Last minute finish

 

We are spending Christmas in the UK with our children. We will spend two days in Leeds and then move to the Midlands to Matthew's home. I am sure Matthew will have even fewer decorations up than we have, so I have made some placemats. This is a Kimberbell embroidery pattern, stitched on my Janome embroidery machine and then made bigger with 4" rectangles on each side, quilted and then bound.

WIP Wednesday - Frosty Tiny Town

I have been working slowly but steadily on Frosty Tiny town by Heart in Hand. Today will be the last day that I'll work on it until I have finished a cross stitch ornament for Lizzie. I have worked to the far right of the pattern and then to the far left, I am now working on finishing each motif working from left to right. So far, I have the first house and tree complete.

 

Christmas plans

New traditions are being started in 2025, and we are travelling to the UK to spend Christmas with Matt and Lizzie. First of all, we're travelling to Leeds to visit Lizzie's new home and then we are staying near Stratford upon Avon. Christmas day will be at Matt's home in Coventry and all we've been asked to provide is pate. I envisioned having to take roasting trays and serving dishes in our checked luggage but apparently that is covered.

Lizzie and I usually tackle a joint project at Christmas, but this year's project is very simple. Rosie Taylors Crafts recently posted a video of easy scrappy pom poms. My pom pom makers are packed and I have started cutting 1/4" strips from selvedges.  You can find Rosie's video here.

We are planning a side trip to Guthrie and Ghani on Tuesday or Wednesday but haven't shared that with the boys, yet!

Cross stitch fully finishes II

I started off the month with great plans to fully finish lots of cross stitch pieces. I didn't quite fulfil my potential. My first finish by Barbara Ana was a quick finish as I purchased a 6" hoop butt at Stitch Festiva earlier in the year.

 

It worked perfectly and has joined my seasonal decor.

Again, this was a quick finish once y crushed walnut shells arrived from Amazon. It is by Primrose Cottage Stitches. Yesterday I tried and failed spectacularly to finish a Christmas ornament for Lizzie. However, I picked up oil paint from the store and not acrylic paint. Apparently, oil paint can take a year to cure! It won't be finished for this Christmas.

WIP Wednesday

I finished Winter Wonderland last week, so it was time to choose another cross stitch WIP. This is Frosty Tiny Town by Heart in Hand. I had part stitched two houses. I have now stitched to the far right of the pattern. Today I will work to the left with the three trees. Once I have worked to the far left, I will start finishing the motifs from left to right. 

Monday Make - Winter Wonderland

I finished stitching winter Wonderland by Lindsey weight for Primrose Cottage at the weekend. This is a free pattern from Primrose Cottage for signing up to their newsletter here. I have ordered crushed walnut shells from Amazon to fill the piece but the weather has been stormy, so boats have been cancelled for the past three days. Our mail (and food) comes in on the boat so I may have to be patient.

Cross stitch fully finishes

Whilst I am thoroughly enjoying opening my advent calendars from Stich Supply Company and Studio 7T7, I felt I should accomplish something every day. I decided that some of my cross-stitch pieces should be finished and ay frame that I no longer like, will be redonated to a charity shop.

The first of four framed pieces this week designed by Barbara Ana. Some of her designs are available in her Kofi shop Support Barbara Ana designs and some are available from Creative Poppy until they close their doors.

This was a simple framing job as no painting was required. I glued wadding to the mountboard and added the mount.

I love this wintery piece. It has a layer of wadding behind the piece and then is stapled onto the canvas.

This too a little more effort as I painted a few coats of chalky white to the frame and I covered the mount with some fabric from Carolyn Friedlander.

This petite strawberry piece is mounted in a frame from Atelier Bonheur which I purchased at Pour L'Amour du Fils show in Nantes. Perfect for a summer display. I have a heart shaped from the same company but first I need to find all of the pieces!

I have pulled a further six pieces and frames, so I hope I can keep up my momentum. At the weekend, I plan to mend one item and list some other items on Ecycle.