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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.

Top Ten: Stitching Then and Now

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Colorado Cross Stitcher is located in Loveland, Colorado. She has a FlossTube/YouTube channel and runs a virtual Cross Stitch Camp. She also publishes a newsletter. Her last one contained the article Top Ten: Stitching Then and Now. You can sign up for her newsletter on her website. You can also follow her on Instagram. My comments are in italics.

1. It’s not just about geese and teddy bears any more. While I never stitched geese, I certainly did a few with teddy bears. One was a notebook cover for my Mom where she could keep info on her stitching.
2. The color palettes have shifted.
3. We used to work on one project at a time. Pretty much. You’d go to the stitching store and pick a pattern, a fabric, and the flosses. You’d work on it until it was done. Then you got to go back to the store and pick another project. The only stash we had was a stash of patterns that we had already completed. And now I have multiple projects going at one time and my stash is enough to last me for many lifetimes.

4. We stitched with DMC pretty much exclusively. (Unless you were fancy and bought a kit with imported threads.) A good day was finding DMC 10 skeins for $1.00 at Lee Wards, so you could round out your stash on your bobbins. The only time I had stitched with anything other than DMC was when a chart appeared in JustCross Stitch magazine by Eva Rosenstand that used her floss which I special ordered. I still have my Columbine Pillow. And through the years, my mom and I collected what was then a full set of DMC.

5. Here’s a question for you – what did we keep our projects in? I don’t remember any project bags. Or even Ziploc bags. After a time, I remember a type of project keeper. You’d buy one of those (if you were lucky) for your one project. Before that, did we keep them in tote bags or something? The first tote bag I remember is one my mom got me. It was a quilted bag with handles and pockets inside. I still have it.

6. Now we have Hand-Dyed Fabrics – Remember when we were excited to have just 3 or 4 Aida options? Now the options truly seem almost limitless. Hand dyed fabrics bring more texture and variety to your stitching, and can make the finished piece more interesting. All I really had was aida in cream or white or a flecked oatmeal color. Now the choices of fabrics and colors is unlimited. But because of poor eyesight, I am back to aida.

7. Now we have Hand-Dyed Flosses – As with the fabrics, the variance in hand-dyed flosses brings more interest and texture to your finished pieces. Whether you cross your X’s as you go, or stitch down a row and back, the color variation is fun to watch. (Although most all of us also still stitch with DMC as well.) My first use of hand-dyed floss was in 2014 with my very first Blackbird Design charts. I love them now.

8. Now we have Silk Flosses – I’m not sure if there were any silk options back in the day, but I’ll tell you what – I’m not sure I would have stitched with anything else if I had tried it back then. It’s like stitching with butter. While I love some of the silks out there, some are so slippery I find them impossible to use. My favorites are Glorianna silks. My very favorite is Poinsettia. Unfortunately, I don’t use them much because of the cost.

9. Now we have cool notions and fun things to bring extra joy to our stitching. Things like: Beautiful Scissors, Pins, Needle Minders, and Stickers.

10. Patterns, patterns, and more patterns. All done up in different styles, different colors, and different sizes. A plethora of patterns! Our choices now are never ending. And there are some designers I have never stitched yet I have enough charts to last me several lifetimes.

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.

The Long and Winding Road

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Blackbird Designs has so many wonderful projects to stitch, it is always hard for me to pick the next one up. I have had this LeHay Shaker Box since 2016 and decided it was time to stitch something for it, so The Long and Winding Road is next up.

I’m stitching it on 18ct mystery aida I had in my stash with all of the called for floss. I would rather be stitching on 16ct but then it would not fit on the box lid.

You can find more info on the box here. https://www.lehays.com/pages/shaker-round-box-6 However, at the current time, the box is only available in his antiqued natural finish.

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.