Project: Love and Luck Wedding Sampler
Started: 29.04.09
Finished: 01.09.09

Design: Love and Luck Wedding Sampler by The Historical Sampler Company (from Cross Stitcher Magazine May 2009)
Materials: Pale lilac 16-count Aida; Anchor flosses; cream pearl seed beads

This project has taken me quite a while to complete as I kept going off the design and then it grew on me again later on and I'd come back to it. This time, as a result of resolving to finish it during UFO week, I really put the pressure on and added the final seed bead tonight (just as well, really, as the wedding is this weekend!). It won't be framed in time for the wedding, but it most certainly will be by the time the happy couple return from their honeymoon.

I changed the original design a tiny bit by replacing the top and bottom edges of the horse shoe border with a quote from the Apache Wedding Prayer, which I will be reading at the wedding, just to make it a little more personal. It reads "Now you are two people with only one life before you."

Project: Beside the Sea
Started: 16.08.09
Finished: 19.08.09
Design: Freebie kit on Cross Stitcher Magazine (October 2009 issue)
Materials: White 14-count Aida; Anchor flosses; seaside charms

I just couldn't resist stitching this lovely little freebie kit for my baby son's room. I added his name to the side of the boat, just to make it a little bit more personalised. The seaside charms are so cute and the colours so soft that they'll look perfect in Xander's nursery. I can hardly wait to find the perfect frame for it!

Blackwork Cherry Blossoms

Project: Blackwork Cherry Blossoms
Started: 08/08/09
Finished: 11.08.09

Design: Blackwork Cherry Blossom by Maria Diaz (from Cross Stitcher Magazine)
Materials: 14-count Charles Craft Soft Touch Aida in Dusty Rose; freebie flosses from Cross Stitcher Magazine; Venus 2611

This was an incredibly quick stitch and very enjoyable as the subtle shades give a very pretty and delicate effect. This design will become one side of a small decorative cushion for my Grom’s Christmas gift.

It's stitched on Charles Craft “Soft Touch” Dusty Rose 14-count Aida with the main 5 colours being the freebie flosses from the latest Cross Stitcher magazine plus another floss I just happened to have on hand. I only used two strands of floss, however, as I thought it looked a bit lumpy using the suggested three and I wanted a finer finish than that.

I’m planning to stitch a different design on the other side of the cushion (possibly the four butterflies freebie design from My Aunt’s Attic) in similar colours, so that it’s reversible.

Subversive Sampler

Project: Subversive Sampler
Started: 28.06.09
Finished: 30.06.09

Design: Short and Sweet by Maria Diaz (from Cross Stitcher Magazine April 2009)
Materials: 28-count Jobelan in grey, various DMC flosses, Gutermann seed beads in cream

As a fan of samplers anyway, I couldn’t resist this modern twist on a traditional design – the subversive sampler! I changed the colour scheme slightly from the magazine recommendations, using flosses that I had to hand and that complemented each other and the fabric well, and added a few cream seed beads in the border. The idea was to make it look pretty and delicate till you realise the lettering spells “Bothered”, which makes it a little punchier. I think this one might go on my desk at work as my colleagues have a sense of humour and I return to work after ten months of maternity leave in another two weeks!