Baby It’s Cold Outside from the 6 Snow Belles series by Lizzie Kate. Stitched with DMC floss including Color Variations #4047 on Wichelt Imports hand dyed Jobelan in color “sand castle”. Finished off with a wooden snowflake button from Amazon and a Bent Creek snap.
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Carrie
Darn! After stitching the blue letters I remembered I had the perfect snowflake buttons to swap out for the stitched snowflakes in the design. But it turns out they are a bit too big. I think I’ll use them anyway and just rip out the letter C and move it over to the left.
XXX
Carrie
Getting a start on Lizzie Kate’s “Baby It’s Cold Outside” with one little change… instead of the snowflake button I decided to use a snap from a Bent Creek snappers chart!
XXX
Carrie
How to grow a snowman in 3 easy steps:
You can’t forget the fuzzy earmuffs! This was such a fun project from Lizzie Kate, called Tis The Season from Tiny Tidings XI. Stitched on 28 count Touch of Blue linen with DMC floss and DMC Color Variations (for the heart). Red glittery pom poms add a cute touch!
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Carrie
This was another project that I knew I had to stitch as soon as I saw it!
Lizzie Kate Ready For Snow. Stitched with DMC floss on 14 count Zweigart Vintage Country Mocha.
This will be a nice addition to my collection of snowman “smalls”.
Since I had the chart only, I used a plastic snowflake button from Hobby Lobby and cut the shank off and attached it with long stitches. I did alter the colors a bit; since I use regular DMC instread of the overdyed floss called for, I wasn’t too happy with the conversions. After stitching the words “ready” and “sn-w”, I didn’t care for the teal shade or the brighter red that was to come next. The two reds were almost identical, so I kept the word “ready” as it was but then chose two different red shades for the border and scarf. I also chose a much more bright teal instead of the dull light blue that was supposed to be used. This made it match the cover photo more, without having to use the more expensive overdyed floss.
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Carrie
Lizzie Kate Love Never Melts from Tiny Tidings VII. Stitched with DMC floss on 14 count light blue Aida.
Another fun and fast stitch, but so much white!
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Carrie
Rudolph is finished! I just love how he turned out. I did struggle a bit with the red polka dot fabric because when I cut it straight on one side, the polka dots did not line up correctly in the perpendicular direction – they went downhill. In the end I decided to not try to line the dots up evenly with the edge of the linen, and I think it turned out OK. I also always struggle with how much stuffing to add to these little cushions, and I keep adding more and then taking some out. I am too much of a perfectionist!
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Carrie
I have had so much fun stitching this Ho Ho Ho Rudolph from Lizzie*Kate! I did mess up on the counting on the snow pile, which made the border closer than it should have been. And I changed the border from white to blue so it would show up better. My fabric was apparently a lot lighter than the color in her stitched model. I also changed the stitched snowflakes to Mill Hill beads.
Now I just need to figure out how to finish this little guy off. I can’t decide between a flat fold (which I have actually never made before!), an ornament, or a mini pillow. I really don’t need any more tree decorations and I could use a bunch of mini pillows for decorating, so that is probably what I will go with.
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Carrie
Usually I stitch medium to large cross stitch projects that take quite a bit of time and concentration. Lately, however, I have been gravitating toward smaller, easier, and quicker projects. My stitching time is so limited and I want to be able to finish as many things as fast as possible. I’ve also gotten rid of a lot of projects in my WIP pile this year. The only two unfinished projects I have now are Peacock Tapestry and A Summer Ball. I would like to work on A Summer Ball sometime soon, but I don’t have plans on finishing that one for years. Instead, I would like to build up a large collection of smalls for each holiday. That is what I have decided 2022 is going to be – A Year Of Smalls. I am going to start working on Christmas and winter designs, and once I have a bunch of those done I will probably work on 4th of July and Halloween. Those are the 4 main themes I want to stitch for. If time allows I would also like to have a few designs each for St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and Thanksgiving.
I also want to have a bunch of projects kitted up to have ready to go whenever the mood strikes. I don’t mind if I work on multiple projects at once. One of the projects I have just started is F128 HoHoHo Holiday JINGLES Flip-it by Lizzie Kate and it is adorable!
So far I only have Rudolph’s red blanket (saddle??) and part of his body stitched. But I will work on this one for quite a while before moving on.
I also plan on working on Happy Holidays by Bent Creek which I blogged about recently, although I have not yet decided on which color scheme I want to go with.
Another fun winter project is this adorable snowman, J.T. Fuzzy from Sisters and Best Friends. I have not kitted up this one yet, but assuming I have the correct 7 count Klostern fabric on hand, this one will be a really fast stitch because it is very small. I just love the carrot button nose and real scarf!
And last but not least, is a free cover kit that came with a recent issue of The World of Cross Stitching. It features robins (well, British robins!) and the words Merry Christmas, along with a wooden snowflake charm. Although it came with a card and envelope, I am going to finish it off as a small pillow or flat fold instead. I actually started this project in the waiting room at the hospital a couple of weeks ago while waiting for my husband to have a procedure done. I have not worked on it since but it will be going into the rotation.
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Carrie
Today while rummaging around through my cross stitch patterns I came across some of Lizzie Kate’s Flip-Its. I love these tiny little patterns and these designs are perfect for the upcoming seasons. I probably don’t have all of the Weeks Dye Works and The Gentle Art Sampler Threads colors required on hand, but I have tons of small scraps of linen, and hopefully enough similar shades of overdyed floss from various other companies. I also have a few small square frames just waiting to be painted and filled with a new project.
These designs are all over 10 years old, but they seem like they won’t ever go out of style. I think I will stitch the Halloween design first since it is almost October!
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Carrie
Here is my progress on Lizzie*Kate’s chart from the new Halloween special issue of Just Cross Stitch.
The pattern calls for Weeks Dye Works floss, which I don’t have. I do, however, have a huge assortment of WDW pearl cotton #5. I can’t recall where it came from, and I have never used it before. I had the colors needed so I decided to give it a try. Not a good idea. At least, not with the fabric I picked out, which I believe is 30 count. This type of cotton is just too thick to be used on such a small count of linen, even over two. I am going to keep with it, but it is hard to stitch with. It almost looks like I have created all of the stitches using french knots.
XXX
Carrie