Lay's Potato Chip

Sometimes it is difficult to take a good snapshot of something in a photo frame.  I snapped this view of a project that I completed way back when I was learning to cross stitch.  It is not the first, because as I said earlier on the blog that the barns were my first stitched projects.  This may be my second one, I don't remember for sure but it is somewhere in there as one of my first.

Winter Quartet

This project came from the Better Homes and Gardens Cross Stitch Christmas magazine in the 1999 edition.
It is one of my favorites.

Mill Pond

This piece of stitch work took some time to do. It is called Mill Pond and was published in the February 2004 edition of The Cross Stitcher magazine. The design is by Julia Lucas. This is the first project that I did using the Kreinik thread. Kreinik is a fine metallic filament thread that you use for blending with your regular thread to give your work a little sparkle. This is what I used with the snow stitches to give it a little shimmer. I'm not sure I used it correctly but it turned out pretty anyway. Click photo for an enlargement.

Everlasting Light

This beautiful Christmas piece was made from a kit by Bucilla. The finished size is 5x7 inches.

Snowman

The little snowman is from one of those little inexpensive kits that I picked up for about one or two dollars. It is the perfect size for making an ornament, decorating a gift jar lid and more. It is very quick and easy to stitch.

Angels

The two finished cross stitch pieces below are from a set of three. I really do not know why I didn't finish the set. These two are the Harp Angel and Violin Angel. The 'missing" one is the Joy Angel.
The charts and instructions for these can be found in the 1999 Better Homes and Gardens Cross Stitch Christmas magazine. The date on the magazine says "display until November 23rd." This Christmas edition has more than 50 easy projects to cross stitch.

Click on photos to enlarge

I Gopher For A Good Book

I cross stitched this book mark and sewed it to a cloth backing. I wanted the cute little eye glasses to stand out, so I added a gold thread in with my floss thread. This gave the eye glass frame a gold wire effect, which I like. Below is a close up of that, although the camera does not pick up the gold very well. You can click on any of the photos to get an enlarged view.

Give Thanks

This is a big design. I haven't decided how I will display it. Maybe a small quilted wall hanging?

Friendship Kit

This is one of those little kits you find at the dollar stores. It is easy, and quick to stitch up! I recommend this type of project for the beginner.

Fishing

Trout Fishing
This stitch kit is called Casting a Fly by Dimensions
The finished size is 5x7 inches

Gone Fishin'





Rainbow Trout

Baby Announcement

I completed this kit for a little family member.

Luv My Cat

This chart was from Cross Stitcher magazine February 2004

I Wish You

This is another project that I stitched and gave as a gift.

(to view the poem, click on the image to enlarge it)

GrandMother Saying

I stitched this little saying for my Daughter when she became a GrandMother.

Hummingbird

This was a project that I downloaded free from the internet. This pattern and design is called Anna's Hummingbird and is © by Crossed Wing Collection.

John Deere

This is a project I stitched of an old tractor, but when I look at the image, it puts my memory in rewind...



Edit: You may find a free download of this pattern here: http://www.thecrossstitchermagazine.com/Projects/Free/johndeere.pdf

This takes me back to the days when I was very young, with gardens, fields of corn, and pastures. I can smell the fresh air. There were no nearby highways, so you could actually hear the birds singing.
I remember the corn "shocks" as we called them. After all the corn was gathered, cooked and canned, there would be some ears of corn left on the stalk but they were left behind because the kernels were starting to dry out and not good for eating, for humans, that is.
They were left as winter food for the cows and horses or mules when we had them. Sometimes we only had one cow which was our milk source. I remember a mule which was sometimes used for plowing the garden.
After the corn was cut, we stood it up in shocks. It was gathered up in bunches, and stacked straight up, spread out at the bottom and tied at the top with bailing twine. It was in the shape of a tee-pee. This was a drying process and sometimes left in the field like this until the animals needed it.
We "kids" would make sure one or two of them were tied high enough that we could go into the bottom of the shock and open it up like a tee-pee and play inside. I guess we didn't think about snakes and spiders.
I wonder how many others did this as a child. I'm thinking there were probably many children who did this if they grew up in the country as I did.

Stitched Chocolate

Patriotic Cross Stitch Squares

I stitched these twenty four squares for a future project. I have not yet decided but it will probably be a small quilt or maybe some cute pillows.