Stitching Again at Last

It has been more than a year since I was able to see well enough to actually stitch, so these are my first two projects. These designs are Freebies from Cross Stitch & Needlework Magazine.

Stitched on 14-ct Charles Craft Light Blue; finished stitched size 2-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches

I substituted the lightest red and the light green.

Stitched on 14-ct Charles Craft Oatmeal Fiddlers Cloth; finished size 2-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches

Ditto re the lightest red..

I plan to make these into Thank You cards. I bought some heavy weight light yellow scrapbooking stock for that purpose. Now just to glue or use double-sided sticky tap to hold everything together.

For my next project I've gone back to a kit I bought and barely started stitching 20 years ago: Jannlynn's Woodland Creatures Christmas Ornaments, no longer available. The thread has long since disappeared but the DMC colors are listed - which I have ooodles of. However, I find I just can't stitch on the included 18-ct navy Aida. I used to have a very strong glasses prescription which causes considerable magnification, but no longer. Suddenly everything is so much smaller and so far I haven't been able to adjust when it comes to fabric court.  Turned out I had a (probably equally old) packet of 14-Count Charles Craft navy.  It'd look great, but I can't  even see the 310, 433, 898, 3371 etc. on the fabric, making trying to stitch those colors basically impossible. Though my eyes are working much better now than in the past 2 years, they still aren't healed completely. I'm still dealing with severe dry eye caused by some of the eye drops, and resultant cornea issues that often cause everything to look blurry and/or haze, even IF I can get them in focus. I've got some of the lighter areas of the raccoon's belly stitched, but I'll either have to scrap it entirely or start over on a lighter color fabric. The light blue is too light (actually much lighter than it appears above) so I'll have to experiment. Actually, I don't know why I'm even stitching these as ornaments since I haven't decorated for Christmas in say the past 20 years either. But I do like cute creatures. I still have some Linda Powell creatures I stitched 25 or 30 years ago. :D

Lesley Teare's Blog and other Freebies!

If you haven't found her already, check out Lesley Teare's Blog with her beautiful designs and dozens of freebies!!

Also check out the newest freebies from The Cross Stitch Collection!

New CEC freebie:  Frosty Kiss snow man

New Freebie Links

Rather than create a new post each time, I've just been adding additional freebies to the one originally the end of May.

 Newest Permin Freebie - Lovely small bouquet for card insert. (44wx46h) When I visit that site the first time I go there I get an error message, but when I click on the reload icon, it goes to the correct link  The deer in forest freebie from a few weeks ago is no longer available, but I am currently stitching it. When I get the scanner firgured out, I'll post a pic - along with several other projects I've completed this spring.

Stitch Along Sampler  - from Blackbird Designs; Description on May 1st entry; Chart linked linked on the 4th entry. Click on "Here." Thread suggestions on following entries.

GARDEN STAR - from Cross-Eyed Cricket

Viola's Garden - a wide variety of freebies for novice to experienced stitchers.

More Spring Freebies

The Way to Happiness -  BY Les Marottes de Nathalie -  A Norman Vincent Peale quote - in French, English, Spanish, German AND Italian - I think a former mystery SAL. Download the English or other version in 5 separate parts. (90w x 254h - if her count is correct, the dimensions are off a bit - 16ct would be 5.63 x 15.9") Copy the picture, key and thread colors, then paste into Word, etc. DMC equivalent listed. Very Nice. Also see her her other Grilles Gratuities and her Jardin Prive' designs and products.

Ces't Le Printemps - by Madame La Fee - Heart with Bees and Flowers

http://www.madame-la-fee.com/images/grilles_gratuites/cestleprintemps.pdf

Fleur de Cerisier  - by Madame La Fee - Cherry blossom. Looks like it would make a lovely hand towel insert.

http://www.madame-la-fee.com/images/grilles_gratuites/fleur_de_cerisier.pdf

Check out the other freebies at www.Madame-La-Fee.com  Look for "Free Chart" in left column.

New: Brooke Nolan Series, Pam Kellogg & Others

Advent Animals- by Brooke Nolan - New Advent Series (43w x 52h)

And for Spring:

Happy Spring -The Snowflower Diaries - Easter Egg shape with flowery edges (69w x 72h)

Butterfly and Daisies Towel -  By Pam Kellogg from Craft Ideas - really like this one! (155w x 40h)

I Love My Garden - By Mary Wright from Craft Ideas - also very nice  (116w x 116h)         

Spring Tulips - DMC - Not new but Springy

Wedding Sampler - DMC - new


                           ! ! Happy Spring Stitching ! !

Teacup Posies Freebies and ?? re Machine Embroidery?

Vermillion has completed posting all 12 of it's 2011 Teacup Posies freebies.  They also currently have  50% off their machine embroidery digital downloads through Monday, February 26th.

Anyone ever do any machine embroidery? I don't know that I've ever seen a finished piece. Does it look like cross stitch or other machine embroidered items?

Columbine Bookmark

Except for a couple of stitches, all I  have left is a LOT of backstitching - not my favorite thing. Although the original kit came with 15ct aida banding, floss, felt backing and a tassel, I received this as a PIF with only the well worn chart, on which someone had marked the DMC colors, and some left over floss, though I mostly used my own. This is stitched on 28ct natural linen banding, which has a slightly wider center stitching area. After stitching the 904 mid-value green, it was difficult to distinguish the difference with 895 dark green so frogged it all and started over. But after considerable search thru stash ended up blending the 904 with 319 instead. I added a couple of spaces to each side of the design before the border to make it fit better between the bands, only to discover no matter where I "centered" it would be one square off on the banding. Am adding a couple of stitches to the left side of the flowers and moved the bottom vine one left and added an extra stitch to make the design more centered. I may restitch that center tendril as well to add a couple of stitches in width. When finished it will likely become a small wall hanging instead.

Finally stitching again - Nice freebie site with tutorials

I finally completed this Janlynn Flower of the Month freebie last week! Sorry my camera isn't working so this image is from that website. Stitched on 32-ct potato linen. Haven't decided whether to make into ornament, put in small circular frame, or maybe make a 2-year calendar cover out of it. If the cover, then I'd have to add fabric to top and bottom to fit. If you haven't seen instructions for that simple project, read through the 123MB posts here.

I have wanted to stitch this Marjolein Bastin design for years. It only came in a kit, and I don't care for kits. I had posted a ISO post on the 123MB for just the chart with intent to purchase or trade, and was amazed to receive not only the original chart, but in its original kit (minus threads and fabric) as a PIF! Thank you! Thank You, Carry!! I started it Saturday and am already about 1/2 way through. I don't know if it's because I'm stitching on white 32-ct linen, or because I decided to stitch with just one thread over 2 (which has worked well for me with other florals), or simply the difference between the visual printed or .jpg image and the stitched version, but the colors just aren't as vivid nor are they the same shades as those pictured either here or on the glossy print part of the kit. What appears to be dark greens behind the flowers are actually 413-414-3799 dark grays. The blue in the flowers are the 341 cornflower series. The lightest "blue" is really 762 silver and barely visible. What appears to be white, is in fact white. The vase colors are 930-932. I'm seriously considering going back and adding an extra top cross to the single threads in the hopes that the colors differentiate a LOT better and hopefully stand out more. I've already done that with the few 3345 & 3347 green stitches, as well as the yellow and golden flower centers already. Or maybe I need to add some back stitching - even less thrilled with that idea. Like I said, I have to admit at present I'm somewhat disappointed in the design color choices as well as my stitching choices.

Cross Stitch Pro: Here's a site with many freebie of charts and instructions for making check book covers, book marks, a new no-sew vase cover and no-sew flat fold, etc.!! (06-13-2011 Link no longer works and am unable to google site so it may have been taken down. If you can connect, please let me know.)

Hydrangea Freebie from Cross Stitcher Mag

Check out a beautiful extract from a floral kit by Maia: Moonlight Hydrangeas at http://bit.ly/PzBht . Click "here" just above the photo. The chart is for the blue hydrangea on the right. Charted for Anchor/DMC/Maderia

Recent Finishes

My Mother's Day project, started in September and only recently finished. The one with the daisy was made for a friend. Stiched on 32ct linen. I never could get 2 threads to lay right, so both of these are stitched using just 1 thread. I really like the more delicate look. In person, these look wonderful. Not so sure about the digital close-ups, however. The colors in the top picture are closer to the actual DMC colors. My photography assistant:

Yes, she really is that deep, vibrant henna/cinnamony color, hence her name. She has an amazing amount of loose skin, and she's got more thick, dense fur than any cat needs. I could crochet a sweater out of the undercoat she sheds every spring. She's a low energy cat with 2 speeds: mosey & amble, which match my energy level perfectly! My neighbor's daughter found her as a tiny kitten, inside a microwave at a party. Henna will be 13 in July.