Ornament finishes #2

OK, so a while back I decided my little gift this year to the calisthenics ladies I coach would be a stitched ornament each. Back then I thought I had oodles of time to get all 8 done, but the day of our end-of-year break up saw me madly ornament-ifying the last one or two. Thanks to my participation on the "Christmas All Year Round" blog challenge, I had a few stitched - but not finished - and I had to use one of those to make up the numbers. Here they all are:

Here's the details of them all:

Free reindeer design by http://misst.canalblog.com

Moon Santa by Donna Kooler from the book 555 Christmas Cross Stitch  Designs

Sleepy Koala by Carrol Neilsen 

Free Xmas Assisi Sampler by Kell Smurthwaite

Free Noel design by La Comtesse

Christmas cracker design from an old issue of Cross Stitch Crazy magazine

Joy by San Man Originals

Free reindeer from Stickeule

A Christmas ornament finish

This is what I have been working on since I ran out of thread on my final exchange piece. I've ordered more from overseas so it will take some time to arrive. This will become an ornament to be gifted to someone this year. It also fits the October theme of words on the Christmas All Year Round blog. Two birds with one stone and all that jazz!

• Name of the design is "Joy"
• Chart is a freebie from San Man Originals, it was day 11 of the 12 days of Christmas series done a while back. I did leave off a few parts though
• Fabric is an off cut of lightly mottled pink and white evenweave
• Thread is the called for DMC
• Stitch count is 86 x 51
• Started on October 31st 2013
• Completed on November 4th 2013

Killing two birds with one stone

...so to speak. I have another finish that ticks two boxes. It was Honeybee's chosen free design for July in the monthly freebie challenge over at 123 stitch. It was also a free choice month on the "Christmas all year 'round" blog challenge so I decided the above-mentioned design would fit the bill. Here it is. Note that I actually "finished" it too! :

* Name of the design is Cozy Christmas Wishes - Cozy with a Z that is

* Chart is a freebie from Lizzie Kate

* Fabric is an off cut of lightly mottled lemon evenweave

* Thread is "Turkish Red" Weeks Dye Works for the wording, border and trim on the mug. DMC cotton for the rest

* Stitch count is 49 x 48 plus the border which I added

* Started on July 21st 2013

* Completed on July 24th 2013, using brads and braid to finish it into a mini pillow

I have still been crafting!

But I don't have much to show for it. The first thing I have been working on is an exchange piece for the "Birds, Bees and Butterflies" exchange I joined a while back. The international mailing date has been and gone, but domestic items need to be mailed by tomorrow so I can't post a pic yet, nor tell you much about it for fear of blowing my cover - it's a secret exchange.

The next thing is the hibiscus flower cross stitch, I have been working on it here and there between other things but don't have much progress to show. It will be put on the back-burner for a while as I have one last hand towel I need to finish - um, and start! - and have committed to a quilt square for a woman on the 123 message board  who sadly lost her husband to Creutzfeldt Jakob disease within 2 months of his first symptoms. He was only 40-ish. So very sad and heartbreaking - especially as he had 2 children. (who are similar ages to mine)

I've also started a new mini project today that will double as my free choice design on the Christmas-all-year-long blog, as well as it being the selected design to stitch for the monthly freebie challenge over on the 123 message board. I figure it's only a quickie - I might even finish it today - and there's not much of July left to complete it. It is "Cozy Christmas Wishes" from Lizzie Kate. Not usually a designer I choose to stitch, but this one I don't mind.

I've also been sequining a leotard for calisthenics. This one is a design I came up with last year and Robin, our trusty seamstress, whipped up a set of them which I sequined. A new one was required this year, so I'm finishing that off too. Here it is:

So you see I have still been crafting - bear with me and I'll post pics when I can.

A Few More Finishes

I've been working on these since I finished the hand towel. I decided on the star shaped one as my free choice for May on the Christmas-All-Year-Long blog challenge. The moon one was on the same page of the book and caught my eye once the star was completed. Here they are:

Star one:

• Name of the design - it has no name, so I've called it "Star Santa"
• Chart is from the book "555 Christmas Cross Stitch Designs" by Donna Kooler
• Fabric is 28 count white opalescent evenweave
• Thread is the called-for DMC cotton
• Stitch count is 43 x 48
• Started on May 3rd 2013
• Completed on May 10th 2013

Moon one:

• Name of the design - it has no name, so I've called it "Moon Santa"
• Chart is from the book "555 Christmas Cross Stitch Designs" by Donna Kooler
• Fabric is 28 count white opalescent evenweave
• Thread is the called-for DMC cotton
• Stitch count is 28 x 30
• Started on May 10th 2013
• Completed on May 15th 2013

Hand towel is finished

Here's what I've been working on when I've had time over the last week. Again it was a quickie as it was just a repeat pattern. I did make a mistake but I'm not frogging it as I just can't be bothered and I don't think it's all that noticable. Do you?

• Name of the design is well, I don't read what I think is Polish, but it may be "motyw" ?? I did cut some of the pattern off the top to fit the stitching area
• Chart is yet another freebie, this time from cross stitch patterns 
• Fabric is a sage green pre-finished hand towel
• Thread is DMC variegated cotton, #4030. It has shades of blue, green and mauve throughout
• Stitch count is 30 x however long the hand towel is. No, I'm not going to count out the threads! :-)
• Started on April 26th 2013
• Completed on May 3rd 2013

Next up will either be my own choice of Christmas design for the "Christmas all year long" SAL, the May "freebie challenge" design over at 123stitch, or another hand towel. I think I'm going to make a hand towel for all the state team managers at karate who give up so much time to make sure things run smoothly each week.

Christmas bauble is done

Here it is:

• Name of the design is well, another unnamed one so I've called it "Christmas bauble"
• Chart is a freebie from this blog that I adapted a little. I didn't stitch the background snowflakes and changed "Happy Holidays" to the year 2002 - backdated to add to the "ornament a year" for my kids that I've been working on - and my initials
• Fabric is white opalescent evenweave
• Thread is "orange zing" silk from Carrie's Creations
• Stitch count is 37 x 47
• Started on April 11th 2013
• Completed on April 12th 2013

Blackwork Noel is started - and finished

This was a quickie I worked on at karate class. It was so quick I didn't even get to post a pic of it prior to starting - and finishing. I didn't intend it to be, but it fits the theme of "free choice" for the Christmas ornament challenge blog I am participating in, so it will be posted on that blog too. A pleasant co-incidence that it fit, as I had no real time to whip anything else up this month. Here it is:

• Name of the design is "Blackwork Noel"
• Chart is a freebie from Glory Bee Stitch
• Fabric is a remnant of white opalescent evenweave
• Threads are black DMC cotton and red sulky thread
• Stitch count is 39 x 39
• Started on March 27th 2013
• Completed on March 29th 2013

Reindeer is finally "finished"

OK, so I missed the big reveal at the end of February. I'm getting pretty good at that :-(. They do say the first step is admitting your problems/faults, right? Anyway, here's my reindeer that I stitched in February for the "Christmas all year long" blog challenge. I finished way back on February 4th, but only managed to add the finishing touches today - March 11th. Oops! It was the first time I used cording like this around the edge, and also the first time I tied it together at the bottom and made a tassel. I'm happy, all things considered.

And a close up of my tassel, I think I will have to weigh down the silver beading for a while so it hangs straight:

• Name of the design is, well, I'm calling it "Reindeer". Inspiring, I know
• Chart is a freebie from this blog
• Fabric is a 25 count mushroom pink lugana evenweave from "Embroidery Essentials"
• Thread is variegated & regular DMC cotton and red sulky thread
• Stitch count is 47 x 63
• Started on February 1st 2013 - I think
• Completed on February 4th 2013.  I added a white pom pom to the tail, red bows in the corner, changed the snowflakes a little, gave him a special eye, and tied threads to his shoes to look like shoe laces.

Let it snow is finished

The "big reveal" has occured on the message board, so I can now show this finish. It was a quick one, only taking 3 days. Here are the details:

• Name of the design is "Let it snow"
• Chart is a freebie, chosen as the January design for the monthly freebie challenge at the 123 stitch message board which I am participating in. It is a Barbara Ana design, available here
• Fabric is 28 count monaco - my favourite - in "sea swirls" by now defunct company Enchanted Fabrics. My favourite hand dyed company too :-(
• Thread is DMC. I switched a few of the called for colours to suit me. Stitched with 2 over 2.
• Stitch count is 33 x 48
• Started on January 15th 2013
• Completed on January 17th 2013

The changes I made were not stitching the eyes, I swapped them for googly eye buttons. I also stitched the word snow entirely in blue instead of the "o" in white (I just realised I wasn't meant to do that now!). I only stitched every second stitch in the border to give it a different look and added some mini star buttons instead of stitching a snowflake in the bottom right corner.