All Kinds of Crafty Starts

I wanted to get in another post before the end of August and I'm almost at the wire! Aside from stitching, I've also started a crochet project and wanted to show that to you. Let's get started.

First is a finish! It's Gathering Acorns by Luminous Fiber Arts. I stitched this on a neutral linen in 32 count. The floss I chose caused some drama because it was kind of old. OK, maybe really old, I think about ten years old. Plus I didn't plan ahead. I just chose the floss because I liked it. It's Terra Cotta by Weeks Dye Works. So the old dye lot didn't match the new ones and I knew I was going to run out. After pleas to fellow stitchers to see if they in fact owned old Terra Cotta floss by Weeks, I received some from a kind person. But it was still very light. Then the light bulb went on in my head: why not do color blending? I found some Terra Cotta by Gentle Arts which was too dark, combined the two and there it was! The perfect solution!

The difference is not noticeable at all. So, after that long explanation, lesson learned. Plan ahead. Sorry about the non-ironed status of this project. I think I'll finish it as a pillow. I've already looked in my fabric collection and found a couple of good possibilities for the backing.

Next, a new stitching start. This is the time of year I start thinking about what kind of ornament I'll make for Matt & Steph, my son and daughter in law. As I flipped through the 2019 issue of the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Issue, I found this sweet little bird. It's Christmas Bullfinch by Punochka.

It's being stitched on 32 count Vintage Country Mocha lugana in the called for DMC. I think that the snowflakes will show up really well on this fabric. What a sweet, simple pattern. Not sure how I'll finish it yet.

I remembered this project that I started a few years ago. Fresh Pumpkins by That's So Kelly is such a cute fall pattern that uses a very unique color, a kind of turquoise-ish blue.

I'm stitching this on a light color lugana and it might be 36 count. It actually seems somewhere in the middle of 32 and 36 count. I really need to keep better track of the fabric I use. I did a major color conversion to use flosses I had. It will be finished very similarly to what's pictured.

Last but not least is my crochet start! This is Perfect Pockets Shawl by Sonja Hood. It's still available on Etsy. I saw this online last fall and bought the pattern right away. 

It uses half double crochet and double crochet stitches and is so easy so far. Yay! Perfect for a non expert crocheter like me. The yarn is a taupe color Yarn Bee yarn from Hobby Lobby. I'm going to put it away for a while because it's pretty hot here and as this shawl grows it's extremely warm on my lap!

Finally, Rigby had a rough day yesterday. Her day started off with a routine vet visit that included three shots. I was told that she might be lethargic. Then, to top it off, we got some stormy weather that included a LOT of thunder, one of her least favorite things. 

She hasn't been a lap cat at all since coming to live with us, so this was a surprise. She's back to normal today. But this was kind of sweet.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Feel free to ask any questions and leave comments. Thank you for visiting!

Cathy

Finishing Frenzy!

 I've put in a lot of stitches on a lot of projects lately, but today I'm going to show you some finishes. Yes, finishes plural! These three projects are ones I've been working on for a while and could see the finish line on each. So once I picked it up to work on it, I decided to stitch to the finish!

The first is Christmas Tiny Town by Heart In Hand.

I stitched this on some kind of linen in the called-for flosses. Do you think I can get it fully finished before Christmas?

The next finish is Seasonal Bouquets by The Sunflower Seed. This pattern is an oldie and I don't know if it's available anymore. Charts for a bouquet for each season are included, along with little triangle buttons to decorate the vases.

This is my first project on 40 count linen. I wanted to see if I could do it. It's by Colour & Cotton and the color is Taupe. I know. It looks light gray. But I like it a lot and I think that the light color of the fabric made it easy to stitch on the 40 count. I used the called-for DMC flosses. It's so tiny. I painted a little square frame white and this will fit perfectly. My plan is to stitch each season and change them out accordingly. I hope to have a full finish for my next post.

And last but definitely not least is Small Animal Sampler by Bobbie G Designs.

I'm so glad to have this done. It's stitched on 28 count black Jobelan which is the perfect fabric for this. Buy I'm not gonna lie - stitching on dark fabric is not easy for me. It was so easy to get one thread off and there are a few mistakes in this project. It's stitched with the called for DMC. I'll frame this one.

Now that I have more finishes, I really need to get to fully finishing these and the other projects I have in my "Finished Cross Stitch" box. Yes, there are a few more in there!

For those of you who like Flosstube videos, I just posted my video #84. Hard to believe that I've been making videos for 6 years. So if you're interested, I'll post my channel HERE.

Thank you for visiting today. I hope you liked seeing my finishes. See you soon.

Cathy