Thanks so much for your kind comments guys. Means a lot  :-)

Hi all,

Some of you might have already seen bits of this on the big stitch along 2012 etc, well Ive finally finished it.  I started in Jan/Feb 2012 with Asbury Park and finished it in early March 2013 (ironically the last one to be finished was asbury Park.)
Basically its my four favourite Springsteen album covers.  I probably would have chosen Tunnel of Love over Born in the USA, but was influenced by the fact Bruce's bum seemed easier to embroider than his face!
Here are the four together

And Ive taken some individual shots as well (sadly only on my camera phone so they arent the best)
Asbury Park:

Born to Run:

Darkness on the Edge of town (probably my favourite)

AND... Born in the USA:

I cheated a bit on this one and used some Chambray for his jeans.  Couldnt quite face blocking all that in.
 
I am happy that I managed to complete such a large project in a year; as I am famous for getting distracted and never finishing projects.  I would probably not have used the beads on Asbury Park if I made it again.  Likewise I might have been tempted to paint the individual letters rather than embroidering them as I dont feel that I capture enough of the detail.  However, I have framed it up in a very suitable 12" box frame and I am very happy with it over all.  I cant wait to hang it up!

Anyway please let me know what you think and any suggestions you might have.  And of course I hope you like it!
 

Thats lovely! 

Thanks very much .  Oasthouses are great.  A friend of the family lives in one, converted it when living in Oasthouses wasnt the normal use for them and so Ive always loved them. Gloucestershire/Worcestershire/Herefordshire border is beautiful place to be too.  I live in the South West these day and I love the countryside round there.

My latest two makes. Recently I have been working on a few home projects.  Home in this case being the county where I grew up, Kent.  I have been meaning to work on some projects along these lines for atleast the last two years.  You see in Kent we have all sorts of lovely churches, landscapes and unusual buildings.  In my first project, which was possibly quite ambitious I have sought to capture a night scene of the iconic windmill in the heart of my home town.  I borrowed the colour palette from Van Gogh as I wasnt sure how to capture the building in the night.  It was quite a freestyle piece as I only made a very basic sketch to work from.  I also adapted my source image by removing the high buildings on Stone Street as they cut the left hand side off the piece and made that side look too heavy. My second ‘home’ piece is of the fields looking across to Horsmonden Church and the Oasts there.  Horsmonden church is quite unusual in the fact that it is located some way from the village of Horsmonden.  There are various reasons thrown around for this.  It also happens to be a stereotypical view of Kent I guess because of its prominent oast houses.  I actually really enjoyed creating this piece, again from a brief sketch.  I am very happy with the way the field and foliage have come out and I think the oasthouses are particularly cute.  If an oasthouse can be cute!  My final project is crossing the border into East Sussex (not really very far from me at all) and hopes to capture Rye.  Ill keep you updated!

This is great! You have captured her wonderfully.  I love the touch of the beaded necklace.

This is so lovely.  You completed it so swiftly too.  Beautiful!

I know what you mean sometimes large projects can be very difficult to pick up again, just because you cannot see the end.

Ive taken a little stitching break today and have been concentrating on organising my threads again (after several projects they have become slightly chaotic)
When I started this craftalong I had my little box and three full bags of thread.  Today I can safely say I have reduced it down to the box and one half bag of threads.  Hurray! Alas though still the majority of my embroidery box is taken up with pink and purple.  So I might be creating another heart hoop before the year is out.
How are everyone else's stashes getting along?  Any milestones met?

I can also proudly say that I have not bought a skein of thread since January!

Keep on stitching!

@SiakelA Wow! So much stitching.  It looks really great.  Great stash bust too.  I have to agree there is nothing more frustrating than knots when you working on something! I have to try hard to keep calm and not yank them through the material (never a good idea). 
@Always in my room - cant wait to see your green projects!
I am just back from holiday so Ill no doubt take a while to get fired up on my projects again (getting used to being back at work and daily rain rather than glorious sun).
I did get this far with Bruce before I went though.

I think this will be my years work (still to complete Greetings from Asbury Park (as shown), Born in the USA and still to start Born to Run and the darkness on the edge of town), obviously with my little projects in between.  It is an absolute beast!

Anyway keep on stitching! 

Oooh I love the sesame street hoop!  The kit one is very clever too; especially how the text overlaps.  I like them a lot.