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Friday 13 May 2016

Friday Finishing Frenzy!

I was intending to post on Wednesday or Thursday this week to space the posts out but I was so close to finishing Little Snowy Gray Cottage I wanted to push on and have a Happy Dance post!

So without further ado, here is Little Snowy Metallic Gray Cottage:


Look at all the bling in that!

Design Details:

Little Snowy Gray Cottage by Nora Corbett
Started on 19th January, 2015 for DUCJC2015
Recommenced on 6th April, 2016
Completed on 13th May, 2016 (22 days stitching in total) 
Stitched on 32 count Blue Hydrangea Opalescent by Crafty Kitten
Recommended DMC and Kreinik except for the following:
B5200 for Blanc
Emerald Forest by Jodyri for the Caron Waterlilies
Kreinik 001HL and 014 blended for snowflakes instead of RG Arctic Rays

The Rainbow Gallery Arctic Rays is weird stuff, it's like metallic Whisper and likes to form hairballs on the back of your fabric!  Where the two sides of diagonal stitches meet in the middle the fabric is a little puckered (you can see in the last photo) but hopefully it won't show so much when it is stretched and framed.  

It will need a deep rebate on the frame because of those huge beads on top of the wall posts.

The nicest thread was the Kreinik 9294 used for the walls of the house, I love the colour and ir was so easy to stitch with, a pleasure!








I finished the Cottage this morning which left me some stitching space for the afternoon.  The second Friday of the month is for the Christmas Ornie SAL which is usually my Primitive Hare Christmas Cubes.  But there isn't a Cube which fits this month's theme of Reindeer.  So that gave me the excuse to finally start a series I have been hoarding for about five years!  Daffycat's annual reindeer freebie!


Jinglebell Reindeer from 2008


I didn't stitch him twice but I couldn't decide which photo looked better.  The colours are more accurate in the top one but you can see him better in the bottom one.

I stitched him over one on 28 count silvered white evenweave using the following colours:

Brown - 801
Green - 3346
Red - 815
Beads - 40557

I changed the red and green because colours can look different when you stitch over one and I wanted them to be a little brighter.

The reindeer himself took exactly one hour to stitch.  I timed myself.  The border took longer because my son came home from school and there were snack interruptions and I was needed to read the subtitles on a YouTube clip to him!

I have enough fabric to stitch eight of them, there are nine so far.  I plan to stitch six of them and finish into a cube ornament and hope that Daffycat does three more so I can have two cubes!  If not, then I will "flip" three of them and stitch them reversed.  I will have to get some more fabric though.

In the evenings I have been working on this sweet little chart from Sweetheart Tree:

stitched on 28 count Platinum linen

I am pleased with how well the blackwork shows up in the photo.  It is quite time consuming, the top border took two evenings to complete (doing about 30 minutes per session).

Finally, I joined a new-to-me FB group called Cross Stitch Finish Line which is all about celebrating different types of finishes, encouraging WIPs to become finishes and they host themed events too.  My shoe horn and I do enjoy a good themed SAL (I still miss Theme-a-licious).  The first one will be Sing Me a SAL starting 15th May.  Anything song-related will fit.  Now, I have completed another one of my 16 WIPocalypse projects so I will be continuing with one of the others.  Gathering Honey is earmarked for a later SAL and I have three dragon-themed projects to choose from!

So any suggestions for Dragon-themed songs APART from the obvious Puff the Magic Dragon.


32 comments:

jocondine said...

Oh that cottage could make me miss winter and a warm fire... in May! Fabric and threads are just amazing and magnify a perfect work (yes the work week is over, so let the superlative have happy danse too. xxx

Unknown said...

The cottage is stunning, love all the sparkle. The reindeer are cute think I might just have to check those out.

Jan said...

WOW such a sparkly finish! Congrats! I love the look of the black work, what's the name of the chart? Don't know of any dragon-themed songs, but I know Teresa Wentzler has some freebie dragons on her website.

gracie said...

Lovey cottage...I keep telling myself to stich the reindeer series, but.....

Cathy said...

Love the cottage! And the reindeer is perfect for this month's theme. Sweetheart Tree used to be one of my favorite designers, but I haven't stitched anything of hers in awhile. The Finish Line group sounds interesting.

Margaret said...

Bee-you-tea-full!! The sparkles are just great. Well done on an exquisite finish.

Linda said...

Congrats on the great finishes Jo. You have been busy.

Linda

Vickie said...

I almost feel chilly admiring your awesome cottage! Sweetheart Tree is looking so very good.

Bea said...

I have said many times how much I love that cottage and I shall repeat myself - I LOVE that cottage! lol I think in part because of the fabric - it gives it that perfect winter evening dusk look - kind of is it or is it not going to snow tonight? Your evening stitch looks good as well - must try some blackwork as I know I have some nice patterns.

Barb said...

That cottage is so delightful. Maybe I need to join the finishing group. I have so much of that to do!

Tiffstitch said...

Wow!! Finishing frenzy indeed, and love, love the cottage! Definitely blinged out, very cool.

Heather said...

Congrats on the finish Jo it's gorgeous! The reindeer is beautiful too nice job :) There are several dragon songs if you do a google search :) I found 13 so far but didn't listen to them all and I'm not sure what you're into :)

BeingBored89 said...

I absolutely love the cottage!! Congrats on the finishes!

Cross Stitch Claire said...

Love the cottage, very sparkly!

The Knitting Cross Stitcher said...

Gorgeous finish,the whole design with the fabric looks magical.
I like Daffycat's little reindeer designs too.
How about music from the How To Train Your Dragon film ost :)

KimM said...

Your cottage....and reindeer are both beautiful.
xxx

Christine said...

The cottage is gorgeous!
I like the idea of a reindeer cube

Angela said...

The cottage is so sparkly and stunning!

Chris said...

Lovely stitching, I love the design, so pretty. Thank you for your comments on my blog, I did go into the book shop, but didn't buy a book this time, but we're back in Southwold in July and August so I will pop in there again.. Hsppy Stitching xx

Beth in IL said...

Love the cottage. Look forward to seeing your dragon theme.

Mini said...

Lovely sparkly finish. The sweetheart tree piece looks so promising. Sorry can't help with dragon songs..I'm not into mythical creatures.

Anthea said...

Wow Jo, your Cottage looks amazing... I hope you had a hip-swinging Happy Dance after that finish!!

Sarah in Stitches said...

Absolutely gorgeous finish! The cottage is stunning. Lovely reindeer finish too! :D

Justine said...

Your cottage finish is lovely and very sparkly! The FB group has obviously inspired you already.
I can't think of any dragon themed songs but Fire by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown has just popped into my head!

Mii Stitch said...

Love your cottage snowy, sparkly finish!
The reindeer has to be the best... so cuuute :)

Stitching Noni said...

Wow! love that cottage... (I didn't mention in my GG comment as I wanted to leave my gushing to this post!!)
Your cottage is just gorgeous... so blingy and shiny :o) Well done on a beautiful finish!
What a great idea for using those cute little reindeers!
I keep hearing about Cross Stitch Finishing Line and I keep forgetting to find it on FB... will have to remember to find it tonight :o)
Songs about dragons... umm... I just keep thinking about the group "Imagine Dragons" :o) I did Google songs about dragons though and there are some out there... good luck ;o)
Hugs xx

Lili said...

The cottage is amazing, pretty finish!!
Lovely reindeer.

Kaisievic said...

Oh, Jo, this is so very, very pretty! Such a gorgeous finish and stunning photos.

Kaisievic said...

P.S. Sweet reindeer, too.

Brigitte said...

Such a great finish, Jo. I love this little cottage a lot because of the colours and the unusual threads you were using. One of my WIPs also calls for Arctic Rays but I'm not sure if I want to use it.
That reindeer looks so sweet.

Leonore Winterer said...

That little cottages looks great - so many glitter and sparkle, must have been a bit of a paint to stitch but the result is stunning, and the Jodyri thread fits in perfectly! The little reindeer is adorable :)

The Crafty Princess said...

You probably guessed that I love love love love love love love love your Little Snowy Metallic Gray Cottage. Congrats on the brilliant, sparkly and blingy finish :D

I know you have told me about how you organise your SAL's and wips but I still get blown away by how you keep up with all them. Looking forward to seeing them all.

xoxo Alicia