Lori's Cross-stitch Corner

I'm planning to incorporate more cross-stitch projects into my routine in 2018. It's such a great stress reducer. Here's a bookmark I completed for a colleague who is leaving us. She's a bird lover (and librarian).

Yay! It's great to see you here, Lori. I love the hummingbird and the flower, very pretty color and detail.

>2 lauralkeet: Thanks. I substituted one color (only 7 stitches) because I missed seeing it when I made the list of fibers I did not own so I could purchase them. As I began stitching, I found it. I just compared the color swatch online to the swatches of similar colors I owned and found one very close. I decided it would work for 7 stitches.

Hi, Lori -nice to see you here too. I love the bookmark -probably because I love hummingbirds and books :)

>4 dudes22: I regularly lurk here, but I get overwhelmed and behind at times and forget to comment as I catch up.

Don’t we all?

>6 dudes22: I think that is "par for the course."

>1 thornton37814: Oh, that is a lovely bookmark!

>8 avaland: Thanks!

Very pretty! I haven’t put up any of my projects in ages!

Really like it. Leaving the linen without a stiff backing - I like the idea, hadn't thought of it myself. Much more gentle on the book!

>10 dkhiggin: Yes. You should post some of yours.

>11 captainsflat: Someone told me they often used fabric scraps and did what I did to this one. I just made sure I applied a heavy coating of Fray Stop to the edges. You only need to pull 2 or 3 of the threads to make the fringe.

Lovely bookmark!

>13 mabith: Thanks.

I receive the DMC newsletter by email. Today they offered a deal on their Snap N Stitch, which is where you upload a photo (that is not copyrighted) and it produces a pattern. You select the size of the design. It was $5 for the pattern (normally $10), but you could get the pattern free if you purchased the fibers. A friend lost her pet recently so I decided to select a photo to upload and stitch for her.

Ooh, I'll be very curious how the quality of the pattern and fiber choices are.

>15 mabith: Since DMC did the design, it uses all DMC fibers. However, you had your choice of "up to __" colors. I went with the higher number because I wanted it to look as realistic as possible. I'm certain the design would have been better at if I'd chosen the medium or large size, but I also wanted to make sure I get the project done. I'll probably call Dixie Darlin tomorrow to see if they have a piece of 28 ct white Jobelan or Lugana the size I need. If not, I'll probably wait until I get to the Raleigh-Durham area and see if I can get one at Robin's Nest. If that doesn't work, I'll stop in Johnson City at Cross Stitch & Crafts on my way home. If they don't have it in stock, they'll mail it to me when it comes in. The fibers should arrive next week while I'm gone, but I think they are coming UPS Sure Post so it can be held with my mail.

Reviving a dormant thread here. I could not find a cat ornament available to purchase at any store I visited so I looked through my stash and found a cat ornament kit. When I opened it, the threads were awful. They intended you to only use one thread instead of two. It was 14 count so it definitely needed two. I grabbed the fibers and discovered one color was missing. There were supposed to be two shades of blue, but they only had the darker shade so I had to guess at the lighter and try to find the one that matched the group best. It's a hodge-podge of mostly DMC threads, but a few others like Sampler Threads (for the red color). My black is also another brand because I needed to use it up. (I had plenty of black DMC fiber, but it was newer than the other so I wanted to use the old.) I think it turned out pretty well, although I didn't quite get the hang of bending the little hanger. I did the best I could. Here it is.

>17 thornton37814: It's awfully cute. You can never have too much cute in the world.

>18 Lyndatrue: Yes. The kit was made by a local company, but they sure used cheap fibers. I don't remember where I picked up the kit, but it was marked down when I got it. I saved the pattern and wrote down the fibers I actually used from my stash. I should be able to do more--and perhaps have a little more fabric so I can make it into one of the "filled" ornaments. I had some Christmas pillows where you could cross-stitch your own design. The design was too long for the small pillow and the fabric wasn't large enough for the larger one.

Cute!

That's cute. And since you have the pattern, there's a lot you could do to make the ornaments a little different. I did some once that went into little frames that were shaped like embroidery hoops - so there was a little loop at the top. Can't tell how large that is, but maybe it would fit in a little frame.

>20 mabith: Yes. It is.

>21 dudes22: I can figure out by design size how big it is, depending on fabric used, and plan accordingly. Frames would work if you had the right one. I might try to change the cat's colors sometime too. It stitched up pretty quickly.

My fur boys teamed up on me tonight. They wanted attention. One sat on my scissors and needle threader. One sat on top of the fiber bag. The other sat on the pattern. I managed to get to the end of the row I'd counted, but it was hopeless after that. I gave in and petted the sweet cats!

That's so cute. Cats can be very persistent!

>24 lauralkeet: They can. I'm glad they want to be with me.

I would say they decided you needed a break, but we know it's usually they just want some loving! That's so sweet though.

>26 mabith: They know how to get my attention!

The cat is cute. I am trying to read more of the craft message boards. This year I plan to do more needlework and less crocheting.
Leona

>28 mnleona: I hope to finish a project in the next couple of days. I'll post a photo once it is completed. It's a baby announcement with Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, and a honey bee. Pooh is mostly done except for two stitches for his tongue which are the color of Piglet's ears. Piglet is about half done, and since Piglet is small, I should finish him pretty quickly. The honey bee will stitch up quickly. The rest is all back-stitching. Figuring out the centering for the lettering will be the most difficult part.

I've created a 2022 thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/338879