A Place to Share a Craft I Love
Recently I visited a friend of mine to raid her quilting fabric stash. I wanted some pieces of fabric to use as backing fabric for small pin pillows. I found a beautiful blue one and went in search of a small design to stitch. Fall House by The Tiny Modernist has been in my stash for some time.
I picked a piece of white 14ct aida and Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Delft Blue floss.
There’s a Strawberry Faire Stitch-A-Long (SAL) that begins today February 14th. Flosstuber Helen D. and Carla of Cobweb Corner will be hosting the SAL and there’s still time for you to join in. The design itself is from October House. This will be the first time I have stitched anything by this designer.
The design can be stitched with either the called for colors, Helen D’s conversion or choose your own colors. I chose Helen D’s conversion which includes three of the called for flosses (fancy) and the rest using the DMC conversion. I chose a piece of 16ct parchment aida from my stash.
A photo of my supplies with the fabric gridded ready to go on the scroll rod.
Progress will be posted in Instagram (not my favorite platform) using the hashtag #strawberryfairesal.
With my poor eyesight, I am having trouble with the big berry. Think I am going to scan and enlarge the chart so it is easier for me to stitch.
Started Stitching: February 14, 2023
Finished Stitching: February 22, 2023
Now to assemble the small pin pillow with this Blackbird Design backing fabric and some lace trim.
And here it is fully finished and ready to join some of the other smalls in the dough bowl.
I recently saw Quaker Love Letter by Homespun Elegance posted in one of my cross stitch Facebook Groups. Sandra Sullivan, the designer, was offering to include the button free for a limited time.
I knew this was one I really wanted to stitch so ordered the chart plus an extra button. It came quickly. I cut a piece of 16ct white aida and selected DMC 115 which is a variegated red floss.
Now to mount it to the matboard and order a frame. I am going to stitch the 2nd one on a piece of 16ct Doubloon by Picture This Plus using variegated rusty orange floss from DMC. Opps, I see a missed stitch so need to go fix it now before I forget.
And here they are both framed using a simple 4×6 frame I got on sale at Joannes. Surprisingly, they were deep enough so that even with the glass, spacers and stitched piece, I was still able to use the included backing for the frames. The red on is a gift, and the rust colored on is mine.
I recently saw a post by Vonna Pfeiffer that introduced me to a new designer, Pigeon Coop a Canadian Designer. Max Pigeon offers nature inspired cross stitch designs in both kit and pdf format. He says, “When designing patterns, I am inspired by the beauty that North America’s nature and landmarks have to offer. I strive to create modern cross stitch designs that are appealing to stitchers and makers of all skill levels.”
Since I very seldom buy kits, I selected two of his pdf charts to start, Three Pines and Festival Cardinal. I Love cardinals and they are not only the state bird of Virginia but a frequent visitor to our front porch bird baths. Three Pines reminded me of the Louise Penny books I am reading as well as the western landscapes that Jim and I enjoyed in our travels. I chose a piece of sparkly white 16ct aida for both of them using the called for DMC threads. I had an idea for finishing that worked for the cardinal but not the pines.
I mounted each of the designs to a piece of matboard with two layers of batting.
I mounted Festive Cardinal to the mini cutting board and added a bow with a small heart button.
I have an idea for Three PInes if I can find where I hid the other board. Till then, it is at least mounted on the mat board.
I found the perfect board to mount these on that will always remind me of our many trips to the Pacific Northwest and Canada. Not sure about the trim on the top but it will have to do for now.
Hope Song was an exclusive design is by Beth Twist of Heartstring Samplery offered through the Facbook Group, Homespun Needlework (Cross Stitch and Samplers). The kits were provided by Acorns and Threads and included the chart, fabric, threads, and Acorns & Threads needle slide with magnet and needle. It was available in both linen and aida kits in several counts. I chose the 18ct aida and the fabric was Vintage Country Mocha. A finishing kit was also available, but I chose to use a board I already had.
While this one was meant to be stitched with one strand of floss, I chose to use two strands.
Now to mount it although my board is a perfect circle, and this piece is not.
Dear Daughter by Blackbird Designs is copyright 2013. After seeing it stitched, I thought about stitching it for my granddaughter with some changes to the chart. I changed the Dear to Grand so it read Granddaughter of mine. I had to move it over a couple of spaces but otherwise if worked perfectly.
I wanted to add her name rather than just her initials so chose to stitch this one on 28ct Monaco so Rebecca would fit if stitched over 1. I also changed the color of the house and instead of the shades of rose for the flowers, used three shades of Anchor purple floss.
Once I finished the stitching, I was lucky enough to catch a sale on frames so chose one I had used in the past, RUSTIC WOOD SANDSTONE PICTURE FRAME.
Now to get it wrapped and in the mail, so she gets it in time for Christmas.
I have always been a fan of the Prairie Schooler Band Samplers and stitched many of them when I first started cross stitching. I wanted to stitch something special for my grandson and his wife for Christmas this year. When I saw the Tall Oaks one from Book 40, I knew I had found the perfect one.
Rather than just stitch the boy’s initials, I wanted to use their full name and birth year. Since the only way I could do it would be to use 28ct and stitch their names over one, I chose a piece of 28ct cream Monaco with pretty much the called for colors of floss.
I chose one of my favorite frame moldings (Rustic Wood Sandstone) to use for the frame. Luckily it was on sale with free shipping.
Package has been mailed and my grandson (like his father) opened it before Christmas.
Kindred Spirits was an exclusive release of the Country Sampler Soul Sister’s Club in 2017. It has never been released to everyone. It is not a chart I had in my collection, but a generous stitcher offered to loan it to me.
The recommended fabric was 36ct Oaken by Picture This Plus, but I chose a piece of 16ct Doubloon by Picture This Plus. I am using the recommended floss (WDW Cognac, Flatfish and Onyx) but two strands rather than one.
The stitching is finished. Not sure if I will finish it as a drum or frame it. I added the initials of Jim and his five daughters (Anne, Laetitia, Martha, Leslie, Ellen) in green and me with my two sons (Michael, Frank) in the brown. Love the way it turned out.
I decided to finish this as a drum and turned to Vonna Epperson Pfeiffer’s excellent tutorials. There is one for drum finishing in the Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher magazine Summer 2022 issue. I also used her twisted cording tutorials. I need more practice sewing on the trim.
I first stitched Moonlit Garden by Blackbird Designs back in 2015 as a Christmas gift for my little sister. I’ve always wanted to stitch it again for me. This year I finally did. I chose a piece of 16ct mystery aida I had in my stash and used the called for colors.
Framing has gotten to be really expensive even though I do the actual framing myself. I decided to try something else for this one. I bought a cutting board for $7.20 (half price) and painted it with Americana acrylic paint Expresso.
Description of the Board: This charming piece is made from beech wood with a light brown wood grain finish. It has a thick rounded handle with a hole in it and a rounded square base with the phrase “Peace, Love, And Joy” engraved in the lower left corner. Dimensions: Length: 14″ Width: 9″ Height: 5/8″
I laced the stitched piece onto a piece of chipboard since I wanted to keep it fairly thin. I then added the trim using tacky craft glue. The entire thing was then mounted on the board using a combination of tacky craft glue and double-sided stitchery tape.
While looking through some boxes that had been stuck on a closet shelf, I found two small projects that my mom had stitched before her death in 1999. That means they had been stored away for 23 years. I decided I needed to finish each of them to use on our Christmas tree this year.
One was from the Prairie Schooler IN THE WOOD Leaflet No. 46 and was the Lark. The other was from the book Prairie Birds Book No. 24. Each of them had very little fabric around the edge for finishing so I decided to mount them on chipboard and use a piece of fabric covered chipboard for the backing.
I am adding some twisted cording around the edges. Tutorials on how to make it and how to attach it are courtesy of Vonna Pfeiffer, The Twisted Stitcher.
And I decided to give these to my little brother for Christmas since I don’t think he has many ornaments stitched by our mom.