A Place to Share a Craft I Love
Holiday Spirit was a free chart offered by Robin at Samplerbird Stitchery back in 2010. stitched it sometime in 2023.
I finished it as a flat ornament with twisted cording I made from the two colors I stitched with. I wish I had gotten the cording a little tighter twisted but this will have to do. I added a bow and a heart button to finish this off. The indents are from the clips I use to hold the cording in place and do disappear.
Peace on Earth is a free chart from Luminous Fiber Arts Misty Pursel. The chart came with her request to respond to a survey. I chose to stitch this one on a piece of 16ct Bay Leaf aida I had in my stash. I used Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss Sewing Notion and Olde Cranberry. I plan on stitching this again using different colors.
The stitch count is 56h x 73w and calls for two shades of red floss. I chose to stitch this one (actually two) on 16ct Bay Leaf aida using white (Primitive White) and red floss (Red Rooster) by Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe. Both will be finished as flat hanging ornaments.
North East Stitching Designs (a UK designer) is a new designer to me. When I first saw Christmas Bullfinches, I knew I wanted to stitch it.
The design has a stitch count of 81 x 79 Stitches and on 16ct measures 5.1 x 4.9 in. It only uses three DMC colors – 310, 3023, and 3801.
Not sure how I will finish it as yet, either a small ornament or pin pillow. I decided to finish it as a hanging ornament that can be used on a cabinet knob or door. I need to pick up some matching DMC floss so I can make the twisted cording and hanger. I will probably stitch this one again as I like it so much.
I decided to keep this one for myself this year. I’s hanging on the inside of our front door.
Days of Christmas is a new series by Pigeon Coop Designs. The first three in the series have been released. The designs are available to order as a kit or just the pdf of the chart.
Partridge & Pear – This design is 69 stitches wide by 69 stitches high and calls for 11 different DMC colors. When stitched on 14 count Aida fabric, it fits well into a 6″ embroidery hoop.
Turtle Doves – This design is 66 stitches wide by 64 stitches high and uses 12 different DMC colors. When stitched on 14 count Aida fabric, it fits well into a 6″ embroidery hoop.
French Hens – This design is 63 stitches wide by 67 stitches high and uses 12 different DMC colors. When stitched on 14 count Aida fabric, it fits well into a 6″ embroidery hoop.
I chose to stitch mine on 16ct white aida with the called for floss and finish them as ornaments. I bought the cording on a spool, but it takes almost the entire spool for just two ornaments. So, I need to go get some more if I want the series to match. I may decide to add a bow to hide the pin or use a different pin.
House on Holly Hill is one of the ten projects in the book Peppermint and Holly. While it has been long Out of Print, it was reprinted in November 2023. It is designed to be stitched on 30ct Goldfinch by R & R Reproductions over 1. I chose to stitch this one on 16ct Friendship Greene by Fabrics by Stephanie with the called for floss, Weeks Dye Works Bark, Cocoa, Lancaster Red, and Angel Hair.
I finished it as a flat ornament with twisted cording around the edge.
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.
I first saw Love and Joy by Heartstring Samplery on Brenda and the Serial Starter flosstube and knew I HAD to stitch it. The chart is ONLY AVAILABLE on the Heartstring Samplery website and ONLY as a pdf file.
I chose a piece of 16ct Natural aida I had in my stash and the called for floss Classic Colorworks: Tennessee Red Clay. My two skeins of floss were not in the least bit variegated, but I loved the color so used it anyway. Besides, it perfectly matched what I wanted to use as finishing fabric, Joyeux Noel Pearl by French General.
I liked this one so much, I stitched a 2nd one using the same fabric but Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Rose Red floss.
As the New Year begins, I have two more Christmas Ornaments I have completed stitching. The first one, Merry Christmas was a freebie I have had for some time but had no info on other than the chart. I decided to search and see if I could locate it to see if it was a legal chart and not a stolen one. I was able to find it after much searching.
Merry Christmas Designed by: Sandra Longan Miller can be downloaded for free.
The stitch count is 54w X 54h
Finished Size(s):
14/28 Count, – 3-3/4w X 3-3/4h in
16/32 Count, – 3-3/8w X 3-3/8h in
18/36 Count, – 3w X 3h in
Called for Floss: DMC
319, Pistachio Green-VY DK – Leaves and stems
644, Beige Gray-MD – Border squares
783, Topaz-MD – Merry Christmas
815, Garnet-MD – Berries
I chose to stitch this one on a piece of 14ct Opalescent aida and leave off the border. I used Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss – Kris Kringle Green, Victorian Christmas for the lettering and Cranberry Red for the berries. I will probably finish it as a small pin pillow maybe using one of the fabrics shown in the photo below.
The second one I actually finished in 2021. Joy was another freebie from Misty Purcell of Luminous Fiber Arts from her newsletter. Again, I stitched this one on 14ct Opalescent aida with Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Victorian Christmas. I will also finish this one as a small pin pillow for my Christmas dough bowl.
I first saw the finished stitched piece for Believe by Threadwork Primitives in one on my Facebook Cross Stitch groups and knew at first glance I wanted to stitch this one. I ordered the chart directly from Nan Lewis who is Threadwork Primitives.
I chose a piece of 16ct aida I had in my stash and used DMC 936 and 115 (a variegated cranberry red) and Crescent Colors Onionskin. I stitched two of them as gifts for Christmas 2022.
They will soon be on their way to Vonna Pfeiffer, The Twisted Stitcher to work her magic on.
Christmas Bells is a free chart offered by The Primitive Hare in 2016. While I saved the chart, I just got around to stitching it this year.
The recommended fabric is 30ct BOLEYN LINEN. Since I normally stitch on 16ct aida because of poor eyesight, I selected a piece of 16ct Friendship Green from Fabrics by Stephanie and a skein of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Everglade (a deep green).
I will be stitching a 2nd time with the same fabric and another skein of Victorian Motto Victorian Pine Boughs. I will be sending these off to The Twisted Stitcher, Vonna Pfeiffer to work her magic.
And here they are after Vonna Pfeiffer worked her magic.
And here it is stitched on 16ct aida spritzed with an antique spray using Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Glorious Flag floss. And a small piece of backing fabric that is just the right size. I’ll finish this one as a small pin pillow and add some bells to it.
I added some ribbon trim and need to find some small bells to attach for this finish.