Cross Stitch Finish: A Changed World

If you’ve been reading my blog over the last month you know I finished the cross-stitch work on my piece A Changed World by The Scarlett House.

The problem this time around…I had to lace it.  I don’t love doing it.  I think I just need more experience.  But, in an effort to save some money, I gave it a try.

HERE is the Spray Starch I use to get it ironed out flat.  I use an iron set on the linen setting.  Most people use a pressing cloth between their piece and the iron.  I was feeling lazy.

Here is how my lacing looks…

I ordered the frame from Custom Frame Solutions.

Here is a DIRECT LINK to the frame I ordered.

I called in and talked to someone to figure out how big to get the frame.  I like about 1/2″ of fabric to show past the border.  The guy on the phone said to add 1 3/8″ to each measurement if I wanted 1/2″ of fabric to show…and that’s what I did.

I also went on Amazon and ordered spacers.  If you are framing something and are using glass, you need to use spacers so the stitching does not touch the glass.  HERE is the link for the spacers.  There are enough spacers in the package to keep me busy for a LONG time.

I got it all together and then immediately put a label on the back with all of the details.  You can find the clear index card holder HERE.

Here it is… all ready to be hung.  I had the worst time trying to get a picture with no glare.  This was the best I could do.

I am totally in love with the frame.  The gold is a little bright but I really think it brings out the gold stitched in the piece.

For the record, it was stitched on Lakeside Vintage Meadow Rue.  The fabric is darker than the other linens I’ve used.  I used a color conversion from Country Sampler.

Here it is on my sampler wall.  It’s the one to the far left.  You can see that it is much smaller than some of my larger samplers.

I am so glad that I pick different frames that complement each different piece.

I’m hoping to get something stitched to fit into that little frame below A Changed World.

I started stitching this last August with Judy from Patchwork Times and Denise as a Stitch Along.  I really poked along.  I knew I wanted to stitch this but really didn’t have time.  I started with them anyway.  I stitched occasionally until this year in February when I work on it much more diligently.

For some reason the picture makes it look like the letters are wavy but they really aren’t.  I think it’s a glass reflection thing.

Stitching the row of houses was a lot of fun.  Stitching all the black, not as much fun.  If I were to stitch it again, I would probably work from the bottom up.  I would outline the black area and then take the project with me as my travel project and work on fill-in stitching.  It was a bad move on my part to leave all of the black stitching until the end.

I love that the things I stitch often have a bit of history or remembrance to them.  The saying on this was so appropriate to the time I was stitching on it and what we all are going through…

The last election and unrest in politics
covid
shortages in the stores
war in Ukraine

I made sure to note that on the back of my label.  I think it will be interesting for my kids to go back and see what was happening in history when I was stitching this piece.

I’m just thrilled to have another one finished.  I am kind of spoiled because in the last few months my sampler has really grown.  I had so many things I was stitching and they all kind of got done all at once.

Now I have many projects that are at the beginning stages.  It’s going to be quite a while before I have a lot of finishes again…except for the Floral Motif Sampler.  That is at the framers.  Oh, I can’t wait to get that one back!!

I am just thrilled to see my sampler wall growing!!