Cross Stitch Update

I’m going to answer a few reader questions before I get into what I’ve been stitching.

Linda asked:
“What is your favorite linen (or linens) to stitch on and where do you get it?”

What linen you like is kind of like asking what brand of car you like.  There isn’t an answer that really tells you which is the best.  There is only an answer that will tell a preference.

I love all things Picture this Plus.  It’s my favorite linen.  It’s hard to get though.  Whenever I see that someone has it in stock, I buy a piece.  I have their linen in pretty much all of their good sampler colors.  I stitch my Floral Motif Sampler on the Vellum.

It’s my guilty addiction.  The linen has mottling so there are darker and lighter spots in it.  If you read to the end of the post, you’ll see my We Live in Hope piece.  That is done on Picture this Plus linen.  That is on the color Legacy though.  It’s also one of my more affordable hand-dyed linens.

I like Lakeside Linen but that is even more elusive than Picture this Plus.  I have more or less given up on this linen.  I stitched this piece on it.  This colorway is Vintage Meadow Rue.  It’s a darker linen.

I have recently been working with Needle and Flax linen.  I have my Apostle’s Creed that is being stitched on the colorway Thornfield.  I have another piece in the wings that I’ll be stitching on her colorway Steinbeck.  I have liked that linen.

I stitched this on Fox and Rabbit Eureka linen.

I really like their linen.  Eureka is a great color too.

I stitched my Red Bird Sampler with Shrekie’s Tan from Needle Bling Designs.  I very much liked that.

The linen I’ve used the most is likely Vintage County Mocha.  I love it.  It isn’t hand dyed.  It is spray dyed.  It’s the perfect color for a sampler like Newcastle Bouquet pictured below.  This is the cheapest of the linens I’ve used.  It is also the most widely available.  You can go pretty much anywhere and get this at any time.  It’s standard linen that is always in stock…and I like it.

As to where I am purchasing linen at…I stitch with 40 count and that is a little harder to find.  Lower counts like 28 and 32 are easier to find.

I buy from Stitchery Nook.  They are local to me but I don’t get there often.  It’s an hour away and in the “wrong” direction.  Sadly they don’t list linen online.  BUT… I can call and ask what they have in stock and they will let me order that way.

I have bought from:
123Stitch
Victorian Rose Needleart*
The Attic-have to call the shop
Hollis Hands Create on Etsy*
Colorado Cross Stitcher
Kitten Stitcher*
Stitchery Nook

I starred a few of these.  They are the ones that I find have the best selection of the linen I like and have about the best selection.

I really can’t answer this for lower count linens as I don’t buy them but I do think it’s similar across the board.

I do want to note…I like linen with tighter holes.  Some people like linen with loose holes.  If the holes are loose, I think it’s easier for me to accidentally put my needle in the wrong hole.

Speaking of needles…
I’ve had several people ask me what I like for needles and what to use for what.

Typically
28, 30, 32 count linen or 14 and 16 count Aida people use size 24 needles
36-count linen and 18 count Aida people use size 26 needles
40 count and higher people use size 28 needles

I mostly own and use size 26 needles.  They can be used with most anything.  Then I don’t have to worry about needle sizes.  I LOVE Sullivan Ball Tipped Needles.  You can find them HERE.  They are more expensive but I don’t care.  I only keep one needle in each project and I don’t have that many projects going.  I don’t regularly lose a needle and I reuse them from project to project.

Now to what I’m stitching…

Here is my Apostle’s Creed.  I am stitching this on a 40-count Thornfield by Needle and Flax.  It called for Harvest Basket by Gentle Arts for the words but I am using Trail Dust by Classic Colorworks for the lettering instead.  Here is where I was last week.

Here is where I am this week.  PROGRESS!!  I love it.

I got two rows of lettering stitched.  It never looks like much but it’s progress and I’m still ahead.  With this my goal has been to stitch one row each week.

I started on December 14th, my birthday, and made the goal of stitching one row each week.  I’m ahead and I love it.  I have one more row of words and then I am into a floral band.

This is coming along nicely…not taxing at all and I’m not getting bored with it.  If a person were to sit and stitch all those letters at once, I can see how they might get bored.

I worked on my We Live in Hope by Blackbird Designs project.  I am stitching this on a 40-count Picture this Plus linen called Legacy.  Here is where I was last week…

This came along nicely too.  Here is where I am now.  I focused my time on this as I have a goal of finishing this by the end of the month or so.  If I don’t make it, I’ll be perfectly fine but having a goal gives me a push.

You can see that I added the house, the birds, a bunch of do-dads, and the dog.  I also started the word “coming” in the band between the floral bands.

I know how I am going to personalize this.  That will happen next and then I’ll fill in do-dads around the lettering.  I’m getting close to a finish on this.  YAHOO!

Another project I worked on was our stitch-along, Black Dog Sampler by The Scarlett House.  I am stitching mine on a 40-count Dirty Tea Cup by Needle and Flax.  Here is where I was last week.

I did well with this.  You might remember me saying that I only need to stitch one motif/letter per week and we’ll have it done by the end of the year.

I stitched more!!  I think I would have stitched even more but somehow in the shuffle around here, this ended up with Kelli’s cross stitch things….and ended up at her house.  Thank goodness it didn’t just get lost.  I’ll see Kelli on Monday and will get it back then.  I think this week I’ll work on more letters so I am at the 1/4 section that I originally broke this up into.

Once we get into the flower motifs at the bottom, those will take a little bit longer than letters do.

I also put some stitches into Notforgotten Farm’s A Happy life.  I am stitching this on a scrap of Vintage Country Mocha in 40 count.  I’m changing the colors of the floss and making it a little less primitive by leaving off the top vine and moving the word life up so that it is even with the word happy.

I finished stitching the words so technically I could be done.

But then I got looking at it and I think I want to put a dog in the open space in the bottom right corner…

So, I pulled out my Ultimate Sampler Motifs Source Book.  It is FILLED with motifs including a whole page of dogs.  I pick one and will be stitching that on this little piece and then I’m going to call it finished.

I love this book!!

One evening I decided that I would pull this out.  I only had half an hour to stitch as I was up late trying to catch up on the blog.  I figured if I pulled it out, I could put one thread into it.  I’d start a new flower so once I picked up and really stitched, at least the flower would be started and it would be easier to get going.

I’ve had several people ask about this piece wondering what happened to it.  The piece is  Come to the Garden project by Teresa Kogut.  I am stitching this on 40-count Vellum by Picture this Plus with the called-for colors.

I put this away at Thanksgiving because as much as I loved the piece, I had lost steam.  My We Live in Hope was calling me and I answered the call.  Here is the tiny amount of stitches I put in to start the next flower.

That’s all I did.  I’m trying to warm myself up to pick this up once I get We Live in Hope finished.  Fingers crossed that I do work on it.  I would love to get it finished.

You might remember that I planned to start Pet All the Dogs by Teresa Kogut so I have a take-along project as I was going to my doctor appointments and wanted a project that needed quite a bit of fill-in.  I only have a teeny tiny start so I’ll so you that in tonight’s post when I tell you how things went at the doctor.

I’m super excited to be starting this even if it’s only a tiny start.  I bought this pattern back in 2020 and have been wanting to stitch it ever since.  Now is the time!!

Do you have a project you’ve been wanting to start?  What the heck…how about starting it now?  Leave a comment and tell me what it is.

Before I go, don’t forget the blog hop.  Here is where we are hopping today.

Friday:
Michelle at http://frombolttobeauty.blogspot.com
Kathleen at https://www.kathleenmcmusing.com
Jaftex at https://scottfortunoff.com

Make sure to go to each of these blogs.  When you’re there, leave a comment that says, “Jo sent me”.  You’ll be entered to win great prizes!!