Cross Stitch Update

First off, if you haven’t heard, Judy from Patchwork Times and I are hosting a stitch along.  We’ll be stitching this chart starting March 1st.  The one we’re stitching is the one that says, “Blessed” in the bottom left corner.  All three patterns come in the chart so you can stitch them all.

We’d love to have you join us.  You can read the details HERE.  We plan to make this beginner-friendly so everyone is welcome.

I did a ton of stitching this week.  I felt so crappy that sitting on the couch was the thing I was able to do so sit and stitch was what I did a lot of…that and blog stuff.  Not much sewing has happened.  So here is where I was last week on my Floral Motif Sampler.

I decided to take the plunge and see if the border was going to match up.  For a cross stitcher, this is always a moment of truth.  I got this far and… it looked promising.

I was so thrilled it matched.  Oh, happy day!!

Kayla had Monday off from school so she came and spent it with me.  I can be around adults normally now…just not kids yet.  Can you believe who also caught a cross-stitch bug??  KAYLA.

She designed some cute little flowers and other pieces that are about 1″ in size.  So cute.

While she stitched, I stitched.

You can see I made some progress…but I made even more progress.

I just love this piece.  I am stitching it on 40 count Picture this Plus Vellum.  Every time I am stitching something, I think, “This is my favorite”.  I am definitely thinking that with this piece.  It’s so pretty and so satisfying to stitch a flower.  It’s a small accomplishment every time I stitch!!  So fun.  I love the linen and the colors.  They are perfect together.

Here is where I ended this week.

Most of the stitching I did was in the lower left and up the left side.

I have four smaller flowers to finish and three large ones.  The large ones typically take longer than one night.  The one in the upper left will for sure take longer than one night.

I have one of the large flowers started and one of the small flowers started.

The flower in the yellow urn is my favorite that I stitched this week.  The upper picture is more of the true color of the piece.

I am down to seven flowers left.  I made a copy of the chart and have been crossing them off as I go.  I need to make my initials yet too.  I am hoping to have this finished by February 1st.  If I keep stitching as I have been, that shouldn’t be a problem.

I’m so happy I had Liz from The Stitchery Nook order a frame for this already.  It’s great to know I can hand it off soon and get it back relatively quickly.  I can’t wait to have it on the wall!!

I’ve joined in the cross stitchers who are keeping track of their stitching with A Needlework Enthusiast’s Book of Days.

Here are my January recordings.

I make small notes and add stickers appropriate to what’s going on and what I’m stitching.  I have tons of flowers for this month because I’m stitching the Floral Motif Sampler which is all flowers.

I bought this big sticker book from Amazon.  You can find it HERE.

It has some funky stickers in it…I love the alphabets.

I did what some others have suggested.  I found an “A” I liked and put that sticker over the plain “A” in August to dress it up.

Much better.

You might notice a cat slipped into the calendar.  Do you see the words “All Creatures” written around it?

That means I slipped in some time to stitch on All Creatures Great and Small by Barbara Ana.  I am stitching this on the called for linen, Vintage Country Mocha… 40 count.  I’ve started watching All Creatures Great and Small on PBS so I decided each week when I watch, I’ll stitch on this.

This project is my New Year, New Start meaning I plan to finish this over the next calendar year.  I need to get stitching if that is going to happen.  I want to focus on my other pieces now but a few days of stitching here and there will help move this along.

I am using the called for Anchor thread so far and really love them.

They aren’t as glossy as DMC and other flosses.  It’s fun trying something different.  The colors are GREAT!!  I can’t wait to get lost in this project.

I am just having the best time cross-stitching.  I can’t tell you how happy it’s made me.  The supplies for a project might cost $50.  I’m betting that’s about what it will cost for the supplies for All Creatures Great and Small, but it will likely take me 3-4 months to stitch the entire piece and that’s stitching about 6 nights a week.  All in all, that is really cheap entertainment…and I have a beautiful piece once it’s all finished.

Yep, the cross-stitch bug has hit me HARD!  Stop back next week and see how far I get on my Floral Motif Sampler….oh, I’m getting so close to a finish.  I’m excited!!

One last reminder.
We’d love to have you join us for the stitch along.  You can read the details HERE.