Category Archives: cross stitch

Kit Review – Cross Stitcher Bunny

Posted in cross stitch, freebies by

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  • Source: Cross Stitcher Magazine, April 2016
  • Designer: Maria Diaz
  • Supplied: wooden shape, threads, needle, button, length of ribbon
  • Overall: yeah, OK

I must admit that I brought this one just because it was there. I was looking for the Summer issue as stitchtherapyblog is featured, but we’re so far behind it wasn’t on the shelf – this is issue 303 and she’s in 306! However there’s a couple of charts in this issue I will use, so it’s not a wasted trip.

I am avoiding the autumn side of my biscornu so I decided to stitch Bunny in my downtime yesterday. He’s cute, isn’t he?

But I do have a couple of issues with the packet & instructions.

 

  • If it’s a brooch, as the suggested finish, why wasn’t there felt or even interfacing to cover & protect the back during use?
  • The suggestion is to use the loop knot to start. Now, I consider myself an intermediate and experienced stitcher, but I’ve yet to work out how to loop start with an uneven number of threads! I did need to use the suggested 3 strands to get the full coverage – 4 was too much, 2 left gaps.
  • The thread lengths are far too small to loop start anyway. You’d only get 8-10 stitches completed at a time.
  • Beginner stitchers would benefit by having the number of thread lengths mentioned, as well as colour. There isn’t a huge difference between lt brown (422) & chestnut (3828) but it would make the finished piece look odd if you stitched them the wrong way around.
  • My wooden piece is cute and very evenly punched – but oddly smells liked smoked fish!

I’m not going to finish as a brooch. I’m planing on backing with felt and adding a large magnet so I can use as a needle minder or on the fridge.

 

WIP Wednesday

Posted in cross stitch, family, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett by

well here we are! I missed last week so I have a wee bit to show.

We celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s birthday this past weekend, so there was an extra day away from the desk. Si has gone to Ohakea on Thursday at oh-dark-oclock as he refereed at an inter-base league tournament. He also came home at an equally it’s-dark-everywhere hour on Monday morning. This idiot had driven him too/fro from the base, so I had to get up reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal early to pick him up. But it was worth it to have him home 12 hours earlier than expected.

With no senior footy, B only had the one game to referee so we had a family quiet weekend planned. The bigger boys studied and played the weekend away, Mase whined. And whined. Then on Monday night he crashed big time. Turns out he had a virus. Someone will turn up and yank away my mother card soon. He’s on the mend now, but has binged watched an awful lot of Netflix.

I finished stitching & beading the Mill Hill fireflies kit (and beaded the back a couple of times, doh), and also stitched up a little piece from the JCS Christmas 2014 issue, but on plastic canvas and not quite as designed. I plan to string this up on a cream ribbon and set it into a frame.

I also put Persephone away for a wee while. I was losing heart with that skirt; so as much as I do love the colours that I’ve converted her to, it was time. My StitchMAYnia goal wasn’t the traditional 15 starts but to stitch every day in May, and I very nearly got there. Persephone alone was stitched 23 days of the month & on 3 days she wasn’t touched, I stitched a Small. I’m pretty happy with that.

On Sunday night I pulled out Mermaids again. I’m nearly at the half-way mark of the chart (one more colour to go) so here’s what they look like, as of 5.30am today:

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I also popped up on Instagram my version of parking. Most of the multi-page charts I have used have a greyed-out section, usually the bottom two lines of the chart. I simply DON’T stitch the top leg of the last cross, and then on the next page, I draw a box around the incomplete stitch. I don’t pretend to be an expert at parking, and this probably won’t work for everyone, so no offence if this doesn’t work for you.

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Sharing Is Caring: wanna own some Wentzler? I do.

Posted in cross stitch, Teresa Wentzler by

I’m kinda excited. Last year around this time, I finally finished the Seasonal Carousel Horse drawings I’d been working on for… well… too long. And, at that time I mentioned I would like to try to make the drawings available on note cards or greeting cards or the like eventually. I finally took the leap […]

via Do you Zazzle? — Teresa Wentzler’s Art Blog

May SMALLs & WIP Wednesday

Posted in cross stitch, grateful, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL by

So it turns out I’m very late posting! Sorry, but last week was a mess in our household. Mase went down on Saturday night, and everyone else fell like dominoes over the next few days. I was grateful that I have a laptop for work so could stay up-to-date while I was at home.

The Smalls SAL is a free choice SAL hosted by Heather over at Stitching Lotus. You can click on the button in my sidebar and it’ll take you there or on her blog name for the current check-in page.

My May small is the spring side of my biscornu. I found what I think is the perfect thread for the autumnal leaves at my LNS the Friday before we got sick, but I didn’t stitch for a few days there (vomit doesn’t enhance much).

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I’ve made some really visible progress on Persephone’s dress. It’s so freaking huge! I was thinking of swapping out to another project for June but then I worry that I would get overwhelmed & not pull her out for ages. So I think I’ll keep moving on with her. I am using the chart grid and stitching in 10*10 blocks vertically – each night I can get between 200-400 stitches in. I’ve beaded the RHS jellyfish and confirmed my substitutions for the dress back-stitch and beads. So, progress!

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WIP Wednesday

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett by

I’m not enjoying this skirt! It’s so freaking huge that I’m forcing myself to sit down. Luckily I had plenty of flosstube to watch last night. I had to scroll last night to find my comfort point, so I took the opportunity to take a full length shot as motivation:

That’s probably 1000+ stitches in a week – so at this rate I would finish before I’m 50!

Sharing is Caring: Tapestry Cat — TW’s Needlework Blog

Posted in cross stitch, Teresa Wentzler by

Just a quick note to let you know that Tapestry Cat has been re-charted and is now available at PatternsOnLine.com

via Tapestry Cat — TW’s Needlework Blog

This is my second-oldest WIP; I have the original kit edition! Maybe I should get it on the large frame as soon as I finish Persephone…and NOT start another Mira!

WIP Wednesday

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett by

My goal for Stitch MAYnia was to do something everyday. So far, OK – I missed Monday as I had a migraine but we’ve gone from this:

IMG_20160430_212727to this (and the garland is complete with beads, her creepy hand is backstitched & waiting on beads):

I’m well underway in her huge, huge skirt. And I’ve been working on my Small at work. I have a buyer for it already!

Sharing is Caring: JOYFUL WORLD – JUNE PATTERN — The Snowflower Diaries

Posted in cross stitch, freebies by

My dear Readers, How are you doing? I have been away from my designing for some weeks: I am refurnishing my house, especially the crafting space. I love how it becomes more beautiful and more like I had imagined it in my dreams. This big cupboard I bought for The Snowflower Diaries office. It was a brown old…

via JOYFUL WORLD – JUNE PATTERN — The Snowflower Diaries

WIP Wednesday – the tooth version

Posted in cross stitch, family, grateful, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett by

So yeah, I get that most people reading expect that I’ll post progress weekly. But today I have a story for y’all first.

My day began the normal way; I even managed to watch one of Katie the Stash Queen’s vids while I stitched. Went to work (why can’t people drive normally the first fog day🚔). Got a head start on next week, as I completed all the reports needed for my boss’ supplier meetings (this is rather than stressing Monday when I go back to work). Drove home. Still foggy. Took Mase to the EMERGENCY dentist.

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This is the new look for the next (up to) 2 years. His dad is already making hillbillies jokes; I think the lisp is adorable.

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He doesn't want you too see this!

Oh. I got heaps of progress on Persephone too. Four days in a row of carving out stitch time.

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I’m determined to work around that creepy hand so I can backstitch it this weekend! I have the next two days off so planning lots of stitch time.

Stitch MAYnia begins

Posted in cross stitch, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett by

You may have heard of a variant of Stitch MAYnia somewhere on the Web. Facebook or Instagram or YouTube. The standard version is a new start for the first fifteen days (don’t ask me why, IDK) or a madder version with 31 starts.

For me, it’ll be a little slower. I aim to stitch a little everyday so my planner doesn’t have the word “nil” in any blocks this month. Tame isn’t it?

Here’s my starting point for Persephone. I’m into the vast thread chewing skirt, and I think the daily IG photos will help keep momentum as much as a daily stitch. Fingers crossed!

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