May Cross-Stitch

Christmas in May--my piece for the Stitching Lotus SAL. This little guy is one of three in a Vervaco kit, done on 18-count cotton fabric with provided threads (probably DMC or Anchor). It came with the backing already attached--finished very nicely, with an opening down the center for filling, but making it difficult to stitch more than an inch or so away from the center. He joins this guy, whom I completed for last year's February SAL:

 

They're the same size; it's my photo-staging skills that are off!

I've also started a larger piece--much larger! Here's the genesis, you might say:

It's the first square of the 24 in Mary Beale's Advent calendar. I'm doing it on 32-count Belfast cream linen with charted DMC colors. The original was done in NPI silk (DMC equivalents provided), but I've never stitched with silk and thought I probably shouldn't start with this! And I just love DMC anyway. Each of the squares is about 5" x 6" and I think I'll arrange them 4 across and 6 down with a single row of cross-stitch framing each and a very narrow border around the whole calendar. It's really quite a beautiful design (you can see it at marybeale.com): 22 little vignettes from the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible that in Christian belief prefigure the birth of Christ, and then 2 from the New Testament--the Nativity and the Magi. Mary Beale calls it "Advent," but I'm calling it "Deliverance," and hope to have it done by Election Day 2020.

April SAL

This is the little piece I completed for Stitching Lotus's April SAL. It's "Apple Orchard," the second in the Blackbird Designs Garden Club series, stitched over 2 on 32-count WDW Confederate Grey with charted GAST colors. It's about 4" x 4". As I did with the first in the series, my March SAL, I simplified this design somewhat, replacing a flower to the right of the bird with the little diamond motif and some additional foliage spilling out of the apple basket with the other little diamond. The cluttered look of many Blackbird Designs pieces really appeals to me at first, but I find as I work that I want to edit them slightly. (What? Me? Declutter?)

I framed "April Is the Cruellest Month," a 2016 SAL, and had it hanging on my office door this past month. Now that the craziness--if not actual cruelty--of that month is over, my exam- and final paper-grading week begins, then I can look forward to the flexibility of summer: reading and writing and house-and-garden projects. Extensive personal experience tells me that by July, I'll be itching to get back to the craziness . . .