Easter Treasure Hunt

 Hello, and welcome if you have hopped by here on the Easter Treasure Hunt. For a full list of participating blogs please visit Jo at Serendipitous Stitching

Here is my Easter themed stitching. This little cutie is a free design from Durene Jones' Facebook page

The letter you need for your Treasure Hunt is:-

And the next stop is:-

Elfin Stitches

Gifted Gorgeousness March

 Well that came around fast! It is time for the March edition of Gifted Gorgeousness, the monthly blog hop where we show off our gift related crafting. For a full explanation see Jo's blog

Just the one thing to show this month. This little pillow I stitched for Barb for her birthday

The design is free one from Kincavel Krosses though I swapped in my own colours. The little rosette decoration is just a length of the ricrac gathered and rolled.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart

 Hello and welcome to the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop organised by Jo. Pop over to her blog at Serendipitous Stitching to see a list of all the blogs taking part.

Here is the Secret Stitching I was sent. 

Isn't it lovely? So delicate and pretty, I wonder who stitched it

I'm off now to see who got the one I stitched

The Last Gifted Gorgeousness of The Year

 Hi and welcome to December's Gifted Gorgeousness post. See Jo's blog here for full details, but essentially Gifted Gorgeousness is a monthly chance to show off anything we can shoehorn into the category of "gifts".

As is usual in December a lot of what I've been making I can't really show yet, but I can show you the ornaments I sent and received in the Needlecraft Haven Ornament Exchange

Here is the ornament I sent to Julie

And here is the truly beautiful Christmas tree ornament that Clare sent to me

Also I made me and the girls matching Christmas t-shirts, because we aren't too old for that right?

Gifted Gorgeousness October

 Well that came around fast! It's Gifted Gorgeousness time again. Time to show our gift related crafting. For a full explanation see Jo's blog here

Two spooky things to show this month, both of which I made for Eloise.

First this shirt. 

I started with a vintage (1970's) blouse pattern for this, but I re-drafted the collar and sleeves, and added piping down the centre front.

Then there is this dress

This is partially self drafted, using elements from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book and my own bodice design.

In both cases the fabric is from Art Gallery Fabric's "Spooky and Sweet" collection, and it was gifted to me by Minerva in exchange for a blog post.

There are other spooky makes in the pipeline, but I'll show them next month

Gifted Gorgeousness September

 It's Gifted Gorgeousness time again, where we share our gift related crafts. For a full explanation, and a list of all the participating blogs please see Jo's blog here.

A little bit of stitching to show this month. It was Clare's  birthday last week. As you may know, Clare decorates a themed Christmas Tree at her Church each year, and this year her chosen theme is a bouquet of stitched flowers, so I stitched her this little pansy, then I stitched it again on plastic canvas and made up a matching brooch for her.

Double bonus GG points for this one because the chart was in an Italian Cross Stitch magazine that Naomi bought for me when she was studying in Siena.

I can also include this dress I made for myself as the fabulous gingham effect and floral fabric was gifted to me by Minerva. The pattern is the Rockabilly Dress from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book

That's about it for this month. Hoping to be more productive for the October update

Gifted Gorgeousness - August

 Welcome to August's Gifted Gorgeousness, the monthly showcase for gift related crafting hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching

This month I can show the pieces from the Cyberstitchers Christmas in July Exchange I took part in.

Here is the Needlebook I sent to Theresa (It has her initials on the other side)

And here are the wonderful stitched goodies I received from Deb.

and finally a little cross stitch I did using a free design from Durene Jones

Summer Blog Hop - Stitching Friends

 Hello and welcome to the Stitching Friends Summer Blog Hop. 

This Blog Hop has been arranged by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching. We have all been allocated a "Stitching Friend" to tell you all about, and to choose a design for. Have a read about this blogger and see if you can guess who it is. (If you're really stumped the answer is right at the bottom of the post)

This blogger lives in France, and loves to take part in exchanges and blog hops. Because of this she stitches a lot of "smalls", but she also has some much larger projects on the go, including a stunning Chateleine design, and a sampler combining LHNs Little Sheep Virtues and CCN's Sheep in the Meadow

She stitches a lot of sampler style designs, and loves Just Nan. 

In addition to stitching this blogger also enjoys embroidery, knitting and crochet, and she is a superb quilter.

I thought this blogger would enjoy the design "Compagnie de Moutons" from Jardin Prive as it has lots of lovely sheep as well as traditional sampler motifs.

Add caption

Pop on over to her blog to see a list of everyone taking part in the Blog Hop.

Have you guessed yet?

The mystery blogger is Mary from La Coeur Celtique

Gifted Gorgeousness July

Well another whole month has slipped by and it's time for Gifted Gorgeousness again.
For a full explanation of the Gifted Gorgeousness Blog Hop, where we show our gift-related crafting, please see Jo's Blog.
This month's finishes are quite similar to last month's
Some sewing:-
A dress for me. The pattern (New Look 6301) was free with my magazine so that counts right?

and a rainbow cushion for Naomi (pattern can be found in Sew Magazine)

Some silver-smithing:-

A couple of  claw set sea glass rings

and an assortment of different rings for Eloise

Maybe next month I'll have something a bit different to show

Gifted Gorgeousness - June

It's time for another Gifted Gorgeousness, where we show anything we can manage to shoehorn into the category of gift gifts we've made or received, or projects we've done using gifted materials. See Jo's blog for more details
This month I've done quite a bit of sewing again.
I made Naomi a couple of high/low hem skirts (Pattern hacked from New Look 6434), using up fabric I had in my stash.

 The chambray was originally bought to make my husband a shirt, but he wasn't keen on the print

I don't know what this crinkle pleated slinky satiny stuff is but I do know it was a swine to sew

I also made this outfit for Eloise, the skirt is McCall's 6931 and the top is New Look 6483. The fabric is from Micheal Miller and is called "Kiss of the Spiderwoman"!

 I've been playing with silver again as well. I made a sea glass pendant for a friend's birthday, and some captive rings for Naomi

That's about it for this month. Hopefully some actual stitching next month!

Gifted Gorgeousness - May

It's time for Gifted Gorgeousness, the monthly Blog Hop organised by Jo where we show the things we've made as, received as, or can otherwise shoehorn into the category of gifts.
Quite a few sewing projects for my GG post this month. Lets see...
I made the girls a top each from some funky tattoo print jersey

I made this top for Eloise for her Birthday

and also this dress

Loki approves

The sharp eyed among will notice that all the pictures are of Naomi, this is because Eloise lives some distance away, so her makes have had to be posted to her.
This was a cover kit with Mollie Makes magazine, so that counts as a gift right?

And I finished off the blackbird applique I showed a couple of posts back. The design/kit was from last year's Spring Craftpod, which was a gift from me to me :)

Gifted Gorgeousness - April

A couple of days late, but here is my gifted gorgeousness post for April (If you are new to this GG is a Blog Hop hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching, where we show off anything we have made as, received as, or made from something received as a gift - or anything else we think we can get away with shoe-horning in for that matter)
I've got a few things I can share this month (and a few I can't, so that's next month's post sorted too!).
First up is the pendant I made for a friend's birthday. It is a piece of local seaglass for which I made a claw-setting from recycled eco-silver. A bit of a steep learning curve making the setting but I think I've got the hang of it now!

Then there is this shirt I made for my husband. The pattern is Simplicity 1544, and the fabric is a cotton lawn with a kind of William Morris-ish pattern of stylised bluebells. The collar band and inner cuffs are in a contrasting plain purple cotton.

And finally the piece I stitched for the Needlecraft Haven Easter Exchange.I finished as a "lollipop" and it's displayed with a wooden tulip my girls bought for me in Amsterdam. The design is from La Comtesse et le Point du Croix It's still here as we are keeping the exchange virtual for now and posting out later, so I can't say who it is for in case they read this.

That's all for this month. Off to work on some May gifts now.

Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop

Hello, Happy Easter, and welcome to my post for Jo's Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop. 
We were asked to show a piece of Easter/Spring stitching. I planned to show the Blackbird applique piece from last year's Spring Craftpod, but as you can see it isn't finished!

 

Instead here is an Easter Banner I made a few years ago

Now the bit you are really here for. Your letter is

and your next stop is

 Here

Gifted Gorgeousness - The March Shoehorn Edit

Hello, and welcome to my March Gifted Gorgeousness Post. For a full explanation of Gifted Gorgeousness, the monthly blog hop where we celebrate the generosity of the crafting community by showing off our gift related makes. For a full explanation please see Jo's Blog
To be honest I've really struggled to find anything that fits the criteria this month, so in best shoehorn tradition here is a dress I made myself.

The beautiful vintage rose print fabric was gifted from Minerva in exchange for a review, which will appear on their blog soon.
And here is my finished Sugar Bowl Crafts scrap-busting sewalong quilt top. A couple of the scraps I used were gifted to me by sewing friends so I can just about manage to squeeze it in here.

That's it for this month. Hopefully I'll have more to show next time around.

The Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

Hi, and welcome to the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop. This is a blog hop organised by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching. We all sent her a picture of something Valentine related that we'd made, and she mixed them all up and sent them out again. If you pop over to her blog you'll find a list of everyone taking part.
This is the Valentine I received.

Thank you Secret Stitcher, it's so pretty.
Please comment and let me know who you are.
I wonder who got mine...

Let The People Choose - Penguins

Let The People Choose is a SAL organised by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching, with a different theme each month. This month it's penguins! It can't have escaped your notice that I am fond of penguins. I have a lot of penguin related crafting to show.
Here we go:-

This New Year Penguin is a free design from Aliolka

I made this cuddly felt penguin from a kit from House of Zandra

Here is a silk scarf I block printed

and a little knitted penguin - pattern in 20 to Knit - Tiny Christmas Toys

bought the whole book for that pattern

A penguin Christmas Ornament (design by Cthulu Crochet)

A penguin in a Jayne Cobb hat!

Penguin walks down the street in that hat, you know he's not afraid of anything.

and this is a mixed stitch penguin sampler I designed for Stitch Magazine, many years ago.

And finally, not penguin related, but here is the February page from the subversive calendar the girls designed for me

Gifted Gorgeousness January 2020

Welcome to my January 20220 Gifted Gorgeousness Post. If you don't already know, Gifted Gorgeousness is a SAL devised by Jo, which allows us to show off pretty much anything that we can describe in a sentence using the words gift and craft. For full details see Jo's blog here.

Kicking off the Gifted Gorgeousness Year is always the easy post because of  Christmas. I already posted about all the wonderful craft related gifts I received in my Happy New Year post, so this post will be about various things that I made for other people.

Lets see... I knitted the girls a hat each. Pattern is "Head Sock" from The Purl Bug. Here is Eloise wearing hers on Christmas Day at the beach. 

I forgot to get a picture of Naomi's hat, but here she is wearing a little devore velvet slip dress I made her. 

The pattern is New Look 6347. Double GG points on this project as I was gifted the fabric by Minerva

I also made them a silver necklace each, (it's just the lighting that makes them look gold)

I made some of these star shaped fabric mats in a variety of colours and patterns for a few of my friends. 

And finally, a little Year of the Rat ornament I made Naomi for her Chinese Zodiac collection