Pat's Cross-Stitch Corner

A Place to Share a Craft I Love

St. Patrick’s Day by Primrose Cottage

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Primrose Cottage offers a number of designs celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. I recently purchased their St. Patrick’s Day Quaker chart plus the finishing kit. Kit Includes the following:

Backing Fabric: 12″ x 10.5″
Wool by Weeks Dye Works: 3″ x 3″ Kohl
Ric Rac by Colour and Cotton: 40″ Aloe Vera 
Floss by Colour and Cotton: Aloe Vera, Chestnuts Roasting, Featherweight, Marigold, and 2 of Tree Lot 

The recommended fabric was 25 Count Potato Lugana. I decided to use 14ct Sage aida instead.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day was the March Free Stitch Fridays chart offered to their newsletter subscribers. The finishing and floss and fabric kit was offered but I decided I would use the same fabric and floss as I used for the St. Patrick’s Day Quaker.

My Friend’s House

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My Friend’s House by Blackbird Designs is #8 in the Abecedarian Series.

I bought this one kitted up from another stitcher some time ago. I switched out the 30ct Espresso by R & R Reproductions for 16ct Sand Dunes by Seraphim. I also switched out the Gentle Arts Country Redwood for Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Brick Road.

From the inside of the chart: The year stitched into this sampler, 1999, celebrates a lasting partnership and the beginning of Blackbird Designs. Barb and I met at a local quilt and cross stitch shop, The Saltbox Sampler, around 1997. She attended an applique class I was teaching. As she worked on her quilt, I couldn’t help but notice that she had a great eye for color and an innate sense of design.

We made an immediate connection and quickly became fast friends. As our friendship grew, we decided it would be fun to begin a quilt pattern business. Little did we know that we would branch out and expand into cross stitch designs.

Barb and I live a good distance apart so we are not able to run over to each other’s houses as often as we would like. Instead, we try to meet somewhere in the middle. Nordstrom’s Cafe and Applebee’s are two of our favorite places but, in a pinch, even the Quick Trip parking lot can serve as our “office.”

No matter where we are, we feel at home with each other. This sampler celebrates our enduring friendship. (Barb passed away in July 2021)

Because these two are my very favorite designers, I decided to stitch this one in their honor.

Moonlight Visitor

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Moonlight Visitor by Blackbird Designs is #9 in the Anniversaries of the Heart series. It is copyright 2010. I have had it kitted up for some time.

I chose a piece of 16ct aida in a mottled tan color to stitch it on and used all of the called for colors. Since the date in the upper left hand corner was to be stitched over one, I used back stitching since there was not enough space to stitch it using aida.

I added my Little brother’s initials (Leonard Eugene Little) to this one. I will probably mount it on one of the boards I have.

The board is from Michaels and I added twisted cording around the edge. Tutorial for Twisted cording is courtesy of Vonna Pfeiffer, The Twisted Stitcher.

Seasonal Samplings Winter

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Seasonal Samplings Winter is another design by Lindsey Weight of Primrose Cottage. It was released in 2023 but I just saw it and knew I HAD to stitch this one.

The stitch count for this one is 120w x 70h. The model was stitched on 28ct Light ash gray using all DMC floss. I have a piece of 14ct Yorkshire Grey that I think I am going to use. And I recently both a new set of gradient floss from Color and Cotton that I plan on using for some of the colors.

Recommended Floss Colors/My Changes

  • DMC 169
  • DMC 977/DMC 3776
  • DMC B5200/DMC 3865
  • DMC 225
  • DMC 3053
  • DMC 844
  • DMC 3362
  • DMC 930/Color and Cotton Dark Bluebird (I chose to use Bold Bluebird for the outside and inside borders.)
  • DMC 3752/Color and Cotton Pale Bluebird
  • DMC 931/Color and Cotton Medium Bluebird
  • DMC 3781/Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Mighty Oak

I decided to finish this one as a small wall hanging I put put on the front door or the Winter. The trim and backing fabric is from the All the Glitters line by by Simon Treadwell for Northcott Fabrics. There is a sleeve on the back for inserting a hanging rod.

Winter Wonderland

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Winter Wonderland was January’s Free Stitch Friday chart for Primrose Cottage newsletter subscribers. The kit was available to purchase and included a choice of fabric (16 or 28ct) , and the recommended floss with a free extra which was a sheet of Winter Wonderland stickers.

The floss included is Cottage Garden threads Blue Heaven, Spruce, and Water Wheel plus DMC 844, 3853, and 3865. This was the first time I have stitched with Cottage Garden threads. I chose the 16ct Icelandic Grey aida. The stitch count for the design is 89w x 43h.

And here is the stitched piece.

And I ordered this fabric to use in backings for some of the winter stitches, All That Glitters by Northcott.

Summer Harvest

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Some years ago, I was able to purchase some of the Blackbird Designs charts as a kit which included the fabric and floss and chart. The fabric was linen which I do not stitch on so I sold the fabric to another stitcher and selected some aida I had in my stash.

Summer Harvest was copyright 2014 and is now Out of Print.

For Summer Harvest I selected a piece of 16ct Lambswool aida and used the called for floss with the exception of Old Red Paint which I had used for another project. II subbed Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Southern Red Trillium which was a perfect match.

I added the initials of my paternal great-grandmother and her birth year. Sarah Emma Oldham was born in 1855. She married The photo below shows her with her daughter Ada and my grandfather Leonard. My father, Adrian Lee Little was name after his Aunt Ada.

Now I need to find the perfect frame for this one.

Cocoa and Cookies

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Cocoa and Cookies was December’s free chart offered by Primrose Cottage as part of their Free Stitch Fridays. The free design is offered for a month and then is for sale in their shop. You can sign up for their free newsletter to receive the current chart by scrolling to the bottom of the page on their site.

The stitch count is 54×54 and the recommended fabric is 32ct light taupe. I chose a piece of 14ct Vintage Taupe because I wanted it slightly larger. I used the called for colors of DMC 816 and B5200, Weeks Dye Works Pecan, Seaweed, and Swiss Chocolate.

Now I need to decide how to finish it. I did buy some backing fabric to use for this one.

The backing fabric on this one is the green that was part of the finishing kit included in the Sip and Stitch box. I added red rickrack for the trim. I think I am going to need a much bigger dough bowl next year for all the Christmas pillows.

Believe

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When I first saw Believe by Victoria House Designs, I knew I wanted to stitch it. I had stitched another one of her designs Two Hearts, One Love.

The stitch count is 80×80. The model was stitched on Weeks Dye Works threads on linen 32 ct, Belfast,
Zweigart color Vintage Country Mocha. I chose a piece of 16ct antique white aida using Classic Colorworks Caroling. The finished size on 16ct would be 5×5.

Not sure how I am going to finish it as yet.

Give Thanks

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Give Thanks was the 2nd free chart offered by Primrose Cottage as part of their Free Stitch Fridays. The free design is offered for a month and then is for sale in their shop. You can sign up for their free newsletter to receive the current chart by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

I chose a piece of 16ct Doubloon by Picture This Plus I had leftover from a previous project. I did not have all of the called for Classic Colorworks floss colors so used some from my stash.

  • Blackbird/DMC 3371
  • Eggshell/Victorian Motto Catnip
  • Fallen Leaves/Victorian Motto Autumn Glow
  • Pine Needles/DMC 3051
  • Trail Dust/DMC 610

The finished piece is small and I am thinking I may mount it on a small wooden box.

I decided to mount this stitched piece on top of an unfinished wooden box. I mounted the stitched piece on a piece of matboard and added some twisted cording as trim. The box is painted with Folk Art acrylic paint Burnt Sienna. I let it dry, then added a coat of Briwax. Once the wax dried, I buffed it with a clean cloth.

I lined the inside of the ox with fabric covered matboard. The fabric is a dark brown with orange motifs.

The finished box is going to be a thank you gift for our wonderful mail lady, Valerie, who is taking a route closer to her home. We will miss her as will Shadow and Sheila as they always get a treat from her.

Snowman 2024

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I knew when I first saw Snowman 2024 by Primrose Cottage that I wanted to stitch it. The stitch count was only 77×68 so not a huge project.

Snowman 2024 Cover.

The recommended fabric was 32ct taupe but I picked a piece of 16ct aida Sand Dune by Seraphim from my stash. I did not have the called for floss (Color and Cotton) so I made some substitutes.

  • Cherry Cobbler/ DMC 3777
  • Marsh/DMC 3790
  • Peace on Earth/DMC 3052
  • Rustic Black/Victorian Motto Winter Coal
  • Tree Lot/DMC 935
  • Tusk/DMC 3865
  • DMC 3776

Once I finished stitching, I mounted the piece on a 5″ chipboard circle with batting attached. I then laced the piece. The small red heart came with the chart. Now to decide how to fully finish this one.

I decided to mount it on one of the boards I had in my stash. I added some rickrack and a fabric covered board. I painted the snowflake white and hot glued it to the board handle. All in all, I am very happy with it.