19 Aug 2025

12 in 25 Christmas Ornament Sal

It’s back to the  Joan Elliott charts for my 8th  Christmas ornament and this month it’s ‘Peace’.

I’m not sure if there will be any more new starts or fully finishes before the end of August because I've decided to go back and work on my Chatelaine.

I’ve not picked up ‘Hummingbird Lace Mandala’ since making a major faux par around three months ago and currently have less to show now, than I had the last time you saw it.

The reason,  I noticed, after deciding to bead as I go, that I had misread the chart and had been using the wrong colour beads, so I’ve had to frog all the ones I had already attached.

To say my heart was in my mouth as I snipped the threads is an understatement but I’m relieved to say I took my time and removed every single bead without too many problems, and I’m back to sewing them back on...........in the correct colours this time!

Happy  Stitching!

Sue

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Project Details

Chart – Christmas Blue Ornaments

Designer – Joan Elliott

Fabric -  32ct Antique White Evenweave

Threads – DMC


Hummingbird Lace Mandala - Chatelaine

Designer - Martina Rosenberg
Fabric – 28ct Jobelan Evenweave – Antique White
Threads – Called for Silks, DMC and Petite Treasure Braid
Beads – Swarovski Crystals and Delica Beads


15 Aug 2025

Log Cabin Christmas Part 8 , - Little House Needle Works

So here I am, eight months into this 9 part cross stitch project and I’m already finding myself wondering what other part series, if any, I will stitch next year.

I think it's the thought of guaranteed little finishes throughout the year, that makes them such fun to stitch, and at the end of this project I'll have one bigger finish to frame, so it's win, win!

Here's the penultimate square of the 'Log Cabin Christmas' series and it's aptly named  ‘Log Cabin Christmas’

How cute are that Owl and birdie on the roof?

Just one final square to go and it will be framed and on my wall in time for Christmas!

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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 Project Information

Chart- Log Cabin Christmas – Part 8- ‘Log Cabin Christmas

Designer – Little House Needleworks

Fabric – 32ct Zweigart Linen – Raw

Threads – Called for Classic Colorworks

10 Aug 2025

‘Simone’s Double Pincushion’ - Simone de Jong-van Wissen - Atelier Soed idee

My final project for Cross Stitch Camp 2025 is done and dusted, and just like every other year, it been fun pushing ourselves to stitch and try something new. 

I have gone with a new designer to me and that is Simone de Jong-van Wissen from  Atelier Soed idee .

As I was kitting it up I decided to make the project a bit of a stash buster by using Roxy Floss Co threads that were left over from the 2022 Christmas Countdown from Evertote and some of the linen used for the ‘Quintessential Friesian Smalls’ sal that is currently underway.

As soon as I saw her book ‘Simone’s Smalls’, I wanted to stitch everything in it and will do just that sometime in the future

 but for now I’ve decided to stitch ‘Simone’s Double Pincushion’, which is also a shape new to me too.

You will notice that I’ve changed mine a little from the original,  by adding some Blue thread.

I’m already looking forward to Camp 2026 and want to send a big thank you to Sheri, Colorado Cross Stitcher for organizing everything again for us,  and to everyone who was kind enough to donate the prizes each month.

Here’s one last peek at the  projects that I stitched over the last three months.


Happy Stitching!

Sue

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 Simone’s Double Pincushion

Designer - Simone de Jong-van Wissen -  Atelier Soed idee

Fabric – 36ct Linen – Porcelain – Roxy Floss Co

Threads – Roxy Floss Co - Poinsettia & Blue Christmas (from 2022 Christmas Countdown) 

3 Aug 2025

Peacock Pin Keep - Quintessential Frisian Smalls

The long awaited collaboration by Jacob from Modern Folk Embroidery,  Roxy Floss Co and Evertote, is here at last and the main aim is to teach us some finishing techniques, while making five different smalls.

The plan is to stitch and finish one each month, with a break in December, (to accommodate stitching the Christmas Countdown) finishing the final piece in January 2026.

To prepare, I wanted a special project bag to keep everything together, so I asked Pauline from Sew Be Bags to make me a custom one.

 

As always it’s beautiful, thank you Pauline.

Part 1 is a small pin pillow.

The technique for this month was to finish the pillow by whip stitching the edges together and I had no problem, but what did throw me was adding my initials on the back.

I remembered that there was no ‘J’ in the Friesian alphabets, which is my middle initial, and without giving much thought to it I decided to  put an Algerian eye in the centre, leaving a five stitch gap between the other letters, as seen here.

Then I read the chart some more, where Jacob explained that the ‘I’ was often used in place of the ‘J’, so I frogged the Algerian eye and stitched the ‘I’ in its place.  Luckily the spacing between the letters was still even, leaving three stitches each side and with that changed, I fully finished the pin pillow.

That was when I noticed my biggest blunder……..can you see what it is?

Originally I had positioned the Algerian eye at the very centre of the pillow, meaning the ‘I’ also ended up centred, but I hadn’t taken into account was that the ‘S’ and the ‘H’ weren’t the same number of stitches wide and the whole thing is off centre.

Well, it can stay like that because I’m not going to change it now, but it's definitely something to remember for the future.


Still in a 'Red' mood,  I sorted out my project for August Cross Stitch Camp and this months challenge is to stitch something new to us.

I decided to go with a new designer to me, Simone de Jong-van Wissen from Atelier Soed idee.

I purchased 'Simone's Smalls' some time ago but have never got around to stitching any of the charts, so what better time to take the plunge.

I've decided to work on  ‘Simone’s Double Pincushion’ 

and because I love the combination of Blue and Red thread on one of the other designs, I’m going to add a touch of the Blue to this too!

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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 Simone’s Double Pincushion

Designer - Simone de Jong-van Wissen -  Atelier Soed idee

Fabric – 36ct Linen – Porcelain – Roxy Floss Co

Threads – Roxy Floss Co - Poinsettia & Blue Christmas (from 2022 Christmas Countdown)

 

31 Jul 2025

‘All Year Round’ Stitch-a-long

I’m on a high and a low today

The high is that I have completed the final segment of the ‘All Year Round Sal that was being published in Cross Stitcher Magazine every month for the last year and I’m sad for exactly the same reason.


I’m going to miss the anticipation of what the next flower might be and incidentally, I was totally wrong last month when I said I thought we would end with SunFlowers, Lol!

 The August segment was in fact Pink Waterlilies and a pretty Blue dragonfly.

I’m not going to lie, the back stitch, despite the fact I don’t mind doing it, was a bit of a pig, when trying to do it on 18ct Aida with stitches falling halfway along or in the centre of the block, but all in all I’ve really enjoyed working on this so much.

I was considering putting it in a frame but in the end I found an old hoop that was the perfect size.  I gave it a couple of coats of green acrylic paint and then added an organza bow and sprig of artificial flowers.

I still need to add a covered board on the back, but will tackle that at the weekend.

 Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Project Details

All Year Round Sal – from Cross Stitcher Magazine

Designer – Amanda Butler

Fabric – 18ct Aida – White Zweigart

Threads – Anchor and DMC’s

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Lolly Claus – Satsuma Street

OK, so we are into the second half of the year now , so I decided it was time for a bit of change from my usual Joan Elliott Christmas ornaments and make a start on the two ornaments  I make for my goddaughters two girls each year.

Every year so far they have had various Mill Hill ornaments,  but this year I’ve gone with Satsuma Street for a change. 

There are not as many sparkles on these ones, but oh how I love Jody’s designs, because they are just as cute, if not more so!

This one is ‘Lolly Claus’

I backed it with sticky backed felt and couldn’t decide on a beaded hanger or twisted cord.  In the end I went a Pink and Red cord!


Happy  Stitching!

Sue

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Project Details

Chart – Lolly Claus

Designer – Jody Rice – Satsuma Street

Fabric - Perforated Paper - Kit

Threads – DMC

25 Jul 2025

My Stitching Box – Jeanette Douglass

It seems like I’ve been missing in action for ages, but in fact it’s only been just under a month since my last post.

I’ve actually been enjoying a short break on the Isle of Wight and despite it only being around 4 hours away from where I live, I’ve only ever been there on a day trip.   This time, my cousin and I took a five day break and got to see a lot more of island, including the donkey sanctuary and some of the pretty villages, 

as well as enjoying the beautiful gardens of our hotel,

and waking up to this amazing view from my balcony every morning.

There wasn’t a lot of time for stitching while I was away but I did manage a new start, which I will come to at a later date, but over the past month I surprised myself and managed quite a bit, including a big finish.

As you probably know, Cross Stitch Camp 2025 is well underway and when Sheri, Colorado Cross Stitcher told us that the July challenge was to stitch something from our favourite designer, I knew straight away I was going to be working on  ’My Stitching Box’ from Jeanette Douglass again.

I originally started this project as my Leap Year Day start on Feb 29th 2024, and started and finished the band sampler, although I never FFo’d it at the time. 

I also finished the box top  before putting it away to stitch on other things.

Once I knew what the July challenge was going to be, I decided to pull it out again and stitch Pin Cube.

Now, I know I have said this before, but Jeanette’s colour schemes are always beautiful and once again she has hit the nail on the head with this collection.  They especially come together in the 1 over 1 flower on the top of the cube. 

When it came to the fully finishing, I decided that I wanted it to be firm and opted to use crushed walnut shells for the filling.

I was enjoying working with the silks so much that I decided to keep stitching on the other parts of the box and eventually finished stitching and fully finishing them all.

First was the needle case.

The chart didn’t suggest adding beads to the front, but I had a lot left over from the band sampler and decided to use them.

Then came the scissor case,

Two scissor fobs,

and lastly the pin pillow, which was also filled with walnut shells.

The final thing I had to do was to add some backing and ribbon to the previously stitched band sampler to complete the roll.
And there we have it........a completed Stitching Box!


Happy Stitching!

Sue

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 My Stitching  Box  

Designer – Jeanette Douglas

Fabric – 32ct Zweigart Evenweave – Antique White

Threads – Classic Colorworks Belle Soie, NPI Silk, Gloriana Silk Floss & Rainbow Gallery Splendor