Bent Creek Halloween Cracker (OOP)
The Trilogy Secret Pumpkin Patch Kit
The Trilogy EEKology chart with linen cut.
Just Cross Stitch Halloween Collectors Issue from 2015.
Bent Creek Glory Chart and Supplies.
Mirabilia's Le Nouveau Paris inspired design.
Victoria Sampler's elegant International Hearts series: England.
Any many other charts, kits and magazines at LiterarycatStitches. Please come over and take a look!
I have been posting charts and kits from my stash that I am ready to part with. I have such an abundance of lovely needlework items, but I know I cannot stitch all of them! Do take a look--maybe you will see something you like?
Here Comes Santa Claus 2005 Limited Edition Kit
Two Country Cottage Needleworks designs all kitted up!
Heart in Hand Needleroll Charts
Starting to add older Just Cross Stitch Ornament Christmas issues, too.
You can take a peek at all my listings at Etsy in my store: LiterarycatStitches.
Remember this mystery project? It's finished and it has safely arrived at its new home! Are you curious what it is? Or did you already recognize it?
It's an older Bent Creek design in their Zippie series, which I have long had in my stash. I am trying to stitch more from my stash (though I admit I have been tempted lately by some new designs, too). I finished it as a cushion and am pleased with how it turned out.
I was afraid I was too rusty to do the finishing and was afraid it would turn out an odd shape, but it mostly came back to me (though my sewing machine does still scare me a little--I prefer to do as much finishing by hand as I can). It was the perfect design to get my feet wet with once again in stitching and finishing.
Bent Creek has some really sweet designs and I think they must have been one of the very first cross stitch designers that I ever bought and stitched! I'll be dipping into my stash bin again looking for more of these little kits to work on, I think.
I'm back from my work conference in Fort Worth, but I seem to have brought back an uninvited guest in the form of a stomach bug. Fortunately it came upon me towards the end of my stay, but unfortunately I had to spend Saturday traveling with a nauseated stomach, which was unpleasant to say the least. I am feeling better but not quite right so am trying to rest and recuperate.
Fort Worth was lovely however. I stayed in their downtown area and spent most nights walking and window shopping. I didn't get in as much stitching as I had hoped as I was busy with my class and the hours I spent in the airport coming home were mostly just with my eyes closed hoping my stomach would settle. You can see more of what I did here, in case you are curious (Fort Worth has some really amazing museums!).
This is the project I did manage to add a few stitches to while I was away (and I had no problems taking my stitching through the security check by the way). It's an older Bent Creek design that came kitted up. I am making it for a friend of mine, but I think it is safe to share here as I don't think she knows I have a stitching blog. I am planning on finishing it as a cushion. It seems a nice, cheerful spring design, don't you think?
Now I have a translation question for anyone who might speak French or has experience working with French cross stitch charts?
I know "lin" is linen, but if the chart calls for 12 fils/cm, what is the equivalent in US linen count? And "nombre de brins"? I'm sure I will have more questions, and I am sure Google translator will help, but sometimes their translations are a bit wonky, if you know what I mean.
One other stitching note. Remember I was looking for someone who carries Reflets de Soie charts? I have discovered that European Cross Stitch has "Anais Curveur 1896", so she is ordered and hopefully will arrive in my mail box very soon (because you can never have enough projects to stitch, right?). I want both charts I shared, but I had best start with just one. I have plenty of other designs all lined up and ready to stitch already.
Hopefully I can get back to my Bee Sampler, too!
I didn't get to stitch anything new for the holiday, but I dug around in my bin of stitched projects and pulled out these two designs by Bent Creek. Both were stitched years ago and I thought it was time to finally finish them properly.
I had already pulled out the fabric when I did my last batch of finishing a while back. I probably should have looked for some other fabrics for variety, but I was too lazy to pull out my fabric bins and search for other fabrics that might work.
And another close up of "Pop" (at least that is what I think this is called).
It's been cloudy all day and raining off and on, so the holiday has been a bit of a washout. Also my iron died on me halfway through my sewing session, which means I didn't get to press this linen as much as I would have liked to. It looks better in person and I am hoping over time any wrinkles will straighten out. I wonder if others use a fusible backing on the linen to give it more support? I need to think about that next time around, though I think I want to work on finishing some smaller things--preferably by hand and not using the sewing machine (which I think I've mentioned before sort of scares me!).
One last close up. I think I must have stitched this about 8-9 years ago! I went through a huge Bent Creek phase, and while I still like her designs I don't often buy them anymore. Still, something nice and quick to stitch is nice now and again.
By the way, I did do a little digging through my other bins and have pulled out a few designs I might work on--mostly they are UFOs--I'll share them soon.
Can it possibly be more than a week since I last posted anything? I have things to share, but I can't seem to get photos taken and posts written lately in a timely manner. The light has been awful, too--no sun, so I just brought my latest finish next to the window and hoped for the best!
I stitched this design years and years ago, and decided it was finally time to sew it into something. I couldn't even remember what it was called and had to look at the Bent Creek website to figure it out. It is the "Plum Berry Sampler".
I like the simplicity of Bent Creek designs, but I don't stitch them very often these days. They are great for stitchers who are just starting out, though, which I was at the time I worked on it. I love the little square buttons and the specialty stitches dividing the rows of letters. And the sweet blue bird!
I have not had a chance to pull out my sewing machine in order to sew the last two designs I found in my finished bin (along with that recent Fourth of July pin pillow I made). Maybe I'll have a day off from work soon and can get to it then. However, I have been making a little progress on a few other designs, which I will share soon!