I Love Cross Stitch

There are just too many cross stitch charts for a whole life time let alone my sunset years. I chose a simple design to add to my tea mat. The outline images are just so clever. I know this is a cup of coffee but I just liked the design. Unfortunately I have no idea where this design came from. I only have it in my screen shots with no details. It is from a long time ago too so I couldn't find it online anywhere. There are lots of similar things around.

I sat outside in the good light to do this one. There are a few bits that I fudged but not enough to redo the stitches. I am neatish but not perfect with my cross stitch. It is just fun to see the image magically appear.

I used a whisper weft type iron on woven backing after stitching it to seal the thread ends.

I had some decommissioned towels in the craft room that I used to make the back of the mat.

I did some free motion random stitching plus a few black lines of stitching.

I didn't make the mat to any specific measurement but it fits quite nicely on my tea tray.

I put the cross stitch off centre so I can still see it when I put my pot and cup on top.

Happy Crafting and Quilting,
Val

A little Cross Stitch Bookmark

I started this cute bookmark ages ago. I had an urge to do some cross stitch so I pulled it out and finished it off. The design is one of the hundreds of cross stitch charts that I have downloaded from the internet. I can't even find the original chart image I have so many.

I only had to do the border. I had forgotten pretty much everything I learnt about cross stitch so the stitches are a bit haphazard on the border. Never mind. I think it is a great addition to my bookmark collection.

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Planner Pages with a Quilting Theme

I love designing and I have just started designing some printable planner pages for my Kikki K large planner. I had a look around the internet and didn't find many planner pages decorated with a sewing or patchwork theme.

There are a few planners for quilters that have project trackers or swap list pages but they don't have decorations on them.

I love to colour in and I have found it very satisfying to colour in the flying geese. It is fun to watch the page come alive as you move around the border.

I am steadily publishing the flying geese themed pages in my Etsy shop. 

You can find a free sample on my Organising Blog.

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val

Some Patchwork and Homespun for Free at Your Online Library

I bought mum a thermolactyl fleece blanket for Mother's Day. I wanted to put a little label on it and decided to use a small block.

I have been watching the Splendid Sampler from the side lines and saw this cute scrappy star by Corey Yoder and thought it would be perfect.

I spend a lot of time on my Doll Clothes blog and my other various themed blogs. See them listed in the side bar.

Did you know that Homespun magazine is available for free as an e-zine from your library online.

I love reading it on my tablet using the Zinnio app. Many of the articles, ads and projects have live links for convenient browsing.

You can also register for free on the Homespun web page and download the project patterns as PDFs for free. I have been collecting the Foxy Village blocks. I make a folder for each block and take screen shots of the instructions from the magazine to go with the pattern PDF.

Happy Quilting and Crafting,
Val