Saturday, November 29, 2014

I'm Counting Stitches Over Here

I was away from my sewing machine for 10 days...that's a LONG TIME!
It feels so nice to have my sweet machine close by again.

It was such a painful separation, but luckily I had something to keep me busy...
Family, Monkey Boys, food, and this new-for-me-to-learn-thing called
xxxxxxxCOUNTED CROSS STITCHINGxxxxxxx.

That Other Lady said it is relaxing.
Hopefully, that will happen sometime soon.

Thankfully, there are blog tutorials and videos to help...whew!
I've even had sweet ladies give me hints while I was staring at the threads in a craft store.

One of the best things I learned last week was how to separate the embroidery floss.
For YEARS my threads would end up in a jumbled mess when I tried to use just a strand or two.
NOT ANYMORE!

I found a video that showed me how to pull out one strand at a time without creating a 
knotted pile of threads. It was just what I needed to start this cross stitching journey!
(I know, you long-time cross stitchers are shaking your heads that I didn't know this.)

This was the video I watched showing how to separate the threads:


Why am I learning to counted cross stitch in my old age? Good question!!!!

It's all because Madame Samm got us all fired up with amazing patterns to cross stitch for a blog hop.
Check them out on her blog at SewWeQuilt.com!

She's also going to be sharing lots of hints and tricks on how to cross stitch.
I'll definitely be needing all the help I can get!

I've been practicing on Merry Christmas Grumpy Kitty
by Brooke Nolan, Brooke's Books Publishing.
It's a freebie pattern you can find HERE.


I think this is upside down, but it really is Grumpy Kitty!

I was so happy to be back with my sewing machine, so I finished my daughter's Christmas pillow.
We had gone shopping at Quilted Works weeks ago and she'd picked up this cute wreath pillow kit.
Unfortunately, we didn't have time to sew it while she was visiting so I finished it for her.

Now back I go to that RELAXING counted cross stitching thing.

17 comments:

  1. That is a cute pillow and a "cute" kitty. He looks like he would find a purrrfect home if he lived among the Ghastlie's !

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  2. You are too funny Ms Creepy!! So adore Miss Grumpy Kitty and thank you for the link as I'm hopping over there next to locate it ... and as for relaxing and stitching ... you'll get the hang of it! I stitched for more years than I can remember before quilting because I thought quilting was intimidating, so I too found it relaxing ... you'll get there! Have a wonderful day Carol!

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  3. LOVE that pillow. I've been cross stitching for years, but it's still a challenge with color changes and keeping the back as flat as possible. That kitty doesn't look happy...

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  4. I dearly love counted X-stitch! I have many framed pieces that bring back many happy hours of stitching when I look at them. Your pillow is terrific. The colors are so merry and bright. Grumpy cat shows you're doing very well with your stitching.

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  5. Super cute.Have fun counting!!

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  6. When I saw Lindsey Monday, I was asking her if you bring your sewing machine here. I thought it would be super hard for you to be away from it for that long! Now I know! Cross stitch is fun, but my eyes are getting too old for it:(

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  7. Carol, you daughter's wreath pillow is so cute! Thanks for the laughs - With you - over cross stitching! I love that grumpy kitty pattern - they really captured the expression on Tardar Sauce's face.

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  8. The wreath pillow is very cute! I used to cross stitch a lot when my eyes were better. I think I may splurge and buy myself a beam and read.

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  9. Has anyone shown you how to grid your fabric? It makes it SO much easier to catch mistakes on big projects.

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  10. You did a great job on Grumpy Cat ... he's adorable. You're a brave woman cross-stitching on black, the hardest color to work with in my opinion. I tried it back in the day with much younger eyes and found it difficult then. Don't think I would have the patience to attempt it now.

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  11. Trust me...it WILL be relaxing eventually. Love the wreaths!

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  12. You are very brave to do counted cross stitch. My eyes and hands are not happy to do that ever again. Lovely Wreath pillow. Grumpy Cat will be ever so cute when you are done. Sharing Joy and Jingles...

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  13. Love your wreath pillow. Your Grumpy Cat start is a-ok.

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  14. When my children were small I used to cross stitch all the time - well every moment I could spare. I had a friend a block down and a couple of nights a week we would go to one another's homes at 10:00 at night, after the wee ones were in the bed (leaving husbands home to babysit) and we would stitch together for an hour. Memories..... Now I've picked it up again and it's as much fun as I remembered. :) blessings, marlene

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  15. ohhhh the pillow wonderful...and your grumpy kitty...now I am not surprised at all the beautiful patterns you chose this lol...you make me laugh

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  16. I've been a cross stitcher since I was very young so I can attest that you will love it once you get the hang of it. I still enjoy looking at the projects that I've created over the years and I do find time every so often to pick it up again.

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