May-July

And now to bring us into July.

This is another male birthday card.  The guy with the birthday collects glassware sets with pitchers.  So I think this works well for him.  I'm not sure where I found this.  Probably in a magazine at some point.
Stitched on 28-ct twilight mist Jobelan over 2.

This one is for me.  I've wanted to do "A Stitcher's House" by Stone Street Stitchworks for some time.  It's on Vintage Country Mocha 32 count linen.  I love how this door hanger turned out.  The colors are even prettier in person.

Here's a fun birthday card for a June 10th birthday.  I modified Heart In Hands Square Dance for June.  I loved the result.  Again on Vintage Country Mocha 32 count, apparently my new favorite.   I  enclosed a Baskin-Robbins gift card since it went so well with the theme.

 

Another finish for me using 32 count Vintage Country Mocha Belfast.  This is The Floss Box design, "Autumn Mandala".  It's an oldie that I saw stitched up online somewhere and took a liking to it.  I would never have known how cute it was if I hadn't seen it completed.  The pattern was only a graph with no photo of a finished model.
Makes a cute mat as a resting spot for my glasses, keys, whatever.

I made another cute coin purse gift. This is a modified version of the Black Hearted Queen freebie from SubRosa Designs.  The chart is still available on her blog here. The red dress idea was someone else's color change that I adopted. The wording change was my brain child. Less border too. Love my little heart charm zipper pull. This is on  32 ct summer khaki linen over 2.  Zipper pull charm from Creative Kinyobi on Etsy.

Finally, we have a last minute July 4th card stitched on 36 count summer khaki Edinburgh linen.  This is the "Liberty" mini-cat freebie from Lynn at Happiness is Cross Stitching.   Michael's made my job easy with those nice shiny star stickers and the star sequins jumped out at me in a local variety store.

Click here
for the chart.

March/April St. Pat's Candy Box and PS card

On to March-April.  

I've always liked this Bent Creek Snap Happy St. Pat's design.  I have a friend who is a 'clover whisperer'.  I've never seen someone who can so easily spot 4 leaf clovers.  She deserved a little gift so I made her this candy box with the design mounted on top.  And for good measure, I enclosed some Andes mints and added the crocheted shamrock on the inside lid.  Stitched on  28 count Cashel over 2. 

The next was card was done after another search for a suitable 'boy' design.  This is Prairie Schooler's "Weather Wise" made into a birthday card.  Stitched  2 over 2 on  32 count MCG white linen.  I'm kind of sorry they went out of business.  Not the worlds greatest linen, but I liked it.  Got a bit creative after reviewing Pinterest ideas for a craft life preserver.  I used a plastic craft ring wrapped with red floss and I was very happy with the result.  I doubt if the recipient paid much attention to it, but it's all about the doing for me.

February catch-up - Valentine card and tin, birthday card , coin purse

Catch up post for the record.  I have a couple more to add after this one. I know it's July, but I haven't posted for some time.  These are my February finishes.

This sweet little Valentine card  is from the book,  "A Rainbow of Stitches" book.  Done on 36 count linen over 2 with   DMC 4210.

My brother's birthday is in February.   He's a sucker for Marie Callendar Pumpkin Pie.  I went online and discovered there was, in fact, a real Marie Callendar and there was even a picture of her as a young women.   This card is a tribute to her using a modified Sub Rosa Design,  "Pumpkin Pie".   Esther herself laughed at a pumpkin pie as big as the table.   I was sure my brother would get a kick out of it.   Frankly, he was not amused.  Ya can't win 'em all.  Stitched on Belfast summer khaki over 2.

The next one is an old freebie by Drawn Thread, "All You Need Is Love", stitched on 32 ct Belfast summer khaki.  Perfect Altoid tin top size and I hadn't made a tin top in some time.  Filled with red berry flavored lip gloss before presenting as a 'Galentine' to a friend.

 

And wrapping up the month, I used an adaptation of Snowflower Diaries "You Make Me Happy" as the basis for this little coin purse.   Found an Etsy seller, CreativeKinyobi,  with tons of charms already attached to a lobster clasp and this little mermaid charm worked perfectly.  Another piece on 32 count summer khaki Belfast.

Candy box, snowmen cards, sling bag

Catch-up post for the record from 2018.   I'll do another soon with this year's entries.

First was a cute little candy box for a hostess gift.  I used  Mary Garry's Skating Party with some color changes to blues that I'd seen on the web by other stitchers.  This is done on Edinburgh linen, 36 ct summer khaki.  Had to go blue because I had the pretty blue ribbon that was looking for a home!

This is just the cutest little snowman from an old Stoney Creek magazine.  The magazine showed it on black fabric, but my eyes don't work well with that.  So I settled on Belfast Smokey Pearl 32 ct and crossed my fingers that the black shading around the edges would look ok.  I was totally pleased with this one.  The recipient of the card loved it too.

This card was done for a friend as an inside joke.  We have had some discussions about the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment.   When I saw this litte marshmallow head snowman cupcake in the "Festive Frostings" feature of the Nov., 2018 issue of "CrossStitcher",  I knew it was perfect for my friend's holiday card.  The design is by Maria Diaz.  Stitched on 36 count linen.

 

I've had the pattern for Niky's Creations "Numbers" forever.  I thought I was going to use it for a baby sampler at some point, but that never happened.  So I stitched it up and made it into a little sling bag.  The one I had been using with the peacocks finally wore out.  Stitched on 32 count MCG linen.  Cheap linen with a good heft for a bag.  I've been using it ever day since I stitched it.

So that brings us into 2019.  Stay tuned for more current work.

Halloween, Birthday and Get Well cards

Time for an end of fall stitching summary.  I forget about this blog since I post my finishes on IG, but the Thanksgiving holiday gave me some time to think about it!

First up is  "Checkers the Pumpkin"  an old  Pam Kellogg freebie from Kreinik  that you can still get here.  I stitched it all in DMC, no beads, on 36 ct linen 2 over 2.  He's a jolly little guy and I don't know why it took so many years for me to get around to stitching him.

I love the new little bowl top designs by Heart in Hand.  This is "Hocus Pocus Halloween", used for a card, not a bowl, but it works well for this purpose.  I like the addition of funky stitckers to the funky pumpkin.  

Although I tend to shy away from heavy back-stitching, I coudn't resist this Durene Jones freebie, "Happy Harvest".   It's done on 32 ct Lugana.  I sent it out somewhat before Halloween since it's more a fall design than a Halloween one.

The design is on FB and I don't think you need to be a member to access this link:
Free Chart

Here's another pattern that's been on my to-do list for years and I think it's ideal for a birthday card.  It's by Veronique Enginger from "Mode d'Hier et D'aujourd'hui au Point de Croix"  and stitched on light blue 36 ct linen.  Of course I wrote "Happy Birthday and all that jazz" as the inside sentiment.   The recipient loved it as I suspected she would.  It's a very clever design, don't you think?

A friend of mine took a fall recently and it ended in a very bad broken wrist.  I had this design stitched up and waiting for the right time to use it.  It became a get well card in a wink. The pattern is from "Douce Méditerranée"  and is a freebie on the Art du Fil FB page.  You can get it here.

Birthday and Get Well cards and a Coin Purse

I just noticed that this draft post had been sitting around waiting to be published.   The two cards I stitched recently both went to the same person.    He had some health problems so I made him a get well card.  He's doing much better now, but I don't think my card was the reason.  And then his birthday came along shortly afterward.

For the get well card, I used a design I had waiting in the wings that I had stitched a while ago just because I liked the design.  I figured it would come in handy at some point.  This was one of the blocks from the 2014 Sampler Life SAL.  The original artist is Raquel Blasco of Maggi Co's Village.  I think the cross stitch adaptation might be by Nathalie Cichon of "Jardin Privé".

You can still get the blocks for this sampler on the FB group "The Sampler Life".   Each block is by a different designer.

I did this over-one on Monaco, so it's especially cute in that tiny format.  My over-one stitching days are pretty much behind me.  I don't know what possessed me to do this.  But I find that it is easier on Monaco than on any other fabric.

I may decide to stitch more of Raquel Blasco's designs.   I'm drawn to that style.

I always take a look at the latest CrossStitcher magazine because it's one that I can check out from our local library as an e-magazine.  I rarely find anything that grabs me though.  But the August, 2018 issue had a set of four ice cream sundaes that immediately caught my eye.  I stitched up my favorite of the set and I think it made a pretty cute birthday card.  The colors, especially on the dish, worked up somewhat different from the photo in the mag, but I do like the way they pop on that 36 count "Dirty" linen.

I stitched up a little coin purse for a friend who has done some favors for me recently.  This is a section of Little House Needleworks "Liberty Belles" on  36 ct  linen.  I re-worked the placement of the motifs to make it fit the space.  The threads are all DMC.   I'm still working on the best way to do those top zippers.   I've read a billion tutorials and watched tons of videos, but it's like looking for the perfect taco in Tom Robbins' "Jitterbug Perfume".    This one didn't come out too bad though.  Reducing bulk in the corners is the tricky part.   I added a zipper pull from a  Moonraker Lampwerks bead to jazz it up a bit.. 

Fun little projects

So, I always stuff my small pillow-type finishes with orts (i.e. thread clippings).  Takes a long time to accumulate enough of them for even a tiny piece.  They pack down so much!  But I had a nice little bag of them save up,  I decided to make a little pin cushion from this old Prairie Schooler  freebie, "Stick it Here".  It's stitched on 28 ct over 2  on Cashel linen.   The trim came from my friend Hetti, who graciously sent me a bag of stitchy goodies.  Such a funny little design!

For some time I had wanted to stitch "Sweeping The Garden" by  Barbara Ana.  This design was in the Fall, 2017 issue of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitching.    I never quite knew what I would do with it, but I fnally thought a little zippered case/coin purse would be just the thing.  This is on 36 ct Edinburgh linen over 2.   I really should have stuck with putting the zipper near the top, on the side.  It's so much easier.  But I like getting things in and out of the case better when the zipper is on top.  This is a little gift for a friend and the mouse design was perfect for her.. an inside joke between the two of us.

I recently noticed an empty mini-box of  Russell Stover Valentine's Day chocolates lying around when I was searching for something completely different.  I had saved it with the intention of doing a heart-shaped stitched box top, but you know how that goes.  Never got around to it.  But I remembered the "Mary Valentine's Handework" designs by  With Thy Needle and Thread and I knew there was a perfect design for this in that set.   This is on 36 ct Summer Khaki Edinburgh.  I used my own color conversions to DMC.  And the mini pom pom trim is again, courtesy of Hetti.  Pretty easy to put together.  I gave this to my cousin who has just opened her own micro-hair salon and recently had an open-house party to celebrate.

Gardener Threadkeep, Coffee Coaster, Uncle Sam

Sometimes a design just calls out to me to be stitched.  This one, Blackbird Designs Garden Club #9, "The Gardener", was one of those.  Maybe it's because BBD does not usually put a human figure in their designs.  I can't think of any other that does, but I'm sure I haven't seen them all.  I decided to turn this into a little thread keep for our blogging friend Carol.  I discovered that JoAnn's sells those plastic rings in a number of sizes which makes it very convenient to select the right thing.   I think this is 32 count Jobelan or Lugana.

Another design that called out my name for some stitch therapy was this cute coffee design from Stone Street Stitchworks called "Coffee Corner".   You can find it in their Etsy shop.  There are two versions on the pattern, one in red with a December holiday theme, and the one I stitched that is kind of  all-season.   Finished into a little mat/coaster because I couldn't think of anything else. This is stitched on 36 ct linen from my seemingly endless pile of HDF linen.

I saw this adorable freebie from Annie Beez Folk Art,  "Uncle Sam Rides a Crow", and I really wanted to stitch up the center motif.  It always makes me a little queasy to see a crow with an Uncle Sam, so I played with the chart to turn the crow into an eagle.  Kind of looks like an odd-colored pigeon now, but in context, I think it passes as an eagle.  I think it makes  a cute July 4th card with the addition of the stickers too.  This is done on another scrap of 36 ct HDF linen.

Next project will be on 28 ct over 2 to give my eyes a rest!

Spring assortment et al.

If you follow me on IG, you will have seen all of this stitching.  But here is a summary of finishes since my last post.

Spring took a long time to show up this year, and we were all happy to see its arrival, wet as it has been.  I stitched this cute Spring welcome card to send in honor of the season change.   It's a freebie by Silver Cute Dwarf and you can get the chart here.   It's on 36 count linen and uses a few beads for the flowers. 

My niece took a vacation to Paris this spring and I stitched this Bon Voyage card for her.   The original design had Notre Dame in the the upper right.  I found a nice little charted Arc De Triomphe online somewhere that I liked better, so I substituted it. Although my niece did not take her dog with her, she does have a little dog like the one in the design.   The design is from the DMC Europe SAL and you can get the chart here.  I used 18 count Aida for this.  Hadn't stitched on Aida is quite some time!

I needed a 'boy' birthday design so I searched for something nautical.   I found this cute ship in a bottle  by La Comtesse et le Point De Croix.    You can get the chart here.  I had planned to use an old vintage world map in the background, but the map I had was too big.  So I just hunted through my folder of stickers for some 'sea' things.  Then I got the bright idea to cut the opening in the shape of the bottle and I think that worked out pretty well. This is on 36 count linen also.  Neither of these two photos shows the real colors, but that's the best I could do.  I incorporated the words 'Smooth Sailing' on the inside greeting after seeing something like that elsewhere on line.

I started Plum Street Samplers "Turkey Bay" about a year ago just for stress relief at the time.  I needed something colorful and easy to stitch.  Didn't care if I ever finished it.  Eventually I did complete the stitching, but only now turned it into a pillow.    It's done on HDF Old Gray Mare 32 count linen.  A simple finish, but I'm very happy with it.

Another design that I stitched a while ago, but just finished is "Honey Bee",  number 3 in the Blackbird Designs Garden Club series.  I'm just using this as a little mat on which to rest my glasses, keys, remote, whatever.  It's on 32 count lambs wool Jobelan if I remember correctly.

Happy Stitching to all as we head into June!