Last year’s Nashville Market (2015) included the book In Friendship’s Way which included a number of delightful designs by Barb Adams and Alma Allen, the two ladies who make up Blackbird Designs. There were several designs in the book I wanted to stitch so I ordered the floss for stitching:

• Honeycomb Basket
• Welcome Dear August
• The Winter is Past
• Button Box

I even ordered the boxes for finishing a couple of the designs and another stitcher sent me the baskets needed for completing Honeycomb Basket.

Fast forward a year and I am now getting ready to stitch some smaller projects so picked up this book and the floss.

First one I will be stitching is Welcome Dear August in memory of my Daddy, Adrian Lee Little. I’ll substitute Adrian for August and add his birthdate. I’m going to finish it as a small memory rather than the box pictured on the front of the book.

And my progress as of today March 25th 2016.

Finished stitching Welcome Dear August on March 30, 2016

Welcome Dear August finished as a small pillow.

And from the same book, The Winter is Past

Started stitching March 31, 2016 and finished April 6, 2016. I made some minor changes filling in the top left side border and using the alphabet and numbers for Welcome Dear August to add my husband’s mothers name and birthdate.

Winter is past finished as a small pillow.

Merry One is the first of a new series Serial Bowl Full of Merries by Plum Street Samplers. It is a Limited Edition kit and now Sold Out. The kits each include chart, stitching and finishing instructions, hand dyed cotton floss and trim.  I don’t like to buy kits because most kits use linen and I don’t stitch on linen. I was lucky enough to snag just the chart on Stash Unload. I’m trying to stick with smaller projects until the first of the year when I will start two Blackbird Design Stitch-a-Longs so this was perfect for me.

I selected a piece of 16ct Wren by Picture This Plus and a combination of threads, some over-dyed some DMC.

The second one in this series has been released, Merry Two which features Santa holding branches of berries talking to a snowman, his team of reindeer are behind him, and his sleigh is filled with a decorated tree. I was lucky enough to find someone who is willing to trade with me so I can stitch both designs.

According to Traditional Stitches, “We have heard that Merry One will be released as a chart sometime in 2016, which is great news as you can still collect the complete series of designs.”

Started stitching Merry One December 15, 2015and finished December 21, 2015.

Because I did not have all of the called for threads in my stash, I used the following colors:

• DMC 3857
• DMC 632
• DMC 822
• Classic Colorworks Weeping Willow
• Classic Colorworks Cocoa Bean
• DMC 3790

Paulette has confirmed that she will release Merry One as a reprint- chart only, no threads, sometime early this year. (Possibly Nashville Market which is held in March)

I decided to send this off to The Twisted Stitcher (Vonna Pfeiffer) for finishing and look what she did. I LOVE IT!

Progress on Merry Two is shown below. All I have left to add is all of the snowflakes.

It is now January 5, 2023, and I have now fully finished Merry Two. I found a book box at Michaels on sale for 70% off so bought one for only $5.99. Mounted the stitched piece to a piece of matboard with two layers of batting. I may decide to add some twisted cording but for now it is finished.

I recently participated in a Giveaway on the 123Stitch Message Board and the prize was the chart Lovebird by Just Another Button Company. Once I complete stitching it, I will pass it along to the next stitcher.

Since I was placing an order with 123Stitch.com, I decided to go ahead and order the buttons since the giveaway was for the chart only.

The buttons needed to complete the chart are:

1 Black Heart – 3438X – $1.40
1 Large Red & White Checked Heart – 3368L – $2.00
1 Black Ken – 3354 – $1.40
1 Tiny Black Cherry Heart – 3446T – $1.40
1 Rosy Red Heart – 3521 – $1.80

I’ll be using DMC floss rather than the specified Weeks Dye Works floss and 28 ct white Jobelan over 2.

I’ll be taking this to the beach next week to stitch.

Here it is, all kitted up and ready to start stitching. Only two of the buttons arrived. Rest are on backorder.

Finished stitching! Now to iron it and add the buttons, then decide on framing. Fabric is actually white!

And here it is finished in a small metal tub with some nesting material.