Sweetland Stitching

These puns are not even good bad puns, I apologize (I don't). This month's ornament is again super tiny! Actually, he's finished on the same size wooden chip as July's Demon Santa . I stitched this little fellow over one on white 28 count DMC Monaco fabric (it was my last piece and I'm kind of sad, I love that stuff). I used almost exclusively étoile floss from DMC - just his little nose is regular DMC 950! The base pattern is from NikkiPattern's Christmas Gnome Set , but I changed all the colours - the beard matches The Frenchman! I've made two of these gnomes now and I'll make at least two more for friends of mine, I think. One will have a blond beard and one a black beard! I'll try to get a picture all together before they go off to their respective homes. I do love finishing ornaments this way. Just wrapped around a little piece of wood or cardboard, glued at the back, and embellished with a few ribbons! Super duper easy, although I will admit th...

 Fall. Is. My. FAVOURITE. Seriously. It's very basic of me but I love everything about fall. I loved school, so I loved back to school shopping, getting all my new notebooks and pens and erasers, heading out to the bus on the first day (or walking 4.5 km to school once I was in high school) and putting together my locker. I love the cooler weather, and wearing leggings and sweaters and flannels. I love the smell of backyard fires (I can't actually have one since I live in an apartment, but just wait!), the way dead leaves smell, walking the Phteven and crunching every step. I think pumpkin spice is delicious , and I love wearing hats and gloves, and burning candles - seriously. I'm obsessed with fall. Now that I've got that crazy person rant out of the way, here's my current WIP. It's Woodland Friends: Racoon by Tiny Modernist , but I don't think it's on their site, as it's in the October 2019 issue of Just Cross Stitch. I've been using all of t...

As protests around the world keep going, it's time to seek out Black and Indigenous voices and listen. We aren't immune to these issues in Canada; Black and Indigenous Canadians are killed in police altercations at a staggeringly high rate. We remember them . This pattern is by Stone Street Stitchworks . Quote is from Martin Luther King Jr, and it's true. Stitched over one on 28 count wheat lugana by Zweigart, with the called for flosses and a few additions. Take time to reflect today. Stay safe and stay healthy. - Cedie

  I knew him well - given how long this piece took (at least a year), I had quite a bit of time to get to know him! I think I finished this about two years ago? I remember working on it heavily while I was writing the literature review for my graduate thesis, so probably two years ago or even longer. It was so long ago the designer changed names! This is Skull with Pixel by MENonWOOL (formerly Hallodribums). They do a lot of realistic anatomical designs, very cool stuff.  I used all of the called for greys in this patterns, but I did switch out the pink to 304 as I didn't like the salmon that was used in the pattern. There's a lot of confetti in this piece but it gives such a realistic, wonderful effect - and is balanced by the pixels, which are very easy to stitch up! I worked this on 16 count white aida fabric. The piece I chose was a bit small, so when I (finally) framed it this year I used an 8x10 inch Pres On Mounting Board . While I liked the board, I kind of messed up ...

 In the strange and horrible year that is 2020, we should still find time to celebrate the things we love, especially the things that give us a moment's respite from everything going on. In that vein - Happy World Cross Stitch Day 2020! These are a few of the Christmas ornaments I've stitched over the last three years! All are from various issues of the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Special.  This particular ornament was actually the very first pillow ornament I ever stitched! It was my first time using metallic floss as well, which is just gorgeous. I glued the pillow together at the top left, because I didn't really understand how to make it otherwise. I stitched this ornament last year, and it was also a first - my first time stitching on a 32 count linen! This one is from Picture This Plus, in Stellar (please appreciate how far back in my email I had to search to find that). I seem to remember I accidentally stitched the centre square in reverse - I think it was supposed t...

 Hello hello hello! It's another day in the Werk (In Progress) Room, and I'm feeling... spooky! My featured project this WIP Wednesday is the All Souls Vierlanden by Quiltify Designs ! This is such a unique sampler, I've never seen anything quite like it! It's charted in a single colour, but I decided to work it in shades of purples, pinks, and one metallic gold for detail work like the crowns and vases throughout. When I posted it on Instagram, Ben Drew himself of Quiltify commented and messaged me to say he liked my colour choices - it was a real " notice me senpai!! " moment!  I will admit freely that the 2020 has been picked out and recharted twice - I originally started this sampler in 2018, redid the date in 2019, and am now hoping to finish it in 2020! It seems appropriate for the year we've been having, both in terms of design elements and general vibe. I've been using a variety of DMC colours, as well as some SILKS4U  threads (can highly recom...

After all, Santa is an anagram of Satan... Since I make an absolutely ridiculous number of Christmas ornaments every year, I've decided I'll just feature my favourite each month here. This ornament is stitched over one with one strand of floss on a mystery (and weirdly crunchy) 28 count linen scrap from my stash. It's from the 2013 Happy Christmas book by Prairie Schooler, and the pattern itself is great! I subbed colours I had on hand, including a DMC Étoile for his hat and jacket, and the DMC Light Effects B5200 for the trim on the same. I used some mystery petite red Mill Hill beads from one of their ornament kits. The bobble on the end of his hat is an iridescent white sequin held on with a bead! I restarted this project twice, first because I was stitching over two and it ended up being too large. Second time I just miscounted. The Light Effects over one was a nightmare to stitch, I won't lie. And to top it off, I left him on my beside table overnight and when I wo...

Back again with another piece by Cute Patterns by Maria! This is part of her Forest Witch Sampler , but you can buy just this hand here . As always, the pattern was super clear, legible, and was a pleasure to stitch. Only one colour used for the backstitching in the one, so a bit simpler than my previous piece by Maria. The trailing backstitched roots and details in the fingers give such a lovely effect though, don't you think? I stitched this piece over two with two strands on 32 count Zweigart Lugana in Lavender (much more recently than my previous post, as you can no doubt tell from the fact that I actually know what fabric it is). I mostly used the called for threads, but I did sub out at least one of the rose shades as I didn't have it on hand. I think I subbed out one of the greens as well, and I definitely used 3371 instead of 310 for the backstitching - I almost always do, as I find it gives a softer look. I was going to finish this set into a ring dish, because I had ...

It's fitting that my first post on this blog is one of the first truly intermediate patterns I've completed (with blended threads, fractional stitches, and backstitching - and french knots, but frankly I omitted those). The pattern in question is Girl-deer with coffee by Maria Brovko, one of my favourite Eastern European designers (keep an eye out for my next post, which will also be one of hers)! I believe I stitched this in early 2018, and I would have framed and hung it late 2018 when The Frenchman and I moved into our current apartment. It's currently hanging about the big comfy chair in our living room - appropriately, I glance at it pretty much every morning while drinking my morning coffee! I completed this project on a 14 count fiddler's aida, most likely by DMC as that's about all you can get in big box craft stores (AKA Michael's) up here in the Great White North. It's stitched over one with the suggested DMC floss, and doing the fractional stitch...