Cross Stitching Update: Emily Peacock ‘HUG’ cushion August

I’m a little ashamed to admit this, but the poor HUG cushion has been neglected during previous UFO weeks. It hasn’t been touched since the last update I gave you in May, so when August UFO week came along I knew I couldn’t put off stitching on it any longer. My goal was modest, extend the border to cover the space where the ‘U’ would be and stitch the outline for the ‘U’. I’m happy to say I out did myself, not only did I reach my goal I actually managed to finish the entire ‘U’. That means I’m over half way there.

So here is the whole design as it’s now looking now

And here is just the ‘U’

The ‘HUG’ cushion is designed by Emily Peacock and stitched on 11 count white aida using three strands of DMC floss as recommended in the chart. All colours used are as charted.

Margaret Sherry Hedgehog Birthday Card

Some more stitching pictures. This is a birthday card I made for a friend. It’s a Margaret Sherry design which was in Crossstitcher Issue 226. The actual design is bigger as there is a bumblebee on either side of the hedgehog, but I decided to stitch without them to save time. The design calls for Anchor floss but as I mostly have DMC I used a mixture of both, and not necessarily the corresponding colors. It’s stitched on 14-count white Aida.
The card was a freebie from another magazine as was the ‘Happy Birthday’ sticker. I think the green looked just right for this design.

Cross stitching Update: Emily Peacock ‘HUG’ cushion

Back in January I mentioned my New Years resolutions, among the cross stitching ones was stitching Emily Peacock’s ‘HUG’ cushion which came as a freebie with Crossstitcher Magazine back in December ’09. I started it in January, but once the materials for the ‘mystery’ wedding sampler arrived in February it was pretty much abandoned.

This month however I had a sudden urge to stitch something with a bit of colour, so when UFO week at the Crossstitchforum started on the 1st I joined in. I should probably explain that UFO stands for UnFinished Object, and the cross stitch forum where I spend some of my time has a UFO week from the 1st to the 7th every month.

In any case, I went into UFO week with the goal of completing the H, and on the 5th this was un fait accompli. As I have a few things to stitch in May I’m going to leave it at that and get going on more birthday cards, there are after all a few more family birthday’s in May, although it’s not as crazy as August.

Here is a picture of how the cushion should look when completed, this is the tapestry version, not the cross stitch version, but the design and colours are pretty much the same.

I recently found out that Miso Funky sell the cross stitch pattern for the KISS cushion, so I shall be acquiring that in the near future.

Now back to the project I’m actually stitching; here is a picture of my complete progress on the ‘HUG’ cushion. My aida is a bit messy after being in the hoop but I’m not going to worry about that until everything is done. The border is the same for the length of the design so the next step is to extend it so it’s over the area where the U will appear, but that will have to wait till next month.

And here is a picture of just the H. I have to admit I didn’t think the green would go very well with the other colours, but now that it’s stitched up it looks great.

The ‘HUG’ cushion is designed by Emily Peacock and stitched on 11 count white aida using three strands of DMC floss as recommended in the chart. All colours used are as charted.

Blackwork Tudor Rose

Here is my last crossstitch picture, for today at least.

This is a design called Tudor Rose which was in Crossstitcher, December issue I think. It will eventually end up as a cushion, and it will have a twin.
It was stitched on 16-count white Aida, using DMC 310 Black. I have to admit to not doing proper blackwork stitches, I did back stitching instead for most of if. For those who don’t know Blackwork is suppose to look identical, front and back, which the double running stitch or Holbein stitch is supposed to achieve. Backstitching is quicker though, and as the back will be covered by fabric it doesn’t matter how messy it is.

Once both cushions are made up they will be a present for MIL, her 50th is in October and black and white is her preferred colours for her house.

Mother’s Day Cards

This year I stitched 4 Mother’s Day cards, one for my wonderful mummy for Norwegian Mother’s Day which was February 14th, and one each for hubby’s mum, grandma and nan for UK Mother’s Day which was March 14th. I forgot to take pictures once the cards were done so most of them you’ll see the stitching only.

This is the one I did for my mum. The design was in World of Crossstitching (WOXS) January issue I think. For anyone living in the uk it would have come as a free kit, but I just got the chart in the magazine. I stitched it on 16-count cream aida using the charted DMC floss. For the wording I used thr alphabet from a different design to write ‘Verdens Beste Mamma’ which is Norwegian for ‘World’s Best Mum’ which is what she is 🙂

This is the one I stitched for my MIL. It’s from the Norton Diary which was a freebie with the December issue (I think) of WOXS. It’s the smallest in size of the MD stitching, but it took the longest to complete, and it’s the most challenging of them, due to the many, many fractional. It’s stitched on 16-count white Aida using the recommended DMC floss.

This lovely Blue Tit was stitched for hubby’s Grandma, I just love how colourful he is, especially with the pink flowers in the background. The design is from CrossStitch Collection, January or February issue. I stitched him on 16-count white Aida, using the charted DMC floss.

Last, but not least I stitched this Victoriana silhuette of a gardening lady for hubby’s nan. The design is from Crossstitcher, January or February issue. The original was done on light green Aida, with the plants in two contrasting shades of green. Instead I decided to do it in yellow. I used 16-count Aida which I dyed yellow using Dylon Hand dye ‘Sunflower Yellow’. I then picked two shades of yellow from my stash and got stitching. It was a fun design to do and I’m already getting ready to stitch the remaining two cards, flower arranging lady and shopping lady. It looks really bright and cheerful in it’s yellow aperture card.

2009 Christmas Cards

What was that? Do I know it’s February? Of course I do, it’s not like I’m showcasing next years cards (if I do that before August you may have me commited).

The reason I’m putting these up so late is that I sent them out late and I wanted to be sure everyone had theirs before i put the pictures up.

Here we go then

This was made for MIL and FIL. They used to have the cutest westie in the world, so this is in memory of her. The design is adapted from a Joan Elliott design ‘Santa’s Helpers’ which appeared in WOXS – World of Cross Stitching ( I think), The original had several cute puppies surrounded by pressies and x-mas decorations, but I just stitched two of the pups seperately. So here is the Westie

The other pup was stitched for my mum, a Golden Lab I think it is. I was really looking for a rottweiler, but couldn’t find one. Maybe I’ll try and design one for next christmas

The third card was a freebie design from Crossstitcher issue 220, I made it for my big brother, SIL and nephew. It’s just soooo cute and perfect for kids. I changed the original text to say Merry Christmas in Norwegian instead of in English.

The next two cards are from the same design, from Crossstitch Collection if I remember correctly. I just love that cat, it’s so cheeky.
The one on the right is stitched in the colours given in the chart and was for my little brother and his girlfriend, and the one on the left is for my BIL and future SIL. The colours were changed to match their newest kitty Mogli.

This next one was from a X-mas card chart book from WOXS, and was for my dad. It looks so much nicer in real life, the purple metallic card really suits the design, but taking pics of metallic card is a b***h

I don’t have individual pic of the last three, and dad’s raindeer main it onto this card too 🙂 The two bird ones were from the same chartbook as the raindeer and were for DH’s Grandma and Nan, while the Happy Christmas one was from one of the magazines, Crossstitcher I think, and for DH’s aunt and uncle.

Well that was it, next year I’m aiming to do more cards. There were so many designs i never to around to and I’m sure the mags will have plenty of great designs this year as well.