IHSW Report Jan 2015

I've decided to participate to the International Hermit and Stitch Weekend (Hosted by Joyce from Random Ramblings )

The rules for this are simple : Stitch all the weekend ! As much as your time permits it !

Exactly what I've been doing because i've been attacked by a terrible cold and fever that left me staying home and doing nothing «productive» all the weekend ...
Nothing productive meaning I felt like my brain was swimming in some jelly. Result : no homeworks and lectures, only sleeping, movies and stitching !  ( A week end of break sometime isn't bad ? )

I made a lot of progression on 3 projects from Friday to Sunday night ( Yep, missed my classes on Friday, I could'nt get out of bed, it was like a truck passed on me while I was sleeping  )


(Sorry for the picture quality, I take them from my old phone ) 

#1 Jazz Café  

Before

After

Close up

Anchor/Maia Collection

Black Aida 16 ct

I've been working on the dress and finished the brown already started.

#2 Elegance of the Orient

Before

After

Little close up 

Dimensions Gold

Cream Aida 18 ct

After doing so much blue in those 2, I relaxed with other colors in the last one ;)


#3 Mad Hatter

Before

After

HAED/ Hannah Lynn

White Lugana 28ct

I haven't done a lot of work on this one, because I like to keep it for when I'm tired of my other projects. This is the main reason why I don't expect to have it finished in 2015...

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This is it for this month. My stitching pace is slow if I compare to others I follow but it's okay for me. It is not a race, I stitch because I love to ! 

I'm not sure to have time for the next one, because the due date will fall almost in the same period as my exams, and I suppose it would be suicide to dedicace all my weekend on stitching .
Only time will tell !

Hope you had a nice week end full of stitching too ! :)

Hello 2015 !

15 days later...

Happy New Year everybody ! I wish you time, health, love et 50% reduction on thread and patterns for 2015 !

2014 was a great year for me. After more than 10 years without cross stitching, i found my old sewing box covered in dust. Since I had quit my part time job in 2013, it was the first time I had nothing to do during Christmas time. (I had always been working fulltime during the 3 weeks vacations to have more money). And this is where everything started.

One year later, I am very pleased to have a blog and show you my projects and progressions.

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Everything was listed as new project in 2014, so I don't have picture of before/after to show you.
So, let's go with the progression of my work so far, separated by resolutions. 

To finish

#1 Elegance of the Orient, Dimensions/Gold Collection

I didn't make progression this month, here is just a picture to show you where I am for now. I hope to finish it in 2015

#2 Jazz Cafe, Anchor/Maia Collection

This is the one I've been working the most on during Christmas Vacation. I completed the Elbow, the hairs, a little bit of the flower and almost finished the face (She looks more like a human now ! ) I love working on this project. The thread and the Aida are high quality ( Thanks Anchor kit! ) this is a pleasure to work with thread that's not knotting every 10 minutes ! I hope to give it to my parents this year !

 

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To make progress

#1 The Mad Hatter, HAED/Hanna Lynn

No work has been done on this one on December. I do it very slowly, I hope to make a little bit of progression this year but i'm not sure to finish it, since I have more enjoying projects than this one. ( Hope it will not become a UFO ... It would be my first one :/ )

#2 Pagoda View, Anchor/Maia Collection 

New start here !! Because I can't bring Jazz Cafe home when my parents are there, I was stitching this one. Here is a picture of the work so far.

And the finished product will look like this :

You can see there is a major difference in the colours (grey and purple) It is because the image of the package I received was this. With purple. Such disagrement to see the grey thread instead of the beautiful purple expected.  

I was sooooo disapointed. I decided to look in my stash where i own more than 200 skeins. I found the 3 purples matching so I began to stitch. But then, I-don't-know-how-many-hours-later, I saw the picture of the two other cross stitch pictures associated with this one :

Well.... the two are made with grey thread. The package lied to me. I will remove the purple thread when I will have more courage. Until then.... I hope to make progress on it.

#3 WOXS Mini's

My little sister paid me a one year subscription of the Magazine The World of Cross Stitching for Christmas, and I will work on the little minis they're sending each month. This is the January project, a little card ^__^

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To start

#1 Kimono Sunset, Anchor/Maia Collection

I bought this kit on September, and I hope to start it this year. But I will wait to have one of me project finished before! I don't want to have 10 projects in the same time... I don't like the rotation concept ( But I do not judge people doing it ! It's their thing and way to do, not mine !! )

#2 Charlotte, Mirabilia

The last time I went to cross stitch boutique, it was to buy needles ( Only had one left) and new box and bobins because I missed place for all my skeins the last time.
The problem is, I can go there and buy only the things I have to !!!! I fell in the Mirabilia Collection and absolutely had to return home with her :

The owner didn't had the fabric in stock so she ordered it for me. I will receive it in one or two weeks.  I can't wait to do the first stitch !

(Surprisingly, It costed me around 85$ CAN for everything (including taxes) and would have cost me 88,37$ CAN (At today's rate) if i had bought the exact same thing on 123Stitch with shipping fees ... )   

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So, this is it, I hope to be here on January 2016 to see the progress made through the year, and that you'll be still following me ! 

Now is time to get out of the internet's and stitch ! Have a nice week end !

:)

(So sorry if there are mistakes, I try to improve my English everyday !! )

Christmas before time

I'm writing you from my overheated appartement ( I think the landlord is allergic to cold ), while the snow begins falling outside, slowly and gently. Weather forecast announce 25 cm tomorrow, with super strong winds of 70km/h.
Readers, I present you Canadian Winter. Canadian winter, here are blog readers. Maybe I'll have picture for you ^_^ (Because I still got 2 exams tomorrow, and 25 cm of snow is NOT a reason to close the university. )

But, the snow is not the main reason for my title here.  Something more exciting !
My mom told me yesterday she had no idea what to offer me for Christmas. I suggested : Why not one of the Millenium frame I showed her last time ? My dad is CabinetWorker ( Erf, google translate, he makes wood furnitures ) and maybe he could make me one of those ?

Well, since my dad have too much too do, she decided to buy me one !  I was sooo glad !

And more over, my little sister bought me a one year subscription for The World of Cross stitch magazine ( Insisting on the fact that she want me too do the littles freebies for her baby... which will be done with great pleasure ! )

And you, have you asked for something specific for Christmas ?

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I have done a little work on my two pieces this week ( Even if i should not, and study instead )

Jazz Cafe from Maia Anchor , I have done a little bit of the hair, maybe more than the half, and began the white flower.

(With a closer look)

And then Elegance of the Orient, by Dimensions

I've done a little of the blue since the last time, and more of the .... hem, yellow shawl the she holds (the grey on the left) 

And in exclusivity today, a picture of a "New" Start !

 I've began this one during the summer, but since I want to offer the Jazz Cafe to my mom, i've put it on the side for the moment to concentrate on my future gift.

Here is The Mad Hatter from HAED design, made by Hanna Lynn (I'm a total fan of her work !)

And this is my progress so far

Made on Lugana 28 ct

Tent stitch, 2 over 1

This is the first time I stitch on evenweave fabric and I love it ! I think it is smoother than Aida, and the finish is less rought.

I will gladly show you what is tent stitch in another post ! This sort of stitch is the easiest (in my opinion) with HAED design. It's a kind of Half-stitch, but with better cover than the regular one. I use the parking method too because ... well because I'm not crazy enough to try to do this with the perfect back technique.
And the big hole on the latest picture it is because I dont have this exact colour of thread. Since I bought almost 250 skeins the last time, and rolling them was a real nightmare, I thought making a break was not a bad idea. ( Ok the little boutique that sells embroidery stuff had 13 colours missing in the ones I needed for this, and I was too lazy to go back 2 weeks after )


Soooo this is it for this week. Pray for me to have success in my exams that are beginning tomorrow until Friday. May all the gods me on my side, and the spirit of all the mathematicians who would be terribly mad against me not doing my homeworks !

(And please, If somewhere I had a bad use of a word in English, I will be very happy to know. I'm writing this blog to be better in with the Shakespeare language. Don't be shy to correct me :)  )