.  I’m loving this SAL.

SYOA - Chapter 2 - Quidditch - update #5

Saturday, I finished stitching the quaffle.  

Sunday, I backstitched around the quaffle even though there weren’t any on the chart.  I also started stitching the second bludger and club.

 

Peppermint Purple (Green) - all caught up

Well I’m finally all caught up.  I stitched weeks 10 & 11 last night and went back to finish week 9 today.

I have decided to leave the light green (DMC 989) in the 2nd row.  Thank you everyone who left me messages about the different shades of green.  I like Rachel’s advice about alternating greens (DMC 988, 989, 988, 989), but I’m really worried about screwing up the pattern.  If you look at the border photo below you can see that it is broken up into 3 sections.  I think I will add a row of light green in each of the 3 sections to make it look symmetrical.  Hopefully I won’t screw up the pattern.

Section 1 - row 2
Section 2 - middle row

Section 3 - 2nd last row (opposite of the top section)

I could also do the long skinny rows (2 of them) in the light green as well.

Card - Get Well Soon

My closest friend Lisa had knee replacement surgery Thursday on her right knee.  I was her babysitter this morning and will go back on Tuesday to help her.  

I used this as an excuse to make my first Get Well Soon card.  She also loves Teddy Bears, but already has too many. So, I decided she needed bear themed food gifts instead. My favourite bear character is Winnie-the-Pooh and because he loves honey I bought Honey flavoured Teddy Graham cookies.  And who wouldn’t want Gummy Bears to go with the cookies.  Never too much sugar when you are feeling crappy.

Knee Card

Honey Teddy Graham cookies and Gummy Bears.

Peppermint Purple (Green) - week 7, 8

Last night I completed week 7 & 8 and started week 9.  I stitch with a magnifying lamp, so I should see things more precise.  Well I noticed week 1 looked a little lighter colour, but thought it was because of the design and I’m stitching at night.  After stitching 3/4 of the second row, I realize that yes this green is definitely lighter than the top row.   Can you tell that there are two shades of green?  Maybe it’s not as noticeable in the photo compared to in real life.  I will stitch the third row with my original colour DMC 988.  I will decide after the the next row if I have to rip out row two.  I really hate to rip it out again, but once I’m caught up I’ll have the time to fix it.

Peppermint Purple (Green) - week 6

Last night I worked on Peppermint Purple 52 weeks SAL   I only did week 6.  I’m still behind by 5 weeks, but hope to catch up soon.

 

SYOA - Chapter 2 - Quidditch - update #4

Monday night I started working on a bludger and club.  There will be 2 of these because there are 2 beaters on each team and they each have a club and bludger to shoot at the other team.  The ball is almost done and I stitched the handle on the first club.

Last night, I finished the first bludger and club then started working on the quaffle.

Reminder of how my layout will look for Chapter 2.  I’m thinking of making a small change to the blue tower.  I saw that someone on the Facebook group change it so the towers are both facing the Quidditch field.  The checkered area on the towers is now on the inside facing the field the same as the green one.  Also, they don’t have the seating showing on the blue tower. 

This is my original layout with the tower facing sideways.  You can see the seating in the tower.  What do you think?  Should I leave the blue tower as it was originally designed below or change it as in the above example?  Everything else is the same on the 2 images.

FFG - March

Thanks again to Rachel at Ten Hour Stitcher for encouraging us to finish some projects.  I was going to blog about my Quidditch progress and saw Rachel’s blog and felt guilty because I procrastinated all month and didn’t get around to fully finishing anything until this morning.  Thanks Rachel, it’s all your fault.  :)

First up I used a black 5 X 7 frame for the Lesley Teare SAL I did last year.  I couldn’t use the glass because of the beads in the project.  Next time I’m ironing something I can take this out and iron it as well.

The second framed project is by Sue Hillis called Yes, I Can Drive A Stick.  I don’t usually stitch Halloween pictures, but this one I had to do because I actually prefer to drive standard transmission (cars with a stick).  So this project is perfect for me, and I stitched it on purple.  The frame is a little banged up, but I reused it from our house.

The last framed picture is called Blackwork Dragon by Dragon Dreams.  I stitched this way back in 2004.  I believe the model was stitched in one colour, but I thought it would be fun to mix it up.

Finally the one everyone is waiting to see ... Miss Strawberry Mouse.  Remember this is what she looked like before.  I love the pink on pink fabric.

I had to take her outside for a photo because it is a cloudy, rainy day here.  Every room is dark, I was getting shadows.  I assembled her today.  I love how she turned out.  I like the new tails on the mice for the seasonal houses.  It is a wire corded tail instead of the metal shaped tails.  It is hard to see the pink on pink fabric in the photos, but you can see it in real life.  

SYOA - Chapter 2 - Quidditch - update #3

Last night I finished stitching the Hufflepuff uniform shirt.  I modified the shirt to a general Hufflepuff badger head and a small Hufflepuff house crest.  I used DMC Rayon black (1 strand) to do petit point stitches to create the badger's head and house crest.  I forgot how much fun the Rayon floss is to work with.  It is very shiny and slippery.  I'm also used to stitching over 2 on 28ct evenweave and the petit point is stitch 1 over 1.  It took me several nights to stitch this shirt, because I found it very hard to see the holes when stitching over 1 even with my magnifying lamp.  I'm so glad I didn't make any mistakes because I'm not sure if I could pull out the stitches without ripping the fabric.  Overall I'm very happy with the results.  It turned out better than I expected.
Here is the whole project so far.

Here is a close up of the shirt.

Let The People Choose

Coffee anyone?

I am excited again to be participating in the following SAL, which is hosted each month by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.

I’m not a coffee drinker myself because I have to use so much sugar, milk or cream to kill the bitter taste.  But it's funny, I love to walk down the coffee aisle in the grocery store just to smell the coffee beans.  

This is the only coffee related cross stitch I have stitched over the years.  It is called Coffee is Magic by Dragon Dreams.

I do have one other coffee related chart in my stash because my close friend Lisa is a coffee lover so I bought this to do for her some time.  It is called Let’s Do Coffee by Ursula Michaels.