Mistletoe in February

RJ's Grab Bag Post

You must be wondering why I'm posting about mistletoe in February?   Well love is our February theme and this is a little love story with a beautiful stitch to go with it.   So with encouragement from Mary I went with it.   Hope you like it too. 
                                                                              

I looked at this cross stitch pattern by Heartstring Samplery  in the fall over and over again. There were three band samplers to choose from but for some reason this one kept calling me back.  It was BIG and would take a long time to make so I kept passing on it. But, then one late night, I hit purchase and I was soon stitching  "it must have been the mistletoe"  every free moment I had.   It had to be done for Christmas because I realized why I loved it so much…it reminded me of a very special  night in my life.   It was made with lots of love and tons of hours of work for the most incredible person I know.  

This photo really dates us…my flip hairdo, George’s wide wale corduroy suit and a silver tree were a must!  I’m glad there was a photo because it turned out to be a night to remember.  It was our senior year of college and  we were going to a holiday party at George’s frat house right before Christmas.  I was excited about the new dress my Mom had made me and having a fun evening.

As we drove off from my house, George told me the car heater was not working.   I was soon freezing because it was a very cold and frosty night.  After awhile we were driving through a beautiful neighborhood and he stopped the car in front of one of the pretty decorated houses.   He pulled a blanket from the back seat and asked me to put that on my legs to help warm me up.   Then he gave me a pair of his leather gloves to put on my hands.   When I slipped my fingers into the one glove, I felt something hard.  I pulled it out and it was my engagement ring!  Of course I said yes.

 It was turning into a very special night.  After a kiss, I saw snow starting to fall.  There is something so unique about new fallen snow…romantic and pretty.

As we started driving again, the heater suddenly worked.  When we got to the house and were walking up the stairs, he brushed a snowflake from my nose.  It was truly a magical night!

We opened the door and one of the brothers had hung mistletoe in the hall.   I had my first kiss under the mistletoe.   I already knew I loved George but it must have been the mistletoe that made me love him even MORE!!!

I was almost done when I ran out of Juniper thread.   But, my trusty sidekick Mary had a brand new skein that she immediately put in the mail.   It looked like this but finished up quickly after receiving the floss.  I only had one line to go or so I thought.

But now I had a framing issue.   The stitch turned out to be about six inches wide and twelve inches long and I could not find a frame to use for it.   After some thought, I figured I could buy a frame with an 11 by 14 opening and the 14 would be perfect for the 12 inch length but I would have a lot of extra linen on each side.   So I decided to take a line from the stitch, turn it on it’s side, center it on each side of the finished stitch and keep stitching until I reached the top and bottom. 

It turned out perfectly and left an inch of linen showing all around the stitch.   It was my favorite line so I enjoyed stitching it again.  

My luck really kept going when I went to Super Joanne’s and found a really pretty frame half price plus I had a 30% off coupon to use.   It even came with the double mats which made the frame quite large and was just what I wanted for a Christmas stitch to sit on the mantle for the holidays.  It was stitched on 40 ct. raw linen and it popped well against the cream mats.  

In this photo I got the shadow of the chandelier and in the next photo the shadow of the fan.   No matter where I put it something would pop up.   

After I framed it, I attached the photo of George and me to the back and included a letter  telling how this stitch reminded me of that very special night.   I hope someday it will get passed down in the family and someone will enjoy reading about it.  

It must have been the Mistletoe
by  Heartstring Samplery
40 ct. raw linen
Juniper overdyed floss by Weeks
Frame from Joann's 

I truly loved stitching this beautiful pattern that Beth Twist designed.   It was one I didn't want to put down and actually didn't want to come to an end.   I enjoyed stitching with one color, Juniper by Weeks and how each line changed to such lovely designs.  

You can see more of Beth's beautiful designs here  Her patterns are very easy to follow and a real joy to stitch.   And if you have not heard the song "it must have been the mistletoe" you can listen to it here.  Once I heard it , I hummed it almost the whole time I stitched the sampler. 

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As the month of February ends, we are preparing for lots of new things for the month of March.  Our theme is sewing and we have some neat projects to show you.  We also begin our newest Sal with Meg.  If anyone else would like to join us, just drop us an email for details.  And, we have a special new  surprise feature that should be alot of fun and we think you will enjoy.    Hope you are all doing well and getting alot of stitching in.   We will be by to see what you have been up to.   As always, thank you so much for stopping by.   We really appreciate your visits and your comments.

                                                                Stitching Friends

                           A friend is what the heart needs all the time
                                                           Henry Van Dyke

February 
Styling with Stitches/Love
French Village Update
Valentine Freebie 

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.  Hope you get to spend time with the people that are special in your lives.   It's a great day to show love and kindness to others. Sometimes a smile can make another's day.  So sending smiles to all of you!


RJ's Music Box

I had a bigger project planned for today but then fate stepped in.   I was cleaning out a craft cabinet a few weeks ago that was filled with old crafts and things I don't really use too often.  But, towards the back there was a shoe box that was labeled "cross stitch".   I opened it up and I spotted it...a tiny music box!

I looked at it and my eyes welled up with tears.   It was more than 30 years old.  My parents had come to visit us in Alabama. Mom and I went out to pick up a few groceries and she spotted a cross stitch store in the strip mall.   Well, you know we had to go check it out.   It was the first real cross stitch store for both of us.   It was such a sweet store filled with many neat things to use for your stitches.   My Mom spotted the music boxes and said we both need one of these and put them in her basket.

Less than a month later, we were packed and moving to San Antonio, Texas for our next military assignment.   Before I even got my boxes unpacked and had the house settled, I got a call from my Dad that my Mom was very sick and to come home.   I spent nine months caring for my Mom until she passed on Valentine's Day at a very young age.   I didn't stitch for some time after getting back to Texas and I must have forgotten about the music box.

I had even forgotten the song it played.  It turned out to be "As time goes by". My husband is a big Bogie fan and Casablanca is one of his favorite movies.   I knew immediately I would put a stitch in it for him.  I used a sweet Shepherds Bush stitch that fit the box perfectly.   I smiled the whole time I stitched it remembering how happy my Mom was in that cross stitch store and finding these tiny music boxes.   This little project is filled with a lot of love...a Mom's love for her daughter with increased love for a special man.     

George's grandfather's pocket watch to go with "As Time Goes By" music box

Closeup of "Be Mine" cross stitch

Be Mine Kit
by Shepherds Bush
blush linen
silk threads included
bee button included

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Mary's Covered Box

I chose V is for Valentine by Heartstring Samplery for my stitch.  I wanted to mount it on a round wooden box.  After coming up empty handed for a wooden box, I resorted to a paper mache one.    To my surprise, the box took the chalk paint and waxing just fine.  I lined it with a pretty fabric and used sticky board to attach the stitch.  Black rickrack shows off the stitch.  It looked "blah" without it. Finishing is always a work in progress!!!

Does anyone have a tip on how to cut sticky board in a circular shape?  It was very difficult to cut with scissors and as you can see it's not perfect.

What Valentine's treat will my husband find in here? 

V is for Valentine
by Heartstring Samplery
called for threads
mystery linen

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RJ's French Village Update

Stitching these fun shops has been a totally enjoyable time.   I have three more to share today. I decided I needed a "boutique hotel" for my little French village.   I looked through my older patterns and found the Poinsettia House by LHN.   I thought with some tweaks and additions it would work well.  I think this would be the perfect spot for Vickie to stay.

To make it work, I lowered the windows a bit to fit a sign that said Le Poinsettia which means The Poinsettia.  I added little shrubs on the front, Christmas trees with little fences on the sides, and a small hanging sign that says HOTEL.  I used the same color Wild Berries for the bows to match the color of the Poinsettia wreath.   I think it worked. 

Le Poinsettia Hotel

The second stitch is the train station.  There were not too many changes to make here.  A black sign was added with the word Avignon.  I added an extra row to the boy's pants and a row to the boy's shirt to make him just a bit taller to match the taller station.  Two added rows to the bottom of the engine, two extra rows at the top and two extra stitches to the smoke stack made it the same height as the station.   I left off the trees on the right to keep it a smaller size for an ornament.

Train Station in Avignon

My newest stitch is probably my very favorite because of all the changes I made and how much fun it was to come up with ideas.  This is actually LHN's coffee shop that I didn't think I could use because it just didn't look French to me. But, it bothered me that I was not using a brand new pattern so I pulled it out again and decided to make it something else. 

It is now an antique/second hand store.   There were a ton of changes on this one.   I started with making it olive instead of brandied pears.   I added a painted flower instead of the coffeepot in the peak.  A sign that says Brocante was added.  I changed the awning to reds and creams.  Then, I added different benches to the front of the shop in hickory sticks to look like iron.   At first they were not showing up...so I stitched over them again.   It made the color pop and they have a bit of 3D look as they are thicker than the rest of the stitch.   But now the real challenge came.  What do I put in those windows?   I had no little antique stitches in my stash.   My first thought was an antique quilt hanging in the window.  So, I stitched an iron rod across the window and began to stitch a block quilt checkerboard style.  Then, I thought why not put flowers on the white blocks. That worked.

But, there was the other window and I was at a total loss what to put in it.   Alot of the other shops had Christmas trees so that seemed like a good idea.  I used the one from the clock shop but made it taller and wider.   I then thought of my husband's antique standing radio.   It had a simple design so I gave it a try.   I basically made a rectangle and rounded off the top.  Then, I made a screen in white and dials with French knots.  And, then a lighter color for the fabric that covers the speaker.   The window still did not look full enough to go with the window with the quilt.   I thought of alot of different things but settled on adding garland to the top of the window.  Not done yet!!!  Now, the windows needed to be wider and longer to fit the quilt which meant the door had to be adjusted too.   I put a big header in cream and added windows to the door and changed the color to red.  The final touch was to add steps and snow and I had myself a sweet Brocante that I love. It's now my favorite French shop.

The Coffee Shop becomes an Antique Shop

                                           
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Valentine Freebie
We have a little freebie for you.  This is a complimentary chart from Hands on Design.   You can find the pattern here    Hope you enjoy this sweet stitch from Cathy.

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Thank you so much for your visits and kind comments.   They really mean a lot to us.  We have a "grab bag" post coming up  next.   Lots of new projects are coming in the near future too that we hope you will enjoy.   We look forward to coming by and seeing all of your new stitches and crafts too.  Happy stitching!!!
                                                 
                                                   Stitching Friends 


                               Life is the flower for which love is the honey.
                                                           Victor Hugo

January
Styling with Stitches/Snowmen

Our January theme is snowmen.   Once a year, we each pick a month to stitch a pinafore.  Mary chose January and I will be doing mine in July.   The other person does a word play door beller. Our goal is to have a pinafore for all 12 months and the same with the word plays.   Several people have asked what is a door beller?   That is what Brenda Gervais the designer of With Thy Needle and Thread calls them.   The word play is because there are many words that are associated with the month you are stitching and door beller is because you hang them on your door and they make a jingle when you open your door.

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RJ's Word Play Door Beller

Here in Florida, it never snows and I miss seeing it.   Ok, I know if you are somewhere really cold tonight you are ready to throw a snowball at me!   I do remember as a child getting out of school early because of snow.   We couldn't wait to get outside and make snowmen.  My Mom would make me wear two pairs of socks under my boots, a sweater under my coat, a wool hat and scarf and my hood up, two pairs of gloves and sometimes even a second pair of pants.   It's amazing I could even walk in all those clothes let alone make a snowman.  

When my Dad would get home from work at five, we would dress our snowman up.   My Dad would bring out charcoal for his eyes, a carrot for his nose, buttons from my Mom's button box for his shirt, my Grandpa's pipe to put in his mouth and my Dad's hat and scarf.   He would usually fatten the jolly man up too with added snow.   

Now I only get to stitch snowmen and remember those fun days growing up. I really enjoyed stitching the January word play.   It seemed quicker and easier than the others.  Who doesn't love snowmen?   It was fun stitching him in the wagon and all of the winter words.   I did change the color of the wagon to red but everything else was just like the pattern called.   For the finish, I used a French General fabric called Doily snowflakes in dark green.  In between the fabric and stitch, I sewed in white rick rack.  Then I added a red wool heart with a running stitch and added a cute snowman button because I ❤ snowmen.  A white ribbon hanger and a small bow with a snowflake button was stitched on the top left side.   And to turn it into a door beller, rusted bells were stitched to the bottom.   I wanted to paint the jingle bells white so they would look like snowballs but time did not allow me so I stuck with the rusted ones that I have used before and work great.  (Maybe one day I'll change it!)

Door Beller is hanging on an old shutter

Closeup of the heart, snowman button and rick rack plus those dangling bells.

Closeup of the white bow and tiny snowflake button

January word play door beller
by With thy Needle and Thread
35 ct. Abecedarian linen
called for threads except used cayenne for wagon
button from 123 Stitch
rusted bells from Amazon

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Mary's Pinafore

"Jolly Happy Soul" otherwise known as "Frosty"  by Brenda Gervais was my choice for a snowman pinafore.

I thoroughly enjoyed stitching this sweet fellow but once again I struggled with the finishing.  I initially used my burlap envelope pillow that I used for  my Gardener Goode Witch Pinafore but it was not doing anything for poor Frosty and certainly not doing anything for me!

Rejected Frosty finish

I remembered I had some red burlap in my stash and made a new envelope pillow cover.

I think he looks so much better on the red. 

Even Smokey agrees! 

Jolly Happy Soul
by Brenda Gervais
With Thy Needle and Thread
35 ct. Old Town Blend linen
by R+R Reproductions
called for floss

Stay safe and warm if your being affected by this Polar Vortex.  I certainly won't be building any snowmen today in freezing New York!!!


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What's Stitching?

Well we are about to start a new SAL in March.   It is a four pattern series (but will include six projects) by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle and Thread.   It is called Summer Schoolhouse Lessons.  It is stitched on 28 ct. mushroom Luguna over one, but you can use any fabric of your choice.   If you would like to join us let us know.   We will be following the same rules as before which is to  stitch only one hour a day on this project.  If you miss a day you can catch up on another day.   You can show it on your blog at anytime you wish.  

photo taken from Country Stitches sales site 

There is a new pattern out that I have been so anxious to stitch.   My dear blog partner Mary bought it the first day it was available and sent it to me and I can't wait to get started.   I just have to order my floss and I'll be stitching a great new SNOWMAN.   He is precious but look at that adorable cardinal on his head.   That sold it for me.   I just love him!

Photo taken from Country Stitches sales site

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RJ's French Village Update

The last time I showed you a village shop it was last November.   I stitched eight last year and this year my challenge was to finish them.   Well I got two new patterns for Christmas and started stitching them again.   I literally became obsessed with stitching these cute village shops and before I knew it I had stitched seven more just this month!   I had a lot of fun with many of the new stitches changing many parts and even making up parts of the stitch.   I will show two each time we post and then finally start showing them finished into ornaments at the end of February.

One of the newest patterns out is the Clockmaker.   I liked everything about this pattern and stitched it just like the pattern called.  Well except for changing the doors to Baby Spinach and changing the name from Clocks to Temps which means Time in French.   The word for clock in French was much too long and I didn't like how it sounded.   So I looked up Tick and Tock but they didn't work either.  Then my husband George who remembers his French way better than me suggested Temps.  Perfect!

Then the next new one was the Coffee Shop.   I was going to use it for my French Cafe' but it just did not look French to me at all.   So I purchased the Cafe' from Country Cottage Needleworks and made adjustments so it would fit in with the rest of the LHN shops.   So many features looked French to me like the menu board, the iron lantern, the balcony, shutters, and outdoor eating.   It looked like so many cafes I've seen in the French Quarter of New Orleans and so I thought it would fit perfectly in my French village.  It turned out really cute and was just what I wanted.

I changed the shop to olive instead of a bright avocado.   Then I stitched the doors and shutters in red instead of the called for brown. And, changed the doors to double doors too. I did the awning and umbrella in red instead of the called for colors.  The trim and window box were changed to ecru. The tablecloths were made white so they would stand out.  The outdoor furniture I stitched in hickory sticks to make them look iron instead of wood.  I put cafe on the menu board instead of menu.   And, lastly I added a sign above the awning that says Croissant (the name of the cafe' because it is famous for croissants).  It turned out to be one of my favorites though I love them all.


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We enjoyed visiting with you today and hope to see you again in about ten days when our February Styling with Stitches projects will be ready.   We will be by to visit your blogs and to see all of your new stitches/projects too. And if you have a blog and we don't have it listed on our sidebar, please let us know as we would love to add you.  Stay warm and keep stitching during these cold days. 


                                                     Stitching Friends



                                  Snowmen fall from Heaven unassembled
                                        unknown author

January 2019'
Grab Bag - Review of 2018' Styling with Stitches

Happy New Year everyone!   We do hope you all had lovely holidays and are back stitching for the new year.   We have lots of new projects planned that we are excited about.   New themes for each month are posted on the sidebar.   Our goal is to aim to have three posts a month which will include our styling with stitches post, a grab bag post and a new post called stitcher's choice.

Our styling with stitches post will continue to be new ways to use your stitches. This is probably our favorite post as we enjoy the process of coming up with new ideas.   The grab bag post will help you get to know the two of us better and we have lots of new ideas for it.  And, the third post is going to combine all the things we did in the past on our third and fourth weeks like old ornaments made new, a new ornament and our challenges.   It might be one of those or even a new, small project.  We aren't planning this one together so it will have an element of surprise to it.   We won't even tell each other until they are posted. 

And, we will be starting a new SAL too.   We will let you know what we have chosen in the next post and maybe you would like to join us.   

But, before we get started on our new projects we thought we would do a review of our "styling with stitches" projects of 2018'.   This will show our new followers what S/S posts are all about and put all of them in one place for our long time followers. 

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2018' Styling with Stitches Review:

January Journals






February Mason Jars










March Pinafore and Word Play







April - Don't miss our big party you will find here.  It is filled with beautiful stitches from our friends and followers.


June Basket Hangings






July Trays










August Summer projects






September friendship






October Word play door beller and Pinafore






November Thanksgiving Silverware and Napkin Holders










If you would like to see a review of our 2017' styling with stitches projects go here  Just scroll down until you see review of 2017'.  (First you will see the review of ornaments and then further down the page will be the 2017' styling with stitches projects)


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Stitching friends is glad to be back in the swing of blogging.   Next post will be our styling with stitches post for January and we hope you will come back to see it.   We look forward to visiting all of you and see what you are working on this new year of 2019'.  We really appreciate the time you take to visit and leave a comment.   Stay warm and keep stitching!

                                              Stitching Friends


                Snowman's Prayer: Please freeze! Amen