Cotton fabric

 I have bought quite a lot cotton fabric in my neighbouring discount fabric store in 2022 November. All of them are knits, width 100cm. Purple 40cm, striped 150cm, kiwi 150cm, blue 200cm.

There was also 2m 1,50 width fauxfur

 Price 6550 for all

Turning on Sans Soucis

We had a few day off and went for a long weekend, where I took San Soucis with me. We were planning trekking, but the first day it way raining all day long, so I had time with my sampler. I finished the left side and the top as well, turning both corners!

Long Dog Samplers: Sans Soucis

Fonal / Floss: Caron (#63,#153) Gloriana (#67) Edmar Rayon (#206)

Anyag/Fabric: Tea dyed Zweigart white 32 ct line

Autumn in Spring

I have finished the 3rd quarter of Autumn Watergarden. Participating in the weekend challenge of Chatelaine stitchers on facebook really gave a huge focus, and pushed me forward with each motive. There is only the last quarter, but before I finish this I will move to another piece. 

I am thinking which one should be: 

Mushroom and Fern

Kingfisher

LongDog Sans Soucies

or shall I start Herbularius?

Chatelaine: Autumn Watergarden

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart antique white 32 ct Belfast

Eagle eyes in the Autumn garden

I was quite sad that from now on I will need the glasses, but miracle of miracles: it was the grey fabric and not my eyes!!! When I took out Autumn Watergarden, which is my usual antique white Belfast there was no problem with seeing the holes. I am happy to go on with my own sight, and hopefully they will last a couple of years...

I not only continued this piece, but also joined on facebook the weekend Chatelaine stitching, and having explicit goals really motivates me. Mushroom&Fern went quite slowly, but Autumn Watergarden either has significantly smaller parts, or I am much better to reach them, so I had quite a nice progress in the last 2 weekends. 

During the week I have almost no time for stitching. Life is turning back to prepandemic routine, and my travel is back. It is not too much, 2 days every 2-3months, but I did not miss it at all... I like meeting my colleagues in person, and I also like travelling for fun with my family, but mixing work and travel is not to my taste.

But enough of whining, pics are better:

Chatelaine: Autumn Watergarden

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart antique white 32 ct Belfast

Fussy ferns

I have finished the middle part of Mushroom and Fern. It was a real pain to stitch the meadow with all the swirling ferns and vines, I think I frogged at least half of them. But the result really worth all the effort! The photo does not do justice, in real life it is gorgeous!

Chatelaine: Mushroom and Fern Mandala

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart Cobblestone 32 ct Belfast

Mushroom center with some help

Chatelaine: Mushroom and Fern Mandala

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart Cobblestone 32 ct Belfast

I have finished the center medallion of Mushroom and Fern, the next step is putting in the ferns and grass around. 

However, maybe it is my years (turning 48 this year), maybe the darker fabric (Zweigar 32ct Belfast Cobblestone/Granite) but it was very difficult to see the holes, so I bought some reading glasses 1.5+, which are helping a lot. This is the first time using anything to see and it is quite strange. I hope having 1.5 is not too hard on my eyes... I will have a yearly check in 2 months time, I will ask my doctor, just to be on the safe side!

Little bit of Sans Soucis

In the weekend when my husband went to a music rehersal - he is a drummer in an amateur band -, we spent the afternoon with my sister in law and I moved forward with Sans Soucis. I finished the box with the birdies (except the accent on the lower one), and added the frame, and a little bit of the side flower as well. 

Long Dog Samplers: Sans Soucis

Fonal / Floss: Caron (#63,#153) Gloriana (#67) Edmar Rayon (#206)

Anyag/Fabric: Tea dyed Zweigart white 32 ct line

New Chapter: Mushroom and Fern

 After finishing Pomarium, Saturday I moved to a new Chatelaine chapter: Mushroom and Fern Mandala. I was hesitating between several ones what I have kitted, some of them printed as well, since I prefer to stitch from paper not from the pdf provided. 

• Mushroom and Fern - already printed for stitching 
• Deep Blue Sea -kitted with beads, floss
• Herbularius - kitted with beads, floss
• Tinctorium - already printed for stitching 

There was also the option to continue wioth Autumn Knotgarden, where I am halfway, but since it is really difficult to choose from all these beauties, I asked my son, and he picked Mushroom and Fern, so mushroom it is. I put all the floss to their envelopes (I keep all the used floss in a separate envelope and the envelopes in a basket for easy reach), and I have started the next chapter!

Chatelaine: Mushroom and Fern Mandala

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart Cobblestone 32 ct Belfast

Pomarium ready to be framed

Pomarium is ready! Please be prepared for a picture heavy post, with all the beauties loaded here. Next week I will take it to the framer to spend half a fortune for the framing, but 5 years of work (33 posts!) worth it.

Chatelaine: Pomarium

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart antique white 32 ct Belfast

Finished box

I have finally finished my Around the World in 80 stitches piece. This is only a small part, actually Part 1-2 what I have started in 2018, stopped stitching in 2020 and which were sitting in my box for 2 years.

Around the World in 80 Stitches - Papillon Creations

Anyag / Fabric : 32 ct white dmc

Fonal / Floss : Anchor

Slippers

I have made a few slippers before skiing, it was a project I was planning at least for a year. Not perfect, but I like them anyway. It is for the cold winter evenings, or guests, we usually go barefoot.

The base was some old IKEA slippers I covered with many scraps. I was really digging deep, the internal part is babysoft and some pluch materials remaining from some backing, the top came from an old grey jeans, and even the bindings are from some old ones I found in my binding box.

 

A short reminder how I did it:

1) Putting the top together, inside up, batting (200), outside down, and drawing the form with chalk

2) Adding straight lines to the top:

3) Sewing on the straight lines to keep them together.

4) Sewing around the top form

5) Cutting the top around the stitching

6) Adding binding to the top

7) Sewing bottom parts together with zigzag: original ikea bottom, strong material below, soft material on top

Sewing top and bottom together with zigzag (1.5/1.5)

(no photo)

Adding external binding with straight stitch, first with the bottom, then turning on the top.

Pomarium beading on

Chatelaine: Pomarium

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart antique white 32 ct Belfast

My stitching mojo is coming back, I continued the beading on Pomarium. It is quite tiresome having such a large piece on the frame, but I am moving along steadily.

Skiing sans soucis

Last week we went skiing and I took my Sans Soucis with me. I hardly stitched, because the light was quite bad, but still managed a little part of the border next to the birdie

Long Dog Samplers: Sans Soucis

Fonal / Floss: Caron (#63,#153) Gloriana (#67) Edmar Rayon (#206)

Anyag/Fabric: Tea dyed Zweigart white 32 ct line

Snowdrops and Daffodils

I have put some snowdrops an daffodils as a next panel. The daffodils are ready, the snowdrops are fused, but not sewn yet, and the roots of the bulbs are also missing. 

I am contemplating a stronger yellow thread for the daffodils, because there is hardly any contrast. On the original there are some white flowers which are not seen in Hungary, so I am planning to change them to tulips  but I will see.

String along

I am using up my neutral strings, of which I have a huge amount. I thought it will be a leader/ender, but yesterday I felt like piecing, so to the original 7 greens I added 17 blues, arriving to 24 out of the 63 I will need.

Winter Maize - Cyclamen galore

I have started the applique for Winter Maize. I finished the 4 cyclamens, and it is good to touch all the nice fabrics and choose all the different hues. All the 4 are a little different, and I took the remains of the batiks of my Something Fishy (summer quilt), and they are playing along superbly. 

First finish - new pillow to the sisterhood

Writing a year-wrap helps to kick in the new year as well! 

I was pushing forward finishing the 3rd pillow, because when I did my list of nice things from 2021, I realised it is really a small thing to finish the 3rd pillow and move this project as far as I can. There is 2 more circles waiting to be finished, but one is not too nice neither the design nor the work how I put it together, and the other is waiting for a partner. I also out of blue background, so either I buy new (I have huge amount of fabric, so I would rather skip) or chose something from stash, but that blows up the symmetry. So I am at the moment happy with my 3 pillows and even more happy that I have something out of my sewing machine. The pattern of the pillows is from the quilt Round the Year by betukbandi.

 

 

 

2021 wrap up

So let's see what did I do in 2021. It was not a very productive year, but still I finished more than I thought. Instead stitching I read a lot (good!) and played a game called Planet Zoo (not that good). However, I was pushing to clean up the unfinished cross stitch basket, and I have managed to put the finishing touches to the Nativity Sampler, and gave away one with an acryl floss, what I will never finish.

So my list is the following:

Cross stitch:

Finishes & partings:

Heirloom Nativity Sampler by The Victoria Sampler  - finally finished the little hardanger missing, started in 2014 November. I did not managed to take it to the framer, but I will in 2022. The real colors are in between the 2 photos.

 

Heirloom Nativity Sampler - The Victoria Sampler

Anyag / Fabric : 32 ct Smokey Pearl Zweigart

Fonal / Floss : selyem, a mintaív szerint / silk as in the kit

Riolis 1079 Autumn forest - small part done, started in 2018 summer. 

I realised I will never finish it, so I gave it away

Around the World in Stitches by Papillon Creations- 

I did manage to mount it on a cardboard and finally bought a box to be mounted on, but did not finish it fully. I have started it in 2018 and finished in 2020.

 

 

Around the World in 80 Stitches - Papillon Creations

Anyag / Fabric : 32 ct white dmc

Fonal / Floss : Anchor

WIP

I worked on the following WIPs:

Pomarium by Chatelaine, fully done, only the beading is missing! I started in 2016 December

 

Chatelaine: Pomarium

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart antique white 32 ct Belfast

Kingfisher by Anchor - started in 2020 July as a holiday travelling piece

 

Anchor: Kingfisher

Fonal/Floss: Anchor from the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart white 16 ct Aida from the kit

Sans Soucis by Long Dog Samplers - started in 2020 September

 

Long Dog Samplers: Sans Soucis

Fonal / Floss: Caron (#63,#153) Gloriana (#67) Edmar Rayon (#206)

Anyag/Fabric: Tea dyed Zweigart white 32 ct line

Autumn Watergarden by Chatelaine, 1st quarter - started in 2019 August

 

Chatelaine: Autumn Watergarden

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart antique white 32 ct Belfast

QUILTING 

A finish: A polka dot quilt for my niece:

I was working on a WIP:

Round the Year by betukbandi- 8 out of  16 done

I also made pillows for the covers I made from them. It is a 2 sided pillow, 2 of them is already done.

 

I had 2 projects other from 2020, but I did not touched them at all.

Winter Maize by Ngaire Brooks: piecing done, applique in line

String - a few pieces done, I started it as a leader/ender project

SEWING & OTHER

I created a baby book

I finished 3 T shirts what I really like

I dibbled some in bag making:

A therapy-bed carrying bag for my sister-in-law bag (she is a physiotherapist who visits patients)

A sturdy bag I gave to my mother

and a some bags for my kitchen 

  

and some more masks since Covid is still on....