Thursday 31 March 2011

25% Sale at Heaven and Earth Designs

A Spring Sale has started at Heaven and Earth Designs!

It's 25% off all charts, running until midnight on 17th April 2011.

I have about 20 charts on my wish list, which I seem to add to every time I pay the site a visit, so I'm sure I'll be making at least one purchase before the offer ends.

In particular, I have my eye on Afternoon Tea, Sea Beacon, The Scarecrow and Armada. But I may still pick something completely different - too many charts to choose from!

Sunday 27 March 2011

Butterfly Chart for Mother's Day

Next Sunday is Mother's Day, and with that in mind I've designed a little butterfly pattern to use for a card for my Mum (I'm not counting this in my resolution not to start any more kits until I've got my WIP's down - it'll be finished by this time next week!). I'll be stitching it on 16 count light blue aida.

Here's the chart should anyone else like to stitch it:



Saturday 19 March 2011

Bunny Sat in Grass - Finished!

Just finished this morning - the added border to hide the rip in the fabric meant it took a bit longer to do, but I'm pleased with the effect it's made.

Monday 14 March 2011

Little Bunny Chart

Spring is on it's way, so here's a little cross stitch bunny I designed.


 

I hope you like him! Feel free to stitch him,just don't lay any claims to having designed him ;)

Monday 7 March 2011

Repairing Ripped Fabric

One of my current projects has been on the go for about 15 years now - I've lost the insert for it so I don't know the name or designer but it's a little grey rabbit sat in some grass. It's not a large design (especially compared to most of the others I'm stitching) and it's full cross stitches only, so I don't know why it's taking me so long! But I'm chipping away at it and hope to get it finished relatively soon.

Unfortunately, I'd nicked the canvas with my scissors. I've had this happen before, and a couple of posters at the cross stitch forum I post on kindly explained how I could repair the damage, so I thought I'd share it here as well.

Here's where I'd got to (the rip isn't very noticable in this picture but it's about halfway down the design and by one of the leaves to the left of the rabbit):


To repair a rip, you need to find a scrap of fabric that matches that of your design. Pin it underneath the damaged area so the holes in the fabric match up.

Back of Design:

 Front of Design:


Then stitch through both pieces of fabric.

This is straight forward enough when the rip is in the middle of a patch of stitches. But the rip in my rabbit design was in a spot with no stitches to be done. So I decided to add an internal border and repaired the fabric that way. It means a bit of extra stitching, but at least I can carry on and finish the design now.

Repair Work Front:

Repair Work Back:


Actually, I quite like the effect of having the border - so all's well that ends well!

Thursday 3 March 2011

QS Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate progress 03.03.11


This is my most recent start, the Heaven and Earth Designs Quick Stitch of "Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate".

I've started in the top left corner and will be working across. I'm stitching on 18 count aida which I've not used before, two strands over one stitch, full cross stitches.

Here's my progress so far:


This is the finished design: QS Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate

It's a very enjoyable stitch so far, and I can't wait to get to the little dragon's face (he reminds me very much of one of our cats, who just happens to be a greedy little thing as well!).

New Stash! Endangered Species Cross Stitch Chart book

Seems I'm not allowed to start any new projects until I get my numbers of works in progress down I have to appease the hording side of my personality rather than my starting new things side. I've picked up quite a few bargains from ebay (like my Some Enchanted Evening cross stitch kit for £2.50 including P&P).

So I logged in just to see what was on there and noticed a cross stitch chart book called "Endangered Species" by Cross My Heart. No bids, with less than a minute to go, and starting bid 50p. It seemed too good a buy to miss it so I snapped it up (total came to £1.50 including P&P).

Here's the link to the Amazon page: Endangered Species

Another bit of stash to add to the growing pile - more incentive to get some finishes in!