Follow us by email

Follow us by email

Monday, May 15, 2017

May flowers
Week two

RJ's Grab Bag

Here is my newest stitch that I have been working on for grab bag week.   It is a baby sampler by Lizzie Kate called Welcome Baby.  I love LK patterns because they are easy, quick stitches and fun to do.   It is a gift for one my close friend’s new little granddaughter, Amelia.

PHOTO

My tip on framing

If you are like me, custom framing has gotten so expensive that I hardly ever use it.   But I love to make stitches for other people and frame them.   So I have been changing the pattern a tiny bit to make them fit a store bought frame perfectly.   The Lizzie Kate baby sampler was stitched on 40ct. flax and it came out to be 2  ½ by 3 ½. The width was perfect but the length of the stitch needed to be an inch longer for a perfect fit.  It needed to be 2 ½ by 4 ½ to fit my 4 by 6 frame.  So this is what I did.   I stitched the sampler to the birth date and stopped.   Then I measured down from the top of the stitch 4 ½ inches and marked it.   I then stitched the bottom border up from the marked spot.  This left just about an inch of linen space to stitch.

Disclaimer:   these are just examples of things you can use to add to your stitch to make it longer.   They are not perfectly centered yet or in the perfect colors for this stitch (just tucked in).  The last photo will be the real gift with the right colors and alignment.   
Here it is with the extra space to make the stitch fit the frame.
Now I had to fill that extra inch of linen with something.   Lots of things came to mind… like how about a strip of lace?   Wouldn’t that be pretty for a little girl?
  Just added for display purposes. 

Or maybe some large rick rack?
If this was the real finish I would have used a different color rick rack.

Or how about ribbon and buttons?
Would have used a more delicate ribbon and little vintage white buttons if it was to stay.
How about a strip of ribbon?
Definitely would have used a wider ribbon the color of the border if it was staying.  But I like the polka dot for a little girl.
Or you could stitch a cute little saying like:

                                                               SUGAR AND SPICE
                                                      AND EVERYTHING NICE



Here is my finished baby sampler.  I chose to make 10 long stem tulips to fill in the empty space.  It also has an attached heart button.  But you can see there are lots of choices to pick from to add to the empty space and I'm sure you will come up with even more.
I made up the tulips so I hope you can tell that is what they are!

closeup of the 10 added tulips to the stitch

Welcome Baby
by Lizzie Kate
40 ct. flax linen
over dyed threads
Kohl's frame

I can’t wait to buy a pretty little outfit and wrap it all up and take to little Amelia Faye.

Side note:

In the past I have bought all of my frames at craft stores like Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Joann’s.  But I found they had so little depth, it was hard to close them in the back after putting a finished cross stitch in.   Then I discovered these great frames at Kohl’s.   The line is called Maison and they have enough depth to fit your stitch even with buttons and charms attached.   And the back closes easily.   They list at $15.99 but they are on sale all the time for half price and then if you have a 30% off coupon too you can get them for $5.60.   Now that’s pretty good for a well made frame with lots of room for your stitches.   I always stock up when the deal is that good.


Stitching Challenge

We made a small change and moved our stitching challenge to week two to join our grab bag week.  I was able to get another Santa stitched and Mary stitched her Christmas ornament and now they are just waiting to be finished. Come join us and make a challenge for yourself?   

                                                           RJ's Santa challenge

I was able to get my second Santa stitched this week.  This is a Prairie Schooler design from the booklet Santas Revisited III.   I love gardening themes so I especially enjoyed stitching this one.   I used all over dyed threads that I had and am pleased with the choices.   Well two down and lets hope many, many more to come!

I collect vintage water cans and can't resist stitches that they are in.

Cayenne, Cidermill Brown, Wood Trail, Wisper White, DMC 950, Antique Rose, Otter Creek, Wheat Fields and Tomato over dyed threads were used

Prairie Schooler Garden Santa
Santas Revisited III
32 ct. raw linen
over dyed threads
                                                           🔻

                                                   Mary's ornament challenge

My challenge is to alternate months between Prairie Schooler Barnyard Christmas and the LHN Christmas ornaments.  I have a precious 3 year old nephew that I'm making the animal ornaments for.  I look forward to selecting from my large LHN stash next month.  With this challenge, I may finally get them all finished.
Here are all of the Barnyard Christmas ornaments.   I think my nephew will love them.


The PS horse was stitched with called for DMC colors with the exception of Weeks Red Rocks and Crescent Colors English Ivy.  This is my fabric choice for the ornament.

Prairie Schooler Barnyard Christmas
32 ct. beige linen with a distinctive green tint
DMC and over dyed threads





Looking forward to seeing you next week with our old stitches dressed up.  And we will be sharing our cute freebie find on the third week too.    Keep on stitching!!!   Mary and RJ



                              You are as welcome as the flowers in May
                                                          Charles Maclin

49 comments:

  1. Gorgeous stitching ladies! I love how you personalised Amelia Faye's birth sampler to fit into that beautiful frame RJ. Mary I have stitched quite a few LHN Christmas ornaments and they're lovely. I'm sure your nephew is going to love those PS animals.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Justine, Thank you, I think he will enjoy them, he is a big animal lover.

      I have received personalized stitches from RJ, she has a wonderful talent. Have a great week! Mary

      Delete
    2. Hi Justine! Glad you could come by for a visit. So happy you liked our stitches. I love that little LKate stitch. I have made it several times for new little ones. RJ

      Delete
  2. Beautiful stitching & finishing!
    Love that colourful Santa :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by Mii, I have yet to make a PS santa but after seeing RJ's it's on my every growing list...Happy Stitching! Mary

      Delete
    2. Thank you Mii! The PS Santas are fun to stitch and there are so many of them. I'm enjoying your newest project very much. RJ

      Delete
  3. What a delight your baby sampler is RJ. I too have discovered Kohl's for frames. ;) That Santa is awesome. Mary, I love that you are making these for your precious nephew. This horse is wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Vickie, I thought they would be quick stitches but I think there is no such thing! Kohl's frames are great, I have used a few and its so much easier to fit the stitch in them. Have a great week, Mary

      Delete
    2. Hi Vickie! Hope you are feeling better. I'm a huge fan of Kohl's frames...the price and the room factor. Thank you for liking our stitches. It's fun stitching for the young ones. RJ

      Delete
  4. Both ornaments are precious. While PS designs tend to be straight forward stitches, they are pretty stitch dense. RJ, I like the birth sampler you created and I really like the row of tulips added. Enjoy your week, ladies!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robin, Thanks for your visit, yes, the PS designs are stitch dense, I like that term. Have a great week! Mary

      Delete
    2. Hi Robin! It is always so nice to see you here. You are right about PS designs being stitch dense. They look a lot quicker than they turn out to be. Glad you liked the tulips...I thought they looked girly. RJ

      Delete
  5. RJ love the tulips, perfect addition to the design, makes it look so sweet.
    I love polka dots, the pink ribbon is so girly looking.
    The PS Santa is a wow for me, sadly Prairie Schooler has stopped designing.
    I love all the deals at Kohl's.

    Mary: The book you are stitching from is one of my favorites, I have it in my stash pile to do the sheep, ornament, I love sheep.
    Your horse ornament is so sweet, I have a passion for stitching on 32 count.

    Blessings
    Catherine

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Catherine, I love sheep too, that is why I love the Virtues and Shepard's Bush designs. I even had 3 sheep years ago for my border collie to herd. Thanks for your visit, have a great week. Mary

      Delete
    2. Hi Catherine! I'm thrilled to see you here today. I'm like you a girly girl...love tulip and polka dots! I'm sad too that PS will not be designing anymore but they had a long run. I'm anxious to see all of Mary's animal ornaments done...they are adorable. RJ

      Delete
  6. I love how you altered the birth sampler to fit the frame, what a clever idea! Love both of the ornaments too; you both do such fantastic stitching.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Faith! Glad you came by to see us. It's very easy to make them longer and then they look so much better in the store bought frames. Give it a try. RJ

      Delete
  7. I see we have tastes in common - Christmas stitching and making ornaments. Your framing is lovely. I like the adaptation of your birth sampler to fit the frame. Looking forward to seeing the set of farmyard ornaments in due time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Welcome Elfie! We are so happy you came by for a visit. Glad to hear we have similar tastes and hope you come back often. Do you have a blog? RJ

      Delete
    2. Hi Elfie, Glad you came for a visit,hopefully Christmas of 19 I can show his tree with all the ornaments displayed and some new ones for my tree. Mary

      Delete
  8. What a great tip as to where to buy frames that are cross stitch friendly! Inexpensive too! Thank you!

    Love the tulips and loved seeing all the options. Love the PS ornaments for the nephew too. What a heirloom they will be!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jackie! Glad you stopped by. The Kohl's frames are really nice and makes framing your own stitch so easy. Glad you liked the tulips. Mary's ornaments for her nephew are going to be so cute. RJ

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    4. RJ, told me about those frames and they are nicely made too, would love to hear if you tried them. Mary

      Delete
  9. I am now happily following your blog! Thanks for commenting, and also for following my blog. I really like the way you gave options for finishing the baby sampler. I look forward to your future posts, as well as taking some time to look through your past posts.
    Cathy
    CraftyCat

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aah thanks Cathy. We are happy to be following your blog too. It's taking time to find all the great blogs out there but we will catch up. This is all new to both Mary and I. I look forward to taking an evening to look through all of your past posts too. RJ

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. We are happy to have you and don't have many past posts but have lots planned for the future, glad to have you join us! Mary

      Delete
  10. Beautiful stitching, RJ and Mary!!
    RJ, love the tulips row, the frame is perfect and your Garden Santa is so cute!
    Mary, your PS horse is lovely!

    Hugs,
    Lili

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lili! Thank you so much for enjoying the new stitches. We so love to see all of your new stitches too. RJ

      Delete
  11. Such pretty finishes, and great ideas for DIY framing. I do my own framing, too. :O)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Honeybee! Love seeing you here. You are so good at finishing. I love your work and admire your finishes. You have great instructions on framing too. RJ

      Delete
  12. Oh, what a great idea to make a sampler fit a frame--I never thought of that before!! Since I need to make a baby gift, perhaps I'll consider this chart :) I do love the tulips that you've added, RJ, and your PS Santa is a delight in those colors! What a difference they make...

    Being a PS addict, I loved seeing Mary's horse stitching. I'm sure your little nephew will love him, too :)

    Enjoy your weekends!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Carol! Lizzie Kate has so many adorable baby patterns and they are reasonable in the length of time they take to finish. Glad you liked the tulips...I like the little addition to extend the length.
      Mary's barnyard Christmas is going to be wonderful and I know her little nephew is going to love them and having his own tree. RJ

      Delete
  13. Great work from both of you. I definitely try to use standard size frames for all my smaller pieces and save up for professional framing for the larger pieces. But my framer is very reasonable. I pay between £35 and £50 depending on size.
    Mary, if you can reply by email I will have your address for future comments on my blog as you are both still "no reply". Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jo, I'm still trying to figure out all that is involved with blogging, I'm going to check the notify me, is that what you mean?

      Delete
  14. Thanks Jo! We love whenever you come by. You do have a reasonable framer...I wish I could say the same. Even the craft stores charge way too much around here.
    I promise to get right to that no reply issue. I've just been so busy around here with company, proof reading a book and working on the blog, but I will do it and pass the word on to Mary. Thanks for all of your help. RJ

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love your variety of finishing options to fill out the baby sampler!! So clever :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mel, so nice to see you here, RJ has lots of inspirational ideas for finishing. I love what she finally settled on, the sweet tulips were a great idea for having the stitch fit the framing size.

      Delete
    2. Hi Mel! We are thrilled you joined us. I really enjoyed your stitching too and look forward to catching up on past posts too. Have a great weekend. RJ

      Delete
  16. Lovely stitching ladies. I think I may be the only stitcher that has not stitched a PS design. I have some charts but they have never made it to the top of the stitching pile. I've done several of the LHN ones.
    Nice job on the framing. I've stitched that birth sampler several times - I like the way you adapted it so it would fit a standard frame.
    RJ - thanks for stopping by the blog. I've stitched quite a bit on the FAS since I took the picture. Hopefully I will get another picture soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Tina! I enjoyed all the stitching you had done. The PS Santas are alot of fun...too bad they are not making patterns anymore. Looking forward to seeing your new pictures on the FAS. RJ

      Delete
  17. Hi Tina, This was my first PS stitch, I have completed a few LHN ones and they seem to stitch up faster than this one did. I love the Santa series and was fortunate to find one at an antique store stitched and finished, I would like to do more of them. So glad you stopped by, Mary

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'd never seen your blog, and thanks for your comment! I love the idea of adapting the design to fit the frame, and thank you for the info on the frames at Kohls, that's a great idea. Beautiful work on everything!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Tiff! I enjoyed reading all about you on Jo's blogger of the week post. And thought your blog was great. I went over and followed and will be happy to read your posts. Thanks for stopping by and seeing us. RJ

      Delete
  19. Just discovered your blog, really enjoying it. I have a question about the Maison frames from Kohls, is there enough space to keep the glass?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Both these "new" ornies look great. The ruched ribbon looks very tricky but I think I could manage the buttons!

    ลาลีกา

    ReplyDelete
  21. very beautiful and so lovely work :) i like your good idea ,Thanks for the inspiration!

    ดูหนัง

    ReplyDelete