I’m so lucky to have people watching out for me (ahem, enabling me!) Mary from the Chicken Scratch blog sent me some pictures of cross stitch she saw AQS Quilt Show in Des Moines. You can read more about the quilt show on her blog HERE. Apparently, there happen to be some cross-stitch pieces on display as well. It was fun to see the pictures. I caught myself saying I have that chart and that chart and I stitched that one. But the one that really caught my eye was the red one. Oh my. I hadn’t seen that one before.
Shucks. There was no tag or info for me to identify who stitched it. Hmm.
I’ve been looking for a red sampler to stitch. So many people have a wall of red samplers. I don’t know that I want to do that…but, I’d love to stitch one. I had so much fun stitching the first Red Bird Sampler we did as a stitch along. Hmm.
That’s it. I’ll ask Judy at Patchwork Times. She might know. So I sent a message to Judy. She was quick to reply saying she thought it was Folk Art Sampler. She even provided a link to the chart. THANKS, Judy!! You can see the chart HERE on 123 Stitch.
It’s so pretty. I really like it…but that border is a lot of backstitch and I hate backstitch. It might be worth it though. It’s so pretty.
So…I put the chart on my wish list and I’ll think about it. It is really pretty…don’t you think?
It all started with me wanting to make some of my own picture frames for my cross-stitch pieces. I figured out how to use the chop saw. But I had another problem…how to get the pieces together after they were cut.
I had tried this clamp and it was good… (THIS is the link for the clamp) Still, I didn’t feel comfortable only gluing it. I felt like I needed some kind of nail something to hold it as well.
I like to use glass on my larger heirloom-type pieces. That gets heavy and I didn’t feel comfortable only using glue. So…what’s a gal who knows nothing about framing do except go to youtube. So I typed in “how to make picture frames”. This video was one of the offerings.
Just push the play button to watch the short video. I watched it along with a couple of other videos and I ended up buying this… Continue reading →
I’m so happy for our daughter Kelli that she caught the cross stitch bug again. Kelli was actually the first of us Kramer girls to get into cross-stitching. We had gone to Spring Green WI to Country Sampler. I was going thinking it was a quilt shop so imagine my surprise when I learned they had lots of cross stitch too. Kelli grabbed onto cross stitching then. She proved to be good at it and got lots of stitching in. Becoming a mom kind of put a damper on all of that…but I’m happy to say she’s stitching again.
Kelli is currently working on Take Heart by Beth Twist of Heartstring Samplery. She messaged me earlier in the week. She had a page finish.
This is my finished piece of the same chart. It was so fun to stitch.
Every so often questions and comments come from readers that I think others would like to hear my response to. That’s when I feature them on the blog. This is one of those days.
Today’s post is mainly going to focus on cross-stitch questions and comments.
Bonnie asked:
“Where can I order floss? If I have a specific design, will shops put together a kit from a chart? Where did you see the new charts from the Needlework Expo? Where do you order linen and how much do you order for each piece? Can you tell I am new? Actually I did cross stitch many years ago and have recently started again but I am very rusty and don’t know how to navigate the cross stitch world but I am loving what you choose to stitch.”
I’m going to tackle Bonnie’s questions one at a time. Where can I order floss?
Unfortunately, there are not a lot of cross-stitch shops that are local to most people. That has led people to shop online. I can list a few here that I have ordered from in the past.
Stitchery Nook- it’s my local shop. They have an online presence as well.
123 Stitch- fast and cheaper than most
Fat Quarter Shop
Hollis Hand Create on Etsy
Farm Girl Dry Goods- haven’t ordered from her yet
Colorado Cross Stitcher-Fast service
There are many other places as well. I hate listing just these but if you’re new, I picked shops that are easy to order from. I have ordered from The Attic and have had a fine experience but…they are slow and don’t have an easy way to order. If you’re not in a hurry and don’t mind calling or emailing them they are just fine…but you will have to wait.
If I have a specific design, will shops put together a kit from a chart? Most shops will. The only problem is that called-for linens are SUPER hard to find so there is a high probability that they would have everything except the linen. Most stores can make a good substitute though. With the linen change, you might need to change the color of a thread or two to make sure they show up on the linen.
Where did you see the new charts from the Needlework Expo? Everywhere is the best answer for this. I follow all of my favorite designers on Flosstube (If they have one) and Instagram. I see them as they announce their releases. Other places I see them are on websites. I follow the online shop, Needlecase Goodies2. You can find them HERE. If you look in their section that says 2022 Expo Preorder, you can see all the new things there. Typically before Market or Expo online shops have a place in their shops where they are taking preorders and you can see the new designs.
Where do you order linen and how much do you order for each piece? Linen is sold in two different ways in a predetermined size or cut to the specific piece you are stitching. Years ago most people bought linen they bought it for a specific project and buyers paid so much money per square inch. You can still buy that way from some stores.
Buying linen has changed over the last few years. With linen shortages how people buy linen has definitely changed. If you talk to most any linen dyer they have stated that getting certain counts of linen is hard for them to get. In turn, it’s hard for us stitchers to get.
That has led to cross stitchers having more of a fabric stash. Often they can’t find the linen that was called for in the chart so they have to make substitutions. Having some linen on hand in my own stash has been helpful.
Primarily I buy fat quarters of linen. Those are typically about 18 x 27. Most projects can fit on a piece that size. Occasionally if you are stitching something huge, you need a fat half. You can even buy it by the yard. I never do that as I don’t want that much of the same color and I don’t have $100+ for that much linen. There are smaller cuts available as well. A fat quarter of hand-dyed linen is around $25-$32 for each piece.
That is expensive BUT…I will stitch on a piece of linen that size for about three months. That to me is cheap entertainment.
Some people don’t like buying fat quarters of linen because some can be wasted. I don’t feel that way. I purposely have small projects like pillows or ornaments that I stitch with the leftover linen.
Here you can see my finished All Creatures Great and Small. You can see I cut the linen off the side.
