Pat's Cross-Stitch Corner

A Place to Share a Craft I Love

Autumn Skies

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Fall is my very favorite time of year. It was always the time of year my husband and I headed out west for our 6-8 weeks camping trips visiting our National Parks. Fall colors are also my favorite colors. When I saw Autumn Skies by Hands on Designs, I knew I wanted to stitch the small pillow.

The chart pack was offered as a kit including the chart, felt trim and buttons. The checkboard ribbon was not included.

I selected a piece of 16ct Natural aida I had in my stash and the DMC floss. Luckily, I had a roll of ribbon that I thought might work.

I’m not sure how I will finish this one as yet but happy with how it turned out.

I decided to finish this one as a small pin pillow to add to my dough bowl collection.

I’m So Glad

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I’m So Glad by Cathy Haberman of Hands on Design, appeared in the October 2015 issue of Just CrossStitch magazine. I saw it stitched in one of the cross-stitching Facebook groups I belong to.

I selected a piece of 16ct aida I had in my stash and two skeins of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss Fireside Glow and Sierra Sunset. I cut two small pieces of felt for the bottom of the acorns.

My plan is to frame the stitched piece and use the leafy fabric as a background. I ended up stitching the bottom part of the acorn rather than using the felt pieces. Framed using a simple black frame I ordered from Amazon.

Autumn Silhouette

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Autumn Silhouette by Blackbird Designs was published in 2004 and has been long Out of Print. I have seen a number of folks starting to stitch this one and since Fall is my favorite time of the year, I decided to start it.

The chart calls for 28ct Harvest Blend by R & R Reproductions with Weeks Dye Works Swamp Water floss. I decided to use a piece of 16ct aida in a light burnt orange color that I had in my stash along with Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss Rust and Russet.

I’m not sure how I will finish this one. Perhaps just a simple frame.

I decided on a simple dark brown frame from Amazon.

Threadwork Primitives Quaker Pinwheels

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I saw both of these stitched designs posted in a Facebook group a couple of years ago and purchased them. Fast forward to 2023 as I was looking to stitch some small Christmas gifts, and decided these two would be perfect.

Quaker Holly Pinwheel

I chose a piece of 16ct Parchment aida and the called for colors of floss (Gentle Arts Rubby Slipper, Chives, Forest Glade, Wood Trail, and Harvest Basket.)

Started Stitching: September 27, 2023
Finished Stitching: October 1, 2023

I think I may stitch this one again using a brighter shade of red.

Quaker Carnation Pinwheel

I also stitched this one on a piece of 16ct Parchment aida with the called for floss (Gentle Arts toffee, Wood Smoke, Cinnamon and DMC 3012 since I did not have Green Tea Leaf.)

Started Stitching: October 1, 2023
Finished Stitching: October 4, 2023

Both will be finished as round ornaments as pictured on the original designs. I’ll stitch this one again as both were a quick stitch and I love them.

Mighty Acorn Box

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I recently saw a post on Instagram that used the top portion of the Mighty Acorn Sampler from the book Winds of Autumn on a box. The stitcher had stitched it over one on 28 or 32ct which I knew would be impossible for me. I had recently stitched another piece to fit on the top of one of the wooden jewelry boxes I had purchased several years ago from Hobby Lobby and decided this piece would work perfectly for it. I chose a piece of 25ct Natural Lugana and the called for colors. Once I finished stitching the piece, I laced it onto a piece of matboard with a layer of batting.

I chose to use Folk Art Burnt Sienna to paint the box.

Red Letter Sampler

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When I first saw Red Letter Sampler by Threadwok Primitives posted in a Facebook group, I knew I wanted to stitch it. I ordered it and it arrived quickly. Nan’s charts are color and hard for me to see but Nan graciously included a black and white copy even though I had forgotten to ask for it.

I chose a piece of 16ct Parchment aida that I had in my stash and the recommended floss. The DMC colors for the two shades of red are a very good match.

  • GAST Country Redwood (DMC 3777) 1 skein was not quite enough so used the DMC for the last few stitches
  • GAST Wood Trail (DMC 3781)
  • GAST Sanguine (DMC 3773) excellent match

Started Stitching: September 15, 2023
Finished Stitching: September 21, 2023

Not sure how I am going to finish it as yet as on 16ct it is 7 5/8 x 4 1/8 which will make a larger pin pillow.

Every Bloom is Charmed

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Every Bloom is Charmed by Blackbird Designs was released at the Country Sampler Retreat 2023. It was given to me as a gift. It was designed to be mounted on top of a dark brown rectangular basket (SKU 171389-L) from Hobby Lobby. The recommended fabric was 36ct Heartland by Picture This Plus.

A number of years ago, I had purchased two of the wooden jewelry boxes (SKU: 648196) from Hobby Lobby to use in other projects. I decided this would be a perfect project to stitch this one for and mount on the top.

I chose a piece of 28ct white Monaco I had in my stash to stitch this one one so it would be the perfect size. I am using the floss that came with the kit although stitching with two strands rather than one so I will need to add more floss. I also plan on using something to antique the fabric after I finish stitching.

Started Stitching:
Finished Stitching:

Once I finished stitching the pieces, I decided to leave the fabric as is rather than antiquing it. I stretched and laced it on top of a piece of matboard with one layer of batting. Monaco is a rather stiff fabric, so the corners are more rounded than sharp points, but I am happy with how it turned out. I am really pleased with the basket itself.

Next up is painting the box. I plan on using a blue or gold acrylic paint.

I decided on Colonial Blue because none of the shades of gold was what I was looking for.

I can see I need to do some touchup work on the inside paint. I used a pale, pale blue cardstock cut to size on the bottom of each of the sections. I may either remove it or change it out to a different color in the future, but it will do for now. The fabric backing for the top of the inside is my choice from the three pieces I had that matched the paint color.

Sewing Bird & Company

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Sewing Bird & Company by Sandra Sullivan of Homespun Elegance is a small simple design that I saw posted in a Facebook group. I bought it from one of the stash selling groups.

I am hoping it would fit onto the top of a box I had purchased earlier.

Dimensions: 

  • Length: 4 1/2″ 
  • Width: 5 13/16″ 
  • Height: 1 1/8″

I selected a piece of 25ct white Lugana and Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss Log Cabin and Hot Chili Peppers. The stitched piece would be 4 3/4″ x 2″. Once I finished stitching the piece, I mounted it on top of the playing card box that I had painted with Folk Art acrylic paint Expresso.

On the inside I used some batik fabric for two of the openings. One has a button I got in a finishing kit and the other has some Sew Pretty pins (Autumn Splendor) and a scissor charm. The mini sampler is from Casting a Spell and the other stitched piece is a freebie Quaker Flower from The Sisterhood. I may add some trim to the top but enough for now.

The Long and Winding Road

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The Long and Winding Road by Blackbird Designs is #6 in the Magical Mystery Tour series. The copyright date is 2014.

My plan is to mount this on top of a 6″ recessed lid LeHay Shaker box that I have in my stash. I selected a piece of 18ct Parchment aida with the called for floss. While 18ct is much harder to stitch on, I needed to use that count so the stitched piece would fit.

This one was not an easy stitch for me. And the lazy daisy stitches are ones I usually avoid like the plague.

And here it is fully finished with some pompom trim added.

Sailing Home

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Sailing Home is one of two birth samplers by Blackbird Designs. It is copyright 2003 and long out of print. With another great-grandchild on the way, I decided to stitch it.

I selected a piece of 16ct Olympia aida by Mystic Fabrics and Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss Periwinkle for the blue. Also used the called for Gentle Arts Brandy and Cidermill Brown and DMC 822.

Now I need to order the perfect frame for it.

Looking through my stash, I had two 8×10 frames that might work. Both had deep enough rabbets so that the glass, spacers, stitched piece and backing would fit nicely. I decided to add the baby’s weight and length at birth to make the sampler better fit in the standard size frame. One frame was an ornate black frame and one a simple white one.

While I like the look of both of them, I thought I could improve on the final piece. So, I got out my bottles of acrylic paint. I chose Deep Midnight Blue and Silver Marlin. I painted the white frame with the Deep Midnight Blue first, and then a watered-down version of Silver Marlin. I am much happier with this sampler now.

Now to package it up and get it in the mail to the proud parents.

A couple of months ago I was roaming around Michaels, and they had some pads of paper on sale cheap, so I bought one. Who knows what I would do with it. Well today I found a use for it as I framed the baby sampler. I normally cover the back with brown kraft paper and spritz it with water but the pad I bought had a couple of sheets of the perfect blue. So, I added double-sided tape to the edges of the frame, placed it on the sheet of paper and trimmed it to fit. I added the hardware and a label for the back. The color of the paper perfectly matches the frame.