Pat's Cross-Stitch Corner

A Place to Share a Craft I Love

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.

The Sampler Drum

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Hobby House Needleworks is offering a new series based on The Mary Allcorn 1764 Sampler. The Sampler Drum is the first of several smalls that will be released by Hobby House as kits, culminating in the release of the full reproduction sampler later this year!

I decided I wanted to order this one especially since they offered an aida option (16ct Thornfiled  from Needle & Flax. Linen is just too difficult for me to see to stitch on. The floss in the kit is Weeks Dye Works and Classic Colorworks. After a wait until the supplies, we received and shipping started, the kit arrived in my mailbox.

It was beautifully packaged, and the fabric and floss are just lovely. And yes, it is still available with a variety of fabric counts and floss.

Started Stitching: July 29, 2023

And here it is the middle of April 2024 and the sides of the drum are finally finished. I really love this fabric.

Now to stitch the top of the drum so I can assemble it.

I thought about changing the initials on the top to my own and the numbers to the current year but decided to just stitch it as charted. Now to assemble the stitched pieces into a drum.

She’s a BIG GIRL, measuring 16 1/2″ around and heavy. I used poly beads on the bottom, then crushed walnut shells and some fiber fill at the top.

Creation Danybrod

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Dany Chevallier Forest (Creation Danybrod) is a new designer for me. While I have purchased a number of her charts, I have not stitched any of them yet. Her designs are small, delicate and beautiful. She also has a Facebook page. Her blog is where she sells her charts which are in pdf format.

Hydrangeas or Hortensias

Hydrangeas has a stitch count of 80h x 57w and uses four colors of Hand-dyed by Nina floss (Artichoke, Olive Oil, Hunter, Caribbean). DMC colors are given on her blog but are not included with the chart.

I chose to stitch this one on 16ct white aida using Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss:

  • Dried Hydrangea and Downy Lobelia for the flowers
  • Flower Basket (darkest green)
  • Lambs Ear (middle green)
  • 17th Century Sea Mist (lightest green)

I have tried all of my various devices to take a photo of the finished piece and for the life of me, none of them show the true colors so this will have to do until I get it fully finished and hope I can get a better photo.

HERBARIUM – Peonies & Golden Buttons

There are actually two charts included in this project. The first is peonies with a stitch count of 58w x 54h. The colors appear to be a variegated red/pink and medium/light blue.

I am going to stitch this one on 16ct cream aida using Classic Colorworks Belle Soie Sister Scarlet and Au Ver A Soie #108 (sage green).

The second one included is Golden Buttons or Buttercups. The stitch count for this one is 45w x 49h.

On this one, I plan on using 28ct white Monaco and Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss (Yellow Marigold and Winter Rose.)

Now all I have to do is figure out how I want to finish them.

A Tribute

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A Tribute, designed by Barb Adams is a cross stitch chart included in the quilt book, Women of Grace and Charm: A Quilting Tribute to the Women Who Served in WWII from Blackbird Designs.

They were the unsung heroines of World War II – the women who built the planes, wrapped the bandages, nursed the wounded. Now their inspiring personal stories are combined with beautiful quilt work in “Women of Grace and Charm.”

Each of the 12 quilt blocks, designed by best-selling authors Alma Allen and Barb Adams, feature a center star. The stars represent the service star that families placed in their windows to recognize sons and duaghter in the armed forces.

Allen and Adams demonstrate how one design can have infinite variations in this compelling tribute to the strong “Women of Grace and Charm.”

The book was published by Kansas City Star Books on October 2003 and is now Out of Print. I saw the project stitched in green on Instagram and decided I wanted to stitch it. Luckily, I was able to get the book at a reasonable price.

I went in search of fabric and floss and ordered two pieces for Fabrics by Stephanie – Simply Sage and Friendship Greene.

And my start on this lovely project.

Tranquility SAL

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Tranquility by Jan Hicks Creates is the first in a series and was designed for a SAL with Helen D. of Cobweb Corner. The SAL starts on June 13th. The bird is in deep shades of turquoise and aqua with pale motifs. Stitch Count: 80 x 79.

I chose to use 16ct Mercedes aida by Picture This Plus and a combination of fancy floss and DMC.

The stitching is finished so now I need to decide how to finish it. Perhaps a small pillow or mounted onto a wooden board.

I decided to finish this one as a small pillow. The backing fabric is from my quilting friend and the trim is ruched ribbon following Vonna Pfieffer’s excellent tutorial.

Redbird Sampler

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Redbird Samper by Heart in Hand was released back in 2018 and included a small red heart button. . It was one of the first one in this series I stitched back in 2019.

I stitched it on 16ct aida using Olde Cranberry by Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe. I sent it off to Vonna Pfeiffer, The Twisted Stitcher for finishing and she did a fabulous job.

Thy Love More Strong

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Thy Love More Strong by Blackbird Designs was one of the retreat projects at the 2022 Shepherd’s Bush Retreat.

The called for fabric is 36ct Veldt by Picture This Plus. I had some 18ct Veldt but decided to use a piece of 16ct mystery fabric that I had in my stash. I just thought it would be an easier stitch. I am using all of the called for floss.

It’s a finish, Thy Love More Strong stitched in honor of my great-great-grandmother, Melissa Phillips (1841-1924. Added her husband’s initials GBS (Guy Bayington Sherman) and her daughter’s initials AES (Addie Ellen Sherman) who was my great-grandmother. Stitched on 16ct mystery aida with called for floss. Melissa is pictured on the far right. Addie is in the single photo. I will be adding to the back all of the info on the family and the two photos.