Completed stitching pre 2011

Completed works from over the years. Not as many as I’d like, but here’s hoping this blog and my interaction with the online stitching community motivates me to get more done. A lack of time and motivation have been the main reason why I haven’t stitched very many pieces, but I’ll get there!
Note: From the Celtic Miniature Card onwards, please feel free to click the image to view larger versions.

My first ever cross stitch endevour. From a kit by the Royal Stitch New Zealand Mini Design series #103, this is a depiction of a native flower, the Kowhai. One thing I learned from this project is that most of the time, the needle size and the count of the aida provided in cheap kits, don’t match! This particular aida was awful to work with and I’m so glad there weren’t any half or 3/4 stitches required! Luckily you can’t see my stuffing up of the angle of some of those stitches. I recently re-bought this kit (lost the pattern years ago) and am going to re-stitch and do it properly!

Poppies

This wee design was taken from the Art Nouveau in Cross Stitch book by Sue Cook (Merehurst ISBN 1-85391-759-1) The material and the colours I chose for these poppies did not reflect the suggestions in the book! I was broke at this point and was useing whatever material was on hand (thankyou Jess!) All things considering, they came out pretty well! I never bothered with completing the back stitch on this one, I was still in the experimental stage.

I made this bookmark for Jess as a thankyou for introducing me to cross stitch, and patiently teaching me the basics. Again taken from the Art Nouveau in Cross Stitch book, this was done absolutely perfectly. No problems whatsoever. I’m so proud of it because it’s my first major project without stuffing up!For this project I substituted a number of colours, swapping the olive green for the leaves with a old gold tinged thread. The purple and white squares were supposed to have been a deeper green and white. I decided to go for a more uniform colour scheme and I like the final effect. The book also suggested useing aida, but I opted out of this and instead went for 28 count driftwood evenweave. As a whole the final effect was definitely art nouveua and “old” looking. Heh, Jess doesn’t use this because she thinks it’s too pretty to be wasted that way!

Cuddle Bunny Kit

Cuddle Bunny kit number #K735, part of the Honey Pots series by DMC. I don’t know what possessed me to buy this kit, but boy did I stuff it up majorly! Learn from me, never ever do cross stitch at 1 in the morning! You make some rather bad mistakes if you do! On the left border… I became so involved with doing those lines of light purple stitching I totally forgot that it needed to be intersected with the darker purple to look like the rest of the border!I ended up dropping this project; one day I’ll go back and complete whats left of it (not much.)

Textile Heritage Pansies Bookmark

This kit was given to me by Jen (who bought it at a Kilbirnie sale in Wellington!) part of the Textile Heritage Collection. Thankyou Jen! I love it! No problems with the actual stitching itself (I love the dark rich colours used) and as a finishing touch I decided to personalise it a bit by adding my initials and the year it was completed.Getting that tassell looped through the aida was a mission in itself! I eventually had to poke the thick end of a large eyed needle through before threading the thinnest bit of the tassle through and then looping it. Around the back I placed a white piece of cardboard inbetween the aida and the brown felt backing, to stop the brown from showing through; and stitched it all in place with small neat stitches in white sewing thread.In the end I didn’t have the heart to use this bookmark, so it’s now hanging in my room off a bookshelf, for everyone to enjoy.

Textile Heritage Fushia Sachet

I bought this wee kit while on holiday on the Coromandel Peninsula here in New Zealand, something to pass the time during those quiet moments in the summer sunshine, but alas never really gotten around to. It was a strange little kit though, because while the flowers I was stitching were fuchsias, the satchet was to be filled with dried lavender heads! Regardless, I ended up stitching this as a thankyou gift to my friend Jen (who lives in our capital city of Wellington) for putting me up for a week at her flat.

Textile Heritage Celtic Card

This was a Celtic Miniatures kit by Textile Heritage. Small, easy and extremely fast to get through once I got into the groove of it. I replaced one strand of the yellow thread in the border with a Krienik Gold filament, and the final effect is stunning; the piece truly glowed (unfortunately you can’t appreciate it in this horrid photo!) The completed piece was then carefully stuck to the accompanying card to make into a wee little gift card. It was created as a gift for a cousin visiting us from the USA, alas the moment I gave it to her I regretted it. She didn’t look like she really appreciated it.

Oriental Bonsai

I stitched this pattern for a work mate’s birthday present. A new year and a new job for me, and this particular lady had been helping me settle into the job, and is my mentor until I have come to grips with everything about my job. It was a pleasure to stitch too, even while useing the gold braid for the border! Since I can not do a french knot, I decided to replace the knot for the dragonfly’s eye, with a shimmering blue bead. I think it looks better! The piece was then inserted into a square wood pencil holder for her to use at work.
Design from A Cross Stitcher’s Oriental Odyssey by Joan Elliott.

Fantasy Sampler Unicorn

This wee unicorn was taken from Teresa Wentzler’s Fantasy Sampler. While I am not confident enough to stitch the whole design, I fell in love with the unicorn and decided to stitch it for myself. It’s a small design, but not easy either. Lots of quarter and half stitches, and for a while I was worrying because the specified threads didn’t match in colour to the photograph on the leaflet! Once the back stitching began though, it fell into place and looks utterly stunning imho.

Mermaid Bookmark

Kit #9-018 by The Design Connection, this is a gorgeous little mermaid reading a book under the sea surrounded by golden sea life (charms 24 ct gold plated!) I had a lot of fun stitching this piece, especially when doing the back stitching and just seeing the image ‘pop’! I cheated some, instead of doing french knots for the bubbles and her necklace, I chose to use blue beads ^_^;

Little Mermaid

This was a Needlemagic design that I had seen years ago on a mailing list. I loved it so much I asked my lns to source it from the USA, and they did! The kit came with yarn which I did use, and didn’t enjoy. I’ll definitely be doing this design again, but this time with embroidery thread XD

Black Country Cat

I stitched this design for a friend who is absolutely nuts about cats. It came from a chart booklet called ‘more Country Cats’ by Dale Burdett (which contains heaps of designs for cute countrified cats!) The original design had two black cats, mirroring eachother, but I opted to just stitch one of them, isn’t he cute? ^_^

Tea for Two Fridge Magnet

Kit: Needlemagic ‘Tea for Two’ Item 3759. This was a small kit I picked up from my lns, to stitch during quiet moments at work. I only customised the backstitching for the yellow rims of the cups and the teapot. Instead of useing the yellow thread supplied, I used a gold metallic thread, just to give it a bit of glimmer and shine. I decided that instead of framing it, I would attach it to a fridge magnet (from FrameCraft) and give it to a friend who loves tea just as much as I do.

Golden Hearts Wedding

Entitled ‘Golden Hearts’ by JBW Designs (part of the Sweet Nothings series) as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to stitch it for my sister’s wedding. This was the first time I had worked with beads, and it turned out to be surprisingly easier than I thought! The design had the option to use Silk Mori or DMC embroidery thread, and I opted for the DMC. The design also suggested useing the Mill Hill Victorian Gold Petite Glass Beads #42011 to attach the charms, but I didn’t like the look so instead used Mill Hill Crystal Honey Glass Seed Beads #02019. I’ll be getting this framed and adding it to the overall wedding gift I am getting for her.

Lanarte S Mermaid

This is a Lanarte kit of undetermined years, to be honest I can’t even find any information on it online. I do remember around the time I bought it, that it was a part of a series of alphabet letters by Lanarte. The kit number is 33368. As you may have already guessed, I love mermaids, so when I picked this little cutey up at my lns bargain bin, I was very pleased. I started this two years ago, and finally completed it on 05/02/2006, haven’t been keeping track of the time, but I can tell you, it’s time consuming! The tail especially was a pain to stitch. Not too sure how I am going to finish this piece. I’m just glad it’s finally complete.

Textile Heritage Irish Shamrock Card

Kit: Irish Shamrock National Emblem Miniatures Counted Cross-Stitch Card Kit. I was looking around for an Irish design to stitch for one of the managers at work, who is Irish, when I found this small kit at my lns. “Perfect!” I thought, “But it’s just a little too dark for my liking…”
In the photo I have shown both what it should look like, and what I did to make it look like how I wanted. The left hand picture is what it should look like, and the right hand picture is my completed work. I decided to stitch the yellow border with one strand of the yellow thread provided, and one strand of Kreinik Blending Filament 002V; and instead of backstitching the shamrocks with the black thread provided, I backstitched useing Kreinik Blending Filament 015HL and stripping the black base thread off, to maximise on the shimmer. To complete I found that gorgeous little shamrock charm, and voila. Too bad you can’t truly appreciate the subtle shimmer and sparkle of the piece. I’m really pleased with this, and I hope it’s recipient likes it too! ^_^

To Have and to Hold Wedding Sampler

Pattern: an adaptation of the “To Have and To Hold Wedding Sampler” from the book ‘The New Cross Stitch Sampler Book’ by Helen Philipps. At work there is a lady called Allison, who is one of the most sweetest, nicest and friendliest people I have ever met. She has been through so much in her life, and yet still manages to find things to smile about and be happy. This amazing woman is getting married near the end of March (2006) and I wanted to gift her something special. I adapted this design to suit my needs, adding the gold charms of choice, and instead of useing the seed beads suggested, I opted to use Mill Hill Glass Seed Beads Pearl #02001 and spread them out to cover some of the extra empty space.
I enjoyed working with the Caron Wildflowers ‘Pale Lilac’ variegated thread, and that border section was very quick to stitch. Infact the most annoying part of this whole design was backstitching the pink and green vine heart! Am going to be getting this framed, and then gifting it to Allison just before her wedding ^_^
Sorry about my horrible photography skills, the fabric is supposed to be a light pink!

Imagination Creation

Design: ‘Imagination Creation’ Fantasy Faire ‘05 Limited Edition by Dragon Dreams. When I saw this design, it was love at first sight. It’s quirky nature appealled to me on many levels. It was also surprisingly easy to stitch, and I had most of it done in one weekend! The only difficult part (for me) was getting my hands on the specialty thread required for the hair. #85 “Fantasy Blues” over-dyed silk by Dinky Dyes isn’t something you see stocked here in NZ often. This was a special colour created by Dinky Dyes for the 2005 Fantasy Faire, where all the designers that took part used this thread in some way in their designs. I need to remember to get a stockpile of this thread incase they ever discontinue it. I know that a replacement just won’t do, trust me, I tried. I bought #116 by Needle Necessities, trying to match the colour closely to what was on the photo on the chart; and it just goes to show that you should never trust the chart photo because it never reflects reality, which was so true in this case. So I was really pleased to finally receive an online order which had the correct thread ^__^
I think the most annoying part about this design was all those mini stars. Other than that, a breeze.

Munsterpoo the Baby Wocky

Design: Picture of Baby Wocky from Neopets, converted to a cross stitch pattern. All copyrights belong to Neopets Inc. A friend shares the same birth month as myself, and we both enjoy an online game called Neopets. I had originally stitched this for him April 2005 and sent it off to him (back then I wasn’t so diligent about keeping photos of my completed work) but he never got it. This year I am determined that he does, so will be couriering this piece off to him!
His pet in the game is a Baby Wocky, and for his birthday I wanted to gift him something personal (he’s the type of person who has EVERYTHING in the game!) so latched onto this idea. After converting the image into a cross stitch pattern, it didn’t take me long to stitch this at all. Stitched on 18 count off white Aida (to make it as tiny as possible) I really like how this came out! I finished it as a coaster. Lets hope he likes it!

Sleeping Bear

Design: Sleeping Bear DMC Tiny Treasures. This is a quick stitch I did in an evening evening. It doesn’t really have a name, but I call it ‘Sleeping Bear’ (for obvious reasons.) The kit is from the DMC Tiny Treasures range… and I’ll be finishing this as an ornament for a friend whose partner recently gave birth.
Cute isn’t he? I know I’d rather be snuggling up into my pillow and falling into blissful sleep right about now! Next time I stitch this though, I will definitely do it on evenweave or linen (fractionals on aida = no fun!)

Put on your Big Girl Panties and deal with it

Design: Put On Your Big Girl Panties and Deal with It, freebie, by Sue Hillis. Another quick stitch, the only annoying/fussy part was the back stitch lettering.

My Neighbor Totoro Ornament

Design: Freebie internet design of a Totoro. Found this freebie design online a long time ago, and while on holiday stitched this for a friend and did it up into a lil ornament with picot edged beading and a green ribbon, stuffed with wool. She likes it and it hangs above her computer at her flat. It was the first time I had done this beading, so messed it up the first two tries, but once I figured that you needed to keep the length of each stitch even, it went smoothly and quickly!

I Love My Job

Design from the book ‘Subversive Cross Stitch 33 designs for your surly side’ by Julie Jackson. Stitched this for myself as a reminder to never take things too seriously. I changed all the colours. Didn’t like the ones that were charted for this design (too bland) so substituted with some of my more favourite DMC colours. I think it came out well.
Just a little anecdote… I was at my tea shop (where I go every day after work to un-wind and wait for my bus home) and stitching this piece. The lady who owned the shop was interested to see what I was stitching, but when I showed her the book, she had quite an extraordinary reaction. She was insulted! Not so much by me, but by the tone of the book and the language used in it. While I must admit it is novel to still meet people these days who are offended by these things, I was more amused because it just shows how different people can be. I don’t use bad language as a general rule unless I am very very angry, but have no issue with people using it around me. Heh, interesting.