FFO Frenzy

During my last post I said that my sewing machine was coming out and that I would be ffo’ing some of my finishes over that weekend. 

Well that didn’t happen for one reason or another and since then I’ve had some more new starts and finishes, so yesterday I eventually pulled out everything I needed and got stuck in at long last.

First off, I did the quick and easy finish of the Mill Hill Ornament ‘Angel with Lantern’,  by  making a beaded hanger with the left over beads and then covering the back with some sticky backed velvet.

The next ffo was also a simple one because it was going into a frame that I’m going to change out each season. 

That was ‘Floral Etchings 2’ from Heart in Hand. 

It involved lacing three flat pieces.

And they have been put into this frame for the Summer season.

This was Spring (Floral Etchings)

The third thing I had waiting to be ffo’ed was ‘Patterned Pretties’ by Jeanette Douglas, which was a Christmas gift from Stasi, over at Bee-mused and Bee-stitching.

It was a kit which came with the wool backing fabric, and I added some cream cotton lace around the edges.

Then, I as I was looking through my bits and bobs from my scrapbooking days, I came across a little oval frame that I thought might look ok on the back, with my stitched initial in it.

Then it was onto the three finished panels of ‘ Beach Rules’ from Primrose Cottage,.

Beach Rules

Soak Up The Sun

And 'Ride the Waves' which I had just started and mentioned in my last post.

With four more panels to stitch, last night I finished another new start, ‘Build Sandcastles’, so that's already in the pile to ffo with the next batch!

Here’s my little display so far

My final new start and ffo was my Cross Stitch Camp piece for JUne, ‘A Stitch for all Seasons’ from the summer 2026 edition of Just Cross Stitch.

Originally I was thinking I would make all four panels into pillows and I may still do that with the other three but when it came to the Summer panel, I decided to make a thread bed.

I still have to stitch this year’s camp badge and will be doing that with the same threads that I used for my June project, so until next time…

Happy Stitching!

Sue x

May = Cross Stitch Mania

 As I look back over what I stitched on last month and my stats,  I’m very pleased that I completed everything I had set out to do, and that was to have five new starts – one for each weekend in the month.

In actual fact I did better than that and managed 6, five of which were finishes. 

I also stitched on one of my wips too, not bad when you consider that I also had a four day break away and for the first time in ages I didn't take any stitching with me, so I only stitched on 27 day this month.

You have already seen the progress on my wip – Bluebird of Happiness from Cottage Garden Samplings. 

You have also seen the first of my new starts, which was also a finish. 

’5 Gold Rings’ , one the panels from  Bothy Threads, ’12 Days of Christmas’.

New start and finish No.2  was Floral Etchings 2 from  Heart in Hand Needlecrafts,

I’m calling these the summer panels, and when they are 

ffo’d they will be swapped into the gold ornate frame which currently has Floral Etchings 1 in it.

New start and finish No.3  was the first of the two Christmas ornaments that I stitch each year for my goddaughter’s two girls.

This is the Jim Shaw kit ‘Angel with Lantern’ which is a  Mill Hill Kit from 123 Stitch.

The final 3 new starts, two of which were also finishes, were panels from  Primrose Cottage, ‘Beach Rules’ ,

that will be ffo'd into pin pillows.

Beach Rules,

Soak up the Sun,

And a small start on 'Ride the Waves'.

I’m hoping to get my sewing machine out over the weekend and try and get some of this little lot ffo’d!

My next new start is already lined up and ready to go because now we are into June and that can only mean one thing…..

Cross Stitch Camp 2026, hosted by Sheri,  Colorado Cross Stitcher.

As always, Sheri has designed a free camp badge which I will

stitch and add to my camp project bag.

As you can see, I've participated in Camp for a good few years now and the back of my project bag is full, so this will be the first badge on the front.

Our task for June is to stitch a chart from a magazine and I’ve decided to stitch ‘A stitch for All Seasons’ from the Summer 2026 issue of Just Cross Stitch.

I thought these little quilt inspired pin pillows were so cute and I think I will eventually stitch all four of them, but for now I’m going to stitch the summer (blue) one.

I’m using a piece of 14ct unknown Aida and various thread from stash.  Some are the called for and others are substitutes.

See you all by that camp fire!

 

 

Happy Stitching!

Sue x

Angle Globe – Mill Hill (MH16-1935).

Christmas seems so far away at the start of the year, but in the blink of an eye, we are already into July and just 24 weeks until the big day.

Thankfully, the 12in24 ornament stitch-a-long that Carol from Stitching Dream Blogspot has been hosting for the last few years ensures I have at least 12 new ornaments to hang on my tree.  

I’ve stitched another of the charmed Mill Hill christmas ornaments for July, and finished it simply with sticky backed velvet on the reverse.

While I was in the mood for fully finishing, I finally got around to stitching the buttons onto ‘Winter Reindeer’ by Dirty Annie’s and put it in a frame.

I’m happy with it but I think it still looks a little bit plain, so when the shops start getting the Christmas decorations in, I’ll be looking for something to glam it up a little.

Happy Stitching!

Sue

x

 

Winter Reindeer

Designer – Dirty Annie’s

Fabric – 36ct Linen – Nicholas Flamel Designs

Threads – Called for – Classic Colorworks, The Gentle Art & DMC

Gingerbread House Globe Charmed Ornament – Mill Hill (MH16-1932) and some much needed finishing!

 Stitching has been a little sparse this week but I did manage a little finish.

We are exactly half way through the 12 in 24 Christmas Ornament Sal, hosted by Carol, over at Stitching Dream Blogspot and my JUne ornament is the cute Gingerbread House Globe, Charmed Ornament from MIll Hill.

For once I was a good girl and FFO’d it straight away, but that’s not surprising when you consider it was just a case of adding some sticky backed velvet to the reverse. Then I made a small start on the next one, for July, 'Angel Globe'

Still in the mood for finishing,  I pulled out a couple of things from my ‘Finishing Box of Doom’.  There are several things in there, one of which is the Time & Season sampler from Bothy Threads,

that I finished in 2013   (imagine embarrassed face here)

The first thing I pulled out hasn’t been languishing in there for that long, only since April this year and it’s the ‘Sampler Bunny’ from La-D-Da.

It’s my first ever attempt at a stand-up and I decided it might be easier to hand sew it, especially as it’s quite small.

Next, I had a couple of pieces to frame.

The first was the Golden Wedding Anniversary piece I stitched for my friend’s Dad and Stepmum. 

  The frame came from Picture Frames Express where I get most of my custom frames.

The second piece was the ‘With Love’ sampler from Modern Folk Embroidery, that I stitched and framed back in February.  I didn’t make a very good job of it then, so decided to take it out of its frame and have another go. 

I’m much happier with it second time around.

The final thing I pulled out was ‘Hello Winter’, from Plum Street.

I couldn’t decide how to finish this one but in the end I decided to make a flat fold.

So, that ‘s  4 new FFO’s to add to my tally of  18 for the  #ffochallenge2024 with @jenquilter and @pennysdaughtershares

 over on Instagram.

 

Happy Stitching!

Sue

x