I'd rather be stitchin': Hands On Design

Showing posts with label Hands On Design. Show all posts

28 Feb 2026

Let’s talk About Winter

It’s the end February at last, which means the end of meteorological Winter, and hopefully some bright, sunny days to come…….......now wouldn’t that be nice!

My goal to continue working on ‘Winter’ stitching until the end of the month went well and I finished three more pieces, getting them all FFO,d as well.

I have to say, it’s very satisfying having them done and dusted and not just sitting in a drawer, collecting dust until I decide to have a finishing day.

I had already finished stitching ‘Frosty Tiny Town’ from

Heart in Hand and couldn’t decide how I wanted to finish it, but in the end I decided to go with a drum.

Going through my fabric box I was lucky enough to find a small piece of wool which was perfect for the top and I finished around the top edge with sequins and white ball top pins.

Now I just need to fine a couple of nice pins for the top!

Next, I continued to stitch and finish ‘Let’s Talk About Winter’ from Hands On Design.

I mentioned that I was concerned it wouldn’t look that great on the Pearl Grey linen, because it was originally designed to be a chalkboard effect, but I’m so happy with the way came out.

The frame is from Picture Frames Express.

Then I went on to stitch the ornament from the same chart, making mine into a little (not so round, lol) pin pillow.

The final piece, using the same thread pallet, was a free chart from The Drawn Thread.

I’ve had ‘First Snow’ sitting in my download folder for years and just never got around to stitching it, but this little chart was perfect for the threads I already had out.

Oh how I love all the little birds sitting in the branches of the tree!

Next up was my two day (25^th & 26^th) Christmas stitching on ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ from Historische Stickmuster, which actually ended up being four days.

This is where it was the last time you saw it

And this is where I am now.

That's the full width now, so the only way up, but still not loving stitching on the raw linen though.

And last but not least, I did manage to sneak in one last new start.

You know I said at the end of January, I had plans for the left over thread and fabric from the Modern Folk Embroidery / Evertote /Roxy Floss Co collaboration for the Quintessential Frisian Smalls Sal, well that's what I made a start on.

In the book there were several bonus charts, so in keeping with the different shaped finishes we have already stitched and some inspiration from the Jeanette Douglass Sewing Box that I finished last year, I came up with my plan

I’ve picked six of the charts and I’m making a pin cube, which I think will fit in with the collection perfectly.

So that’s the last of my stitching for the month.

My plans for March are very open as usual.

I’ll stitch the next panel from the 12 Days of Christmas and finish my cube and then I’ll have a look and see what spring charts I have and see what takes my fancy, because I’m still trying to stitch what I already have and it’s time to start on them.

Please understand that that’s not me saying I won’t be buying any new charts though, Lol!

Wishing you all bright, sunny and warm days,

Happy Stitching!

Sue

Oh no wait, I forgot, I have one last FFO to share and that is the 2025 Holiday Countdown from Modern Folk Embroidery / Evertote /Roxy Floss Co. that I finally framed.

Here’s my shelf with all of the four years of Advents and two other Modern Folk Embroidery pieces.

I decided to frame all the Holiday Countdowns the same and all the made to measure frames were from my usual place, Picture Frames Express.

That really is it this time!

Happy Stitching!

1 Feb 2026

Frosty Tiny Town – Heart in Hand

My ‘Winter’ stitching continues and I have finished stitching another of the Tiny Town series from Heart in Hand.

Given the weather we are having at the moment and all the flooding, it might have been better if I were stitching ‘Soggy, Wet Tiny Town, Lol, but this one is ‘Frosty Tiny Town.

To give the snow a bit of a sparkle, I used some Madeira Glissen Gloss with the white thread.

Despite planning to finishing all of my Tiny Towns in the same way, so I can switch them out on the board from Paisleys and Polka Dots , I’m not sure about this one.

It’s painted a creamy colour not white, so I don’t think 'Frosty' would look right, so I’m debating whether to ffo it as a drum instead. I love the way it looks on the cover photo, so we shall have to see.

In the meantime, I’ve started another winter stitch on the same piece for fabric, using the same threads as before.

It’s going to look totally different from the original because it should have been a chalkboard effect.

This is ‘Chalktalk – Let’s Talk Winter’ from Hands On design.

Happy Stitching!

Sue

Chart – Frosty Tiny Town

Designer – Heart in Hand

Fabric – 36ct Mystery Linen - Grey

Threads - Classic Colorworks, Weeks Dye Works & DMC with some substitutes

Chart – Chalktalk - Let’s Talk Winter

Designer – Hands On Design

Fabric – 36ct Mystery Linen - Grey

Threads - Classic Colorworks, Weeks Dye Works (My colour conversion)

23 Dec 2025

‘The Tree Lot’ – Hands on Design

Apart from this year’s Holiday Countdown, these cute trees may well be my last finishes for 2025.

Tree 1 was started on 19^th and finished on the 20^th.

Tree 2 took a little longer because it was started on 20^th and finished on the 22^nd.

And the final tree was started on the 22^nd and finished on the 23^rd.

I grew a whole forest in just 5 days!

I’m so pleased with the way the colours pop on the black Aida and can’t wait to fully finish them.

I wanted to get them all done and dusted before the big day, but didn't have to time to get to Hobbycraft for those little pals that people used to stand them in, because our local one closed. Instead, I had a look in a couple of charity shops to see in I could find an alternative, and found this tray with four wire egg cups

And here they are fully finished.

I used some florist foam and decorated them with foliage from my garden.

I would just like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who visits my blog on a regular basis and those who just stumble upon while searching the web for something else and end up here, for the lovely comments you leave for me.

We all know we don't keep our blogs in the hope of nice things being said about us, rather for the sheer joy of stitching and maybe inspiring others, but I'm got going to lie, it's heart warming to know that others appreciate and like what I do.

Wishing you all the joys of the season.

Have a Peaceful and Happy Christmas, and most of all......

Happy Stitching!

Sue

Project

The Tree Lot

Designer – Hands on Design

Fabric – 16ct Black Aida

Threads – Classic ColorWorks

20 Dec 2025

‘A Pretty Song’ - 2025 Holiday Countdown – Day 19 & 20

I really didn’t have an intension of having any more new starts before Christmas, but after deciding to put the Sal from Historische Stickmuster to one side because I couldn’t decide on the fabric, I pulled out ‘The Tree Lot’ from Hands on Design.

I’m not sure that stitching on Black is something I’m really enjoying, but to make it a little easier, I decided to stitch it on 16ct Aida, and I made some good progress on my first afternoon of stitching.

I do love how the colours pop though!

I've also completed days 19 and 20 of the 2025 Holiday Countdown, ‘A Pretty Song’.

Day 19’s art work is a Limestone statuette of a bird. ca.600-480BCE and the thread was very special. ‘Parakeet’ is a beautiful blue with tiny specks of green.