DUCJFC 2016 - February 15 - Do Not Meddle

Here we are with only 2 weeks left for the challenge! At this point I'm pretty sure I can make it. My parents are coming to visit at the end of this week which means I need to clear up my WIPs, new starts, etc. from the spare room. That will maybe help me organize what's left and what I plan to work on in March. 

For now, my new start was the last of my stunt stitching to be started, it's Do Not Meddle by Dragon Fire Designs. This is a picture of what it should look like when complete, from Neasesneedlework.com:

I'm pretty sure this is out of print, although I still see it listed at that site. If you're interested in the chart, you might want to pick it up soon. 

I'll be stitching this one over one on 28 count fabric (I think). The recipient provided the fabric, so I'm not 100% sure what I'm using. 

Here's my start:

I think I'm a little off on my placement, so I'm fairly sure I'll be ripping this all out and starting again, but I did get my start in tonight. I'll take some more measurements in March and be sure before I make a hasty mistake. It's only one thread worth of stitching, so it's not a big loss. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Gifted Gorgeousness - February

Time for another round-up of Gifted Gorgeousness this month. I'm still deep in the January/February Challenge dedicated to SoCal Debbie, so there's a lot of photos again. I won't repost anything from my January GG post, but if you want to review, here's the link. 

Also, don't forget to check out everyone else's posts over at Jo's blog, Serendipitous Stitching. 

Since then I've worked on: 

Kiss for a Snowman (for DD)

Rejoice Tree (Grandma)

Spider Banner (DD)

Land of the Dinosaurs (DD)

Tribal Dragon (DD)

Twilight LeMans(DH)

Samus sprites - FINISHED (DH)

Round in Circles January (Grandma) FINISHED!

Sleigh Ride Stocking(DD)

There are others that might turn into gifts but as I haven't decided their recipients and this is picture heavy enough, I think this will do for now!

Next month I'll only have a couple weeks of stitching and maybe even a few more finishes since the challenge will be done. 

Thanks for visiting and Happy Stitching! 

Also, don't forget today is the Stitchery Link-Up Party. Head on over and check out everyone's stitching. 

Tiffstitch

DUCJFC 2016 - February 14 - Dimensions Sleigh Ride stocking WIP

Happy Valentine's Day! Or Happy Manufactured Holiday! depending on your point of view. Although I'm somewhat familiar with the history, you lose me at cynicism when chocolate is involved. :)

I did manage to finish my second sprite today, just in time! This is Samus Aran in her full suit:

I pulled out a WIP from last year's challenge today, the Dimensions Sleigh Ride stocking. This one has been through a little bit if you remember. I restarted this one last year on 25count pewter Lugana because the included aida was so stiff. I counted and re-counted and I think I have a large enough piece. My plan is to sort of stitch around the outside to try and make sure before I cut any more of it off. That makes it a little unwieldy right now, but I'd rather be safe. 

I managed a decent amount more of the half stitch at the top. I'm trying to use continental stitch somewhat since I noticed it seemed to be warping a little bit. I'm also definitely keeping it in Qsnaps since I had been stitching in hand and that certainly did not help prevent stretching. 

Here's where it was when I left it in 2015:

And where it's at now:

Definite progress made and soon I'll be on to the main photo and cross stitch. That should help with preventing stretching as well maybe?

It would be great to finish this one by Christmas this year, so fingers crossed. After all I've tried to get on my plate, what's one more? ;)

Plus, my Valentine's gift from DH will help me make this into a stocking, he got me a Brother sewing machine!!! I'm really excited to try it out. He had given me a hand-held serger for Christmas, exactly what I'd asked for, but it was really hard to make it work and once the thread ran out it never quite ran correctly again. So with the actual machine I'll be able to hem my own fabric all the time!! And hopefully it will make finishing easier as well. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Secret Stitching Sweethearts Blog Hop: Secret Stitcher FOUND!

Happy Sweethearts Blog Hop today! This is hosted by the amazing Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching. Head over to check out all the fun and great stitching. I need to find the piece I submitted, and here's the one I have to figure out:

Isn't it gorgeous? Beautiful stitching whoever you are, and please let me know in the comments. 

EDIT: Katie at Jeremiah's Mom stitched this wonderful piece, lovely work! Thanks for letting me know and sharing the photo. :)

Tiffstitch 

DUCJFC 2016 - February 13 - Frosty Friends #3 and Colouring In an Owl

Time to bring out another Frosty Friend! Here's what they look like again:

I worked on the middle one with 2 snowmen and again, it's annoying to stitch in the middle of this fabric. I don't know if I should cut them all out of the fabric or try and work out something different with my Qsnaps. 

Anyways, I only got a little bit done:

and then I rushed back to my owl because I really couldn't wait to try out the new Jodyri thread for Owl #2 and here's where I managed to get!

I'm trying to keep the colours somewhat the same across the owl, so I've been picking and choosing where the threads go. I hope I can keep it up without wasting a lot of thread. I saw someone else's on the Facebook group for the SAL and they had a rainbow effect with no repetition, but this thread works this way, and I really wanted to use it! 

It's Jodyri Over a Rainbow and I think it's a perfect name. I like the effect next to the darker colours on the 1st owl as well. It will either make the 3rd owl colours really easy to choose or really difficult. We'll see. The third owl came out this week, so I'm not too far behind yet. That's a shock, believe me. 

Happy Stitching, and we'll see if tomorrow brings more of this or if I stick with something else. 

Tiffstitch

DUCJFC 2016 - February 12 - Frosty Friends #4 and a Finish!

No, you didn't miss Frosty Friends #3, but I've numbered them like this:
1, 3, 5
2, 4, 6

since the photo lines them up like this:

and today I carried on across the bottom with Santa and the little bird. I didn't get much of a start since it was a little annoying stitching in the middle of the fabric. 

Instead I picked up one of my Samus sprites and finished it off!

That's one complete for Valentine's Day, so I hope I can finish off the 2nd one as well. In case you've forgotten, this is Zero Suit Samus because she's not wearing her usual suit. 

Thank you for all the congratulations on yesterday's finish, and Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

DUCJFC 2016 - February 11 - Mabel Figworthy's Round in Circles SAL

I finally found time to get out my hardanger fabric and threads to begin the Round in Circles SAL by Mabel Figworthy's Fancies. You may have seen a few of these around on other blogs recently. I'm a little behind, so this is January's start:

and finish! whee! I managed to finish the whole thing. This is Caron Watercolours and Wildflowers in Aurora on 22 count hardanger. I goofed a few times while stitching this and if you look closely you can see where. Also I see a loose thread in this photo!! Ack! I'll have to go back and try and fix that. Don't look for it! 

I hope to make this into a card and send it to my Grandma. I'll be a little late for Valentine's Day, but I don't think she'll mind. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch