Pat's Cross-Stitch Corner

A Place to Share a Craft I Love

I Love Fall Most of All

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I Love Fall Most of All by Brenda Gervais was first released as a kit. I missed out on getting it but kept looking. Recently, someone in one of my Facebook groups posted that Country Sampler in Spring Green Wisconsin, had the charts available. I ordered one and it came quickly. While I LOVE the chart, it is printed in color which makes it difficult for me to distinguish the symbols.

I Love Fall Most of All Cover

The recommended fabric is 40ct Old Stationary linen by Seraphim. Even with my magnifying light, I cannot manage to stitch on 40ct so I selected a piece of 16ct aida by Mystic Fabrics called Everything Else. I will use the recommended floss for those colors I have. Otherwise, I will swap out for something in my stash.

  • DMC 831
  • WDW Putty
  • WDW Oscar/DMC 3011
  • GA Cornhusk/ DMC 834
  • GA Pumpkin Patch/ VMSS Salmon Ice Dahlia
  • GA Nutmeg/ DMC 435
  • GA Fragrant Cloves/DMC 920
  • GA Parchment
  • GA Mountain Mist
  • GA Wood Trail
  • CC Hickory Stick
  • CC Hazelnut

Started Stitching: July 7, 2022

Finished Stitching: July 13, 2022

Now to make it into a small pin pillow.

I Love Fall Most of All
I Love Fall Most of All Pin Pillow
Side View showing backing fabric and rick rack trim.

Ode to the Ort Basket

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Ode to the Ort Basket by With Thy Needle and Thread was a kit offered at the Nashville Needlework Market. I’m not sure if the chart is still available or not.

Ode to the Ort Basket chart cover

I stitched the piece using a piece of 32ct evenweave I had in my stash and floss I had in my stash:

  • GA Mountain Mist (Bird’s WIngs)
  • CC Ye Old Gold (Eyelet Stitches)
  • Red Pear
  • Red Currant

Several years ago, I had purchased a couple of the Wood Playing Card Boxes from Hobby Lobby and it turned out this was the perfect size to use on finishing this project. The original idea came from Debra Burger with her Sewing Box finishes. I painted the box with Folk Art Uniform Blue inside and out.

I laced the stitched piece of a piece of matboard with matting and mounted it to the top of the box.

Box Top – Ode to the Ort Basket
Box Inside

The inside of the box has four sections, so I cut four pieces of matboard and added a layer of batting, then covered two of them with a contrasting fabric. To one, I added a ribbon and some pretty pins. To another I added a wooden strawberry heart that I had in my stash. No idea where it came from.

I selected two of the small designs from the book Casting a Spell by Blackbird Designs and stitched them on 18ct aida with Mo’s Murky Blue silk floss. Lacing them onto the piece of matboard was very fiddly. I am happy with how the entire project turned out. I have two more of the boxes so will have to find some more designs to use on the top and inside.

Swan Lake Bonus Chart

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Swan Lake by Blackbird Designs is #7 in the Anniversaries of the Heart series. I recently saw the bonus chart stitched and decided it was a small sampler that was calling my name.

Swan Lake Bonus Chart

I had recently purchased five spools of Anchor floss in various shades of purple from dark to light. I decided to use three of the shades for the letters and numbers in the sampler.

Anchor 0873 – 0871- 0870

I chose two shades of green from my collection of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss. I thought I was stitching this on 16ct cream but it appears to be 14ct.

  • Anchor 0873
  • Anchor 0871
  • Anchor 0870
  • VMSS Dried Ferns
  • VMSS Lamb’s Ears
  • VMSS Butter Pecan

Now to see if I can find a 6″x8″ frame and the perfect fabric to use on the bottom.

Swan Lake Framed.

I used a piece of Blackbird Design fabric with a bit of lace for the trim and framed it with a white frame that I may paint with cream paint at a later date.

Anniversary Happiness to you dear Friends

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Anniversary Happiness to you dear Friends is one of the four heart shaped designs included in the book A Heart Remembers. It is pictured in the upper left corner of the cover shown below.

The recommended fabric is 36ct Heartland by Picture This Plus. I chose to use 16ct aida but not sure if it is Heartland or Regency by Picture This Plus.

I used the recommended floss:

  • WDW Brick
  • WDW Carolina Cecil
  • WDW Oilcloth – I used DMC 610 as I did not have enough of oilcloth and did not want to wait.
  • CC Pablano Pepper – I used Victorian Motto Dried Fern
  • CC Stormy Nights
  • GA Uniform Blue
  • DMC 3778

I personalized it with my husband’s and my initials and our birth years and the year we were married.

I will be sending this one off to Vonna, The Twisted Stitcher for finishing once I stitch the other two heart shaped ones.

I never got the other two stitched but decided to go ahead and send this one off for finishing. I love Vonna’s work.

Singing on Its Way

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Singing on Its Way is another project from the book The Bells on Christmas Day by Blackbird Designs. I stitched the big sampler, The Bells on Christmas Day when it was first released and just finished stitching The Unbroken Song twice. The 2nd time was for 2022 Summer Cross Stitch Camp.

Singing on Its Way is stitched on 16ct aida from my stash so not sure of the color, but I used Au ver a soie silks. I finished this one as a small pin pillow that I MAY display inside the larger box.

I found a cute red heart button that would look nice on it but should have attached it before finishing the pillow.

2022 Summer Cross Stitch Camp

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ColoradoCrossStitcher (Sheri Truax Berger) is sponsoring a virtual Cross Stitch Camp, and anyone can participate. It runs for three months (June, July, and August) with a different challenge each month.

The Challenges

  • June: Stitch something that celebrates a holiday. It can be any holiday you want.
  • July: Stitch something that you can finish (later) into something other than a framed piece.
  • August: Try something new to you. New designer, or new threads, or new fabric, or stitches.

You can find the rules and more details at 2022 Summer Cross Stitch Camp – Colorado Cross Stitcher.

June’s Challenge

For June’s Challenge, I decided to stitch The Unbroken Song from the book The Bells on Christmas Day by Blackbird Designs. I had stitched it once before but wanted it to fit a larger box that is pictured in the book. So, for this one I chose a piece of 14ct Opalescent white aida using Au ver a soie silks.

The Unbroken Song supplies
The Unbroken Song stitched

Now I need to paint the box (not an easy task) and lace the stitched piece to fit inside the box. I chose Heritage Brick as the color which is redder than shows in the photo.

July’s Challenge

For July’s Project, I chose the Round Red Samper by Heart in Hand that will be finished as the lid for the Heart Ware Red Bowl. I selected a piece of 18ct aida because I did not want me stitched to go edge to edge as pictured on the chart. I chose to use Gloriana silk floss Poinsettia which is delightful to stitch with.

Round Red Sampler Supplies

This actually turned out to be a really quick stitch and only took two days to finish.

And here it is fully finished and mounted as the lid to the Heart Ware red bowl.

Bluebird Sampler by Heart in Hand

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The Bluebird Sampler by Cecelia Turner of Heart in Hand Needleart is the 2nd one in this series.

Chart Cover

I selected a piece of 16ct mystery aida I had in my stash that was a mottled tan and blue. I am stitching with Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Delft Blue floss. The stitch count is 118×40 with a finished size of 7.35″ x 2.5″. The beads were included with the chart.

Bluebird Sampler with finishing fabric

Now I just need to get busy and fully finish this one. I had already stitched the Redbird Sampler back in 2019. And I have the Hummingbird Sampler on order.

Bluebird Sampler as a small pillow

I used the same backing fabric as used for the trim on the bottom.

The Unbroken Song

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Recently a friend sent me a bunch of Au Ver A Soie silk threads. I decided I wanted to stitch something special with at least some of them. When The Bells on Christmas Day by Blackbird Designs was released in 2019, one of the projects was a small sampler that fit inside a wood and glass box. It is the one pictured on the top center of the cover. I bought the box and selected a piece of 18ct ivory aida to stitch it on. Then I put it away.

Once I received the silks, I pulled the following colors to use in stitching this project.

  • #20 very dark green
  • #209 brighter green
  • #108 sage
  • #109 dark cranberry red
  • #307 medium rose
  • #022 yellow green
  • #303 dark gold

My plan was to paint the box red as instructed and place the stitched piece inside. Unfortunately, I had forgotten there were two sizes of the box and the smaller one which I had already stained was the one meant to fit this piece when stitched on the higher count. So . . . . .

Unbroken Song Stitched and mounted
Unbroken Song Mounted in Box

I may stitch this one again on 14/28ct so that it will fit in the bigger box painted red.

Special Delivery A Girls Birth Sampler

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This beautiful design by Barb Adams of Blackbird Designs is copyright 2003 and is now Out of Print.

Special Delivery Supplies

I selected a piece of pale pink 16ct aida and Victorian Motto Sampler floss to stitch this one. Colors used:

  • Calico Pink
  • Dried Rose Petals
  • 1820 Sampler Blue
  • 17th Century Starlight

Finished Stitching: April 10, 2022

I chose a narrow cherry wood frame to finish this one off.

Stitch All the Things

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Stitch All the Things is one of the newest designs offered by Erica Michaels. The chart pack contains both the small pin pillow and strawberry. While I loved the design, I did not really care for the blue color scheme. I saw a posting by another stitcher using a color scheme using shades of rust. I ordered the chart and the vintage twill tape used for the finished piece.

Stitch All the Things cover

I selected a piece of 16ct Parchment aida to stitch the pin pillow on and since there was some over one stitching on the strawberry, I selected a piece of 28ct antique ivory Monaco. For the floss, I selected Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe threads.

Stitch All the Things supplies
  • Ginger Dark
  • Terra Cotta
  • Peach Dahlia
  • Stitching Together (strawberry)
  • Dried Ferns (pillow)
  • Mocha Tan

Started stitching pin pillow April 14, 2022 and finished April 19, 2022
Started stitching the strawberry April 19, 2022 and finished on April 21, 2022.

Now to decide on the finishing fabric for the pin pillow and the extras for the strawberry.

Stitch All the Things with possible finishing fabric
Stitch All the Things strawberry

And the finished pieces. The same fabric at the bottom of the pillow was used as the backing fabric. The strawberry is filled with crushed walnut shells and the pillow with fiberfill.

Stitch All the Things pillow and strawberry