A Place to Share a Craft I Love
Progress on my Sunshine Sunflowers Picture is slow but sure – so many shades of orange and green. I love the picture itself but would have preferred a 32ct fabric with additional inches on all sides for framing. Not sure I will be able to add a mat. Would like to use an old barnwood frame I have ordered in the past.
Sunshine Sunflowers 12-06-2010
Sunshine Sunflowers 12-06-2010
Ben and Sara's Wedding Sampler
I just ordered Poinsettia House by Little House Needleworks from my favorite on-line cross-stitch shop, 123Stitch along with a new kind of floss (new for me that is), Crescent Colours. The pattern is described as “Soft colors, a snow hill and the flowers of the season. . . . . .poinsettias!”
Crescent Colours used include: Roasted Chestnut, Timber, Clay Pot, Weeping Willow and Wild Berries. The remaining thread is DMC. Can’t wait for it to arrive so I can start work on it.
UPDATE: Fast forward to 2017. I cannot believe this has been sitting in my stash for SEVEN YEARS!
I decided to stitch this one on 16ct Chocolate Milk Aida from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie. I used the suggested floss shown above. I decided to change the wording to ‘Tis the Season which I had seen posted some where else.
Started Stitching: November 28, 2017
Finished Stitching” December 12, 2017
Poinsettia House by Little House Needleworks
And here it is 2018 and this one is finally finished by Vonna Pfeiffer, the Twisted Stitcher. I really love it. Now do I keep it for me or give it as a Christmas gift this year.
Poinsettia House by Little House Needleworks
A couple of days ago, I received an email newsletter from Keepsake Needlearts with information and a picture of one of their newest offerings, Sunshine Sunflowers. The description read:
Colors of the midday sun and the evening sunset radiate from the petals of these flowers bursting with joie de vivre. Counted cross-stitch kit, designed by Nel Whatmore, includes 16-ct cream Aida cloth, carded cotton floss, needle, chart and directions.
The fact that it was available only as a kit turned me off as I already have all of the DMC colors and drawers of cross stitch fabric. BUT the picture was so beautiful, I just kept going back and looking and thinking: “Should I or shouldn’t I?” The finished piece is 14″ x 14″ worked on 16ct Aida. The price tag is a hefty $68.99 which does include the fabric and all of the floss. I searched first to see if it might be available as just a pattern but alas no. So I went in search to see if it might be available anywhere at a lesser price. Slightly, but not much.
The piece is based on the art of Nel Whatmore, a British Artist. I will have to give this some serious thought.
Found it on sale for $50. with free shipping so ordered it today (10/20/2010). Can’t wait for it to arrive.
Package arrived today (10-23-2010) with some bonus goodies included: a nice canvas bag I can keep the project in and an added chart for The Pack which should be fun stitching after I finish the Sunshine Sunflowers project.
November 15, 2010 – Fabric has been stitched around the edges and put on a stitching frame. Started working on it today. I finally had to enlarge the chart so I could see what I was doing. Looking good so far. Will take some pictures as I go along.
The Flowering Heart Wedding Sampler by June Grigg appeared in the January/February 1984 issue of Just CrossStitch magazine. I’ve probably stitched it at least half a dozen times on various count fabric for wedding presents and once for a 50th anniversary gift. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of each of the finished pieces. This one was stitched for my niece. The one I am stitching now, I am going to try and keep track of exactly how long it takes to finish. I started last night (May 30th). Update: Sigh, my good intentions were for naught as I forgot to note when I finished the sampler.
I’m stitching this on 28 count white Monaco by Charles Craft over two threads.
The finished and framed sampler. Both of the samplers were framed with the scooped oak frame from Graphic Dimensions but matted a little differently.
Flowering Heart Wedding Sampler
This is my current project for my granddaughter’s high school graduation.
The visible design area is 7½x7½ and the box itself measures 9½x9½x2 3/4 and has a mahogany finish and is fully lined in black velvet. The design area is covered with glass.
UPDATE May 2009: Finished stitching the piece from Woodland Flowes by Astor Place for the top of the box. Please with how it turned out.
The piece was stitched on 14ct Aida using DMC floss which measures 6 1/2″ x 6 1/2″. After cleaning and pressing the piece, it was stretched over a very think piece of foam board that came with the box and inserted under glass with a picture frame type backing that also came with the box.
If you were using needlepoint canvas or a thicker piece of fabric, you might have to forgo the glass or the foam board. My stitched piece fit perfectly even after stretching on the board and lacing the back.
My newest work in progress is Lizzie Kate Friendship. I’m stitching the design on 14 count Antique White Aida using DMC floss. I’m not sure whether they will be finished as small pillows or framed.
December 2009: Finished stitching two of these and I decided to frame these with the Mill Hill Blue 6×6 inch frame in the Blue Matte Finish as seen above. Below you can see the detail on the flower and the Bee button.
Summer Sampler from Prairie Schooler
A Band sampler is a long narrow sampler, where designs are stitched in rows or bands across the width of the fabric. This type of sampler was popular in the 17th century. Some of my favorites to stitch are those done by Prairie Schooler. This particular sampler hangs in our kitchen. It is from the Summer Samplers Book 77. All of them were worked on 14 cont Fiddlers Lite and use the brass bell pull hardware available from Nordic Needle.
I’ve worked a number of these as gifts for family and friends but failed to take pictures of them which is my loss. The ones I have stitched include:
Little House Needleworks has a collection called Simple Samplers which are small projects that do not take forever to complete. I’m working the Music and Books design on 28 count khaki Jobelan. The finished piece measures 4 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ I’ve finished one and started on the 2nd one. You can view and purchase any of the Little House Needlework designs from 123Stitch.
Enlarged area of Books & Music.
Fast forward to November 2023 when I pulled out a bunch of smalls and decided to finish them. I chose a simple black frame from Amazon to finish off these two pieces.
Christmas is a special time of year. Part of the fun of Christmas is decorating the tree and the house. When Jim and I were first married in 1982, we had a real tree. We’d bundle up, head out to the local tree farm, pick out the perfect tree, bring it home and Jim would string the lights. Then it was my turn to add the various ornaments I had collected. It really was not until a couple of years later that I started adding cross stitch ornaments to the collection. Mom made some of them and I made others.
The tree we put up at Christmas has gotten smaller as we have gotten older but it is still decorated with our collection of cross stitch ornaments or ones we have collected in our travels.
Christmas Cardinal
Christmas Angel
Gingerbread Boy
Gingerbread Girl
