Tag: beach boardwalk

A Finish, New SAL and A Birthday Start
Country Cottage Needleworks · cross stitch · Fabric · Floss · Fox and Rabbit · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Mystery Stitch A Long

A Finish, New SAL and A Birthday Start

My Time Stitching15 Comments

Hello blogging friends! I hope the new year is treating you well. It is hard to believe that today is the last day of January. It was a busy month for me and I am glad I have found some time to get one last post in before the month ends. 

So, what have I been up to? Well, I have a finish.

I finished the last of the shops on my Beach Boardwalk series. This piece was so fun to stitch and I am very happy that I stitched all of the shops together. They look so sweet all in a row. The patterns are from Country Cottage Needleworks and are available to purchase in stores and online. The fabric I used is 16ct Aida in Friendship Greene from Fabrics By Steph. Now I will be on the lookout for the perfect way to finish this piece.

Since I finished the 2022 Mystery Stitch A Long from Fox and Rabbit at the end of December, I knew I wanted to start the 2024 SAL. I had already decided I would use white fabric and a slightly variegated thread I had ordered online. Since it is possible that this may be the last SAL from Fox & Rabbit, I thought it would be fun to play with colors on this one, but I needed to see the first section on January 1. That first week of January I went through many color changes, stitching and frogging. 

The name of this SAL is Faith Hope Love and my main color thread is the blue thread from Forbidden Fiber Co. called Mermaid (of course 😉 ) I also knew I wanted pink and gray, but what shades? After a few days of playing with threads and colors, I finally landed on my pallette.

The blue thread has some light variegation and that will be my main color. This will be my first time using multiple colors of my own choosing. Fingers crossed they will play well together. My fabric is 18ct Aida White. Yes, that is correct. I am using 18ct aida. Mainly because my local Michaels store was out of 16ct in a large enough piece. And I was impatient. So, here is my start.

I am happy with the look of this January section. The February section came out today, and I think I will be spending a quite a bit of time trying to figure out my coloring. 

Last week was my birthday and it was a big one; 60! I can’t believe I am 60. My husband made my day special with lots of surprises. He even had the local bakery make me the beautiful cake that is in my header above. A big birthday deserves a big new start. I have been wanting to stitch the Epic Storybook Princesses from Cloudsfactory for several years now. So when the pattern went on sale last summer, I did not hesitate to purchase it and decided it would be my Birthday start in 2024.

This is such and amazing pattern! I just love it so much! Mine will be set up like the picture above. I am happy my favorite princess is at center bottom. I also purchased the Raya pattern for the empty space on the bottom left. I am not sure what I will be putting in the bottom right as of yet. I am thinking about Encanto. While the main character in that movie, Mirabel, is not a “princess”, she is the one that saves her family. But we will see. Another princess or 2 may come out in the next however many years it will take me to stitch this piece. 

Figuring out how to wrangle this very large piece of fabric has been a bit of an issue, but so far I have managed. My fabric is 16ct Aida Ariel’s Grotto from Fabrics By Steph. The size of my fabric is 50 x 36! Wow. Definitely the largest piece I have ever worked on. Here is my progress after a week of stitching on it.

I started in the center with the Pocohontas section. These little characters are so cute! So far I have made 2 changes. The blue swirls have been changed to a lighter blue as the called for blended into the fabric. I may have to use the substituted color throughout the piece as it is used a lot as in Cinderella’s dress, the Genie’s face and other places. I also took out the light green strands of the Willow tree because I just couldn’t see them. I decided to stitch them all in the daker green. I will probably finish out the Pocohontas section before putting it away to stitch on the 2024 SAL.

I also finished my Minka top, knitting those sleeve edges and blocked it. I can’t say that I am 100% happy with it. I wish I had made it longer. We’ll see how I like it this summer. I also blocked my Impulse Buy shawl and have worn it several times and love it! It is so soft and squishy and keeps me warm. 

So that is what I have been up to during the month of January, that is just about over already. I can’t wait to see what I get into during February. How did you spend your January? Did you start something new? Finish something? Leave me a comment and let me know. 

Happy Stitching,

ginny

Hello December
Country Cottage Needleworks · cross stitch · Fabric · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Knitted Shawl · Knitting · Mirabilia · Pillows · yarn

Hello December

My Time Stitching14 Comments

Hello my blogging friends and Happy December. The days keep moving faster than I can keep up and here we are ; December 1. If I blink, it will probably be Christmas! As you may have noticed in my feature photo, I have finished my December pillow. As per most of the months, I pulled it out just a few days before the start of the month.

I can’t believe this is the final pillow!

This pillow went as fast as the others. I worked on it a little at a time over 2 days.

For some reason I decided to be a messy stitcher for this one. I didn’t bother taking the time to separate the threads ahead of time or put them on floss drops or anything. It was ok. Sometimes you just have to be a messy stitcher. And in a flash it was finished!

I am a little disappointed that the green fabric is upside down. But I think the bows kind of hide that imperfection. And there was a rip on the side where the fabric was supposed to be joined to the cross stitch fabric. I had to stitch that up before getting started. But it is finished and I am so happy !

My monthly pillows are now all finished and I can pull them out each month knowing that I won’t have to stitch any of them up before displaying them. They have been in my stash for a lot of years and it feels great to get this project out of my WIP pile. The patterns are from Pine Mountain Designs and are no longer available. Though you may be able to find them on a secondary market.

So what else have I been up to? Well, I had put my Ocean Pearl piece in for framing to see how the framer would do with framing needlework. You know I have been on the hunt for a new framer or framing service.

It took me a while to decide on a frame for this one. I ended up picking a black frame with some swirls on it. And here it is all framed up.

She turned out beautifully. I am happy with it and have since put another piece in for framing.

Knitting. What is on my knitting needles?

I started the Impulse Buy shawl. The yarn is La Jolla from Baah yarns in color Sleigh Ride. When my Mother in Law was here in October, we visited a yarn shop and both picked up a skein of this beautiful yarn. The colors are so gorgeous and will go with so many tops in my wardrobe.

This pattern is super easy and very relaxing to knit. After the initial cast on and a few rows, it is just a 4 row repeat. I love stitching on this. The yarn is soft and squishy and the pattern is so lovely even though you can see it so well with all of the busy colors. The lace is just on the edges, so I am hoping it will show much more after I finish it and block it.

Now for what I have been stitching on. I added the 5th shop on my Beach Boardwalk series.

The Souvenir shop is the latest shop and it is so cute with the sand castle on top of the shop. I am really loving this series and will be sad when it ends. Just 2 more shops left. I received a shipping notice yesterday that my next shop is on the way. Can’t wait to get it and add it to my Boardwalk. Patterns are from Country Cottage Needleworks and I am stitching on 16ct Aida Friendship Greene from Fabrics by Steph.

I also pulled Rosamund out and gave her some love.

Oh how I have missed stitching on her. She is so beautiful!

I am loving every stitch on her.

And here is where I stopped with her. I put her away to stitch on the Boardwalk. I’m not sure if she will get worked on again this year, but I am definitely planning on finishing her next year. The pattern is Rosamund from Mirabilia. I am stitching her on 16ct Aida Salem from Fiberlicious Yummy Fibers.

So that is some of what I have been up to. I had started making my Christmas Cards about a month ago and I need to get back to that and get them finished. I also want to decorate for Christmas this weekend. Busy, busy time of year. Trying to balance it all and keep up with everything has been an issue for me the last few months, but I am doing what I can, when I can. How about you? What have you been up to? I hope you are getting some stitching in and taking some time for you. Take care and Happy Stitching.

Stitchy Hugs,

ginny

Well Hello November!
Country Cottage Needleworks · cross stitch · Cross Stitch Patterns · Fabric · Halloween · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Pillows

Well Hello November!

My Time Stitching12 Comments

I slowed down and it was the end of October and today is the first of November. The last time I posted was September 1, wow! This may be a long post, or I may have to break it up into pieces. Anyway, grab a drink and settle in. Here is what I have been up to.

Goodbye, October.

Hello November.

So, September was spent getting my house and spare bedroom ready for my Mother-in-law’s visit. She arrived the end of September and spent 3 weeks with us. We had a great time. Busy all the time, lots of shopping, some crafting and just visiting and hanging out. I even taught her to do counted cross stitch. She was just about finished her project by the time she left. We had fun and I was sad to see her go.

Now onto what I have been stitching…where to begin…The Beach Boardwalk. I think I was on the 2nd shop the last time I posted. Since then I have added the Bicycle shop and the Boardwalk Banner.

I have a really hard time photographing this one. The individual photos don’t show the details and the colors look washed out. So this is the best photo I could get. I love how this one is turning out with all of the shops all in a row. They can be stitched individually, too. The patterns are from Country Cottage Needleworks and I am stitching them on 16t Aida Friendship Greene from Fabrics By Steph. This week I received the next shop, Souvenir Shop, so I will have to get back to it soon. Especially since today I saw the next shop is shipping to shops next week.

Next up is the Flying Lesson that I was stitching to put on a sign for a really cool Halloween display. So I finished the stitching in early September, but then it sat on a shelf.

The fear of cutting into my stitching was the reason I put it aside. I even finished a cute little witch on the other half of the fabric.

This pattern is from the Witchy Stitcher. I changed the purple colors from the called for green, mainly to match the colors I stitched the Flying Lesson with. So I waited until 4 days before Halloween to finally get going on finishing the sign. So I gathered all of my materials and was determined to get it done over the weekend.

This is such a cool looking sign for finishing a cross stitch on.

Gluing and staining. Not my favorite.

As you can see in the above photo, I did cut into the fabric, and I finished the stitched piece onto a sticky board with some batting. I had a bit of trouble with the corners but was finally able to get them to look like somewhat pointed corners. I couldn’t find a trim that I wanted in the craft stores, so I twisted a length of black crochet ribbon around a length of purple yarn and glued it around the edge of the piece. Then I glued it onto the sign. I couldn’t wait for it to dry to hang it onto the post.

Here it is, fully finished! It’s not perfect, but I love it! I am not a fan of gluing wood pieces together nor am I a fan of staining. I did learn that I need to be better at cleaning up the excess glue because the stain doesn’t adhere to the glue. But I think I did pretty good for my first time. And here is how I decorated it for Halloween.

I did not permanently attach any of the decorations to the signpost. My idea is to make more signs for different holidays. Maybe not this year, but in the future. The wooden sign is from Chantelle’s 141 and I have heard that she will be offering just the sign portion in the future. She has some awesome wood pieces for cross stitch finishing in her shop. Click on the link above to visit her online shop.

I did not get the witch piece finished for this year. It was also stitched on 16ct Aida Gina from Fabrics By Steph. I wanted to do some kind of flat fold, but just didn’t get to it. Cutting into 1 piece of finished cross stitch was enough for this year, I think 😉 The Flying Lesson pattern is from Silver Creek Samplers and is stitched on 16ct Aida Gina from Fabrics by Steph.

Well, I think I will end this post here. I have lots more to share, so come back to see what I have been up to. For now, I will leave you with what I woke up to this morning. Hello November.

Happy Stitching,

ginny

Bella Filipina Designs · Country Cottage Needleworks · cross stitch · Fabric · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Knitting · Mermaids · yarn

Lots of Stitching Going On

My Time Stitching5 Comments

Hello my blogging friends! Another post before the end of July! I am on a roll, LOL

Where to start with my stitching…I stitched a little on Rainbow Dice.

Not much added. Blocks of color really bore me. I wonder if I will ever get through this one. Then I pulled out Esmerelda from Bella Filipina. This is where she was when I pulled her out.

And here is where I am now. Fabric is 16ct Aida Oberon from Fabrics by Steph.

A little bit of progress, but still progress, right? And then the Beach Boardwalk series came out from Country Cottage Needleworks and I finally received my Ice Cream Shop. When I first saw this one would be coming out, I knew I was going to stitch it. So I ordered everything and was all set when my pattern arrived.

The fabric is 16ct Aida Friendship Greene from Fabrics by Steph and I will be stitching all 7 shops in a row on this one piece of fabric. I will be using all of the called for Fancy Flosss.

And since I loved stitching with the Nirge Hoop, I decided to go that route rather than putting the fabric on a scroll frame and stitching it sideways.

I am totally in love with all of the colors in this one. My fabric looks blue on the screen but it is a very pale green. And then I realized that I needed a grime guard for this size hoop. Not only to keep my fabric clean, but to help hold all of the extra fabric. So I pulled out my sewing machine and all of the things.

I also made one for my largest hoop for whenever I decide to use that one. Back to stitching 🙂

I couldn’t put this one down!

And I finished it in about a week. Now to wait for the next shop to come out, which should be pretty soon.

In June I also found a project to put on my knitting needles. In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that I had been wanting to make a summer top and for whatever reasons things were not coming together with a couple of different patterns. I finally found a pattern that was going to work out.

I chose the Minka Top from Berroco. I really would like sleeves added to this one, but not sure if I will or not. I also plan to make it just a little bit longer.

The yarn is Medina, also from Berroco. It is mostly a cotton yarn and it is a striping yarn. And it is Green. I am usually not a big fan of green, but my eyes are green, so occasionally I do wear it. But it seems that the universe has been pulling me to green. My travel knitting project is also green, I have recently purchased a couple of green tops, and fabric I have chosen for a future project also has a lot of green in it.

I thought that the Stockinette Stitch would be too boring, but I am actually liking it. I am still dealing with some health issues, and knitting on this sweater has been comforting and relaxing. And I love how it is looking.

Almost to the armhole shaping! Yay!

I finished the back and started the front. I also switched to a bigger bag to hold all of the yarn, just in case I want to take it somewhere and stitch on it.

And here is my progress on the front. I may actually finish this top in time to wear it this summer! I am still wanting to figure out how I can add a small sleeve or sleeve cap. But I still have time to think about that.

During June, I also put my Dragon Princess Diamond Dotz in for framing. Finally.

Hubby and I chose a black frame with a goldish filler frame for inside of the black frame.

And here is my hubby with his newly framed Dragon Princess. I am so pleased with the frame choices we made. She looks amazing. And so sparkly.

And here she is hanging over my husband’s desk in his office. She is perfect 🙂

That is all I have for now. Next time I will show you a new cross stitch SAL that I finally bit the bullet and purchased and started and now I am addicted. So, what have you been up to?

Happy Stitching,

ginny