Gifted Gorgeousness - September Edition

Come one, come all to this month's edition of Gifted Gorgeousness! Time to show off those projects we're stitching as gifts, or received as gifts, or any way you can shoe horn "gift" into the post. :) As always, please check out everyone's posts over at our supremely organized host's blog, Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.

This month I did manage another finish, and I stitched a fair bit on some of my other projects too, so hopefully there will be more finishes to share this year.

Let's begin!

Joy Snowglobe - for Grandma?

 Joy Snowglobe by Dimensions

stitched as charted with included threads on plastic canvas

Steotchalong

 Mystery pattern by Steotch, free if you join a group, so a gift from the designer. This is turning into some kind of Golden girls thing which I'm so uninterested in, so I've given up stitching it for now. 

Ocean Curiosity - DD

 Ocean Curiosity by Who Knew?!?

stitched on 18ct aida with WDW Michael's Navy

Butterfly Quote - DD

 Butterfly Quote by Jodyri Designs

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct aida with mostly Jodyri threads and one WDW

Princess and the Dragon - DD

Princess and the Dragon by Charting Creations

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct Amarinthine by Chromatic Alchemy with DMC 310

I can't even tell you how exciting it is to have that side of the cave completed! I think I will try and continue on a bit upwards, after I check where the pages are at, as it's nice to do the filling, and maybe that would be good to do on the dragon as well if I want to move back over to the right. The initial idea I had was to move up to the top left corner as I prefer to start there in general, but wanted to make sure I hadn't counted incorrectly, so I started this one in the middle way back when. 

I hope you've all had a good month, and thank you as always for your encouraging comments!

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

School of Magical Stitches and Literature Year 5, Weeks 5, 6, 7, 8

It's catch-up time again! Hope you've all been getting lots of stitching in. I need to catch up on blogs as well as posting myself. Here we go though, let's jump right in:

Week 5 - Stitching Army - if you've read the books, then you know around halfway through is when several scholars start up a group to learn defensive magic since Prof. Umbridge isn't letting anyone do any spellwork in class. Our tasks this week relate to some of the spells, as follows:

Task 1 - Expelliarmus - stitch 200 stitches with red beads or metallics because this spell gives off red sparks. I had some debate on this one, but eventually decided to stitch the ladybug with a blending filament doubled and that will give it a little shine, just like a little ladybird should have.

See Ya Later Alligator by Jodyri Designs

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Nuriel's Forest by Chromatic Alchemy with stash threads

 Task 2 - Stupefy - stitch 200 stitches on something that is stunned, with explanation. I chose to go with a new start, and said the fabric was stunning, and that fit well enough for the graders.

Halloween SAL by Durene Jones through Lakeside Needlecraft

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Ashardalon Breathes by Chromatic Alchemy with DMC 310

Task 3 - Levicorpus - stitch 200 stitches on something in midair as that spell hoists a person up in the air by their ankle. I finished off Maple Leaf for this and did a bit more on Do Not Meddle

 Maple Leaf by AAN

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct hand-dyed aida with WDW Fire

Do Not Meddle by Dragon Fire Designs

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct Monaco as charted with DMC

Task 4 - Reducto - this spell can break things into pieces, so we were to stitch 200 stitches on something in pieces. SALs worked for this, so Universal Monsters came out to get a little farther along:

Universal Monsters SAL by Witchy Stitcher

stitched 2 over 2 as charted on 28ct Al's Dark Magic by Chromatic Alchemy

Task 5 - Expecto Patronum - this is the Patronus charmed used to banish Dementors, a tricky spell and everyone has their own Patronus. You had to stitch on something related to your own Patronus, not just a Patronus in general. Mine is a Chow as of last time I checked, so I could work on anything that had a dog on it. 

I got out this HAED Basset Hound that hasn't been touched in a good long while. 

 Bailey Basset by HAED

stitched 2 over 1 tent stitch on 25ct pewter linen

It will eventually look like this, only a bit more colour ;)  

And that was it for Week 5 and I got full points. I think there were bonus points too as the red beads/metallics really stumped some people. 

Week 6 - Change in Power

Umbridge has taken over at Hogwarts, and as everyone has been dreading this, we are to stitch 1000 stitches on our least favourite/most dreaded project. The one that you leave buried, that you're tempted to throw away, but you've worked on it, so you can't, etc. 

This was a bit of a challenge as I have a few of these. I decided in the end to work on something that I really want to get done, although it's a real pain in some ways. When I said I'd stitch it 1 over 1 for the recipient, my eyes hadn't quite needed the assistance at near that they do now, and this is a lot more difficult than when I started. So getting it done would be great. 1003 stitches went into this one:

Week 7 - O.W.L.s week - this week all the 5th year students have to take their Ordinary Wizarding Levels. That includes 7 core subjects and 3 electives. Our assignment was to stitch at least 100 stitches on the 7 core subjects with the electives being bonus points. That gave you a grade of Exceeds Expectations. If you managed to stitch 200 stitches on everything, then it was mega bonus points and Outstanding grade. And since I'm not at all competitive, I went for 200 on everything. :D

The possible classes are listed below and the reasons I was able to fit Universal Monsters into 8/10 classes. 

Core Exams:

1. Astronomy - has a moon on the pattern2. Charms - a charm called Lumos lights lamps, there are chandeliers in the pattern3. Defense Against the Dark Arts - learn about werewolves, there's a werewolf in the pattern4. Herbology - water plants in the Creature's room5. History of Magic - taught by a ghost, there are ghosts in the pattern6. Potions - there's some potions in the Invisible Man's room7. Transfiguration - can change yourself into a cat for example, there's a cat in the Mummy room

Electives - choose up to 3:1. Arithmancy2. Study of Ancient Runes3. Care of Magical Creatures - someone suggested Hagrid would have cared for the monsters4. Divination - can be a crystal ball, or a snowglobe, used Joy Snowglobe
5. Muggle Studies - Santa is a Muggle (nonmagic) construct - Joy Snowglobe

And here's the photos!

 I did it this way so you didn't have 8 photos of a little more stitching, then a little more stitching, and a little more stitching, etc.

Joy Snowglobe by Dimensions

stitched on plastic canvas as charted with kit threads

So excited to have another finish!! I'm really glad this group has made me get some finishes this year, it's a great feeling. 

Week 8 - Bulletin Board Notices  - this is the current week and the tasks are a little different, although not very complicated. It's a good break after last week. 

Task 1) 11 Death Eaters were defeated at the Ministry of Magic, so stitch 300 stitches on your 11th WIP. This is Happy Halloween by Satsuma Street and was last here:

Happy Halloween by Satsuma Street

stitched 2 over 1 on 20ct Fiddler's cloth? as charted

Task 2) stitch 300 stitches in any colour but pink now that Umbridge has been ousted. I will likely use Halloween as well and make sure I don't stitch in pink. 

Task 3) stitch 400 stitches as a bonus for the Weasley twins prank - this is a magical swamp. I've joined the Steotch-a-long for the first time ever. I heard about it from some of the people in the LOTR stitching group, and joined in with them. My reasoning for using this is it's a mystery and how to dispose of the swamp was a mystery since Prof. Flitwick could never get rid of it entirely. 

Steotch-a-long 2019 

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Rubescent by Chromatic Alchemy

That reasoning may not work, but I don't think I have time to stitch another 400 stitches and wanted to try and keep up with this SAL if possible. It has a lot of blended threads, so it's been interesting so far. 

Hope you've all been having a good week, happy stitching!

Tiffstitch

Gifted Gorgeousness - August Edition

Here we are again, and I'm only a week late this time. :) Life is somewhat settled after our big office move and parents visiting and everything else going on. School will start next week for DD and she's so excited! I don't think it will necessarily mean more stitching time for me as I only stitch after she's in bed anyway, but maybe she'll be going to be earlier if she's more tired.

On to the stitching, since that's why you're here. :)

Please check out everyone's posts over at our fantabulous host's blog!

Look! I finished another one! I think this might be for my Grandma:

 Joy Snowglobe by Dimensions

stitched on plastic canvas as charted with kit threads

Do Not Meddle - stunt stitching

Do Not Meddle by Dragon Fire Designs

stitched as charted 1x1 on 28ct Monaco

See Ya Later Alligator - DD

See Ya Later Alligator by Jodyri Designs

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Nuriel's Forest by Chromatic Alchemy with stash threads

I did a lot of work this month on Universal Monsters, which may not be a gift after all, so I haven't included it. I'll try and get some catch up posts for the stitching groups up so you can see that one too. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Stitchy Quest for the One Ring Catch-Up

Last time (May 30, yikes!) I left you with some choices still unstitched for the Meet the Dwarves Quest. The colours remaining were purple (x2), blue and yellow.

For the purple (Dori and Nori) I pulled out an old WIP, Land of the Dinosaurs. It was last here in May 2018:

and now:

Land of the Dinosaurs WOXS October 2015

stitched 2 over 2 on 32ct Jobelan Summer Sky as charted

Blue for Kili - I pulled out Dimensions Joy Snowglobe and had just enough blue! It's now here:

Yellow for Bofur - Evening in the Shire got some work again, very appropriately I think in this group, and is now here:

Evening in the Shire by Cute Patterns by Maria

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Moonscapes by Jodyri with charted DMC

I'm not a confetti stitcher by nature, so going this far away from the other stitching is always a little nerve-wracking for me. Hopefully I've counted correctly and don't have to pull the lower bit all out again. 

I managed to complete all the colours and the 1300+ stitches for this task. It was interesting to find all the different colours on projects and pull out something that hadn't been touched in a year.

Hobbit Quest 4 - A Musical Interlude

I think the group admin is a Dungeons and Dragons fan as well as a Tolkien fan because we've had more and more dice rolling challenges come up lately. This quest relates to the music in the books. I'm a fan of the music, especially given my long history of listening to the Hobbit TV show on tape before bed.

This is the story of how the dwarves lost the mountain to Smaug I think. Please let me know if you notice otherwise.

There were 2 options for this quest. If you like the music, first stitch 200 stitches on a project you don't want to end, then roll a six-sided die and if you get 3 or above, stitch 200 more stitches, if you get 1 or 2, you're done. If you have to stitch more, then you roll again, same rules, basically keep stitching 200 stitch segments until you roll a 1 or 2.

The second option, if you don't like the music, is to pick up something that is annoying or frustrating you in some way, stitch 300 stitches, and roll a six-sided die. If you get 3 or above, you're done, if you roll a 1 or 2, stitch another 300 stitches and continue until you roll the higher numbers.

I picked up Princess and the Dragon and managed to get here after 2 sets of 200 stitches:

Princess and the Dragon by Charting Creations

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct Amarinthine by Chromatic Alchemy

I enjoy this project very much, and despite the size, it's never a drag to work on. It's always enjoyable, even the filling in bits.

Hobbit Quest 5 - A Tale of Loss

This is the current task, which ends tomorrow. It's the part of The Hobbit when Bilbo learns about the dwarves ancestral home in the Lonely Mountain and how Smaug stole it away from them. For this quest, we had to roll a twenty-sided die (see where the D&D is from?) and multiply that number by 100 to find out how many stitches we had to stitch. The interesting part this time was we could chose how many stitches on each project, but at least 20 on each.

The projects are:

1) The People of Dale - this was a town on Long Lake and many villagers lost their lives when Smaug invaded. We had to stitch something with a person on it. I worked on Universal Monsters and got a fair bit done, 736 stitches:

Universal Monsters SAL by Witchy Stitcher

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Al's Dark Magic by Chromatic Alchemy

2) For the dwarves that love dark places, stitch on dark thread or fabric. I stitched a little bit of this, the left border for 36 stitches:

3) Treasure lost for Smaug stealing the dwarves treasure is to stitch beads or metallics. I pulled out Letters from Nora L and got a finish! (70 beads)

Letters from Nora - L by Nora Corbett

stitched 2 over 2 on 32?ct linen as charted except a few changes for what was available in beads

4) The Secret Door - we learn of a secret door on a map so we needed to stitch on a project with a door. I had some trouble with this as apparently I don't have many projects with doors. I settled on Ocean Curiosity which has a tiny little door in the castle:

and put in 87 stitches:

stitched 2 over 1 on 16ct aida from Colour Cascade Fabrics

5) Map - because there is a map to get into Lonely Mountain. I struggled a bit, but the quest info said "any justification will be accepted", so I said that Universal Monsters was like a map of each room with the cut-thru appearance and put in another 81 stitches:

And that catches us up till the next quest! some of this might be repeated from my previous post, but it's in nice little bits now :) 

Happy Stitching! 

Tiffstitch

p.s. stay tuned for the School of Magical Stitches update too!

Olympic Stitching and February WIPocalypse ** lot of photos!

I hope everyone enjoyed the Olympics! I had hoped to get a mini-post up some time during the Olympics, but that didn't quite happen. Maybe next Olympics. ;D

From the various Olympic stitching SALs out there, I decided to attempt to stitch one project a day from my WIP pile. Because I don't necessarily get stitching time every day, I tried to stitch on at least as many projects as days of the Olympics. Here's what I managed:

Kiss for a Snowman - last touched January 13, 2018

and now:

Dimensions Kiss for a Snowman kit with kitted fabric and threads

 Ocean Curiosity - last touched February 13, 2016:

and now:

stitched on unknown 18 ct purpley mottle fabric 2 over 2 with WDW Michael's Navy

Do Not Meddle - last touched August 21, 2017

and now:

last of the current stunt stitching with DMC 1 over 1 on 28 ct white fabric 

I Love You More - last touched January 12, 2016

and now:

Jodyri Designs with WDW Purple Majesty so far, 2 over 2 on Eye of Newt by Chromatic Alchemy

Xmas Dragon - last touched October 10, 2017

 

and now:

14 ct gold thread Aida with Caron Waterlilies Holiday

Joy Snowglobe - last touched January 30, 2016

and now:

Dimensions kit with kit plastic canvas and thread 

Fishing project - last touched November 30, 2017

and now:

on 28 ct Tempest by Chromatic Alchemy with called for DMC 2 over 2

 See Ya Later Alligator - last touched April 15, 2016

and now: (with a cameo by Max!)

Jodyri design with charted colours for the motifs and random threads for lettering, 2 over 2 on 28ct Nuriel's Forest by Chromatic Alchemy

Maple Leaf - last touched January 27, 2016

and now:

AAN design on 14 ct brown mottle fabric from Silkweavers? 2 over 1 with WDW Fire

Monochrome Link - last touched January 4, 2016

and now:

 Sprite Stitch pattern with called for DMC 2 over 1 on 16ct black Aida

Snow Rules - last touched February 23, 2016

and now:

 Lizzie Kate design, so crazy she's retiring! 

I'm not in love with this yellow and might trade it out for WDW Purple majesty from I Love You More, the other threads are Dinky Dyes silks from an Oops bag and I'm stitching 2 over 1 on brown 14 ct aida

Tribal Dragon - last touched August 30, 2017

 and now:

White Willow Stitching design on 25 ct pewter Lugana with Caron Waterlilies/Soie Cristale 1 over 1

and last but not least, Ballerina Dreams is here so far:

Dimensions kit with called for threads 2 over 1 on 18 ct Petra by Chromatic Alchemy

Knitting Projects

I started one project for the Ravellenics, a challenge to start and finish one project during the Olympics. This is a free pattern from Berroco, and I didn't get the sleeves on, but I almost have a vest done. :) I also managed to completely forget about the button hole rows and will attach hook and loops or something instead. 

Sawtelle WIP with Plymouth yarn

Shawl for Grandma - I decided on a new start while we were waiting to see Black Panther and I'm glad I brought something to do. It's an interesting one, despite the fingering yarn, and I managed 2 full pattern repetitions before the movie started. The shawl I'm making is called Skagen, a $ pattern from Berroco. 

I really enjoyed getting out some of these older projects, most from my epic January/February challenge of 2016 and there's a lot to go on most of them. 

The WIPocalypse question is what gadget can't you live without? For me it's Qsnaps. I will occasionally stitch in hand, but I love the tension you get with Qsnaps. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch