WIP Updates!

So, here I am showing progress pictures of my latest WIPs. To be honest, it feels a little strange to not be posting pictures of some tigers!

Also, there's that this-doesn't-look-like-anything stage at the beginning of any new project that just makes progress pictures a bit of a bore, in my opinion.

But, then again, it's really nice to be able to look back and see what things used to look like, which is why I do this.

The above picture is the top left corner of So Lonely from Tilton Crafts. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to stitch it. I love bears and I'd never seen a decent Polar Bear cross stitch design until this one. This (along with Indy and Mother's Love) is the first small-count, complicated design I've ever tackled. So far I'm really enjoying it.

 

You can buy this amazing design HERE

Here's a distance shot so you can see how big it's going to be:

There's actually another 4 inches or so at the bottom too. So, I've got a reaaaaallly long way to go! :-)

You may be wondering why I haven't posted any more progress pics for Mother's Love from my own company.

Well, to be honest, I've abandoned it until I get some new fabric (which is in the post! (or mail to my US friends)). I really couldn't get on with the 25 count I was using, or the 27 count I bought to replace it (I've now started that design twice!).

So, given that the 28 count I'm using for So Lonely is a joy to work with I've ordered more of the same.

For anyone who wants to know the fabric is from DMC, their Charles Craft Range and it's 20x24" 28 count Monaco in white. It's 100% cotton and it has a thicker, more rigid feel.

I've also not done any further work on my Indy picture...but that may change this week!

Finally, I have my easy WIP.

The latest design from my own company, I designed this one for someone on Facebook who wanted something she could stitch for her gay granddaughter. I wanted something that wasn't gender specific, and this is what I came up with.

 

That stands for 'Too Cute to be Straight' in case you can't figure it out.

I've used the colours of the Rainbow Flag too, which I really like and I think makes for an interesting design.

I've already started stitching this too and here's where I'm up to:

It's a nice easy stitch. Designed in 14 count and using only 9 colours with gold Kreinik thread for the backstitch - just to give it some bling!

I'm doing this on a 16count evenweave band. Not quite sure what I'll do with it when it's finished, but I'm sure Nigel or I will think of something.

At the request of a Facebook friend, I also have the same design with a different layout - so that it's adaptable for cushions or standard frame sizes.

Here's Version 2:

 I also have a companion piece in the works which I think will appeal to people as well. At least I hope so!

In other news....I'm still hunting for new artists and hope to have new designs for my company soon.

HAPPY STITCHING!

FINALLY FINISHED!! Siberian Gold Tigers - Day 56....plus a wee break.

56 Days and it's finally finished!

This is Siberian Gold and it's from Anchor and it's a commission piece I've had in my possession for about 6 months.

I've actually only spent 56 days stitching it in that time and each day has been a minimum of 3 hours and a maximum of 14.

I hated the first page but loved every stitch after that.

Now it's done, I will be sorry to see it go, but I'll be pleased to be able to concentrate on my own stitching.

In addition to finishing this design over the weekend, I also did some more on my Tilton Crafts design So Lonely. It still doesn't look like much, but at least progress is being made! That's also almost 200 stitches!

So, what else did we do since my last blog entry?

Well, on Thursday we had a trip to York.

We discovered we could get a train from Grantham (about an hour from our house) and be in York in an hour too! Which gives Nigel a nice break from driving too!

So, off we trotted to Grantham train station. Admittedly getting up at 5.45am to be able to get the train was not my idea of fun!

 

An hour later and we were in York!

York's a lovely train station. Very clean and modern with a touch of the London feel.

Don't worry...I'm not going to bore you with 'holiday snaps'. We spent the day wandering around the city; which if you've never been, is a beautiful place to visit!

We found a stitching shop of some importance too!

People who read my blog know I'm a firm fan of the Able Stretcher frame, well the UK owner of the design is based in York...The Viking Loom.

And here I am outside (I HATE this picture! LOL!)

After a fair amount of time in there - during which Nigel bought some patchwork squares... - we continued our wanderings.

We found the Abbey which is lovely:

 I even managed to get Nigel to pose for a picture and he managed to sneak another of me:

As the day wore on we both started to feel like old me. Aching feet, aching backs, too hot, too thirsty! LOL! Still it was a lovely day and we really enjoyed ourselves. Nigel was especially pleased at only having to drive a little bit all day!

The following day, while I was busy trying to finish the tigers, Nigel was hard at work creating this little masterpiece!

A companion piece to the other Downtown Abbey Cushion, this is the sequel!

Fully patchworked with flower/fabric buttons and framed with a delicate blue edging.

And, now we're up to date.

Hope you enjoyed this entry.

HAPPY STITCHING!

Nigel, A Stool and the Downton Abbey Cushion

My partner Nigel is currently on a week's leave, and one of the things we like to do together is browse our local (local towns and cities that is) charity shops, antique shops, car boot sales (that's flea market/thrift store to my US readers).

We're always on the lookout for a bargain. It's also a really good way of supporting a wide range of charities, which is something we like to do as well.

The stool pictured was found in the town of Alford in one of their junk shops (not as nice as a charity shop or antique store).

Primarily it was rubbish...but this oak-legged stool was hidden in a corner.

You can't really tell from this picture but that material was disgusting. Stained, tatty and a little on the smelly side!

But, it was also only £3 and it was solid. No wobbly legs!

On the way home from our day out we stopped at our local needlework shop (LNS to those in the know!) Camelot Crafts, where, in addition to the Teresa Wentzler Carousel Horses chart book and Qsnap-equivalent frame for me, Nigel bought a handful of material swatches.

They were called the official Downton Abbey Range.

As a huge DA fan, it was a no brainer for Nigel to buy them. A plan was forming.

But, first....that stool!

Delving into his stash of fabric, Nigel spent a couple of hours cleaning and re-upholstering the stool until it looked like this:

I loved it! And so did our cat, Olivia:

First thing this morning - while I was hard at work! LOL! - Nigel took a trip to the local haberdasher to pick up some braiding for his stool, which he finished when he got home!

With the stool done, the next task was to design and create his patchwork Downton Abbey cushion!

Here's the back of the finished cushion:

 

And here's the front.

The purple colour is called Lady Mary. Also, of special notes, is the fact that he covered some buttons with material from the back to tie it all together.

I think he's done an incredible job!

Here's the two of them together:

It's a wonderful thing to have a partner who can create such beautiful things for our home!

The cushion cost about £18 to make and the stool cost £7.50!

In my opinion you couldn't buy something this nice in a shop!

So, a round of applause for my amazing partner, Nigel!!!

Mega WIP Update! Lions, Tigers & Polar Bears, Oh MY!

Day 55 of the Siberian Gold Tigers is just backstitch.

Yes, I am one of the many who hate backstitch. Foolishly with this design I didn't do it as I went along, which I normally would have. There simply didn't look like there was a lot of it, so I thought it would be OK to leave it until the end.

How wrong was I?

There is loads of the stuff - but even worse, most of it doesn't even damn well show!!!

Twig highlights is all there is and the effect is so minimal as to be practically invisible!

I'm probably about half way through the backstitch, but I just can't do it for hours on end. Splitting it into small sessions is the only way I can cope with it!

So, now we're onto the new stuff.

Back on July 28th I posted the first pictures of my Mother's Love design.

This is what it looked like:

Sadly, I had to abandon that one. I really couldn't get on with linen over 1. The stitches kept slipping and going out of shape.

So, I abandoned that one and started on a piece evenweave instead.

INTERMISSION

A word about material.

I will admit that I've never given much thought to the material I use. Most of the time I do kits and it's never crossed my mind to swap out the fabric.

Primarily I've used aida, but also quite a bit of linen. Never evenweave. I've also never stitched 1 over 1 before.

Also - in my very UNPOPULAR opinion - I really am not a fan of all that tie-dyed, sparkly fabric that many people use. It's just a personal preference, but I find it all a little on the naff side (please don't lynch me for having an opinion).

But, my ignorance - or indifference - to material does bear an impact on this article.

MAIN FEATURE RESUMED

 The evenweave I'd purchased for another project was DMC Tiole á broder and I figured that would be fine.

Well, it is to a certain extent.

It's a lot easier to use than the linen, but I'm still not impressed with the general 'lightweight' feel of the fabric.

I'm toying with ditching it for another fabric that I do like (more in a minute). The only reason I'm resisting is because I've already done quite a bit!

Here's the update picture:

Distance shot:

 

 This is Mother's Love on 25 count evenweave.

 You can see in this close-up that I've done about 200 stitches.

To be honest, my first experience of working with 25 count is really not a pleasant one. I have found the fabric poor and the count awkward...however, a revelation was to come very, very soon....

Given how annoying I was finding the 25 count, I decided that it would be a good idea to see how I felt about 28 count. After all, if it was all going to go pear shaped, it's better to learn that early in the process.

I decided to start So Lonely from Tilton Crafts:

I'd already bought the 28 count fabric - the cheapest I could find on Amazon, in this case Charles Craft Monaco.

I prepared my Able Stretcher frame and threads and prepared myself for another headache.

In the space of an hour I'd done this:

 Just over 100 of neat, uniform and thoroughly enjoyable stitches!

The moment I opened the fabric packet I could feel the quality and thickness. It's an absolute joy to stitch on.

Whereas earlier I was thinking I'd made a terrible mistake taking on this challenge, now I feel much more confident.

I'm now thinking of ditching the 25 count and restarting Mother's Love on a piece of this stuff!

It's been a while since I had done a lot of stitching (a while for me being a couple of weeks!) and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

I've enjoyed the challenge of new fabric counts and the discovery of what I like.

While I was busy doing this, my partner, Nigel was doing something else....so check out my other blog entry today to see what he created!

HAPPY STITCHING!

 

Must Have Stitching Kit......THE TANTO!!!!

This is it. The Tanto Organizer

(which you can buy from HERE)

Some of my US readers have expressed some difficulty finding this.
So, here are a couple of UK sites that ship to the US:
THE HAPPY CROSS STITCHER
SEW AND SEW
 If you click on either of these it will take you straight to the Tanto page.

Almost from day one of my blog I've had a link on here to the Tanto website.

Why?

Because, in my opinion, it's one of the best pieces of sewing kit I've ever bought.

So, what do you get?

Well, you get what you see (minus the threads of course).

It's made of lightweight, but sturdy, plastic.

You get the base, three uprights that make give the adjustable height, and the wheel (oh, and a little hook to pull the threads up through the hole).
Each wheel can hold up 50 colours.

In the instructions you actually just pull the thread up through a hole and slip it over the little peg. Then there's a strong elastic band that sits over the top of the threads that holds them in place.

Then you simply make a note of the number peg next to the colour on the chart.

If you want you can then separate all your threads prior to starting your project and then, as you need them, you pull a single thread from the bunch.

Also, you can have multiple needles threaded and just keep the needles tucked under each bunch on the wheel.

Personally, I like to have my threads secured the same way as I would on a thread card organiser: fold the thread length in two, pull the loop up through the hole and then pull the loose ends through the loop and pull to secure.

But, one of the best things about the Tanto - for me at least - is the ability to have multiple wheels which you just swap over with each project you're doing.

As is my way, I'm never content with just throwing my wheels into a plastic bag when not in use....

So, here's what I bought:

Some nice looking boxes (from TKMaxx)

 

These cost about £7 each (although the big one was in the reduced section).

Also, I put Nigel to work at the sewing machine.

Nigel hates having his photo taken (unless he's prepared), so this is the largest he'd let this photo be seen:

 (LOL!)

What did he make?

My Tanto cases!!!

 

Nigel always has an eagle-eye open for nice material and this one I particularly liked, so he's made me these little cases to keep my Tanto wheels in when not in use.

This keeps the dust off my threads and makes sure they don't get tangled.

So, I have one of these for each of my wheels (that'd be three, in case you're wondering).

 

So, once in their little Tanto beds where do I put them?

That's what the boxes were for!

 

This is the larger of the two boxes and, as you can see, I can put multiple Tanto wheels inside (all three fit in here) as well as the charts I'm working from.

Also, when not in use the entire Tanto comes apart and also fits in this box!

 

Then we come to the smaller box.

That one's for threads.

WHAT!? I hear you exclaim?

Why do you need that if you've got the Tanto?

Well, as with most stitcher's, I have my little peculiarities.

I like to have my skeins of thread on bobbins, which I normally buy from Leisurecraft Tewkesbury as they're the cheapest for DMC. But, they supply their skeins pre-wound onto their own numbered cards. Cards which are bigger than standard-sized bobbins. Which don't fit in the standard plastic project boxes that you can buy everywhere.

So, an alternative was called for.

When I saw this small box, which came with dividers, I thought 'Eureka' (or some other less geeky word) and bought it.

As you can see the dividers are perfect for separating the bobbins. And the LC-T bobbins fit the box exactly. There's even room to keep one of my small project boxes in there too!

As I work I cut a length off the bobbin - but when I've finished with that colour, if there is some of that length left, I then put that thread on my Tanto and note the number peg on my chart. That way my bobbins don't get 'fattened' by odd bits until the end of the project.

Some people will probably think that's pointless - but it's how I like to work.

Obviously, a kit you can just put all the threads straight onto your Tanto at the start and you're all ready to go.

You can see from this picture that it's the perfect height to have by a chair. But, you can also take out one or two of the uprights and it can sit on a table or arm of the sofa etc.

 Finally, another great feature of the Tanto is how light it is to carry. You can take it apart, put it in a bag and you're off.

OK!! OK!!! People have already mentioned them...CATS and KIDS!!!
I don't have children but I do have cats. My cats are really well behaved and don't touch the Tanto at all. Draw your own conclusions. :-)

Personally, along with my floor stand, I think it's one of the best inventions ever for cross stitch and I'm happy to give it a plug on my blog!

And, no, I don't have any affiliation with Tanto themselves...I just like to support good designers!

Hope you enjoyed reading about it.

HAPPY STITCHING!

Eclectic Bloke Designs News

Here's the latest news for my company Eclectic Bloke Designs

Firstly, I have signed a new artist.

Alessandro Della Pietra (Al Digit Art)

You can see more of his amazing art on his website HERE

 Al works in the realm of digital photography and art and has produced some truly amazing pieces. And I'm very pleased that he will be bringing something completely different to my company.

Our first collaboration has been released.

This is Secrets of the Night

 

There will be more designs from Alessandro soon!

In other news...

 

Sadly, my first artist HeidiMadeThis! will shortly be leaving my company, so the designs based on her work will only be available until 29th August 2014.

Heidi will be concentrating on her popular card business and I wish her all the success in the world.

So, if you would like to buy Haunted Cameo or Haunted House before they're gone please visit my website.

 

 

I've also been hard at work creating more cross stitch charts based on the beautiful animal portraits of Caroline Lord and I'm very pleased to say there are many more to come!

Here's some of the newest of those designs:

 So top to bottom, left to right we have:

Chase

Rufus

Adoration

Stargazing

 I hope to appeal to a varied group of stitchers. I want to live up to my company name and have an eclectic group of artists with whom I can work to create pieces of art everyone will be proud to have stitched on their wall.

I would like to thank everyone who has bought one of my designs for their support.

You are all stars in my book!

HAPPY STITCHING! (Preferably my designs!)

Siberian Gold Tigers - Day 54....FINALLY a new WIP update!

And on the 54th day of stitching I reached the final cross.

Yep, it's true the principal stitching work is now finished.

All I have left to do is the backstitch...so I would say, with a little determination and will power I can get this finished by the end of the weekend.

(Finally, eh, Caroline! :-) )

I have to admit, it's a stunning design and I will be sad to see it go.

So, it will mean that very soon I will be able to continue with my new WIP Mother's Love from my own company.

In case you've forgotten what that looks like, here it is:

 

Also, my partner Nigel has been incredibly busy with work lately so he hasn't managed to do any of his Ice Cream Truck cross stitch pillow.

However, never one to curb his creativity entirely for the sake of the 9-5 grind, he did manage to throw out this little number:

 

The last of the red ribbon, and a bunch of retro-style material, piping and buttons and we have another cushion for the sofa.

He's proud of himself - and quite rightly in my opinion!

So, fellow stitchers, I hope you're all sewing away madly and creating your own works of art.

I also hope you visit my website and come back to my blog for my next WIP update.

HAPPY STITCHING!