Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #31

Hello again! It's the final day. For today I've saved one that I technically started before May even began. I finished my April goals, 2K on Animal Kingdom and finished 5 WIPs, some of which had been hanging around for several years. I ended up with a couple days left in April which wouldn't quite be enough to finish anything else, so I stared a new project that I was really excited about. 

If you're not familiar with the Etsy shop Taylor and Cromwell, I've linked to it here for you. They have a lot of really interesting patterns, and many of them are word-related. We all know I have a tendency towards those patterns, and so many of theirs have fandom aspects. There are several Broadway shows, book series, all kinds of things. 

from Six the Musical

from Les Miz

from the Infernal Devices series of books

And, the best part is, they offer custom designs. For only $15USD. That was well worth it for me to request a custom design of one of DH's and my favourite book series, the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. I linked to t he Wikipedia page if you're interested in an epic fantasy series. There are 4 books so far, and each one keeps getting better. 

I chose 10 quotes and the designer even added a special aspect to the chart, the special swords some characters use. I hadn't requested anything like that, but it definitely adds to the project. Here's the mock-up:

I can't even tell you how much I love this! It's just perfect and fits the series so well. The quotes that should be more emphasized are, and the addition of the swords and flag, excellent! So, if you're interested in something similar, look for their custom listing. It's well worth it. My start is here:

Stormlight Archive quotes by Taylor and Cromwell

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct black Monaco

with DMC as charted

I had a good piece of 28ct black Monaco sitting around that fit the size perfectly. And this works in Pattern Keeper! Even better. I think I had to add the DMC colour numbers, but the chart was easy to enter into the app. 

I think this will be one of those that I keep coming back to until it's finished, like Princess and the Dragon. It will get worked on every month. I doubt I'll have a finish this year, but definitely before the 5th book comes out. He takes a few years between each one, and the 4th one only came out last fall, so I have some time. 

I have no association with Taylor and Cromwell aside from the fact I was really pleased with this and the interaction with the designer. There was one change that had to be made in the design and that was done quickly and without any fuss on their end. They also have a Facebook group where they post some freebie patterns if you want to have a look. 

I hope you're all staying healthy and enjoying your stitching. Stay well and thank you for making it through this month with me. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #30

 It's the penultimate post of Stitch Maynia! Here we are, almost another month complete. Thank you again for sticking with me through this whole process and all of these starts. As I mentioned yesterday, I planned to work on a second birdhouse to have a smaller WIP in the works than those larger Christmas ones I'd started. I don't have a mock-up for this one, so I only have my small start:

Christmas Birdhouse by Durene Jones

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Monaco

with DMC as charted

I managed a bit more on this one, mostly since it has less colour changes and a lot of B5200 on it. I don't think these will take too long, maybe a day a piece with all the colour changes and back stitch? Certainly not very long to get these complete. I'm also stitching them on the same piece of fabric, so when I finish the colour on one, I can use it on the other one if it calls for the same colour. 

Sorry this isn't a great photo, I didn't realize I wanted to share how I was stitching them until just now. Clearly I got my phone shadow in this shot. ;)

Tomorrow is the last day and I already have my post scheduled, so this is the last one I'll be writing in May. I would like to think I can keep up at least weekly after this until the Tokyo starts with Rachel. We'll see. Those kind of sound like famous last words to me. :D

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #29

Hello and greetings for the antepenultimate post of Stitch Maynia! This is one of those random words I learned in high school that has stuck in my conscious memory. It means 3rd from last, penultimate 2nd last and ultimate being last. 

I've stuck with a Christmas theme for the next two starts. I had some idea I might stitch a bunch of these since they're small, but my plans are always fluid. I think I had 36 or 37 patterns I could have stitched for Maynia and kept it to one start a day, but had some choice on what I chose each day so it wasn't locked into anything specific. I think I do better when I have some choice vs. following a strict rule. 

This is a mock-up of how one will look from a magazine photo:

And I only managed a few stitches into this one last night:

Christmas Birdhouse by Durene Jones

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct white Monaco

with DMC as charted

These have a lot of colour changes and some backstitch, so they're not exactly quick or easy, but they'll make nice little cards for Christmas once I manage to get them complete. I was debating about changing the birds to chickadees since they're more common here in North America than the robins, but we could pretend they're finches. The house finch has somewhat similar colouring, although maybe smaller and no white. Possibly less red in winter too, like how the goldfinch is very drab in winter compared to its summer brilliance. Anyways, I'm not motivated enough to change the colours, so it will be stitched as charted. 

We're almost there! 2 more days after this and the month will be complete. Thank you for staying with me and all of your comments. They definitely brighten my day. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #28

 No one is tired of Christmas yet right? Right? Even if you are, this is a non-traditional type Christmas design, or it is with the colours I chose. I think this was a free design that was offered years ago from an online cross stitch store:

I printed this out years ago and have had various ideas every time I look at it on how to stitch it. It's charted in red and green, but that is far too usual for this design. I changed it up for 5 different thread colours but kept the fabric white. I managed to get quite a bit done as well, 4 whole sections!

Patch Christmas Tree 1 by Angie Designer

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct white Monaco with stash threads

 unknown Dinky Dyes, Caron Waterlilies parrot, Dinky Dyes Down Under Blues and Jodyri Oz the Great and Powerful

There's only one colour missing, and that's an unknown Dinky Dyes purple that matches the purple in Oz the G&P. The lines are charted in DMC 310, but that seems a little dark. I was wondering about doing a red metallic or Etoile since I have most of the other rainbow colours in the design already. Or maybe just DMC 3799? If you have any suggestions, please let me know! I won't get back to this right away, but I probably will pick it up soon since another day of stitching should finish it off. Wait, that's starting to sound familiar somehow...

I hope you're all staying well and having a good day. Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #27

Is anyone tired of Christmas projects yet? I have another one today. I can't remember if I have more left in the expanding file folder, and there's only 3 more days of new ones. May 31st has something special, so that one is already planned and the post has been scheduled. 

I've had this chart for quite a while, it's one of the gorgeous Whispered by the Wind Christmas designs. This one is kind of a bargain since you technically get 3 patterns in one. 

Naturally I've changed up the colours to some I had in stash and got almost 200 stitches into this one:

Simply Christmas by Whispered by the Wind

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Lazurite by Chromatic Alchemy

with Soie Cristal to start

I thought I had taken a floss toss photo, but I can't find it right now. If I remember, I'll try and add one at some point. I'm going with WDW Turkish Red for the red and a PTB for the gold metallic. 

This is a fairly mindless stitch since it's the same pattern over and over and I think that will be good for the long work days. Get a thread length in every now and again and sooner or later I'll have a finish.

I seem to be accumulating a lot of WIPs lately, so maybe tomorrow I'll see if I have another small one to work on. I hope you're all keeping well!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #26

Hello, hello! Last night I decided to torture myself a little. I had this scrap of 18ct beige aida that I thought would look really cool with this Caron Snow colour I picked up when my LNS was closing. I found a few colours I thought I could use, and this one seemed like it might work for a dragon, trees, etc. I decided to break it out for a tree this time. This is technically an Assisi tree freebie pattern that I printed out long ago without any identifiers. I thought to make it quicker, I'd stitch the part that usually would not be stitched. 

Here's where I got to:

Assisi tree stitched in opposite by unknown designer

stitched 1 over 1 on 18ct beige Aida

with Caron Snow 06 - Cedar Green 

Caron Snow is definitely better than Kreinik and DMC, although I'm not sure it's as easy as PTB to stitch with. Also, I really think this should be 14ct, because I was dragging the thread through the holes. This is probably 1/3 done though, so it's not a long stitch, except for how long it takes to stitch with metallics. Knowing this now, I think I'd choose Etoile next time. I still might use Etoile for the star, even though it would be less sparkly than the tree. 

I can't remember if tomorrow will be yet another Christmas design or if I'm into a different season. I think there are still a few left in my expanding file. Plus there's some more of the Circus Stitches patterns from the sale that I might work into these starts. Only a few more days left to the month!

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #25

Today is another good day to stitch on more Christmas designs. I think it's safe to say I have a lot of Christmas designs sitting around waiting for me to stitch them. At least I've pulled out several this month to get them started. It's time for a Durene Jones large project today. It's still not very big, but considering how many smalls she creates, it's a decent size. 

I originally found this in a magazine, but you can purchase it from her Etsy store now. 

I thought I'd start with outlining some of the boxes to make it a bit easier to complete. 

Believe in the Magic of Christmas by Durene Jones

stitched 2 over 2 on 32ct Murano Polynesium by Chromatic Alchemy

stitched as charted, DMC 349 so far

This is about 350 stitches, so it's a decent start. This will be another long-term one and maybe finishing a box now and then will feel like a mini-finish. 

I hope you've all been having a good week so far!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #24

 Back to our regularly scheduled seasonal charts, this is a fun one from Jardin Privé. 

I'm not a huge fan of redwork, so I changed up the fabric and threads. This is my start:

Joyeux Noel by Jardin Privé

stitched 1 over 2 on 28ct Slytherin evenweave by Chromatic Alchemy

with Caron Waterlilies Hint of Mint

I had some colourful thread picked out, but I asked DH's opinion since he has a better colour sense than I do, and he said to stick with the whitish thread only. I think I have enough to finish since I have a whole skein and it's 1 over 2 stitching. I quite like the fabric colour too with it's muted grey/blue tones within the green. 

This one will definitely take a while, but it is only one colour, so it should still be quicker than something with many colour changes. 

I hope you're all staying healthy and enjoying some sunshine. It's cooled off a bit today, a high of 18-20C/65-68F, but there's still some nice sun, so it's a good day to be outside and maybe get some gardening done. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

. 

Stitch Maynia Start #23

And here we are again with a very similar start to yesterday, but this time I decided to stitch it in a different way. As a reminder, this is what it will eventually look like:

Bibliophile Blackwork Bookmark by Kincavel Krosses

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct white Monaco

with DMC variations

This time I'm using another friend's "house" colours from Harry Potter. She's a very proud Hufflepuff and this thread is perfect. 

Bibliophile Blackwork Bookmark by Kincavel Krosses

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct white Monaco

with Jodyri HunniBee

Perfect colours, right? So this will be fun to fill in. I think I'll have to do the lettering in DMC 310 because it might not show well enough in the yellow. 

That's all for today, and I hope you've all had enjoyable weekends! 

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #22

 At first glance, this might look like it's not part of the seasonal theme, but there's a good way to shoe horn this into the theme. I hope to give this as a Christmas present to a friend, and I'm starting another one tomorrow, same design, but different colours. 

It will eventually look like this one I stitched way back in 2011:

Bibliophile Blackwork Bookmark by Kincavel Krosses

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct white Monaco

with DMC variations

There is a lot of stitching in these, as those who are familiar with blackwork will understand. I remember this one took quite a while to complete, and it might have been my first foray into blackwork at the time. I still enjoy it now too. 

Here's my start of around 450 stitches:

Bibliophile Blackwork Bookmark by Kincavel Krosses

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct white Monaco

with Flamenco by Jodyri Designs

This is for a friend that loves to read, obviously, but also loves red and black plaid/flannel, etc. I think this will turn out perfectly for her. 

I'm not being particularly fussy on colour placement in this one, just using the opposite colour from what I finished with when I start a new thread, etc. 

I hope you've all been staying well and thank you so much for your comments. I'm behind on replies, but I'm working on it!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #21

Today's start is not part of the seasonal theme. There's a few of these this month, and that one extra I added a couple days ago now too! I was talking with another stitching friend and after a long week of work (it's only 2 days yet and feels like it's been a week) I decided to start this one:

Have you ever had the feeling when something comes together just perfectly and works out even better than you'd hoped? I had admired this pattern, but hadn't purchased it because I'd been debating about fabric and then Chromatic Alchemy had a odds and ends sale and I tried to purchase this one because I loved the idea of this pattern on that fabric. I ended up winning the chance to buy it and am going to use black for the dragon, so it's like it's rising against a sun or fire, that type of look. 

Here's my start:

Samurai by Fire Wing Designs

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Fire Rooster by Chromatic Alchemy

with Madeira black 

This is my first time stitching with Madeira and doubled it's quite thick, so the coverage is excellent. I think I'm comfortable enough with the 2 over 2, although maybe 1 over 2 would have been easier. 

I hope you're all staying well and Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #20

I'm impressed I've kept up so far, and now it seems like there's no reason I can't make it the whole 31 days. I think I did more days in a row back with the Crazy January/February challenges (2015/2016), so this wouldn't be a record for me. It is a lot more posts than I've made in a long time though!

I chose another ornament today, and another Kincavel Krosses pattern. She has a lot of fun seasonal designs, and most of them are free, although a few are for sale now too. 

Here's my start:

Noel Tree by Kincavel Krosses

stitched 1 over 1 on 18ct Nimbus Aida by Chromatic Alchemy

stitched with scrap threads, unknown if DMC

This is another easy one, lots of backstitch of course, and a chance to add beads. I might do that or might just do French knots. Beads are fun and sparkly and I definitely have a few left over from Mill Hill kits and Nora Corbett letters, so we'll see when I get to that point. This isn't a big project, but adding the bead component means I probably won't get back to this one for a while. 

I'll slightly modify the design to add the umlaut above the E in Noel to make it more French. I can't remember if it's called an umlaut in French, but it's the 2 dots above the E. :)

I hope you're all staying well. I feel like it's building up to be a doozy of a full moon next week, or I'm just not doing that well because of the constant sinus/allergy issues. We'll see how the rest of the week goes. I'll enjoy the 25-30C weather for now since it's not humid. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #19

I'm back on track today with my seasonal plan, as you'll soon see. This is another Kincavel Krosses pattern I've had hanging around for a while, but haven't made time to stitch. Can you tell what it is by the bit I have complete? You might not be too surprised to hear this is DD's favourite Christmas song.

Deck the Halls Christmas Sampler by Kincavel Krosses

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Brittney evenweave Poseidon by Chromatic Alchemy

with Candy Cane by Chromatic Alchemy (ltd edition, no longer available)

There are little holly branches and berries around this one, and I haven't decided yet if I'll stitch them in the variegated floss or use some somewhat similar DMC. It should be a fairly easy finish, but it will definitely take a few days. It's 124x74 if I'm remembering correctly. 

I hope you're all staying well and congratulations if you're still sticking with me this far into May!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #18

Day 18 is here and I was so close to a finish with this one! I derailed adjusted my plan a bit when Circus Stitches was having a sale and decided to do this quick little one. 

Here's my almost finish:

Oo-de-lally by Circus Stitches

stitched 2 over 1 on 18ct damask Aida by Silkweavers

with Silks4U PR 069 

Right now, the Disney Robin Hood is one of DD's favourite movies and it's always been one of mine, so I'm happy she enjoys it too. For a while when she was younger, she wanted me to sing this to her every night. 

I might try and get back to this one and finish it tomorrow as well. 

I hope you're all staying healthy and Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #2017

I had an interesting experience with this new start. I hadn't slept well the previous night, and after stitching for a bit, I started to fall asleep while I was stitching. If you zoom into the photo, you can see the top right area is all mixed up. There are some stitches missing in the row, some are over 2 stitches, and there's at least one straight stitch. Not sure why I was so tired, although I'm generally stressed most work days at least somewhat. Plus the US is considering wearing masks less, although I don't think our state has chosen to make any changes yet. We did have someone come in not wearing a mask after the CDC released their recommendation though, so that was not fun to deal with. Hopefully people will still be smart about it, but I have concerns.

On to more fun things though, stitching! I started one I've had for a few years now. I picked this up at a small LNS in Sudbury, Ontario when we were visiting friends up there. Eventually, it will look like this:

I changed up the fabric a bit for something a little more colourful, and here's my start:

Snowball fight by Gitta

stitched 1 over 1 on 25ct Nimbus evenweave by Chromatic Alchemy

with DMC as charted

I have some hope to frog that upper right part and get a little more white in today, then that will likely be all for a while. I have other smaller ones I'll try and get finished up first before this slightly larger projects. I debated about making each Inuit a start, but I'd rather start a whole new project instead. 

We've enjoyed some beautiful sunny days lately and have the cover off the pool in hopes it will warm up the water. Only 64C yet, so no one has dared try to go in. I hope you've all been staying well! 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Start Maynia 2021 Start #16

I'm late today! I got so much done at work today, probably because I forgot to post my blog post. X)

Today was the last stocking in the set, and I also stuck with the 2nd one and have another finish for Maynia! This makes 5/15 projects complete. 

Stocking ornament by Jane Henderson

stitched 2 over 2 DMC 700, 701 and 703

on 28ct scrap evenweave

And my start on #3:

Stocking ornament by Jane Henderson

stitched 2 over 2 as charted

on 28ct scrap evenweave

This one is a little more complicated because the large motif on the body of the stocking is a snowflake. I think it will look really interesting, but it's a lot of bits of stitching, so I didn't accomplish as much on this one. But I did get another finish!

And now I have to decide what to start tonight. It was nice having 3 patterns in a row to start, that made it so much easier. :) 

I hope you've all been well, and Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Start Maynia 2021 Start #15

Woah..we're halfway there! Any Bon Jovi fans? My SIL is still a Bon Jovi fan and had tons of his music at their wedding. She danced to a bunch of it, so that was fun. 

I'm back to another stocking today and I remembered to take a photo of the front of the magazine for anyone who might be interested. 

I found this at one of the big box stores, maybe A.C. Moore, and that closed in 2019. It has some fun designs, including these stockings naturally. 

I managed to get a bit farther on #2, and added a little colour:

Stocking ornaments

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct scrap fabric with DMC 701 and 703 (not as charted)

The colours charted for these are red, pink and blue. I changed out the red for green and I think this matches the colour palette for the blue and pink ones as well. This was about 400 stitches I think, and let's say it all together now! "With another day or two I can finish these" :)

I'm looking forward to starting the 3rd one tomorrow and seeing if I can get more colour in it as well. Or maybe I'll concentrate on this one a bit longer and see if I can finish it off. I'm really enjoying this pattern for some reason. I don't know if you can tell, but the large pattern on the stocking "foot" is going to be a big star. 

Hope you're all staying healthy and Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #14

It's time again for another new start and another seasonal project. This will be a series of 3 small-medium sized starts. I've had this magazine for quite a few years now, possibly it came out in 2011? And I've made at least one other project from the options inside. 

I've looked at these little stockings for years and finally decided this was a good excuse to start them. 

Number one will be like the stocking on the right, the colours will be pink and close to those shades. They used Anchor, so these will be the DMC conversions, but will otherwise stay the same. 

So far I only managed to get the B5200  mostly complete:

Stocking ornaments

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct evenweave, unknown scrap

using DMC as charted

I think you can kind of tell the outline of the stocking shape and there will be a heart in the middle with some stars around it. Can anyone guess the next thing I should say? ;) "with a day or more of stitching, I should be able to finish it". 

I will be adding a couple more of these, so maybe there will be some colour tomorrow. I hope you're all staying well.

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #13

Lucky number 13 today! I had no particular plans for May 13, although maybe this should have been another Halloween-themed project. I think it's technically an Easter project, although it's weird because it's a bunny silhouette against the moon. Here's what it will look like once completed:

This was once a free design, but is now 4 euros here. 

I managed a bit of a start on this one and adjusted the colours to fit my fabric. It may look more like a sunset on my choice, but that's okay. I had a black and white photo of it, so wasn't sure what colour they had chosen for the background until I just found this photo. 

Here's my start:

Easter Bunny and Moon by Chatelaine

stitched 2 over 1 with called for DMC 310 and subbed DMC 726 for 727

on 14ct Aida (Realgar I think) by Chromatic Alchemy

It's a decent start and the border matched up again, so I'm on a roll with borders so far this month. Again, a few more days of stitching and this will be finished. I think I've said that for most of the designs this month. :)

I hope you're all having a good day and enjoying some sunshine like we have here. It almost hit 23C/73F today! A beautiful sunny day after a fair amount of rain last week. We did need the rain though, so that was okay. Although my allergies have kicked in pretty hard over the past few days. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Adventures in April 2021

Here we are, not quite at the middle of the month and I'm finally getting my April post together. I think this is a little better than last month, plus I've been posting every day, so I'm not too worried about how long it's taken to get everything together. 

I think I mentioned about trying to get some finishes in April of some WIPs and I did manage a few. I had no particular pattern in mind, just grabbed whatever seemed relatively close to a finish and what I was interested in actually getting finished last month. First off was a recent start from Mischievous March:

Patsy Pine by Mill Hill

stitched 3 over 1/2 over 1 as charted

using kit perforated paper, floss and beads

I liked these ones, there wasn't too any beads really, mostly cross stitch for the majority of this project. 

Next up was one I'd started a couple years ago for the Jodyri vs. KLT challenge group. I don't really have time to check on that group any more, so I'm not sure if it's still active. 

Blackwork Poppy by Jodyri Designs

stitched 1 over 1 and 2 over 1 mostly blackwork with some cross stitch with DMC 310

on 18ct Galaxy Aida by Jodyri

This was a fun little stitch and there is a stem in the pattern, but I didn't stitch that part. I think I might add my great-uncle's info on it since he died in WWII, but haven't decided on that part for sure. 

Another recent WIP was next up:

Cindy Cane by Mill Hill

stitched 3 over 1/2 over 1 as charted

with kit perforated fabric, threads and beads

These were fun to stitch up and now I just have to back them with some felt and add hangers and I have 2 more ornaments for Christmas. These will be for DD since they're quite like the Mouse in If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. 

Next up we have a recentish start, from the Spring Into Summer New Start Binge in 2020. 

Loved You Yesterday by Cherry Hill Stitchery

stitched 2 over 2 on 18ct damask by Silkweavers

with stash theads, including Jodyri Glinda the Good, Sparkling Citrine, WDW Caribbean and Liberty

I liked this one and it was fun to use some stash threads as well. The damask isn't the easiest to stitch on because it tends to split a bit at the holes, so I definitely needed a Qsnap on this one. 

The last finish took quite a while because it had a lot of stitching left. I chose it because it had a limited colour palette and that's how I was feeling at the time. I'm really glad to have finished it though, it was started a long time ago, possibly 2015 for the Crazy January Challenge?

Twilight LeMans by Heritage Stitchcraft

stitched 2 over 2/1 over 2 as chart demanded with called for threads

on 28ct linen, unsure where it came from

Also, I did manage a couple thousand tent stitches on Amazing Animal Kingdom and it's moved along a bit farther. I think it's neat how you can see the baby elephant outline there. 

Amazing Animal Kingdom by Aimee Stewart charted by HAED

stitched 2 over 1 tent stitch as charted on 32ct Chromatic Alchemy experiment fabric

 And that was April! Lots of stitching accomplished and 4 good finishes that I'm really happy to have completed. 

The start-itis continues in May, so stay posted! 

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #12

Hello again! Keeping with yesterday's theme, this is another Halloween project, but it is a larger one. However, I was able to finagle it into Pattern Keeper, so I'm very excited about that. This may look familiar:

Yup, it's the Universal Monsters SAL, only this time in black and white. I completely blame Michelle McGraw for this start. I think she started this one in the summer of 2020. I loved the look of it on the fabric she chose and I thought if I managed to get some of the same fabric, then I would do the same thing. If you haven't seen her FlossTube, I linked to it on her name and she's quite fun to watch. She's currently stitching a lot of ornament size seasonal projects over the year. 

Here's my start:

Universal Monsters SAL in black and white by The Witchy Stitcher

stitched 2 over 2 as charted

on 32ct opalescent This is Halloween by BeStitchMe

The fabric is a little more orange in real life, like this:

If you're not familiar with BeStitchMe, just like I wasn't until a few months ago, she's a dyer in the US and has occasional Friday Night Fight Night sales on her in stock fabric. You can order customs as well and I think it's a month or so to get the fabric, so fairly typical of hand dyed fabric orders. 

I managed to snag a few different ones at some fight nights and have only just started stitching on them. I think this is the 3rd different fabric I've tried from her, and that's all just this month. That was another reason I wanted to start a few different things, my fabric stash is starting to outgrow its current storage. 

I hope you've all had a good day and are staying well. Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #11

Thank you for your kind comments on yesterday's post. It was such a shock. I don't know whether the family will have a memorial or something since we're still living in pandemic times, but I'm checking to see when they post any information. 

Today I'm back to another seasonal project and this is a little larger than the previous ones, but still not really big. This is another one I'd saved, printed, and stuck in a binder ages ago. I don't think you can find this one any more, I was trying to find it on their website, but it didn't seem to be in the freebie section any more. Here's my start:

Halloween Freebie by Passione Ricamo

stitched 2 over 2 with DMC 310 

on 28ct Brittney evenweave Aries by Sparklies

I think you can tell this is a haunted house style mansion by this little start. It's mostly black with a little PTB to sparkle up the moon and there's a "BOO" phrase at the bottom. I might use some Etoile instead of the PTB, it has some nice sparkle as well and is so much easier to work with. 

I don't think I've stitched on Sparklies fabric before, it's very nice and the reddish colour seemed to fit this design. I can see why so many people prefer these fabrics. I don't think I'm too choosy about fabrics, as long as they're easy to stitch on. 

I hope you've all had a good day and happy stitching!

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #10

Hello again! Jo guessed my theme was "seasonal" and she's right. I decided to go through some old binders where I had printed out some seasonal designs from the "old days" of the internet and get them stitched up. However, just as she guessed, I derailed that theme today. It was not a good day at work yesterday. There were several issues, but one of the main ones was we got a call that one of my long-time patients had died suddenly. On Mother's Day in the USA. She had children and grandchildren and was only in her 60s. It was such a shock. I'd seen her and her family almost since I started practicing, so maybe 16 years or longer. I was a bit of a wreck emotionally after that, although I managed to pull it mostly together when I was home for Mother's Day celebrations. 

I wasn't even feeling much like stitching last night, but decided instead of the regularly scheduled seasonal start, I'd pull out one I'd been thinking of starting for a while. 

This is Kathleen and Summer by Hannah Lynn charted by HAED. I'm going to stitch on blue to hopefully not have to stitch all the background. Here's my start:

Kathleen and Summer by Hannah Lynn charted by HAED

stitched 2 over 1 tent stitch as charted on 28ct opal linen by BeStitchme (unnamed colour)

I know, another giant start, but it felt like starting was worthwhile, even if it never gets finished. Hopefully it will at some point though. Once I get farther down I could try the outlining that some people do in 310 for her charts. 

I hope you're all well today. I'm fighting a migraine which might be sinus/allergy induced, so just from being overwrought yesterday. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Stitch Maynia 2021 Start #9

Mother's Day or not, it's that time again for a Maynia post! I've been keeping up fairly well with the challenge so far, but let's see if I can make it for the whole month. I was telling Rachel that I was practicing for the Tokyo Olympic Challenge to make sure I can at least make it 17 days in a row. :) 

On to today's new start:

Easter Freebie by Erica Michaels through Rainbow Gallery's website

stitched 1 over 1 with Carrie's Creations Jellyfish for the border and Dinky Dyes for the bunny

on 16ct or 18ct light blue aida

Is the theme I chose for this month becoming more clear? It's not specific, more a general theme for the month. Also, the thread for the bunny is variegated, but I doubled it over to make it more subtle. That's another way to use the thread too! Again, I feel like another day or two of stitching will finish this one off, so I wonder if that's what I'll be doing in June? This is a little over 400 stitches if I'm remembering correctly since it was again on a work day, so I have limited time to stitch. I love the border and am still debating about a fill-in colour. It's charted with one, but I'm debating about leaving it with just the bunny and some negative space. 

I hope everyone who has Mother's Day today enjoys their day. I'm working again since I forgot to take it off in time, but it's a short day, so we'll celebrate when I get home. 

Happy Stitching and stay well!

Tiffstitch