I'm Back. Lots of Finishes!

 Hi Everyone!

I'm back, finally.  It's been a rough Summer.  I lost my Mom in June and have been dealing with that emotionally and physically (cleaning out her house for sale).

In spite of the grief, I have been able to finish some things.  I got 2 of my finished cross stitch pieces framed.  First is Heirloom Nativity Sampler from the Victoria Sampler.

The other one that got framed was my Sweet Peas from Cindy Rice.

I had had a shoulder injury that took a little chiropractic work and some physical therapy to fix, but no pain now!  Because of the injury, I hadn't been able to work on my mystery quilt.  Now that I'm healed, I was able to finish the Grassy Creek Mystery by Bonnie Hunter.  Here's my finished top:

Just a couple of days ago, I had my most recent finish:  another fabric wreath!  I did an Autumn one this time:

This wreath has 5 different Autumn fabrics.  I still have one more wreath form but haven't decided what fabrics to use on it...we'll see.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Another Finished Project: Fabric Wreath

 Hello!

Due to the lockdown, I have another finish - a fabric wreath.  I got the form from a storage unit that hubby bought (like Storage Wars but real life).  The form is 18" in diameter.  When I started on this one (after the jewelry letter!), hubby asked me if I was "trying to foo foo up the room" because it's now MY room.  I told him, of course I was.

I really didn't know how to do it, but thanks to Pinterest, I figured it out.  Oh, if you want to follow me on Pinterest, my ID is stacy27c.

Since most of the tutorials were for 14" wreaths, I knew I was going to need more fabric.  I ended up using 468 strips that were cut 1" x 8".  I used 13 different fabrics; 7 whites/creams and 6 blues/greens.  Most tutorials I read said to tear the fabric for a raggedy look.  I'll admit I was lazy and used my rotary cutter.

My form had 9 sections like this:

Here are the fabrics I used, in the order I used them:

I started at the top left pile and tied a strip around the outer 2 rings of the wreath form.  I then went clockwise through the piles tying the next strip around the middle 2 rings, then the 3rd strip around the inner 2 rings, then back to the outer 2 rings.  For each of the section on the form, I went through my piles 4x for 52 strips per section.

When I finished the 1st section of the form, the last strip was tied on the 2 outer rings.  When I started the 2nd section of the form, I kept to the pattern and started on the middle 2 rings.

I only did one tie per strip, like this:

That was sufficient to keep them on the form, plus left them longer for a fluffier wreath.  I decided to hang it on my closet door so that I could see it from pretty much anywhere in my studio.  Here's my finished wreath:

I do have one more wreath form that I'm going to do up for Christmas.  I'll post when I get that one done.

Happy Stitching and Crafting!

Stacy

If it's Summer...

...I must be working on quilts.  I don't know why, but when it gets hot outside, I want to create quilts.

At the moment, I've joined a couple of exchanges on FB.  In these exchanges, you make one 12" block for each person that has signed up and then mail them out to each person.  Here are some of the squares I made for the June/July exchange.  The colors were chosen but we each got to pick out what block to use them in.

I chose the Wagon Tracks block from QuiltersCache.com.  These were the last ones I needed to do for June/July.

For August, there were so many of us signed up, we got divided into smaller groups.  My group has 11 people with one person doing 2 blocks so I had to make 11 blocks total.  Our group was totally random for the colors and the block choices (as long as it finishes at 12").  This time I picked the Mosaic block from PatchworkSquare.com.  Since I had been running behind on the previous exchange, I wanted to make sure I was on the ball for August; my blocks are already done!  Here are the blocks I did:

These were a lot of fun to do!  The big squares in each block are 5" and the little ones are 2".  I have bins of both those sizes already cut so that saved a bunch of time.

I've been trying to tame my fabric stash while I've been making these quilt blocks.  I'm also doing a leader/ender project as described by Bonnie Hunter.  I've folded almost all of my fabric yardage (again, using Bonnie Hunter's technique) and rearranged it on my shelves.  Here are the before and after photos:

Now, I just have to deal with a few more yards and all the pieces that are less than a yard:

The first photo is mostly yardage.  The second is my "fat quarters" and scrap pieces.  Not all of the fat quarters were fat, they were smaller.  True fat quarters (18" x 22") are all getting folded the same way and put in a drawer together.  All the other pieces are getting cut up into:

• 5" squares
• 2" squares
• 2½" strips
• 2" x 3½" bricks
• strips narrower than 2½ for string quilts
• little bits smaller than 2" for crumb quilts

As I'm working on managing all these fabric chunks, I'm doing the Caroline Chain from Bonnie Hunter's book Addicted to Scraps as my leader/ender project.  It's the first one in the book.  I'm thinking about just doing every one in the book.  I'll get back to you on whether I do or not.  Here's what it looks like in the book:

I've been cutting a lot of the 2" squares and 2"x3½" bricks for this one.  I've been cutting 5" squares from my fabric chunks first and then I do a bunch of the smaller squares and bricks for this quilt.  I've been throwing the dark and light sets into these two baskets on the floor but I guess I needed some help from Spooky.

The shoebox tubs have the brick and squares in them and I just grab them at random to piece together.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Etsy Shop BIG update!!

Whew!  I really thought this update would never end!

I've just added 125 items to my Etsy shop, XedStitches! 

Just added are a bunch of kits, magazines, leaflets, a couple of books, a couple pieces of fabric...and more!

Now, I'm going to go take a nap.  zZzZzZz

Oh, for my readers, there is a coupon code:  BLOGREADER.  Spend $10 or more before shipping and get 5% off (shipping not discounted).

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Answer #8 - Figuring fabric sizes

I've seen this one too many times to count.
A quick shout-out to Margie for letting me know about my typos!

How do I figure out how much fabric I need for my project?

I'm sorry, but this question irks me to no end.  No, I'm not a "math person" - that's my sister.  To me it's a sad commentary on the educational system (I'm only referring to the USA).  This question involves arithmetic.  There are no "x" or "y" formulas, just basic  division and addition with some rare multiplication.  Yes, you have to answer a few questions to get to the arithmetic, but they aren't difficult.  For the actual arithmetic, you can use a calculator!

There are three variations on this question and I'll address all three.  Since I'm in the US, I'm using inches.  The premise is the same for centimeters though I've never seen fabric counts listed in centimeters.  You're on your own doing the conversions to metric, sorry.

The first is:  How big does my fabric need to be?

Here are the questions you answer first:

1. What is the stitch count of your project?
2. What is the count of the fabric you are going to stitch it on?
3. Are you going to stitch over 1 or 2 fabric threads?
4. Are you going to frame it when it's done?

As an example, I'm going to calculate what size fabric I will need to stitch Still Life on a Marble Pedestal:

1.  What is the stitch count?  625 wide x 797 high.
2.  What is the count of the fabric?  28 count
3.  Am I going to stitch over 1 or 2 fabric threads?  over 1
4.  Am I going to frame it?  yes - that means I need to allow 3" per side for framing.

Since I am stitching over 1 on 28 count fabric, that means I will have 28 stitches per inch.
(If I had said over 2, that means I would have 14 stitches per inch - 28 ÷ 2 = 14.  All calculations below would have to be divided by 14.  The project would be twice as large each direction!)

To find how wide I need my fabric, I will divide.  My pattern is 625 stitches wide.  Since my fabric will give me 28 stitches per inch, I will divide 625 by 28.  That will tell me how many inches I will need for 625 stitches.

625 ÷ 28 = 22.3214...

To be safe, I always round UP!  That means I need 23" of fabric for the width of the pattern.  That will only allow for the stitching.  To allow for framing, I want 3" of material on each side of my stitching so I add 6" to the 23" to give me the width of 29" for my fabric.

Now for the height of my fabric. I do the arithmetic using the only number that is different:  the project height in stitches.  So again, I will divide my stitch count by the number of stitches per inch:

797 ÷ 28 = 28.4642...

Again, rounding up means I need 29" for the stitching.  Adding in the 6" for framing gives me (29+6) a height of 35".

So stitching this project on 28 count over 1 and allowing for framing, means I would need a piece of fabric 29" wide x 35" high.

The second is:  What stitch count do I use to fit a certain set of dimensions?

Say you already have a particular frame and you want to see how to make a project fit the frame.

For this example, let's use QS Hummingbird:

This project has a stitch count of 189 wide x 163 high.  This is much more likely to fit an existing frame than my previous example!  ;-)

Let's say you found a gorgoeus frame that has an opening of 16" x 14".  Would you be able to stitch this to fit in your frame?  Let's find out!

Okay, your frame is 16" wide.  Your pattern is 189 stitches wide.  If you divide your number of stitches by the number of inches you have to work with, you'll get this:

189 ÷ 16 = 11.8125

11.8125 equals the number of stitches you would have to have per inch of fabric to just fit into your frame.  Since no fabric has a stitch count of 11.8125, you're going to have to opt for a fabric with more stitches to the inch than 11.8125.  The obvious choices would be 14 count over 1 or 28 count over 2.

Now, let's double-check to see if 14 count would work for both dimensions of the frame.

189 ÷ 14 = 13.5"  for the width      163 ÷ 14 = 11.64"  for the height.

That will leave you approximately 2.5" to work with inside your frame.
16" - 13.5" = 2.5"                14" - 11.64" = 2.36"

That works out to a blank space of about 1.25" on each side of your stitching once it's framed.

That is a bit on the narrow side for a mat but I've actually seen smaller mats.  You could use a mat or just leave the blank gap.  Be sure to use spacers if you have glass but no mat!

The third is:  What can I fit on my already cut piece of fabric?

I have a gorgeous piece of this from Silkweaver:

To find out what will fit on it, here's what I need to know:

1.  What are the dimensions of my fabric in inches?  18" x 26"
2.  What is the stitch count?  32 count
3.  Do I want to frame my finished piece?  yes

This process is like the first example at the top of this post, in reverse.

Since I want to frame whatever I stitch on this, I need to subtract the 3" per side (6" total) for the framing.  That gives me:

18 - 6 = 12 inches       26 - 6 = 20 inches

That means I have 12" x 20" of stitching area.  Since it's 32 count and I tend to stitch over 1, I would multiply to find out what stitch counts my project has to stay within.

12 x 32 = 384          20 x 32 = 640

Now I know that I can choose any of my charts that have a stitch count of 384 x 640 or smaller. 

I've tried to make sure that I included every step required to do the arithmetic but if you see one I've missed, let me know and I'll update this post.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Answer #6 - Stitching Supplies

This time it is a two-part question about stitching supplies.

Leigh asked:
Where do you buy floss and fabric? 

This answer is a little involved.  I have so much floss that I've been collecting over the years, I don't have to buy much.  If I'm starting a new pattern, I hit up my stash for the required floss.  Any colors that are going to require more than one skein, I will buy new skeins so that I know I have enough of the same dye lot.  I do have a local quilt store that stocks DMC so if I need only a few skeins, I'll get them there.  Unfortunately, it's expensive there, about 69¢ each.  If I need more than say, 10 skeins, I'll buy them online.

When my local LNS went out of business, I worked her going-out-of-business sale in exchange for stash.  I got a lot of fabric!  I'm pretty set for 28 and 32 counts.

If I do need floss or fabric, I shop primarily at 123stitch.  If I'm doing something like a band sampler where the fabric is visible, I like using dyed fabrics and Silkweaver is my favorite.  Both these companies are in the US.  For online shopping in the UK, I've heard a lot of good things about Cross Stitch Heaven.

Leigh also asked:
I've also never stitched on linen before, so I might try to do a smaller linen project first as a test run. Any tips for switching from aida?

Yes.  Run away from aida.  Sorry, just being a fabric snob.  ;-)

If you've only stitched on Aida, I wouldn't suggest linen. Linen can be great but it tends to have variations in the thickness of the threads.  It also costs more than evenweaves.  What I would recommend is either laguna or jobelan evenweaves.  The best tip I can give is the starting point.  This is very well described and illustrated at Kathy Dyer's site, point #18, so I'll have you check it out there.

Happy stitching!

Stacy

Answer #2 - Floss coverage

This post was updated on 16 October 2017 with a finished photo of La Belle Dame and further progress on God Speed.

Leonore asked:

"I have one, actually...I remembered you saying something about 25ct over one and coverage, so I went aaaall the way back to read it again (it was with Carla's questions on HAED) and since I'm currently trying to decide what count and over one ore two I should do for my first really big project, I wanted to ask if you could talk a bit about that and possible show some closeups of both God Speed and La Belle Dame for comparison?"

This is a very good question!

There are a couple of things to consider.  Does the pattern have a lot of black (or equally dark color)? Are you going to be stitching on a light colored material?  Remember this is going to be an issue in reverse too (light colors on a dark fabric).

Both my La Belle Dame...(LBD) and God Speed (GS) use quite a bit of black.  LBD has 84,226 stitches in black and GS has 34,036.  Okay, that's more than I thought...dang, that's a lot of black!

On LBD, I had already done one re-start of it so when I decided to stick with 1 strand over 1 thread (1x1), there was no way I was going to re-start again.  There are bits of the fabric that show through but you do have to be fairly close to the project to see that.

With GS, I had already been working on LBD 1x1, so I decided to do 2 strands over 1.  The coverage on 25ct. 2x1 is excellent!  Not a trace of the fabric showing through.  The downside to this is that it is more difficult to actually get the needle and floss through the fabric once you are working where there are already surrounding stitches.  Yes, I do use a larger needle to help open up the holes a bit but with anywhere from 2-6 strands of floss already claiming the hole as theirs', there is a bit of a fight.

Here are a couple of closeups to help show what I mean:

Personally, I won't be using 25ct. again for any project, HAED or otherwise.  I just don't care for it.  I prefer 28ct. and higher.

I don't have a closeup shot of it, but the Twilight Repose that I did was on 28ct. 1x1.  The coverage was great!  The fabric on that one was Ivory and it is 100% stitched.  So with all of that 924 used for the background, that's all you see:  924.

My current WIPs and the pertinent information are:

• La Belle Dame Sans Merci ~ 25ct. 1x1 ~ only one with not great coverage
• God Speed ~ 25ct. 2x1
• Rapunzel (Dawe) ~ 28ct. 1x1
• The Sistine Chapel ~ 34ct. 1x1 (Yes, I'm sure it's 34ct. No, I don't know where I got such an odd count fabric.)
• PTP Floral Arrangement ~ 40ct. 1x1 half stitches 2x1 for the blending filament (or tent stitching for you "modern" stitchers)

 All of these are on ivory or natural fabrics.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Scroll Rod tip - simple but Clever!

I personally haven't had any problems keeping my fabric clean when I'm working with scroll rods but then I use a floor stand so I don't have much physical contact with the scrolled part of the fabric.

For anyone who does need help or just wants to be extra careful with their fabric, this is the cleverest idea I've encountered.  This is from Meari's Musings blog.

Stitching Dilemma

Happy Stitching!

Stacy