But this is the reason why I’ve not updated for a while:

Yup, we tied the knot :-) And the above finished and framed piece is one part of my wedding present to my beloved hubbie. Since then, of course, we’ve been away on honeymoon and are now settling into married life — and I am finally picking up my stitching again!

This piece was started on 28th March and finished on the 2nd April, at which point it went for framing (which added on an extra month). Luckily, of course, it was all ready before the day itself. Just. Another Lizzie*Kate piece, it was stitched on 28ct Zweigart Cashel Vintage Blue Linen and took 8hrs 30min.

“Just Married!” has had some heavy colour substitution on it — I changed all the colours on the piece from the recommended pinks and blues to tie in with those of our wedding colours: red, black and silver. The framer has done another lovely job too, with the frame and matting complementing both the stitching and our colours.

And of course, all those other Lizzie*Kate pieces I did this year? They all went to various folks as thank you presents — the florist, photographers, wedding planners, and so on… They were all amazed at how I’d been able to make their presents in amongst all the planning (and, truth be told, so was I!) — but each was received with joy and delight, which made it all worth it. *smiles*

Next up should be a very cute, very tiny little spring chick from the front of a recent Cross Stitch Card Shop magazine which, although working up nicely, is reiterating to me again how much I’m moving away from aida — so much tougher than evenweave or linen… Still, hopefully he’ll be making an appearance here soon!

Despite the delay in stitching, this one came out rather nicely — and it was a breeze to do, too!

Currently, I’m working on what will probably be my last Lizzie*Kate piece for a while (“Follow Your Heart”) and also a new BAP… More to come on these soon. :-)

Jo has been one of my rocks for many years, and while she was organising my hen party (held on April 4th) I was busy stitching her a whimsical but heartfelt little chart, courtesy of Sue Hillis Designs. Andrew suggested stitching it on black evenweave to give it some more “oomph” and, having never stitched on the stuff before, I thought it would be an interesting learning experience.

And y’know what? Black evenweave — in this case 28ct Jobelan black — isn’t that bad. Once you get used to the way the light catches it, and the interplay of the shadows on the fabric, it’s remarkably easy to work. The downside comes when you pause in your stitching to pick up a piece on a paler fabric, and then return to the black later — that’s when your eyes protest.

Oh, and your eyes also protest when you think, “Hmmm, some electric blue thread would work wonders on this..!” and proceed to use said electric blue thread — DMC’s Light Effects E3843, to be precise. That’s what the slogan is stitched in. I also changed the colour of the heart on this — opting for some DMC Colour Variations again, shade 4180, rather than three different shades of pink. I think it worked out quite nicely:

The backstitch on this piece took the most work — it alone doubled the stitching time! In the end, it was completed after 11 hours’ stitching, but it was so worth it. Then it went to the framers’ for around three weeks to be laced, matted and framed. Here it is fully finished and framed:

As for Jo, well — she loved it! I had great delight in presenting it to her during my hen party — right after returning from the Italian restaurant but before the complementary and beauty therapists pampered all us girls. :-)

The chart for this came originally from Sue Cook’s Quick-to-Stitch Cross Stitch Cards, and had some modifications — for instance, I changed the colour of the background (from teal to blue) and chose not to include a seed bead for the tag on the collar (I felt it looked good enough without it). In addition, I backstitched the whiskers instead of using the recommended flexible wire! I had to improvise on where they were, but I think it worked out just fine.