Friday 22 December 2017

'Twas the Weekend Before Christmas

I decided not to feature a Blogger of the Week this week as we are all so busy with Christmas preparations.  Instead I asked our previous Bloggers if they would like to send in a Christmas photo.

We start with the well-know poem; 'Twas the Night Before Christmas from Giovanna:

Prairie Schooler Book #63 Christmas Samplers

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The house had been decorated with greenery by Sheryl and Melanie:

Top - Noel Blanc by A Mon Ami Pierre
Middle - Peace Doves by Nora Corbett
Bottom - 2011 Christmas Tree by Nora Corbett

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The tree had been decorated with ornaments from Leonore, Margaret, Mouse, Pat, Jo and Pinky:

Top Left to Right:
Snowbirds by Country Cottage Needleworks
Merry Christmas Robin by Lynne Nicoletti
Very Merry by Lizzie*Kate
Bottom Left to Right:
Needlepoint Ornaments by Laura J. Perrin
Christmas Hearts by Just Nan
Christmas Angel Ornament by Dimensions


The stockings had been hung with care by Beth and Heather:

Left: Stocking by Cross My Heart Designs
Right: Enchanted Ornaments Stocking by Dimensions

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Brigitte and Gracie were hoping that St. Nicholas would soon be here:

Left: Prairie Schooler #36 St Nicholas II
Right: Santa by Gracie

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The next morning Ariadne, Deborah, DJ and Faith all awoke to find that Santa had left a special present, a world covered in snow!

Top:
Winter Reverie 2 by Jannlynn
Midnight Snowman by Dimensions Gold
Bottom:
Christmas Scene from DJ
Snowman TicTacToe by Ursula Michael


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I'd like to thank everyone who has contributed to the blog this year, everyone who leaves comments on the posts and a special thank you to everyone who sent in photos for this Christmas Blogger of the Week Special!

If you would like to be interviewed next year or would like to nominate someone, please drop me an email.



Friday 15 December 2017

Gwen from Guava Gems

I have known this week's Blogger of the Week for some time as we both take part in several of the same SALs in the blog world.  She does some lovely stitching in a variety of styles.  Please welcome Gwen from


1. Please introduce yourself – name, where you are from, family, pets etc.

I’m Gwen Lewis. I was born in the West Indies but now live in Columbus, GA., USA. I have one adult son and no pets.


2. How long have you been stitching and how did you start?

I have been stitching since elementary school.  My cousin taught me surface embroidery on stamped pillow cases.  A neighbor introduced me to knitting and I taught myself to crochet and tat.  I love found counted cross stitch and fell in love.  I’ve also tried my hand at quilting, needlepoint and many other crafts.



3. How long have you been blogging and what inspired you to start? Is there a story behind your blog title?

I started blogging in December 2006.  It was my way to journal my stitching. It doesn’t seem possible that my blog has been around that long.  
Guavas are one of my favorite fruits and I trust that my stitching Gems.


4. How would you describe your stitching style? Are you a serial starter, a rotator, a OAAT (one at a time), highly organised, random and eclectic, etc.?

I am a hopeless serial starter of projects of all sorts.  In addition to counted cross stitch; beading, knitting, crochet and needlepoint are some of the projects can be on my radar.  I aspire to be a rotator. I have tried several versions of rotations but I’m lucky if I stick to my plan past 2-3 weeks.




5. Do you have a favourite designer or style of design you are drawn to?

I don’t have a favorite designer or style and enjoy samplers, smalls and trying different techniques.




6. Which piece are you most proud of in your collection?

Two of the pieces I’m most proud of are the pieces of the trilogy, Gold and Frankincense, Gift of the Magi by Thea Dueck that I stitched and had framed.






7. What has been your worst stitching disaster?

This is more of a disappointment than a disaster.  I have never completed the stitching on the third piece, Gift to the Magi; Myrrh.


8. Which new technique would you like to try, either stitching, finishing or another craft?

I have all the supplies to try needlepunch but haven’t tried my first project yet.  I really don’t need another obsession.



9. Do you have a box of finished-but-not-fully-finished pieces? Or is everything FFO'd? What's your favourite way to fully finish a project and what do you do with them?

Oh yes, I do.  I have several objects that need finishing as well as some projects to be framed.  I don’t have a favorite finish.  I try to match the finish type to the project.  I also like to try different finishing techniques.  Some items I keep but I have gifted a lot of the pieces I have finished.




10. Which of your projects most represents "you"?

I don’t have a project that represents me but I have used one of my projects as an avatar.




11. Tell us a secret about yourself. Or a joke. About anything!

I’m a really slow stitcher and need to limit my time online so I can get some stitching done.


12. Anything you would like to add?

I really enjoy seeing the different projects and variations that stitchers work on and complete.  Wish I was able to comment on all of them.











Friday 8 December 2017

Mary from Mary's Stitching Spot

This week's Blogger of the Week is a newer-to-me Blogger but I am glad that I found her blog, she has stitched some gorgeous ornaments and a wonderful version of the Hands On Design's Summer Chalk on a stunning red fabric.  To see all these and more after the interview, pop over to visit Mary of:



1. Please introduce yourself – name, where you are from, family, pets etc.

My name is Mary and I am from Tampa, Florida.  I currently reside in Paducah, Kentucky with my husband Bill, 3 sons (Bradley, Blakley and Brentley) and 2 dogs named Max and Hana.


2. How long have you been stitching and how did you start?

A roommate of mine showed me how to cross stitch in 1992 and I did 2 projects for my nephews.  Then I stopped until 2000 when I became pregnant with my first son.


3. How long have you been blogging and what inspired you to start?  Is there a story behind your blog title?

I started my blog in 2011 as a way to show my work and to see my progress.  I am afraid that it is kind of boring but I love some of the SAL's I have participated in this year because of my blog.  My title is Mary's Stitching Spot because I was trying to make it sound cozy like sitting in comfortable pj's with a warm drink and just relaxing with cross stitch.


4. How would you describe your stitching style?  Are you a serial starter, a rotator, a OAAT (one at a time), highly organised, random and eclectic, etc.?

For a long time I stitched nothing but smalls because I found it was easier with my sons when they were younger.  I am now branching out to more larger and challenging pieces.  I am on a journey of self discovery with my cross stitch.  I use to stitch only cute/seasonal projects but I want to do more.  Not ready for HAED's but you never know.  I do like to rotate between projects so I don't get bored but I try not to have more than 7 or 8 WIPS.

Words by Palko-Lap



5. Do you have a favourite designer or style of design you are drawn to?

I want to try Mirabilias one day.  I am on a Tempting Tangles, By The Bay and The Prairie Schooler kick.  I have always loved Rosewood Manor.  I love quaker designs as well.


6. Which piece are you most proud of in your collection?

There are a few but the most recent cross stitch I am proud of is the Circle de Cirque by Ink Circles Design that I made for my son, Bradley. I also did the SAL from Palko-Lap's blog (see above) and I loved picking my own colors.



7. What has been your worst stitching disaster?

I have had a few over the years.  The worst for me is getting permanent pink marker on my project after it was completed and the fabric was white linen.


8. Which new technique would you like to try, either stitching, finishing or another craft?

The 2 things I have always wanted to do are Hardanger and Knitting.  Not sure if I ever will but will admire other people's beautiful work.


9. Do you have a box of finished-but-not-fully-finished pieces?  Or is everything FFO'd?  What's your favourite way to fully finish a project and what do you do with them?

I have a small box of shame.  I try to FFO projects,  especially if they are ornaments, pillows or smalls.  I have a basket where I put my smalls that I rotate seasonally.  I need to do more for summer and spring; I tend to stitch a lot of Fall and Halloween. No matter how much I stitch I still feel like it isn't enough.


10. Which of your projects most represents "you"?

Besides seasonal, I love Quaker, animals, and nature. My daisy biscornu is one of my most favorite pieces.



11. Tell us a secret about yourself.  Or a joke.  About anything!

I am very unorganized and forgetful.  I am trying hard to work on this however.


12. Anything you would like to add?

Thank you so much to Jo for finding my blog, and me, worthwhile to have as the blogger of the week. I really appreciate the time and energy that goes into it and I love to get to know other stitchers in the community.
















Friday 1 December 2017

Lorynn from My Bored Nerdy Self

How can you resist a blog title like that?  Lorynn is a newer blogger which is always good to see.  As people move on to new things it's nice to meet new friends to join us.  She has one project in particular which I love to see growing, I'll add a link to that at the end of the interview.  I also love the story of how she started stitching, so many bloggers have credited their grandmothers, this is a nice change!  Please welcome Lorynn from




1. Please introduce yourself – name, where you are from, family, pets etc.

Hello! I am Lorynn from Orlando, Florida.  I have an amazing husband, who I have been with for a total of 11 years and we have been married for the last 3.  We have a beautiful daughter who will be 2 in January (where has the time gone!?!?) We also have 2 dogs (a yorkie and a german shepard) and 3 cats.  Needless to say we definitely have a full and active household!  As far as work goes, I am an Emergency 911 Dispatcher.  I dispatched police for 8.5 years and have been dispatching fire/medical services since January of this year.



2. How long have you been stitching and how did you start?

I started stitching in 2011, when I spent a week with my grandparents in Arizona.  I was actually taught by my grandfather.  He uses stitching as a calming technique and his pieces are absolutely beautiful.  He noticed that I was admiring all of his work and decided to take me to get a starter kit and show me how to stitch.  I decided on a very small lighthouse starter kit that he showed me how to start and then I finished it on the plane ride home.




3. How long have you been blogging and what inspired you to start? Is there a story behind your blog title?

I have been blogging since about February 2016.  I started looking up cross stitch stuff online and came across several blogs (Jo’s Serendipitous Stitching being one of the firsts!) that I really enjoyed following and decided I would take a stab at it myself.  I figured I would use it as a way to motivate me to keep working on projects when work and life in general didn’t keep me extremely busy (like it has been lately).  As far as my title goes, I’m a big nerd who loves all things comic books, conventions, video games, science and math and I used to always say I was bored before our daughter came around, thus My Bored Nerdy Self came to mind as a title.


4. How would you describe your stitching style? Are you a serial starter, a rotator, a OAAT (one at a time), highly organised, random and eclectic, etc.?

I would say that I really don’t have a style. I kind of follow all the different examples depending on my mood or goals at the time :-P


5. Do you have a favourite designer or style of design you are drawn to?

Honestly, I don’t really have a favorite designer or style.  If I see something that catches my eye, it’s usually because it has reminded me of someone and I end up stitching it as a gift.


6. Which piece are you most proud of in your collection?

I would say the piece I am most proud of would be the Geisha that I finished and then ended up gifting to a friend as a wedding present because she fell in love with it.  It was definitely the most intricate piece I have completed so far and took me the longest!



7. What has been your worst stitching disaster?

The worst disaster was probably when I miscounted and ended up waaaay off and didn’t realize it until I had done several lines of work...I was devastated!


8. Which new technique would you like to try, either stitching, finishing or another craft?

I don’t know how to use a sewing machine but I would eventually like to learn and maybe start finishing pieces in little pillows and whatnot.


9. Do you have a box of finished-but-not-fully-finished pieces? Or is everything FFO'd? What's your favourite way to fully finish a project and what do you do with them?

I have several unfinished pieces but when I do finish something, I completely finish it.  I generally tend to frame my pieces and then gift them to others.  It’s just been recently that I’ve been stitching small pieces and actually keeping them for myself.


10. Which of your projects most represents "you"?

Probably my little video game pieces that I have done so far.  I plan to do several more whenever time permits again.





11. Tell us a secret about yourself. Or a joke. About anything!

It’s no secret that I am a nerd however the amount of nerdiness that I publicly portray is usually contained.  So secretly, I’ve always wanted to go all out and dress up as a character when I attend conventions but I’ve never been brave enough to!


12. Anything you would like to add?

Thank you for taking the time to get to know me a little bit!


Jo's favourite project - Olde World Mappe