NEEDLEWORK PAGE PART II - CROSS STITCH

November, 2013 - Wow!  It's been so long since I posted something I finished that I almost forgot to post my latest endeavor.  I'm hoping maybe I finished another thing or two between Oct. 2012 and now and just forgot to post it. :)

Anyway, this one is on 32 count fabric and had 21 colors, insanely enough.  The chart was in a "real-life" cross stitch kit that I bought, knowing I could get it down to miniature on small count fabric.

This next one was part of a fairly large sampler pattern and I've always loved cornucopias (I think partly because I like the word) so decided it was a good one to stitch for this time of year.

This next one was part of a fairly large sampler pattern and I've always loved cornucopias (I think partly because I like the word) so decided it was a good one to stitch for this time of year.

And some more autumn themed pieces below.  I seem to get all inspired in the autumn - both cooking and needlework...

April 11, 2012 -  A little half inch scale bed that I've dressed with a cross stitched coverlet and sham and a bedskirt made from corrugated scrapbook paper that I painted and glued on.  My half inch scale dollhouse is all filled up so I'll put this bed in my Etsy shop and see what happens. :)

March 30, 2012 - Just finished two little pieces of cross stitch and am posting two pictures of the first one because when I put it in this scene to take a nice photo for my Etsy shop, I liked it so well that I wanted to share it here too.  On the right, the legend is clear: "Let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man." I posted earlier about my mother doing a real life sampler way back in 1937 that hung on our dining room wall the whole time I was growing up. 

And on the left is a picture of that.  I've charted the entire design and hopefully will someday work up the nerve to try stitching it on a very small count gauze or fabric.

It's not a very good photograph, but that's partly because it is quite old (75 years to be exact!!) and I didn't want to use the flash and have it glare on the glass.  It's not as over-all yellow as it appears in the photo.

On the right is the other new piece.  Again, I'm putting it in my Etsy shop.  It was a little cross stitch kit I picked up at one of the craft stores and stitched on a smaller count fabric to get it down to 1" scale.

March 15, 2012 - Just finished this little cross stitch for my Etsy shop (which has been very sadly neglected). I've had this pattern for a long time - I found it in the magazine "New Stitches" and there are several patterns all featuring the black cat and flowers.  I had stitched a smaller one and I guess had to build up the gumption to stitch this one!  It uses 21 colors and I stitched it on 32 count fabric. That's a dollhouse chair and dollhouse wallpaper to give an idea of the size.

12/14/11 - Just finished this  little tree skirt today. After I finished the stitching, and finagled around getting all the sides cut the way I wanted them, I bonded it to a slightly glittery fabric backing and then cut the opening up the back and added the trim. I was really beginning to stress over what I could use for the edging and then found this tucked down in my mini trims box and am delighted with how it looks with the skirt. And I listed it in my shop and in less than 2 hours it sold! That will probably never happen again, but to have it happen ONE time is pretty exciting. 

December 12 - Another completed cross stitch project for my Etsy shop.  The pattern for these showed them as little pillows for a real life Christmas tree stitched on 14 count.  I stitched mine on 32 count, made the little "cushions" and then "quilted" the needlework on to the cushions which was the hardest part.  The first one I thought I would do the stitching by hand but that made the back look not so good so the next two, I used my sewing machine, but I didn't want it to go fast, so I turned the wheel with my hand!  Crazy, but it worked.  Then I fringed out the edges of the cross stitch fabric, and, although they don't show in this picture, I attached pretty little antique brass rings on the back of each one that can be used for hanging or hidden away if someone might want to use them as chair pads in their mini family's house. :)








December 4, 2011 - Finished up this little wallhanging or perhaps a real life Christmas tree ornament today.  I made the hanger out of thin wire and as it was my first attempt, I was pleased that it came out looking pretty much like a hanger. :) 
















September 15, 2011 - I just finished two cross stitch pieces for my new Etsy.com shop and am pleased with how they turned out.  Also, I've added 4 more pictures down at the bottom of the page today.

I'm in an autumn mood so enjoyed working on this one.  It's mid-September which means it's almost time for my first pot roast of the season!

And the little Noah's Ark was fun to stitch also.  I had stitched it quite a while ago on 28 count and thought it was too big.  So this time I stitched it on 32 count and not framing it kept it to a nice size, I think.

The autumn collage is on 32 count also and I made the frame from maple frame molding.

And the little single pumpkin below I had also stitched some time ago and for some reason had stitched it quite close to the edge of the fabric but couldn't bring myself to throw it out.  Then I figured out I could bond it to a fabric square and have it be a little table mat or trivet or whatever.  It's about an inch square.  Waste not, want not is what I always say!

There's a lady in Texas who's been commissioning cross stitch from me for a while now.  These two pieces were based on real-life patterns that I adapted to miniature scale.  The very first piece she bought from me was the little "Bo-Peep" rug shown below.  She also had me design and stitch the three quilt blocks. 

Moving on...this next batch are just various pieces I've made over the years - mostly sold at shows...

 

The little covered bridge isn't cross stitch - it's long stitch embroidery which I really enjoyed - I made another one but don't have a picture of it.  Wish I could find more patterns for long stitch although I've collected a few pictures that I think might work well for it - just have to work up my nerve to try them without an actual pattern.

And you can tell this is an old picture - pretty poor.  But it was a pretty cross stitch picture!  Wonder if I could find the pattern and do that one again...I like the lavender in it.

These next two pictures are pictures of all the cross stitch designs I created myself so I could sell cross stitch kits at miniature shows.  People really seemed to enjoy them and since I mainly went to shows within 200 or so miles of here, I would see the same people at various shows and they usually would buy another one or two.  I really enjoyed the shows and keep thinking I may do another one one of these days...

The three samplers in the third row are a boy birth sampler, a wedding sampler, and a girl birth sampler where the stitcher put in the names and dates.  That one in the bottom left hand corner is the last one I designed (I think).  It says "let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man" and a real life sampler with that sentiment hung on our dining room wall all the years I was growing up.  The little stocking kits included the pompoms and holeless black beads to make the teddy bears and a candy cane.

And this last picture is of a bed coverlet kit that I also sold in six or seven different color combinations.   I ended up eventually making up two booklets of cross stitch coverlet charts.

And I think that's all the cross stitch that I have pictures of.  Certainly not all I've ever stitched cause I've been stitching for years and years and years and ....