🎄 Stitchy News: Holiday Special 🎄

It's that time of the year again, and the Holiday Rush is upon us! It's the first time in forever that I've done a Stitchy News post, but I have some exciting news to share with you today, including an online stitchy advent calendar and a great giveaway! ❤🎄❤

Mary Corbet of Needle N' Thread is generously running her fabulous A Stitcher's Christmas giveaway series again this year, where she shares top of the line embroidery notions and supplies! She's currently on the 2nd Giveaway, so make sure to visit the website or sign up to her free newsletter (which sends you the blog posts as they are published) to keep up with the giveaways. If you're new to A Stitcher's Christmas, please visit this year's first post for more information on how it all works 😉

It's a super popular series, and there's often hundreds of entries for each giveaway, which can seem discouraging. But I was incredibly fortunate, and won the Inspirations Giveaway from 2017 , so if I can win, you can too! I wasn't blogging at the time so I haven't shared my kit finishes yet but I will soon. It was an incredibly difficult year for me, the first Christmas after my beloved Grandpa died (on Christmas Day 2016) and that prize made me pick up my needle and thread for the first time in over a year, and helped get me through a terrible time. Best of luck to you if you enter ☘

Laura at Bugs and Fishes has a super cute Retro Felt Baubles Tutorial for you, great for making last minute Christmas gifts! If you leave the ornaments unpadded, as Laura mentions, they would also be fabulous for sending in Christmas cards. There's all kinds of possibilities to pull out your embellishment tin and go crazy, and I think these would be a great way to use scraps of pretty trims and edgings!

DMC has a number of free holiday patterns, including this pretty Nordic Heart. It uses two shades of the shimmering new Etoile floss, but would look lovely in a single shade of variegated Coloris too! There's a cute Coloris Christmas Tree freebie as well.

The wonderfully imaginative Jo at Serendipitous Stitching is hosting her annual Online Advent Calendar Blog Hop again this year! The image above is one of my favourite finishes of Jo's, from her very first 2011 Online Advent Calendar 😃 This is such a great event, where stitchers share some holiday themed projects from years past and a bit about their own traditions. Make sure to hop along for some Christmas stitching and finishing inspiration! I look forward to it every year ❤

Finally, if you're looking for a super quick little ornament to whip up in a hurry, why not try my free Blackwork Poinsettia Ornament? It's two-sided, easy to customize, and doesn't need any backing fabric! I also have a full tutorial for the easy Whipped Chain Stitch Edging. This was my contribution to Jo's 2013 Online Advent Calendar.

In February, my friend Shannan from Bobbin & Fred stitched this gorgeous variation, and I had the pleasure of interviewing her about her finish for the blog! This remains one of my favourite patterns and can easily be made in a weekend. If you do stitch up a version, I'd love to see it, and feature you here on the blog if you like! 😊

Are you making like Santa Claus and doing any gift making this year? I don't have mine all lined up yet but I'm thinking about projects - unfortunately, they're all Super Secret!

❤ Whatever you're making for the holidays this year, may your Christmas be Merry & Bright, and may you Jingle All The Way ❤

GG: Stitching Finish - Tiny Sheep Trio

Stitching Finish! Sheep Trio
February 2019 Design from Cotton & Twine Boxes
(won in a Giveaway, for more information please read this post)
* Crafty bonus: the photo background is a Pineapple Doily that I crocheted! *

Finally, and at long last, my first Gifted Gorgeousness of the year! Although I'm a little late to the party, Jo kindly leaves the linky open until the end of the month, and I'm so happy to be able to jump in with this stitching finish 😊 GG is a great relaxed SAL to encourage stitchers to work on gift projects - either things they have received as gifts, or are giving as gifts. As I won this kit as part of a Giveaway, it was a gift to me!

Although the February Cotton & Twine Box come with a cute floral printed hoop to use for finishing this project (which you can see in my last post) you may notice that this hoop is plain. That's because as I was stitching this cute design I thought the slightly oval shape of the floral frame would make a beautiful Easter Egg! Indeed, I even bought some backing fabric and floss to make an eggy ornament but I ran out of time and Easter has come and gone. So I think I may leave it as is until next year, and then decide 😉

This was a cute, fun Spring design to stitch that worked up quickly! Although the kit instructions said to use two strands of floss, I used three (as I usually do) for a plumper look and I had plenty of floss with the exception of one of the greens. Helpfully, the floss card listed the DMC numbers so I was easily able to substitute a strand from my own stash. This is also very useful if you would like to stitch multiples of the same project.

I shared some progress pictures on my Instagram as I went, and I enjoyed watching the project grow from three teeny tiny sheep 🐑🐑🐑...

...to three sheep in a field of daisies 🌼🐑🐑🐑🌼...

...to three sheep among in daisies, standing under a heart ❤🌼🐑🐑🐑🌼❤:

And finally, the end result: three adorably teeny tiny sheep frolicking in a daisy-filled meadow, under a floral arbor crowned with a heart! 🌸❤🌼🐑🐑🐑🌼❤🌸

For the Easter Egg ornament, I bought some more floss in the pretty pink colour of the central heart to make some cording for the edging, and some coordinating mottled pink cotton fabric for the back. I was hoping to find some sheep print fabric but no luck this year! Maybe that will be my excuse for waiting until next year for final-finishing it - trying to find the right fabric 😂

Did you stitch anything for Easter or Spring this year?
Or are you planning anything for Summer?!

My Great Giveaway Win!!!

Some very exciting news to share this week - I recently won the absolutely fabulous "300 Followers Giveaway" hosted by the lovely Meggie of Cross Stitch Cottage!!! Unfortunately, Meggie has had to take her blog down for the time being, but I really hope life settles down for her soon and that she'll return to writing again :)

Before she left the online world, Meggie very kindly gave me her blessing to make one of the beautiful cross-stitch charts she sent a Travelling Pattern, and I'm thrilled to be able to share her generosity!!! I've never hosted or participated in a TP before, so I'm still working out all of the details. Since it's me, it'll likely be a little different ;)

I'll let you know ASAP! But for today, I just wanted to show you the amazing gifts:

It felt like Christmas when I tore into Meggie's package outside the post office ;) She had also wrapped everything wonderfully, but none of that survived to make it to the photos LOL! It's a little hard to see everything, so here's some close-ups:

Here is the card she sent, a great (and very useful!) heart-shaped magnetic needle-minder, beautiful Pink Ribbon scissors with beaded Fairytale fob (the charm is a cute little castle!), paper Bunting kit and "Live, Laugh, Love" sampler by Helen Philipps.

Just look at all these gorgeous overdyed DMC Colour Variations!!! I was SO happy to open these, and I've never even seen most of these lovely colours before ;) Here's a close-up of the label numbers in case you're interested in a particular colour:

From left to right: 4065, 167, 4090, 4220, 4245, 4250, 4042 (Christmas mix!!!), 4122 (Autumnal mix!!!), 4210 and 4190. I'm just starting to get into using overdyed threads, and I can't wait to work with these, especially the Christmas one ;)

Meggie very kindly included some extra Just Nan charts when I told her that the lovely little ornaments - "Rosebuds" and the Christmas-themed "Snowberries" - would be my first experience with the designer :) That was incredibly thoughtful and I can't thank her enough! The extra charts are the ornament "Primrose Path" (which I can't show because there is no finished image) and the magnificent "Harmony":

From what I can gather, "Harmony" was a special limited edition kit that came with unique overdyed silks and charms for each of the four seasons. While researching the design, I came across this great stitching finish, using the kit materials!

Finally, Meggie sent two other beautiful charts - "Love is a Garden" by Waxing Moon Designs - complete with a cute little butterfly button! - and "Geranium House" by Country Cottage Needleworks. Both designers are entirely new to me too :)

The Mascot for this Giveaway was the cute "Little Bear" Meggie crocheted, and she was a little bewildered when she was first unwrapped, after her long trip overseas...

But Mr. B. Floofy, being the gentleman that he is, hopped right over to say hello...

And now bunny and bear are the very best of friends :)

Little Bear is fabulously soft, carefully crocheted in some sort of wool blend, and is perfectly finished with a cute ribbon bow and little heart button on her belly!

I've been calling her Little Bear ever since I received her, and it works, but (like Mr. B. Floofy himself last Easter) I think she needs a special name :) Any suggestions?!

Many thanks again to Meggie, and to all the kind stitchers who share their stash :)

Stitchy News for September!

UPDATE: Many thanks to Karen for letting me know that some of the links in this edition weren't working! As of today, October 2nd, they should be working again :) So sorry for any inconvenience!

Autumn is in the air and Hallowe'en is on its way, but there are still some bright and colourful projects well worth making too :) And Giveaways! Without further ado:

Special Event: "Pumpkins For Cathey"

On Friday, September 27th, pumpkins started popping up all over the Blogsphere with the mysterious title "Pumpkins for Cathey". This was a special surprise event organized by Daffycat for her friend Cathey, also known as Pumpkin at Pumpkin Patch & Co. for her 7th Blogoversary! Sadly, along with the happy congratulations for this wonderful achievement, this event had a serious purpose - Cathey is suffering from end-stage cancer, and Daffycat wanted to raise Cathey's spirits.

Cathey has written two posts well worth reading: A Much Needed Rant and What Cancer Is Not.... Although I'm late and do not know Cathey, I'd just like to add my best wishes - there are links to all the blogs that participated in the comments on Daffycat's post, and you can still visit and offer your own best wishes if you'd like :)

Learn How To Stitch Small Leaves + Stitch A Tiny Pumpkin!

Over at Needle N' Thread, Mary Corbet has recently added a quartet of great posts with stitching suggestions for miniature leaves, perfect for little floral motifs, as part of her awesome Stitch Fun series! So far, there are Fly Stitch Leaves, Cretan Stitch Leaves, Buttonhole Stitch Leaves and the unusual and very pretty Rose Leaf Stitch.

While you're there, you might also want to visit Mary's great tutorial showing how to embroider a cute little pumpkin with bullion knots!

Why Not Embroider A Whole Pumpkin Patch?

Speaking of embroidered pumpkins, Annet at Fat-Quarter has an interesting guide showing how to make a needle-woven one! This stitch is very dimensional, with great texture, just perfect for the Great Pumpkin in your patch :)

Stitchy Inspiration: Beaded Pumpkin Pins

Paulette, who blogs at Beedeebabee, does absolutely amazing work with felt, and her adorable pumpkin brooches - adorned with beaded flowers - are gorgeous! Also, the beaded picot edge is easy and elegant, a wonderful technique I'd like to try! She kindly shares a yummy recipe for Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies too ;)

Beautiful Finish: Harvest Moon House

Over at the always-amusing Spinster Stitcher blog, Coni has just finished an amazing Autumnal canvaswork design called Harvest Moon House by Laura J. Perin. See the finish in this post - be sure to click on the photo to see all the lovely details! And if you like the project, you can find lots of update posts by scrolling through her blog :)

Free Pattern: "Autumn Is Here"

Thanks to Ingrid's lovely finish (her beaded rick rack trim is amazing!) at her Mii Stitch blog, I discovered a freebie of a very cute yellow birdie on a branch full of changing leaves! Called "Autumn Is Here", the pattern is available here at The Snowflower Diaries. The designer also offers several other free primitive patterns.

Get Ready For Hallowe'en Stitching With Fun Freebies!

Emma Broidery at the DMC Threads blog has a great round-up, including a host of cute Japanese "kawaii" style monsters. And Jo at Serendipitous Stitching compiled a wonderful list last year! Cyberstitchers also has a spooky Hallowe'en Alphabet (with "Halloween" word chart) and several small frightful freebies, perfect for ornaments.

Tutorial: Two Tiny Embroidered Coin Purses, With Patterns

Bev, who blogs at Flamingo Toes, has little project for using up scraps of fabrics and threads: two cute miniature coin purses! The projects are really made by the vintage-looking purse clasps she used, but the sweet little patterns she provides - an umbrella raining hearts and a bicycle holding flowers - could be used anywhere!

Sew A Patchwork Of Memories!

Amy has written her first tutorial at Cloud CouCou Crafts, and it's a really lovely idea that makes for a beautiful project! She had been saving some clothes from her young daughter's early years for a special project, and made a very cute cushion of simple squares from the material :) It's sewn on the machine, but the idea is easily adaptable to other family members and to hand sewing too. A wonderful keepsake gift to give!

Great Gift Idea: Embroidered Jewelry Pouch!

Speaking of gifts, over at Feeling Stitchy, for Tutorial Tuesday, there is a guide to hand-sewing a small drawstring pouch. Suitable for storing jewelry or other small items, it would also make a lovely personalized gift bag! A link is included to the free monogram frame pattern, which is very pretty, but the lettering is done by hand.

Stitchy Inspiration: Embroidered Magazine Cover

(Found via DMC Threads) Donatella, at the fashion blog Inspiration & Realisation, recently tried embroidering on paper and she shares her results! The image she picked is gorgeous, and the simple running stitch adds a lovely textured overlay :)

Take A Virtual Tour Of Scotland's Textile Treasures

Susan Elliott, of Plays With Needles, recently went on a trip to Scotland and has posted a trio of wonderfully detailed posts about the historical needlework that she saw at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow: Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, A Tisket, A Tasket, and A Tale of Two Coifs. Her post on The Great Tapestry of Scotland is also very interesting, and Susan also has some lovely photos of the Scottish scenery too!

Quick Lesson: Stitching "Over 1"

Veronica, at Veronica's Stitching Vault, has stitched up an excellent example of "over 1" options for stitching on linen! These smaller scaled stitches are often used for fine detailing, including skin shading, but the terminology is so confusing :)

Stitchy Books To Learn From

Over at &Stitches, the team has been sharing their favourite embroidery books, the ones they turn to time and time again for stitchy inspiration! I'd never heard about any of these three previously, so it's very interesting to learn about the contents:

Carina chose Mary Gostelow's "The Complete Guide to Needlework Techniques and Materials", Julie picked the French edition of Mary Thomas' classic "Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches" and Nicole opted for Jacqueline Enthoven's "The Stitches of Creative Embroidery". Do you have a favourite stitchy book? I'd love to know!

"Stitched Blooms" Blog Tour With Giveaways!

Carina Envoldsen-Harris, who co-hosts &Stitches and blogs at Carina's Craftblog, is releasing her first craft book! "Stitched Blooms: 300 Floral, Leaf & Border Motifs to Embroider" comes with digital versions of the motifs on a CD and 20 suggested projects. Carina is currently hosting a Blog Tour for the book, which is almost over, but the full schedule is here and she noted still open Giveaways at the bottom of her most recent blog post. The dates run from October 1st to 6th, so hurry on over and enter to win your own copy! Disclaimer: I have entered one of the Giveaways!

Some of Carina's larger patterns are available for FREE on the DMC site, in the "Pearl Cotton Embroidery" section! My favourites are Summer Days and Bird of Paradise :)

Perfect for Hallowe'en: Historical Dracula Pattern Giveaway!

Fellow &Stitches co-host Julie (of Button, Button) designs as Little Dorrit & Co. and has just released a new Dracula pattern for Hallowe'en. Not your typical vampire, this bloodsucker displays his literary heritage proudly! You can find the full rules and enter to win a copy of the pattern on this post, contest closes on October 9th!

Stitch A Sweet And Simple Bunny With Felt Applique!

Bridgeen Gillespie at Cherry & Cinnamon has a guide for a quick and easy Spring Bunny, but the background fabric is actually quite Autumnal :) The free pattern is more of an inspiration than a real template, but this is an adorable idea that is very adaptable! It would be supercute stitched on a floral print with lots of lazy daisies ;)

Quick and Cute Stitching: Felt Owl Brooch

Laura (aka Lupin) at Bugs and Fishes has an old but wonderful tutorial on making a cute little owl brooch, perfect for brightening up your Fall coat, scarf or bag :)

While you're visiting, Laura also has a great tutorial for a larger feathered owl and templates for an assortment of felt Autumn leaves with 15 project suggestions!

Fine Crochet: A Lovely And Unusual Rose

Olga at Lacy Crochet has a wonderful pattern and tutorial for a very unique one-dimensional rose! Inspired by traditional Irish Crochet roses - which are commonly three-dimensional - she designed this modern yet elegant flower with asymmetrical petal layers! This motif would be look lovely in a table runner, as Olga suggests, or as a doily and would be practical too, since you could actually lay items on top of it :)

Fantastic Fairy Tale Finish!

Miss Lilly, from the great stitchy blog Back On The Wall, posted an amazing finish at the end of August that I've been impatiently waiting to share with you ever since :) Called "Once Upon A Time", it is a JCA kit designed by Michael A. LeClair, and it is shaped like a real open book!!! Unfortunately, this design no longer appears to be available, but as a finishing idea, the open-book concept is simple and stunning :)

Catch Up With Crafty News From Across The Pond!

Finally, I'm very excited to share that Emma Lenton (good friend of ES and host of EveningEmma) and Michael Westgarth (of the gaming blog MegaWestgarth) have started an exciting new venture called CraftiHub! CraftiHub is devoted to providing daily updates about all kinds of interesting things going on in The United Kingdom. My favourite article so far has been about NeuroKnitting, which is amazing!

The site is in its early stages and could use your support :) If you like what you see, you can follow Craftihub on Bloglovin' like I do, or add it to your favourite RSS reader. I'm really looking forward to watching this site grow!

Thanks Very Much For Reading!

Please feel free to share your favourite crafty/stitchy book in the comments below!

If you have an item of interest for Stitchy News - including your own - please e-mail me! My address is in my sidebar at right (>) under the pretty postage stamps :)