It’s been over 2 months, that is years is internet time! My migraines has been really bad and I haven’t been able to sit in front of a computer at all. But it has finally calmed down (just in time for vacation). So here is the last update for the year as I have now arrived in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. I’m sitting beside a rooftop pool while I’m writing this, having a great time! But before leaving I did have time to record the last video. So here it is and below is close-up photos of all the projects and the details about them.
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Fully Finished Objects (FFO)
MINI HALLOWEEN ORNAMENTS
In my living room I have a small Christmas tree, I have it out all year around. Mostly because I taped down the cable to the lights so that my cat Leia can’t bit it off and I just don’t want to re-do that. But I have started to decorate it seasonally, but as this is the first year I don’t really have that many ornaments.
So I decided to make a bunch, sadly I didn’t get them fully finished before Halloween. But I still fully finished them as then I don’t have to think about it next year. I have gotten all of the designs from the design library in the World of Cross Stitching Magazine, they have a new mini library in every magazine with mini designs perfect for ornaments or cards or really anything small!
These are all finished as little flat-lays, on some poster board with one layer of batting. The back is the same size of poster board with some matching quilt fabric. In between I attached a small piece of ribbon, and then I added some bakers twine as the string.
Details:
Patterns: World of Cross Stitching Magazine Issue 259 October 2017, Designer Jenny Barton
Fabric: 28 count Orange Fizz Evenweave by Zweigart
Threads: DMC as charted except for changing the backstitching to 310 black
ROCKIN ROBIN CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS
After stitching up all of the halloween minis I still had the itch to stitch minis, so I decided to pick out a couple of libraries for Christmas Ornaments. The idea was to send them out to family and friends, however I ended up fully finishing them fairly late, but hey they are ready for next year! (You might be seeing a trend here, self-imposed deadlines are hard!)
I finished these as I did with my first ever cross stitched ornaments (which I made a tutorial for back in 2011, the quality is not really good but ou can find it HERE). Just adding it on some felt with my sewing machine and then backing that felt with another piece stuffing it a little in between.
Details
Patterns: World of Cross Stitching Magazine Issue 195 November 2012, Designer Lucie Heaton
Fabric: 14 count Parchment Aida by Zweigart
Threads: DMC as charted
KAWAII CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS
I wanted to make a little babies first Christmas ornament for my brothers little newborn. But as you might have noticed I tend to overdo things just a tad. So decided to stitch another bout of mini ornaments. And again I took them from one of those mini libraries, I’m telling you they are awesome!
I finished them the same way as the other ones, but this time changing up the color of the felt. I also got better at making them as I went, practise makes progress. Must say felt is harder to cut a perfect outline in than paper. I also choose to use some other ribbon than before. Mostly because I need a bigger stash of satin ribbons to be able to match my felt.
Details
Patterns: World of Cross Stitching Magazine Issue 327 November 2022
Fabric: 14 count Vintage Mocha Aida by Zweigart
Threads: DMC as charted
Finished Objects (FO)
INTO THE WOODS
This kit from Mill Hill was one of those I really wanted to finish before Halloween. I still haven’t gotten a frame for it, but I have some ideas that I want to try on home made frames for these Button and Beads kits. I really enjoyed stitching on it and it even have a couple of glow in the dark beads.
Details:
Kit: Into The Woods, Mill Hill
TABOO KITTY
I had a delivery of some really cute Mill Hill kits, some new and some from 2019. I felt that the taboo kitty and the rest of the 2019 collection worked so good together with this years halloween/fall button and bead collection, sadly my health made it impossible for me to get them online before halloween. But they are online now! I did start stitching on my store copies though, and this one is probably my favorite.
Details:
CHRISMAS MEMORIES, CHRISTMAS DAY SANTAS
This was officially my October Santa for the #millhillsantasal2023, but I was working on some other projects toward the end of October and I was having so much fun so i just didn’t want to put them down. So I started this in the beginning of November. But he is so cute! And this was the last santa I had on my list, the other ones was gnomes. Now to make a list for 2024!
Details
Kit: Christmas Memories, Christmas Day Santas, Mill Hill
GNOME WITH WREATH
This ended up being the last santa/gnome I stitched during 2023, technically I did end up stitching 12 of them as I stitched this one twice. I shared one of the gnomes in a Mill Hill group on facebook and was told that these kit has enough material to stitch the gnomes twice! Now they are only kitted for one, so there is no guarantee that you will get multiple out of them. But my kit did have enough for 2. Also they are mounted in my handmade kit frame. I will be remaking it in the future, and if I was using poster board as I am here, I would use one or two more layers of the board as it is a little more bendy than I would like. But the frame worked much better than attaching it to fabric in my qsnap.
Details:
Kit: Gnome with Wreath, Mill Hill
CANADA GOOSE
I was on a beading spree, wanted to stitch all the beading kits. But after stitching two of the same I decided I need a little break with something smaller so I picket up the Canada Goose from this year winter collection. It was a quick and fun stitch!
Details:
FISHING PENGUIN
The last Mill Hill kit I stitched this year was this cute little penguin. I left it in the second kit frame that I made. This one had wider borders which made it easier to be held in my lowery stand, and it also made it a bit more stable. These are still just testers and I have some ideas for another kind of frame in the new year.
Details:
Kit: Fishing Penguin, Mill Hill
CHRISTMAS VILLAGE ORNAMENTS, BARN
If you have been with me for awhile, you might have noticed that with my cross stitching I’m very much driven by my feelings. I stitched on what I feel like when I feel like it. I still have some rules as having to many WIPs on the go makes me uncomfortable. But this December I really have felt like stitching Christmas and ornaments. But I also wanted to stitch some Dimensions kits as I starting to have a couple (still under 10). So I decided to stitch one of the ornaments in the Christmas Village Ornament kit. I did read the pattern into Markup RX to make it a little bit easier to read the pattern, and it wasn’t until then that I realized that there are over 4000 stitched in them! They don’t look that big! But that is about as many there is in a Beads and Buttons Mill Hill kit, so I knew it would take me about a week, which it did. I love how the dimensions look, but the amount of backstitching on these pieces is just insane. I usually try to do the backstitching as I go, but I didn’t with this piece and I kind of regretted it. But now it’s finished and I love it.
Details:
Kit: Christmas Village Ornaments, Dimensions
WIP
WINTER CABIN
I started the winter cabin last December while vacationing in Florida. So a part of me wish I can finish it this December white vacationing in Gran Canaria. I also spent a bunch of days on this in October as the first snow came to Sweden and I just felt I had to stitch some snow on snowy days. I think this kit was the one that brought back my love for Dimensions kit, they look so great when they are finished.
Details:
New Start
MINI SUNSET OWL
I found this pattern through instagram. There was this stitch along that was going to start first of November, and of course I started before that because I can’t read, or more I really wanted to start it as I love the colors. The pattern is no longer available.
Details:
Pattern: Mini Sunset Owl by Artecy
Fabric: 25ct Potato Evenweave by Zweigart
Stitched in charted DMC 2 over 1
Marika Stitches 