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A to Z of Cross Stitch

Posted on by Kristen Gawronski

How much has changed?

It’s been 10 years since the Cross Stitch Crazy magazine has released their 120th issue with the article titled A-Z of Stitching pages 42 to 44. Which got me thinking about how much cross stitch has or hasn’t changed over the last 10 years at least. This is my take on the A to Z of Cross Stitch…

A Aida, Apps and Anchor threads, Accessories, Acronyms and Anchor patterns. Without them we wouldn’t have such awesome and amazing projects to share with everyone.

B Backstitch, Biscornus and Blogs. Backstitch can make the world of difference to a picture. Providing an added element of detail that other stitches are unable to provide. Biscornus (aka fancy pin cushions) are beautiful. And blogs about all things cross stitch, are a modern way for all of us to share and read about the different things we’re up to and learn a few tips and tricks along the way!

C Charms, Cross-Country stitching, Confetti Stitches, Craft Fairs, Country Threads, Counting and Community. **deep breath** So many C’s! Aside from backstitch, charms are another way to embellish your project and a non-stitchy element to your project. Via our communities, we can learn about we can deal with confetti stitches, when the next craft fair is on and the importance of counting for any project while we share some of the Country Thread patterns we’ve stitched. Meanwhile, cross country cross stitching is just one of the many ways in which you can stitch your project as shown in Pam’s Crafty Corner clip below.

D DIY and Digital Patterns, DMC Threads and Dimensions cross stitch kits. In recent years, we have seen an increase in the promotion of making your own patterns and the use of digital born patterns. Both of which have been aided by the IT devices we use and the necessity of the Internet. Meanwhile, DMC threads are the most commonly/frequently used threads on many commercial patterns and personal choice by many stitchers. Lastly, I love Dimensions kits because of the beautiful patterns they make and the challenge of blended threads – e.g. one strand of red with two strands of orange – that create shades and highlight areas of a project that could not be otherwise achieved.

E for Evenweave and Embracing the messy back of your work. Evenweave was also part of the Crazy Cross Stitch’s A-Z and necessary to include it here. It can be difficult to stitch on, but the affects of it can be amazing! All the while embracing the messy back of your work and remembering that how the back of your work wont matter if you have it framed…

F for Frogging, FFO’s (Framed Finished Objects) or Finished Objects. Unpicking unfortunately is a necessary evil of our craft at times. However, celebrating our framed finished objects or finished objects can be rewarding

G Get Moving. Our craft means that we sit still for long periods of time. We need to take care of our selves to ensure we can continue stitching for decades to come. How you move is up to you. I run when I can and regularly go to the gym and train with an awesome group of people and trained by two awesome trainers. The trainers and the people I train with are supportive and bring a high level of positive energy and fun to the sessions. I strongly encourage you all to find a way of moving and keeping fit and healthy that works for you and your lifestyle.

H Hoops and Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED). Hoops are just one of the ways in which we can keep tension on our WIPs such as our HAEDs. Additionally, hoops have been used as an alternate way to framing our finished objects. Peacock and Fig in their clip below provide a great tutorial on how to use hoops to frame your finished projects.

A unique way of framing your projects – published on 26 September 2016

Meanwhile, how can I not mention HAED! In my mind at least, their team of designers and artists create some of the most beautiful and intense patterns on the market. And for many people I’ve spoken with, blogs I’ve read and YouTube clips I’ve watched, they all aspire to work on a HAED one day or they have completed one or are working on at least one.

I Internet. A necessity in today’s modern world. I love that it enables us to share so many different things with each other. Which in turn means that we have information at our fingertips and it is so much easier to see and speak with someone who is in a different time zone. Let alone be part of the world when we may not always be able to physically step out into it.

J Join a club. The Cross Stitch Crazy magazine suggests this back in 2009 and it’s still very much relevant today. It can be an official club or a social/unofficial one that you have with your friends who share an interest in hand crafts. The Internet has assisted this with widening the size of the group and the areas in which their members live. Additionally, attending face-to-face club meetings or social gatherings (where possible) is vital for everyone’s health and well-being.

K Kits and Knots (not always the good kind). Whether you kit up a project yourself or purchase one, having all of your tools together for a project your working on makes life so much easier. You can just pick up the bag you have your project in and move it from one room to another or wherever you want to work on the project. Meanwhile, knots can be a good and bad thing. It just depends on what your intention is! The good kind would be French Knots and similar ones that are used to enhance a project. They are the kind of knots we want people to see. The bad kind are ones at the back of our projects when our threads have gotten twisted and tangled up.

L Lighting and the loop method. Lighting is so important to all of us – especially when we’re working on our projects. Meanwhile, I love the loop method as a way of starting off on a new colour on a project I’m working on when I’m stitching two over one. The clip below by Needlepointers shows how the loop method is used.

Published on YouTube on 10 February 2014

M Mill Hill Seed Beads, Magnifiers and Metallic Threads. Many years ago I stitch a fairy garden picture for my Mum and it had a lot of metallic threads and seed beads in it. Throughout the entire time I was stitching it, I was cursing the seed beads and the metallic threads because the beads kept going everywhere and I wasn’t use to stitching with metallic threads. The good thing is that it turned out to be a beautiful picture. Below is a sample of the Garden Fairy project I worked on…

Page 7 of the Cross Stitch Fairies book – Design by Joan Elliott – (C) 2005

Meanwhile, magnifiers are a wonderful tool to have in your stash. Especially if you are working on intense projects (e.g. a HAED or project on small count/linen) or you feel that your eye sight isn’t what it use to be or it’s the end of the day and you’re feeling a bit tired.

N Needle Minders/Needle Nannies, Needles and New projects. I love starting new projects because they’re a clean slate and it’s the excitement of starting something new. I have also fallen in love with needle minders and I wish I had come across them sooner. I received my first needle minder as a birthday gift in 2018 and purchased some more this year at the Canberra Craft Alive Fair. Meanwhile, how can I not talk about needles! Their size will always have an impact on how our projects look and potentially how many times we swear if we use sharp needles and have a tendency to poke ourselves with them! But we wouldn’t be able to do our craft without them and the clip below by Penguin and Fish provides us with an insight to the difference between embroidery and cross stitch needles…

O Online shopping, Ooos and aahs and Organisation. The Cross Stitch Crazy magazine highlighted the importance of being organised and it’s still important now. The awesome thing is that many people have written about the ways they have organised their craft rooms and how they organise their threads generally speaking and for their projects. Ultimately, organise your space and projects in a way that works for you. That way you can be sure to receive the ‘oooos and aaaahs’ you deserve when you share your WIPs and finishes with everyone! Meanwhile, I love online shopping. Especially if I’m unable to make to the shops or they don’t have what I need and what I need is only available interstate or overseas.

P Preservation, PDF patterns and Pinterest. I have an addition to Pinterest. I could spend hours and hours scrolling to the various pins and searching for inspiration for craft and fitness. Which has enabled me to fall in love with some patterns that are available as PDFs and I’ve purchased through an Etsy shop. Which has me contemplating how I’m going to preserve the digital and physical patterns I have and the longevity of projects I’ve finished…

Q Quick gifts and Q snaps. The Cross Stitch Crazy magazine loves quick gifts as their Q item and their magazine for years has provided us with beautiful and amazing patterns that we can stitch and have completed within a day through to a week. Meanwhile, I’ve recently been made aware of Q snaps as an alternate to the hoops we can use while we’re working on our projects.

R Resizing a pattern. Sometimes we can come across a pattern we love, but the recommended count size may be too big or too small. Pam Anderson on The Spruce Crafts blog has recently written about how you can adjust the size of pattern and fabric count in accordance with your preferences.

S Scissors, storage and stitch-all-the-things. At times I get overwhelmed with all of the amazing and beautiful patterns out there and I want to stitch all of them at the same time. If I had the time, I could and if I had a very organised storage system. Like the letter ‘O’, the way you store your collection of threads, fabrics, patterns and tools, will have a huge impact on how you achieve the end result! Meanwhile, scissors are one of my most valued and important tools in my kit. I’d hate to think how my projects would look if I didn’t have any scissors!

T Take your time and Travel. One of the things I love about travelling by bus from Canberra to Sydney is that I can work on my cross stitch for about 3 hours. I’ve also gone on road trips with family and friends to Mittagong, Mogo and various craft stores around Canberra to get the supplies I need. Meanwhile, when you can, take your time and enjoy the project you’re working on. Try not to rush your project because it can result in the threads being pulled too tight and causing gaps and uneven crosses.

U Unique stitches and Unfinished Objects (UFO’s). What would cross stitch be without these two things? All stitches in embroidery/needlepoint could be considered unique because of their appearance and what they add to each project. One of the most special or unique stitches I’ve come across since I’ve been watching YouTube clips is called Jessica Stitches. The clip below shows how these stitches are done:

Clip by Needlepoint Now – Published on YouTube on 1 May 2015

To help put this unique stitch into context, a blog post from October 2017 by A Stitching Love Affair shows how they can really add to the project.

Meanwhile, for many of us stitchers, we can have quite a few UFO’s that we have the best of intentions of coming back to to work on. Then a new pattern catches our eye and it spirals from there!

V Variegated threads are beautiful – Cross Stitch Crazy loved them in 2009 and nothing has changed since then. Below is an image of what variegated threads look like and how they can look when used in cross stitch:

Variegated yarn on the left that I picked up from the Canberra Craft Alive Fair and the image on the right is from Peacock and Fig.

W Waste material that comes from us trimming our projects once we’ve completed them. In 2009 Cross Stitch Crazy they were fully supportive of reusing waste Aida and similar fabrics for other projects such as book marks, tags for gifts, cards and Christmas decorations to name a few. Then there’s the waste threads we have from our projects that we could use for the filling of pin cushions, pillows, Biscornu’s and similar projects.

X Could this be one of our favourite letters in the alphabet? Without the X what would our craft be called? Then there’s the X stitching websites, businesses and blogs such as The XStitching Runner!

Y Your stitching thoughts. It was relevant in Cross Stitch Crazy in 2009 and it is well and truly relevant in 2019. The internet has enabled all of us to share our thoughts and perspectives on cross stitch through social media and I for one is more than thankful for this ability!

Z Zombies, Run! This app is amazing for helping me getting up and moving and taking a break from stitching. You are Runner 5 and you are part of Able township. With the help of Sam and a team of runners, you are searching for a solution to the zombie apocalypse and saving any survivors.

Related posts and links:

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Stitching to the Plan verses Making Alterations. What do you do?

Posted on by Kristen Gawronski

One of the many things that I love about cross stitch, is that it enables me to be creative in so many ways. This ranges from adjusting the colours in a pattern through to fudging parts of the pattern when I’ve made some minor mistakes. Then there’s the swapping out of French Knots for beads because I’m avoiding doing the French Knots when all I really should do is practice them!

Changing colours

In earlier blog posts when I’ve talked about my WIP (work in progress) I’ve nicknamed Jingle Bells (because I keep forgetting the official name which is Christmas Toys, designed by Irina Zagorodskaya), I’ve swapped out a couple of colours for two reasons – 1. because I thought that the silver thread highlights would add a different dimension or flare to the picture and 2. I didn’t have the shade of blue that the pattern required, so I went through my stash and found another one that seems to work just as well!

Blue Swap and Metallic Highlights

Sometimes when my friend and I talk about swapping colours around in cross stitch patterns, she says that the idea of it freaks her out. She’s worried about getting it wrong and that she would rather stick to what is on the chart and go out and buy any threads that she’s missing. All of that is totally fine and plausible. I worry about getting the colours wrong sometimes as well – especially if I don’t have the colour at all and I have no idea what it should look like. Saying that, I should just look it up on the Net and all would be well!

Things to remember if you’re going to change colours

  • Keep within the same brand of thread you’re using. Over the years I have found that whilst other brands have tried their best to provide us with a conversion chart from their brand to DMC, the colours don’t always match up the way that I at least would like. Which means that if I’m stitching a pattern using DMC threads, I’m going to stick with that brand, regardless of what colours I use. This ensures consistency with the feel of the cotton and vibrancy of the colours. Additionally, if I run out of a DMC colour, I’m going to make sure I purchase the same colour from DMC and not interchange it with a similar shade from a different brand.
  • Sometimes the brands get it wrong. When I was stitching the Fire and Ice horse (pictured below), I was using DMC threads and I ran out of a particular colour. Also, it had been a while since I’d picked up the project to stitch, so when I got around to stitching it again and purchasing the colour I needed, DMC had slightly altered the shade as part of the dying process. Which meant that the colour I had purchased was slightly lighter than what I had previously stitched with, even though it was the same number! This completely threw out the appearance of the picture and by luck, a vendor at the Canberra Quilt and Craft Fair was able to supply me with the colour I needed, because she had a few skeins left over.
Fire and Ice – Designed by Dyan Allaire – produced by Kustom Krafts
  • Limit the amount of changes you’re going to make and use a colour chart. Peacock and Fig wrote a fantastic article on changing colours in a pattern and they strongly recommended limiting the number of colours that are changed. To aid the changes made, they also recommended the use of a colour chart. Especially if you’re not quite sure on how to go about it or what colours would work well in place of the charted colour.
  • Note down what colours you have changed. The point is particularly important so that you don’t get confused and waste a lot of your time, energy and thread.

Fudging a pattern

In a recent blog post titled ‘The Top 5 Cross Stitch Things I’m Yet to Perfect (and 5 I probably won’t!)’, I talked about my need to go back to school and learn how to count. I’ve never really kept count of the amount of times I’ve “stitched myself up” and needed to undo parts of a project because I’ve been completely out with my counting. Regardless of whether I’ve stitched too many or not enough, I try to find a way to fudge it in a way that means it won’t be too obvious what I’ve done and doesn’t throw the rest of the project out of balance.

For example, the most recent fudging I’ve had to do is stitch an “extra” four lines for the Four Season Kittens project because I hadn’t stitched enough. Unfortunately this is a significant muck up and I’ve already stitched a significant amount of the Winter quarter. So in my mind, this is too much for me to go back and figure out where I’ve gone wrong and frog it (another ‘formal’ term meaning to rip it all out, or ribbit like the sound a frog makes!). Now, if I don’t show people what the final picture looks like, it shouldn’t be too obvious. However, if you take a look at the pictures below, you’ll see what I mean…

Swapping types of stitches and embellishments

In a recent blog post titled ‘The Top 5 Cross Stitch Things I’m Yet to Perfect (and 5 I probably won’t!)’, I talked about my ability to do French Knots. In many projects that have called for French Knots, I’ve used the small Mill Hill beads for the eyes of teddy bears, embellishments on flowers and buttons on outfits to name a few.

Meanwhile, I’ve also been known to adjust the way that I do my back-stitch on pictures like the teddy bear one shown above. In some parts of the picture, you’ll see that I’ve stitched around most sides of the cross and when there has been more of a straight line longer than one cross, I’ve gone from point A to D without stitching point B and C. For short distances, I think that this has worked well as it has not diminished the finished piece in any way and it’s saved me a little bit of time.

There’s no right or wrong…be aware of your intentions

The aim of this post has been to let you know that it’s okay to make alterations here and there and that mistakes are okay as well. You will need to remember why you bought the pattern or kit and what you intend to do with the completed project. The point here is that making an alteration to a project – intentional or not – does not then mean you can claim it to be your own design – especially if you’re going to broadcast it to the world and attempt to make money out of it. If you are wanting to broadcast to the world the alterations you have made to any designs you’ve purchased, make sure you do it legally.

What do you do? Do you stick to the pattern or make your own adjustments?

If you have made any adjustments to your projects, what have they been? Did they work out the way you wanted them too?

In the meantime, happy stitching everyone!

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My First Country Cross Stitch Quilt – A light at the end of the tunnel.

Posted on by Kristen Gawronski

Hi Everyone

Before I go any further, I need to say I really big thank you to everyone who responded to my last couple of posts about the top 10 things I’m crushing on and the 5 things I’m yet to perfect (and things I may never!). Also, a very big hello and thank you to new and existing subscribers and followers. The responses I have received via the likes, views, new and existing readers has been something I was not expecting and all of you have helped to reassure me that I’m on the right track with the topics I’m writing about. Thank you!

Cross stitch quilt progress…

It’s been a long time coming for me to dedicate another post to my quilt. I’ve talked a little about the progress of my quilt in earlier posts, but it’s been a splash here and there.

Last weekend I was really excited about finally finishing the binding on the bottom of the quilt. For a number of weeks, I had been putting off bringing out the quilt to try and complete that part of the quilt. Initially I had wanted to have it all symmetrical, but it just wasn’t going to happen because of the way I had attached the back of the quilt to the front and how the other three sides had been attached. However, I’m happy with how I’ve finished it off now and the picture below was taken this morning and shows my current progress…

Quilt progress as of 2nd June 2019

Blue borders around the cross stitch pictures

In the above image, you may notice that some of the borders around the cross stitch pictures are looking a little thicker or symmetrical. A few months ago I had bought some more navy blue quilting fabric and I cut it into strips of about 2.5 centimetres (cm) to 3cm wide. For ages I was trying to figure out how I was going to attach the strips to borders and have them be neat and straighter than how they are at the moment. During one of my stitch ‘n’ bitch sessions, my friend reminded me about the special heat activated binding tape and that I already had some! Below are pictures of how I’ve used the tape.

Heat activated tape attached to the back of the blue fabric before I attached it to the quilt.
Mare and Foal – updated border with the heat activated tape.
Palamino with the heat activated tape.

Light at the end of the tunnel…

The good thing is that I have about 8 more borders to go! Internally I’m groaning because I have a lot more ironing to do. But it’s only 8 and if I motor along I will hopefully have it all sorted by the end of next weekend! What makes next weekend extra special, is that it’s a long weekend for many parts of Australia! We’ll be celebrating the Queen’s birthday (even though her actual birthday was earlier in the year) and for my boyfriend and I, we’ll be heading to the coast and/or celebrating my brother’s birthday!

The next question will be how to celebrate the completion of the quilt? What do you think I should do?

Until next time,

Happy stitching!

Related Posts:

To see how this quilt started out, check out my post from the 23rd February 2019.

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Top 10 Crafty Things I’m Crushing On Right Now

Posted on by Kristen Gawronski

As I’m writing this post, it’s a long weekend in Canberra and the weather is finally going to start feeling like winter. In preparation for the cold change – however long it may last – here is my list of crafty things that I can’t wait to get my mitts on. These are the things I’m crushing on right now…

10. Kaisercraft. This weekend they had a 50% off sale on many of their items and I couldn’t help but splurge a little. In a few days time the package will arrive and I’m keen to have some fun!

9. Creating my own patterns. Using inspiring quotes I’ve found on the Internet, I’ve had a lot of fun turning them into patterns for me to stitch using some software on my laptop. Such quotes include:

Image from Pinterest
Quote from Alice in Wonderland – Image from Pinterest
Image from Pinterest

8. Pinterest. Broadly speaking I love all of the different images people have posted and are sharing. I’m also loving the ability to organise my boards in a way that I can have a broad topic on cross stitch and then categorise them to patterns or pictures I want to stitch, urban cross stitch and finishes I want to try out.

7. Digital patterns. There are so many awesome and amazing patterns out there that I would love to stitch. The challenge is to find the time for them all! Some of the patterns I’ve discovered this morning are:

Pattern available from mybobbin.com – image found on Pinterest
Image from quilted-with-love.blogspot.com.au that had been shared on Pinterest
Fight Like a Girl pattern from etsy.com – Image from Pinterest

6. Finishing my first country quilt. I’m really wanting to finish this off. Last week I talked briefly about my last endeavours with the quilt, when I had last paid it some attention in April. One of the things that’s holding me back is finishing off the border on the bottom of the quilt. Because of the way that I’ve attached the back of the quilt to the front, I’ve not made it easy for myself. So I’ve been procrastinating for nearly a month…

Note the bottom of the quilt. This is what I need to crash tackle and finish.

5. Blogging and being creative. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved writing – especially stories. Many years ago, I remember my sister admitting that she would sneak into my room and have a peak around to see if she could find any of my notebooks, to see if there were any stories and other things she could read that I’d written. Now days, I’m loving the freedom that blogging brings and the creativity that can come from it. I also get a kick out of the notifications of new people following this blog and seeing if there are any comments or likes with any of the posts.

4. My current projects. At the moment I’m rotating through 3 projects – the Four Seasons Kittens, a project I’ve dubbed Jingle Bells and the HAED Fairy. As I pause one project and move onto the next, I try to pause and take in the pleasure of how far I’ve progressed and the thrill of what it will look like at the end.

3. Potential finishes. Like the digital patterns I talked about in number 7, I love how creative people are with their cross stitch finishes and I can’t wait to be able to try out similar finishes on my own projects. Such finishes include…

The Halloween Pillow by Stitching Dreams – image found on Pinterest
15 sided biscornu from Etsy.com – image from Pinterest
Book cover as shown on La Risa’s blog site blog.larisa.org.ua – image found on Pinterest

2. Stitching while the weather is rotten outside. I’m loving the prospect of this. The down side of this is I’m potentially going to go a little stir crazy and I’ll want to either brave the weather and walk down the road to the gym or buzz madly around the house doing some house work to get rid of the extra energy, to then justify or make up for me sitting on my bum for most of the day!

1.Multi-media cross stitch. Aside from cross stitch and quilting, I like to try my hand at card making and scrapbooking. In recent months I’ve purchased some things that could be used for scrapbooking or card making. However, when I was at the Craft Alive Fair in Canberra last year, one of the vendors gave me a great idea for potentially new patterns. By inking up some of the stamps that are traditionally used for card making or scrapbooking, and stamping them onto Aida or evenweave fabric, I could then use them to make some quick and easy cards or other gifts for family and friends!

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Are you a consistently inconsistent stitcher?

Posted on by Kristen Gawronski

Have you ever found yourself stitching one block of 10 stitches row by row then the next block cross country style? Alternatively, have you started a project with the aim of using the parking method, only to find that you’re getting bored and are jumping all over the place with your colours? Are you then finding that the way that you’re stitching your crosses varies from one area of the pattern to the next? For example, for one colour you may stitch it row by row like the diagram below, and then the next colour you stitch it one cross at a time like the second image below?

As I’ve been stitching Dimensions Four Seasons Kittens (pictured below), the phrase ‘consistently inconsistent’ has come to my mind quite a lot. It stems from a variety of things in the pattern. For example, some areas call for three threads of one colour to be stitched as half stitch (aka tent stitch), while other half or full cross stitches may have one white thread and one light green thread. The brilliant thing is that this works! It adds a brilliant texture to the overall picture and highlights different areas that the traditional two stranded half or full crosses wouldn’t normally provide.

Four Seasons Kittens as of 14 April 2019
Autumn kittens are complete on the left hand side and the winter kittens are making progress. At the moment it's quite clear that there will be two kittens looking out the window because of the snow. They are framed by the window, holly and some birds.
Four Seasons Kittens as of 25 October 2019

However, I have increasingly found myself stitching the full crosses or half stitches in a variety of ways to see if it makes any difference with the way the stitches sit on the fabric. This is where I’ve started thinking more and more about the way that I stitch and the impact it may be having on the final picture.

To show you what I mean, Dana from Peacock and Fig posted a YouTube clip on 4 April 2017, showing us the English and Danish methods of cross stitch. Until now, I’ve been unknowing using both methods interchangeably throughout all of my cross stitch projects:

Following this clip by Peacock and Fig, below is close up of an area of the Four Seasons Kittens (front and back) where I’ve used used the Danish and English style of cross stitch interchangeably:

Image highlights sections of the cross stitch project where I have used the Danish and English style of cross stitch.
Back view of the project
Image highlights sections of the cross stitch project where I have used the Danish and English style of cross stitch.
Front view of the project

The more I’ve thought about being consistently inconsistent and looking into what it means, I’ve found that as far as cross stitch is concerned, it’s okay to be regularly mixing things up. Because I’m still doing cross stitch, it just happens to be that the way I do my stitches may be a little inconsistent to the norm. But it keeps things interesting for me. For the most part, I’m able to keep the motivation going and trying to keep the crosses as uniformed (shape wise) as possible.

What are you wanting to achieve?

As part of reading up on being consistently inconsistent, it has led me to wonder what I’ve wanted to achieve as part of my style of stitching (let alone other areas of my life that are like this)? As I’ve touched on earlier, my aim is to stitch my stitches whichever way works best for me, whilst trying to ensure that they are as uniformed as I can make them. Additionally, I just like stitching and I’m going do continue to do it in a way that works best for me!

Consistently inconsistent or boredom?

I have wondered if the consistently inconsistency has anything to do with boredom or the inability to focus on one project for an extended period of time? Additionally, I appreciate the phrase ‘consistently inconsistent’ seems redundant and strange to say considering what cross stitch is all about! I do however, find that I get bored with a project after a while and lose my focus and my eyes start to wander. I start thinking about the other projects I have in my collection and what I want to do with them. It’s not just boredom though. I’ve found that it can be seasonal. For example, when I know that someone’s birthday is coming up or an event such as Christmas, I’m thinking about presents and cards for people.

Flosstube has a huge influence as well! Some of the projects that people are working on look awesome! This is my inspiration at times to continue working on existing projects or purchase/start a new one.

I guess that at the end of the day, the important thing is to keep stitching, regardless of which way you go about it and how many projects you have on rotation!

Until next time, happy stitching!

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Top 5 Cross Stitch Things to Perfect (and 5 I may never)

Posted on by Kristen Gawronski

This post reminds me that mistakes are a good thing, as it means that I’m still learning and that I have the ability to do what I love and share these things with like-minded people. I also accept that I may never perfect these top 5 or they may be replaced with a new 5!

5. Keeping track of needles and pencils

Prior to receiving a needle minder as a birthday gift, I was regularly dropping needles and jumping up from the couch or chair to look for the needle amongst the cushions and dust and dirt on the floor. I would be doing a similar thing with the lead pencils when the couch would eat them or I’d accidentally drop them on the floor.

4. Counting Crosses

Every so often I joke with family and friends that I need to go back to school and learn how to count and get my eyes checked. This is based around me miscounting how many stitches I need to do and tracking where I am in the pattern when I’m tired or distracted, resulting in me needing to unpick parts of the picture and re-stitch it. I’ve also been clever enough to mark off parts of the pattern that I’ve not even stitched yet!

3. Getting my measurements right

If you’re anything like me, you’ll love to make the most out of your fabric stores that have been built up from trimming up other cross-stitch projects. This means that at times I come up a bit short when I’m trying to find the right amount of fabric for a project I’m working on or I have just completely misread the measurements at the front of the pattern.

White Horse

This has often left me stressing as I’m stitching, whether or not I’ll have enough fabric to fit the design on it. I’ve even made the mistake of stitching a picture around the wrong way! This happened when I first started the picture and didn’t pay enough attention to which way I had the fabric in the hoop. Which meant that I stitched a landscape picture in a portrait view and I give full credit to the professional framers who framed up this picture for me. They have done an amazing job with the product I gave them.

“Catch of the Day” by Bryan Moon – published/distributed by Dimensions

2. French Knots

When done well, French knots can really add that extra bit of detail to a picture that other types of stitches may not. It is also the one type of detail/stitch that I’ve never mastered! Admittedly, I’ve not practiced them much to help my cause. If anything, I’ve either avoided or delayed stitching some patterns that have this stitch or I’ve used beads in their place.

One of the things that I love about living in this day and age, is having IT devices and an internet connection at my finger tips and being able to look up anything that I need to. Which means that I can watch numerous YouTube clips on how to do French Knots. I’m also able to purchase a variety of needle minders and related tools to help me keep track of my lead pencils. I also love that technology enables me to have digital cross stitch patterns and digitally mark off the areas that I’ve stitched.

1. Cutting/Sewing Straight

For many years I’ve joked with family, friends and colleagues that if I can’t walk straight when I’m sober, then so help me when I’m drunk! This inability to walk straight extends into my ability to cut straight, sew straight and draw a straight line. This is causing me headaches, as I’m attempting to make a quilt out of the various country themed cross stitch pictures I’ve stitched over the years. I’m not following a specific pattern or plan which is adding to the fun of trying to cut and sew straight! Instead, the images below are what I have in my mind of how I want the quilt to look – both images I came across on Pinterest.

With these two images in mind, below is progress to date for my country quilt and you’ll see that sewing or cutting straight really isn’t my thing!

Country quilt progress as of April 2019

What I’m really excited about with this quilt is that I’m getting closer to finishing it. Also, by not strictly following a pattern, I’ve been able to problem solve on the go and talk with a variety of people to try and figure out how I can get past my creative blocks. Which means, watch this space to see how I fix the blue borders around the cross stitch pics!

Until next time, happy stitching everyone!

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Some of My Favourite Stitchy Places and Things

Posted on by Kristen Gawronski

Hi Everyone

It’s been a while since I’ve posted something and the last few posts have been a bit intense and not the usual light-hearted posts I’ve shared posted before. So my aim for this post is to bring back that light-hearted vibe that I hope you all enjoy, by talking about some of my favourite places to stitch and things I use while I’m stitching.

To kick things off, I’m writing this post at the coast (Malua Bay, NSW, Australia) and the weather is absolutely beautiful! Even if the weather wasn’t beautiful, I would still be really happy to be here. The house is located in short walking distance to two beaches, the local shops that has a fantastic butcher who also makes amazing coffee to warm the soul and local lawn bowls club that serves really yummy Chinese food. The two hard parts are walking back up the hills and going back home and back to reality. To me there’s something about the relaxed lifestyle of being at the coast and so close to the beaches that I love. Additionally, the coast is my third home (the second being my parents place in the country-side). For school holidays when I was growing up through to long weekends or short weekends away, the coast has always been the go-to place where a lot of my memories are from. Also, I’m very much an introvert and alone time is important to me. To escape from people and re-charge my batteries – especially before I moved out of home to my own place. Meanwhile, we’ve just had a new entertainment unit delivered to the house which is going to make it a lot easier for technology improvements and changes and accessing the power points that are behind the unit. Especially as televisions continue to get bigger, gaming consoles are updated and our tastes in movies and television shows change. Which will mean that I have yet another reason to sit down and do some cross stitch! **Sigh** First world problems ‘ay!

If the weather happens to be bad outside and I’m unable to be out there enjoying by sitting on the balcony (if I’m at the coast – see images below) or going for runs or walks, having the television on in the background while I’m stitching is one of the things I love to do. If this is the case, I’ve found having a movie or television show on that has a similar genre to the project I’m working on a real motivator.

Balcony View 1 – slight water view
Balcony View 2
Balcony View 3

For example, when I was stitching the Palamino by Country Threads or Midnight Glow by Dyan Allaire for Kustom Krafts (see below), I was regularly watching Heartland or McLeod’s Daughters.

Completed Palamino. I have used this as part of a country/outback/Australiana themed quilt. I've used a navy blue trim around it with lime green or avacado green fabric to connect it to other cross stitch pictures.
Palamino by Country Threads
Three quarters of this image has been stitched. The nose and remaining part of the mane of the horse needs to be stitched. I may not have enough fabric to be able to stitch it all.
Work in progress – Midnight Glow – Design by Deanne Allaire for Kustom Krafts

If I’m not down at the coast, I’m definitely chilling out at home with cross stitch in hand and television in the background. If it happens to be a nice day outside, I’ll try and make the most of it by being out at the patio. Which is where I’ll have my earphones on and I’ll be listening to music or an audio book or something from Youtube like Flosstube!

I have considered taking my stitching public – e.g. going to a park or cafe and stitching whilst drinking a coffee or hot chocolate or even going to the library. I’ve been a bit nervous about it. Scared even! In my introverted way, I’ve been fearful of the fabric getting dirty or spilling something on it. But mostly fearful of what others might say – especially if I’m stitching at a cafe on my own and the staff getting annoyed that I’m sitting at one of their tables for hours on end and only drinking a coffee or hot chocolate, when they could have many people sitting at that table ordering drinks and/or food. Then there’s the sharp object thing in a public space that isn’t a knife if I’m at a cafe. I’d like to think that it shouldn’t be a big deal stitching in public – especially since there are knitting and crochet groups who catch up in my local area!

What about you? Are you a home body as well or do you recharge your batteries through your social interactions or being out amongst nature? Where do you like to stitch? Do you need peace and quiet or something noisy in the background?

I love needle minders!

Meanwhile, if I haven’t mentioned it before in my other posts, I’ll mention it here and quite probably in future posts too…I looooove my needle minder! I can’t believe I’ve been stitching so long without one! It has made the world of difference for reducing the amount of times I jump up from the couch cursing and swearing that I’ve dropped my needle and need to find it before anyone steps on it or sits on it. I love it so much that a few weeks ago at the Canberra leg of the Craft Alive Fair, I bought a few more and I wish I had them with me so that I could share pictures of them with you. Hopefully I’ll remember and share them with you in my next post!

Old school paper patterns

I’m old enough to remember very well the cassette and VHS tapes and the joys of batteries dying in diskman’s and walkman’s and the transition from cassettes to CD’s and VHS to DVD’s to streaming music and movies online. I’m also young enough to be championing the use of digital patterns, spreadsheets and apps on my phone or laptop to keep track of my threads, patterns, fabric and cross stitch related things. But there’s something about the physical marking off of an area of a pattern with a lead pencil that I can’t shake. I have purchased a digital pattern and I have briefly had the intention of trying to keep it digital as I stitch but I couldn’t do it. I had to print it off.

A comfy chair with my legs stretched out

Unfortunately I’ve managed to do something to my side of the recliner couch and I miss being able to have the foot rest up while I’m stitching. It was sooo comfy and it gave my legs a good work out when I needed to put the foot rest back into position. The couch still is comfy and I enjoy being able to sink into it while I’m chilling out. I just need to figure out how to re-establish the tension for the wire that normally enables the foot rest to go out/come out.

So these are just a few of my favourite stitchy places and things. I’d love to hear about your favourite stitchy places and things.

Until next time…Happy Stitching!

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Cross Stitch – Perfection vs Close Enough is Good Enough. Does it really matter?

Posted on by Kristen Gawronski

In life and death situations, perfectionism all the way. Unless you’re going Bear Grylls style out in the wild and have limited supplies. Also, we expect near perfectionism when we’re paying professionals for their advice or to do a job for us that we can’t do for ourselves.

What about our private lives? When we’re playing video games, being healthy and active, cooking for our loved ones, crafting and interacting with our family and friends are we wanting things to be perfect?

The Need for Perfection

For some stitcher’s, there is the desire to have stitches as flat and neat as possible and no visibly stray threads – to the point where the stitches are re-stitched until they are exactly the way they want them done.

Clip by Isolath Creations – published on YouTube on 14 February 2016

Then there’s the need for the tension to be right whilst stitching and then having the tension right when the project is being framed – if it gets framed! There are so many different options for finishing a project that the pressure to find the right finishing option for the right project and person can be overwhelming.

When near enough is good enough

Quote by Moumita Ray on 8 August 2018. Image obtained from website http://www.yourquote.in on 4 May 2019

With cross stitch, it is important for the crosses to be uniform and being stitched in the same direction. Once we’ve mastered the basics, for many of us – including myself – use the close enough is good enough approach. For example, I’m stitching a Heaven and Earth Design that has a lot of confetti in it. On the first page I had done some serious muck ups where I had lost track of where I’m stitching on the fabric in comparison to the pattern. Mostly because I had crossed off parts that I hadn’t stitched yet and I thought I would get back to that section to update it, but never did. Which left me with the following choices:

  1. I could use an eraser to rub out where I’d accidentally marked off and stitch the section then and there;
  2. Leave it as is and stitch the area I had accidentally marked off on the pattern; or
  3. Leave it as is and stitch the area using similar colours to what would be used in that area.

I chose to use some creative licence and I left the areas on the pattern marked off and used colours that have been used throughout the page. I also used my own judgement for the amount of stitches for each colour that I thought was appropriate for the area I was working on and for the pattern broadly speaking. Thankfully, the area I was stitching wasn’t too close to the edge of the page so it wouldn’t have an adverse affect on the adjoining pages!

Another example is when I’ve accidentally stitched one too many stitches on a line or two for a long line – e.g. 50 crosses. Rather than unpicking all of it to fix the error, I’ve adjusted the other stitches around the mistake to bring the picture back into alignment.

Creative Licence and Cross Stitch

There have also been times when I have used some creative licence to change or update a pattern because of preference for certain colours and fabric types. Spruce Crafts for example, discuss this very topic and provide guidance on changing fabric counts to suit patterns you want to stitch. I’ve also talked about changing a couple of colours in the pattern I call Jingle Bells, because I didn’t have the colour the pattern called for and I’ve used a metallic thread to give the picture some texture and make it unique.

Image obtained from Shimbo Pottery site on 4 May 2019 –
http://shimbopottery.com/art-and-copyright-law/

One thing I need to make very clear, is the importance of respecting copyright where it’s due. I’m not a lawyer. I understand what I need to and aim here is not to provide any legal advice, but to advocate for the continual respect for copyright and how it affects the artists and those around them. At the end of this post, I have included some links to some creative commons sites and copyright sites for anyone who would like to know more.

The awesome thing I have noticed about the cross-stitch/embroidery community is that the majority of us understand this and respect it. I’ve noticed this with the way people talk about the patterns they are working on via Flosstube. They willingly share the details of who the artist/creator/designer is and where they got the pattern/kit from and encourage the rest of the community to shop local where possible – especially the small local shops that aren’t part of the large chains.

Mistakes happen

For many of us, it can be hard to accept that mistakes happen and to bounce back from them. As a stitcher, mistakes tend to range from miscounting, causing lines to be out of balance by one or more stitches through to stitching sections in the wrong colour. All the while we curse and grumble about lost time, wasted floss, that we need to get our eyes checked and learn how to count again while we’re frogging a section we’ve just stitched.

Milsey’s clip on Frogging a cross stitch project – Posted on 30 January 2018

Embracing the middle ground and flaws in our stitching

It’s clear in this post that I’m advocating the acceptance of near enough is good enough whilst taking pride in our projects and how they look when finished. What I want to know now is what you think. Are you a perfectionist when it comes to your stitching? Alternatively, is near enough good enough for you?
What lengths have you gone to, to ensure your project looks the way that you want it?

Related topics and links:

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Perceptions Are Everything! Or are they?

Posted on by Kristen Gawronski

How important are perceptions? Who are you trying to impress? Who are you trying keep on your good side? Who are you trying to stay on the good side of? Additionally, what are your perceptions of cross stitch? How have they changed? Do you know what your family and friends perceptions of cross stitch are?

Perceptions by Hanrie Greeb – Published 2 March 2016

Perceptions are important, whether they be positive or negative ones. What I think it depends on is:

  • what I am trying to achieve
  • who am I needing support from
  • who I am needing to impress

Cross Stitch Perceptions

  • What are your perceptions of cross stitch?
  • What perceptions are you aware of from non-stitchers?
  • Who’s support stitchers need to ensure the longevity of cross stitch?
  • Who’s perceptions of cross stitch are you trying to convert?
  • What would happen if you were successful or unsuccessful in converting them?

For me, bringing new people into the crafting community and having more people to share my interest with is exciting and something I hope happens. But it’s not the end of my world if the interest isn’t there because there’s always the internet and what is old is new again is old again – i.e. it’ll come back into fashion again soon!

Additionally, it’s the opinions of the people who are already part of the crafting community and my loved ones who matter to me the most and I hope they feel the same way. Inclusion is important.

Furthermore, my perceptions of cross stitch is that it’s an awesome hobby to have. Unfortunately it becomes taxing on my posture, eye sight, hands and weight when I’ve been sitting down for too long.

Image from 11 Best Posture-Correcting Devices article

Turning a hobby into a profession

Additionally, I would love to turn my love for cross-stitch into a profession. However, the other perception and reality is that it may not be as lucrative as I would like it to be – especially if I want to maintain my current lifestyle! For people who don’t stitch, they don’t really know or understand just how much time and effort that goes into a piece. And they would not be willing to pay thousands of dollars if the true value was placed on the piece.

Meanwhile, physical and digital stores rely on there being enough stitchers out there who are interested in their products to purchase them. Additionally, the market can be fickle and with the potential for people to create their own patterns using a variety of methods, it makes life difficult for the stores to be able to have the right products in stock and to be able to adjust to changes in the market. Two examples of this is the Victoria House Needlecraft store in Mittagong and the Fox Collection.

Over 10 years ago when I first visited the Victoria House Needlecraft store in Mittagong, the variety of patterns, kits and supplies available was amazing and I have easily spent hours and hundreds of dollars in the store. As time has passed and the business has changed a few times, the availability of products has changed due to consumer interests, what products the suppliers have provided the store and whether consumers are able to buy directly from the suppliers. For example, we can buy directly from Heaven and Earth Designs and a few years ago, we may not have been able to do so.

Meanwhile, the Fox Collection has widened their scope significantly since the first time I was introduced to their catalogue over 10 years ago. I remember the catalogue predominantly featured all things cross stitch related with a few pages a the end for jigsaw puzzles and some scrapbooking supplies. Now, half of the catalogue features pages for scapbooking, diamond dots, decoupage, crochet, knitting colouring-in, paint-by-numbers, quilting and related accessories. Admittedly, the Fox Collection is part of the Innovations brand which enables them to expand their scope and product base to meet the needs of more customers and the changing trends.

Grandma Stitch – The non-stitcher’s view of cross stitch

Meanwhile, when I first got back into cross stitch and I told people what I did in my spare time, I would be met with an ‘oh’ and a slightly puzzled and disappointed look. Or an ‘oh, my grandma does/did that’. I would then proceed to tell people what projects I’m working and show them pictures if I had my phone with me. Which would then completely change their idea of cross stitch and would be a lot more surprised and enthusiastic when they realised that the patterns have progressed from their memories of the traditional samplers they may have seen at their grandparents house.

Time and patience

Other comments and feedback I’ve received about cross stitch is ‘I don’t have the time or patience for cross stitch’. Yet some have the time and patience for watching movies, binge watching television shows, browsing the Net and playing video games to name a few. Now, don’t get me wrong, I loooooove all of those things and I cross stitch while I’m binge watching tv shows and movies. I’m also lucky that no one has filmed me yelling at the tv when I’m playing XCOM: Enemy Unknown because my soldiers can’t shoot straight, the aliens are picking on me or my soldiers have freaked or they’re mind controlled and are trying to shoot each other instead.

To me, the hidden question is whether or not these people want to give cross stitch a go, but are afraid of what others will think of them or they are afraid that they may enjoy it?

Final Thoughts – cross stitch can be cool

I would love for many more non-stitchers to see clips like the one below and the subversive cross stitch sites to see that cross stitch can be of any image or saying you want it to be. And it can be stitched onto anything you want and worn out in public!

The worlds of hip-hop and cross stitch connect in a cool way.

Additionally, I’m one of those nutters who will more likely than not, forego my health for my craft and become a hunched over old lady with hands swollen from arthritis and stitching too much.

Related posts and sites:

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Nanna Naps, Running and Stitching

Posted on by Kristen Gawronski

As I’m writing this post, I’m sitting outside enjoying the beautiful weather on Saturday 13th April 2019. All the while listening to Kitten Stitcher – Episode 42 and recovering from the 5km leg of the Australian Running Festival in Canberra I participated in this morning and trying not to fall asleep!

I ran the whole 5km, which normally isn’t a big deal for me. However, my training in the lead up to the event hasn’t been where I would have liked, and it’s a hillier event than other courses in Canberra. Also, the week leading up to today’s event I haven’t been sleeping very well and I’ve been playing catch-up with my hydration. On Monday I was silly enough to leave my drink bottle at home which holds 1.89 litres and I didn’t make the most of the opportunities available to me to drink more water.

Stitching wise, I’ve been rotating through three different projects. I’ve been really enjoying the Jingle Bells (my name for the project, not the official name) project because of how awesome it’s looking on the blue fabric and the colours in the pattern.

Jingle Bells work in progress as of 13 April 2019

I’ve swapped out a couple of colours – one intentionally, one unintentionally. I wanted to have a silvery/metallic look to key parts of the pattern to make things interesting and add a different element to the pattern.

Jingle Bells close up of silver metallic thread as of 13 April 2019

The other colour change was one of the blues in the blue bell because I didn’t have the colour recommended in the pattern, so I chose a different blue that I think works well. The image below shows with an arrow pointing to the blue I have used instead of the recommended blue.

Jingle Bells blue thread swap out as of 13 April 2019

I then get my cat fix with the four seasons pattern that’s been my off and on pic for the last few years. My aim is to get it finished by the end of this year.

Four Seasons Kittens – Gold Collection kit – Progress as of 13 April 2019

My challenge for this year/next few years is my first Heaven and Earth Design that I’m stitching for my sister. I’m stitching it one over one (one strand over one square) on 28 count fabric. Which means that the crosses are tiny.

Moon Lit Waters – Heaven and Earth Designs – Artwork by Julie Fain – progress as of 13 April 2019
This is what the picture should look like when I’m finished!

I started this picture about a year or two ago and then got back into it early February 2019. Two of my biggest challenges with this has been keeping track of where I’ve stitched on the fabric in comparison to the pattern and the confetti stitches. So far I’m lucky that the area I’m stitching in has a lot of similar colours, so it wont’ matter too much if I don’t use the same colour that is recommended on the pattern. As long as I don’t confuse myself too much when I move onto future pages!

So where to from here?

Running wise, I really need to fire up my interest and passion for it. A few years ago, I was regularly running 5km 3 to 4 times per week and I was seeing significant progress in my times to complete the distance. I need to fire up again so that I can feel a lot more prepared for future events – the next one being the Mother’s Day Classic.

Stitching wise, I really want to make the most of the fabric I’ve recently bought on a trip up to Mittagong and do those fabrics justice by choosing patterns that compliment them.

Fabric from Mittagong

All the while finishing the three patterns I’m working on that you’ve seen in this post!

Happy Stitching !