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

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

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 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!

Twilight Moon – Tiny Modernist

 I know last week I said that I might stitch on my Chatelaine over the weekend, but that didn’t happen because I got carried away, working on my Cross Stitch Camp project and couldn’t put it down. 

In fact, I finished it!

Then came the pondering……..how was I going to fully finish it?

I considered just putting it in a frame but quickly dismissed that thought because I wanted to do something a little more challenging.

 The next thing that came to mind was to make it into a needle book,  but again I decided against that too, in favour on doing a mattress finish.

I had lots of unused thread left, so came up with a design for the sides, using motifs from the main chart.

Then it was just case if joining the sides and base and stuffing it well.

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Project Details

Twilight Moon

Designer – Tiny Modernist

Fabric – 32ct Twilight Blur  Linen - Wichelt

Threads – ThreadWorx – 1049, 1115 & 1129      Anchor  178

                            

When I Dream of Autumn – Puntini Puntini

The last couple of days here in the UK have been beautiful and I’ve been making the most of them in my garden, because it’s unusual to have temperatures of 22 degrees this late in October.

And speaking of Autumn, it was a good time to finish and fully finish ‘When I Dream of Autumn’ from  Puntini Puntini, 

I love Paola’s designs for this set of seasons and how they come with two buttons for finishing and a matching set of pins to purchase that go with each of them.

I finished the edge of my little pillow with a crocheted picot edge, that I made using a skein of DMC cotton pearl.

While I had my sewing machine out I decided to get a couple other bits FFO’d that have been sitting around waiting to be done.

The first was stitched in November last year, but because Halloween had already been and gone, it was put in the unfinished box of doom.

This is ‘Smell My Feet’ from La-D-Da.

The other thing I pulled out was ‘Black Sampler 2021, from Whilst Iris Naps.

Originally I had planned to put this on a spool but because I didn’t have one, I decided to make a little bolster pillow instead and pinned the sampler along the top.

Then it was time for a new start, and I pulled out Log Cabin Christmas from Little House Needleworks.

 Happy Stitching!

Sue

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 Project Details

Chart – When I Dream of Autumn

Designer – Puntini Puntini

Fabric – 14ct – Mystery Aida

Threads – Some called for DMC and various threads from stash

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Chart – Smell My Feet

Designer – La-D-Da

Fabric – 36ct One of a kind linen – Roxy Floss Co

Threads – Silky (Black) & DMC’s

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Chart – Black Sampler 2021

Designer – Whilst Iris Naps

Fabric – 36ct Millstone Linen  - Lagacy Fiber Artz

Threads – Silky (Black)  Roxy Floss Co, The Gentle Art & Classic Colorworks

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Chart – Log Cabin Bunnies (part 2 of Log Cabin Christmas)

Designer – Little House Needleworks

Fabric – 32ct ‘Raw’ Belfast Linen

Threads – Classic ColorWorks