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Tuesday, April 4, 2017

April week one
Spring is here!

Welcome to our new blog Stitching Friends Forever.  We are two friends, Mary and RJthat love to cross stitch.  Having followed so many stitching blogs the last few years we have been inspired by your stitches, finishes and techniques.   We thought it would be fun to have our own blog and share our stitching projects with others and hopefully encourage newcomers to take up cross stitching.


It will be our goal to have a weekly post.   Monthly themes and weekly projects will be listed on the sidebar.   We have plans to add a monthly stitching party so we can have a sharing community of stitchers in the very near future.  And there will be fun surprises along the way.   We hope you will enjoy our ideas and become a stitching friend too. 


Styling With Stitches


The first week of each month we will feature one of many ways to use and display cross stitches.  This month's project is stitched candle banners that will look great as your Spring centerpiece or anywhere you might use a candle in your home.

We have two stitched candle banners for you to see below:

RJ's candle banner -   I chose the pattern A Spring Day by Heart in Hand.  I stitched it on white linen and used over dyed threads that I had on hand.  I changed the words A Spring Day to Printemps because of my love for French things.  A small bee button was added to the stitch instead of stitching it.  I sewed the banner with green polka dot fabric, rick rack trim, ribbon ties and flower buttons added to the back.   This was a fun, easy and colorful stitch just like a pretty Spring day.  

Here are some closeups of the candle banner:


Now you can see that adorable little bee button below.

I used my candle banner as a centerpiece for a luncheon with my girlfriends. Fresh cut daffodils, flower pots of malt ball eggs, bunny plates, Majolica style accessories from Homegoods, vintage French seed packets and flower frogs all say Spring to me.

A Spring Day
by Heart in Hand
32ct. white linen
over dyed threads



Mary's candle banner- My candle banner was stitched from a free chart that you can find here.  I prefer to use variegated threads so I substituted GA Grasshopper for leaves and stems, GA Cidermill Brown for the bunnies' bodies, CC Honeycomb and DMC white for the large flowers.  French knots for the bunnies' tails were done in Whisper-color W89.   If your not familiar with Whisper thread it's great for beards and animals, especially sheep.   

The trim separating the linen from the fabric was a find in Michael's $1.50 bins.  I always do a quick check of the bins for cross stitch embellishments.

This was a fun project to do and can be adapted for any season or holiday.


My Spring tablecloth was embroidered by my sister and myself many years ago for my Mom.  I hope someday it will be considered a family heirloom.  The bunny napkin fold is easy to do.   I followed this video.  

Here's a closeup of the pretty trim on the banner.   I like the way the trim echoes the design of the bunny's tail.

nspruance.com
free bunny pattern
32 ct. white linen
threads listed above

                     We hope you all have a wonderful week and lots of stitching hours.  
                                                                    Mary and RJ 


                                              A kind word is like a spring day 

                                                                 author unknown









25 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Jackie,thank you so much for visiting us on the opening day of our new blog. We have many new projects to share. Hope you will come back soon. RJ

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    1. Thank you George and thanks for all the help you have given us getting the blog started. We couldn't have done it without your help. RJ

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  3. George, your the best, thanks for all your technical assistance, we would have been lost without it!

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  4. Yay! You did it RJ and Mary!! And what a wonderful first post. I love the fact that you two are doing this while living miles apart.

    Love both of your candle banners and your table settings. I've never made a candle banner, but it is a great way to use your stitching :)

    Looking forward to more enjoyable posts from you two!

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    Replies
    1. Aah thank you so much Carol for coming over and visiting us. Your support really means a lot to us. As Mary said above we love visiting Stitching Dreams and seeing all of the wonderful stitches and finishes you do. I'm still drooling over the bunny pouch!

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  5. Carol, so nice to have you come visit, your blog has been a great source of inspiration for RJ and myself. We look forward to showing lots of uses for our stitches and it will be great if we inspire others as you have inspired us!

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  7. Well done my dear friends! I'm looking forward to reading it each week.
    I've shared the link a few places.

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    1. Thank you so much Becky for stopping by. I miss all of you at the Back Porch. Hope you are all doing well. We just started yesterday and there was so much to learn but I think it is going to be a lot of fun. Say hi to the girls for me. RJ

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  8. Way to go on your first blog post! Both of your stitcheries are lovely. Thank you for providing the link to Mary's bunny banner.

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  9. Robin, Thank you so much for following us! Although RJ and I have a small fortune invested in patterns we have found many free designs that have so generously been posted by designers. We have done several and will be showing them with the links. Stay tuned!!

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  10. Hi Robin...thank you so much for stopping by for a visit. We will provide many links in future posts too. I like how easy it is to find things that way too. Mary and I are thrilled to have you as a follower. RJ

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  11. Loved your crosstitched wrappers on the candles, it looks wonderful on your tablesetting.Thank you for the chart link. Best wishes for your new venture and you both are a long way apart, BFF indeed.I really look forward to your next entry.Have signed up to follow. Best wishes from N.Z.

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    1. Hi Shirley! Mary and I are so excited to have someone from New Zealand be a follower of our blog. I loved every minute I spent in New Zealand on holiday and hope to return again. We are so grateful for your kind wishes. rj

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  12. Nice to meet your blog, RJ and Mary!
    A beautiful post with lovely stitching!
    Hugs,
    Lili

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    1. Hi Lili! I was so excited to find your lovely blog the other night and told Mary right about it. We will both be following you and we are so happy you have come by for a visit. Hope you come back soon. RJ

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  13. I'm so looking forward to reading and viewing the content you plan on delivering! The candle banners are a wonderful project to share and I loved reading both perspectives. I've honestly never thought of finishing in this manner and can't help but think a lot of the pin drum charts would work really well with this type of finish!

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    1. Hi Jackie...so nice of you to come visit our blog. I'm so glad you liked our candle banners and yes you are right patterns for drums would be perfect for this type of finish. We have others scheduled that will have a similar stitch and I will keep that in mind. I so enjoyed your blog and signed up to follow. RJ

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  14. Thanks for commenting on my blog Mary. You are a no-reply person but if you reply to this comment by email I can save your address and respond in future.
    I love both your candle banners and the wonderful table decorations too. Very elegant dining!

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    1. Welcome Jo! We are happy to have you here. Thank you so much for your kind comments. The candle banners were really a lot of fun to make and we are glad you like them. I'll be coming for a visit to your blog too. RJ

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  15. Hi Jo, I didn't know I was a no-reply person!! Lots to learn in the blogging world. Thanks for letting me know and I'll look into it.

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  16. As a personal friend of Mary, I think she is a WONDERFUL artist. I have also personally seen RJ's work, and she is truly talented also. And as a fan, I would LOVE a sewing machine cover for my brand new sewing machine!!! (hint, hint). :)

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  17. So lovely to read your first blog post nearly a year on now. The talent of both of you was so obvious from day one of your blog. I do so enjoy seeing what you stitch and create.

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