Peppercricket Farm - It's a wrap!

I finished all the backstitching on Peppercricket Farm yesterday. I have made one tiny adjustment but I am taking a wild guess here and claim that no one will ever notice!

I enjoyed working on this even though it took me ages to finish.

Blast from the past!

Instead of doing loads of backstitching I decided to clean out my cabinet and I found some finish products. So it is time for a blast from the past!

 

Eastern Promise - A design by Joan Elliott that was published in CrossStitcher issue 200

 

Carrousel - From a random needlework magazine from nineteen ninety-something

 

Two cute little kittens - A Margeret Sherry design (I think) came with CrossStitcher as gift

 

Miss Moo Moo - Made for a friend (omg, still not gifted!)

 

My middle son's name in Winnie the Pooh lettering :) (He is 11 now but still likes it)

 

Teresa Wentzler's Tempest in a teacup - a free to download pattern for you to try from her site

 

Train - I think this was in Cross Stitch Collection

 

The Needlework Shop - a design with loads of tiny details, loved making this!

 

A pre-printed panda, stitched for my daughter

 

Winter wolves - A smaller Dimensions kit

 

Quick Biscornu

 

And a tiny cupcake card

WIP #5 Update Peppercricket Farm

I have been working on Peppercricket Farm since I laid down the Victorian Christmas Eve. First my progress so far:

So I have most of the full cross stitches done. On the right side there are quite a few half stitches left to do. Then after that there is a fair amount of backstitching in various colours to top it all off. When I picked this up I figured I would finish this first before starting anything else. But ofcourse there is Always something tricking me!

This time the annual needlework fair is messing up my plans as I could not help myself and I bought two lovely kits that have been on my wishlist for quite some time. I will share them with you;

 

Gracious Era by Alan Maley (Dimensions)

 

Japanese Garden by Sung Kim (Dimensions)

 

Two most wonderful kits that make my hands itch to start them, well the Japanese Garden is. The Gracious Era will have to wait until I have finished Victorian Christmas Eve as that is a similar type pattern. As an added bonus I was given this cute little Vintage kit by DMC. Pretty little piece that is that I will surely fit in between my bigger projects someday.... Oh someday.... 

WIP #7 Update Victorian Christmas Eve

Today I reached the 50% done mark on this project. Page 3 of 6 is now done excluding the backstitching. I will take a break from this project for a bit and aim to finish another WIP.

NEW START Chat Noir - Scarlet Quince

My first new start in 2015 is Chat Noir. The pattern is by Scarlet Quince while the original poster has quite a bit of history.

'Le Chat Noir' (The Black Cat) was a nineteenth-century entertainment establishment in Montmartre in Paris. It was opened by Rodolphe Salis and unfortunatly closed after his death in 1897. 'Le Chat Noir' is considered to be one of the first modern cabarets.

The now iconic poster is still for sale all over. It is a design by Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen that has been adapted many times since adding performers, dates and so on. This explains why you find so many different versions of the poster on the web. Below are two versions. The first was used to advertise a tour to other cities. The second has a specified date and announces the 'réoverture', the reopening in 1896.

 

Amongst the visitors of the establishment were writers, poets, artists and musicians. To list a few; pianist Erik Satie, composer Claude Debussy, Can-Can dancer Jane Avril, writer Alphonse Allais and painter Paul Signac.

So far some history, now to make some of my own. This is the progress I made on day one. Sticking to the red and so far ignoring the surrounding confetti and blended-yarn stitches!

WIP #7 update Victorian Christmas Eve

I have been working on the Victorian Christmas Eve for a while now so it is about time I show you some of my progress! This WIP is number 7 in the 2015 challenge.

I am still working on page 3 of a total of 6 pattern pages but I am getting there!