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Happy December my stitching friends! I am so excited for all that is to come this month. I completed the fabric panel advent calendar just in time to stuff it full of candies and snacks from around the world.

I purchased my first ever basic Bitzy Bob from Kelly over at That's So Kelly Co. I also got a wonderful digital art print from her, "Love to Stitch." I immediately framed it and placed it by my tomato pincushion collection. I need to finish up a quilted wall hanging, model stitching for 2021 releases, and my own personal stitching.

I hope to post more stitching updates of all the things. Until then, you matter and your stitching matters.

Much love,
​ Amanda Mae

As an Amazon Associate and a Sulky of America Affiliate, if you click on a link I may earn from qualifying purchases. The affiliate links will be indicated with a (*) star symbol within this post. 

It is no secret that one of my favorite counted cross stitch creators is Barbara Ana Designs. I have stitched several of her anthropomorphic animals and a cute mermaid. My latest cross stitch finish is the freebie pattern offered on the Barbara Ana Designs Instagram page. She released it as a complimentary chart with the #bewellandstitch movement. I have stitched both of her Be Well complimentary designs in 2020. I decided to do a thread conversion and use Sulky 12 wt cotton Petites.*  

When I am not cross stitching, I really enjoy making all the things. I have been quilting and crafting. My favorite crafty club is the current Farmhouse Style Kit Club.* I made their first kit, which was the gorgeous felt wreath. My second kit just arrived! It is a soap making kit. I've always wanted to learn how to make soap. Seriously! In case you are interested in the club, Annie's is offering  75% off any Annie's Kit Club with the promo code SHARE75 .

Thanks so much my friends and happy stitching!
​Amanda Mae

As an Amazon Associate and a Sulky of America Affiliate, if you click on a link I may earn from qualifying purchases. The affiliate links will be indicated with a (*) star symbol within this post. 

I had so much fun creating this Alaskan themed Alphabet banner. I got the fabric panel at The Quilted Raven. I placed an online order and it shipped from Anchorage, Alaska to Maryland in three days. Amazing.  The illustrations are by Cindy Shake for Clothworks. 

Supplies: 

-1 fabric panel of Alaskan Alphabet by Cindy Shake design for Clothworks. I purchased mine at The Quilted Raven. You can find the panel here. 
-Wide bias tape in Yale blue (three 3 yard packages)
-One bobbin each of yellow and blue sewing thread. I used some vintage polyester thread from my stash, but use any type of sewing thread that you prefer.
-1 spool of Sulky Poly Star 30 weight metallic thread in gold with gold sparkle. Item 965-0905. You can find the spool here.*
-1 spool of Sulky Poly Star 30 weight metallic thread in blue. Dark Sapphire with tone on tone sparkle Item #965-0912. You can find it here.*
-Set of sewing clips
-Rotary cutter
-Iron

I had a lot of fun creating this Alaskan Alphabet Banner using Cindy Shake illustrations for Clothworks and Sulky Poly Star metallic sewing threads. I pulled out solid polyester sewing thread and Yale blue wide bias tape to create this banner. I also took a fabric stash dive and found the tan quilting cotton to use as the backing for each letter of the alphabet. Armed with a hot iron and my enthusiasm, I created this banner in just a couple of days.

This blog post contains affiliate links. All of the opinions are my own. Thank you for your support.

It is now officially autumn and I have completed two of the Annie's craft kits. While cross stitch will forever have my heart, it was really nice trying out and completing two new craft projects. The best part, the kits arrived at my doorstep and I just had to sit down and start creating!

The first kit I decided to make was the Needle Felting Pumpkin Kit from ​Annie's Creative Woman-of- the-Month Club. Thanks to a rather humorous event involving me, a stray wool fiber, and my eyeball in college, I have not needle felted in over fifteen years. Thankfully I was brave enough to embark on this crafting endeavor with the help of my youngest kid. I say "help" loosely as he was quite useful in creating many knots in the yarn balls. Oh crafting with kids. 

Apparently I was so excited to be needle felting again that I was a bit too enthusiastic with my needles. I snapped one off at the tip and successfully bent the other one. This did not detour me. I carried on and I finished all three pumpkins. The directions were easy to follow and I had enough supplies to successfully complete the project. I am happy to report that I loved the project and I look forward to more wool needle felting. 

As with any project involving hot glue, please be mindful of your finger tips when you are attaching the individual leaves. There are a lot of leaves to attach. A lot. I did the math. Wow. You will just have to get the kit and find out the exact number for yourself. You can find out more about the Farmhouse Style Club here. 

I am thrilled with how the wreath turned out. It was so nice finishing two craft projects that got me out of my cross stitch comfort zone. I look forward to completing more kits. Thanks Annie's! 

Sign up for the Farmhouse Style Kit Club and get your first month 50% off with the code: SHARE50

This blog post contains affiliate links. All of the opinions are my own. Thank you for your support.

This episode features two new cross stitch pattern releases. So exciting! I also show my WIPS (works in progress) on my Totem pattern by Ursula Michaels, "Light" by Barbara Ana Designs, and a sneak peak of my upcoming design featuring Sulky Poly Star and 12 weight cotton thread. I also show my quilting and crafts with my kids.
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It is so exciting to announce that I have two pattern releases this week! The first is Pear Assortment. This is a 16th century needlework block print that I adapted for counted cross stitch. It was originally stitched in conjunction with my filming and development of the Sulky of America's "Intro to Cross Stitch" video series. You can watch that video series here. 

The second pattern release is "Whaley Love Winter" featured in the 2020 Just CrossStitch Ornament Issue. The model is stitched withSulky 12 weight cotton thread and Hiloshimmer thread. It is stitched on 32 count Indigo linen by Luminous Fiber Arts and mini creamsicle orange pom pom trim by Lady Dot Creates. 

The pumpkin block pattern came from The Cloth Parcel. I decided to make each block into a decorative pumpkin pillow. I added metallic thread to the top stitching. I think I found my new favorite shiny thing and that is Sulky's Poly Star Thread! You can watch the episode here. 

I absolutely love the cross stitch company Prairie Schooler and the designs by Pam Burke. I find the designs super fun and timeless. I stitched two of the Fairie patterns originally released in 1995 and 1996. I combined them both on a scrap piece of light blue even weave fabric that I found at a thrift shop. I decided to use one strand of Sulky 12 weight cotton to stitch both fairies. It got theCrossroads palette set* and made a color conversion. I used this palette for both fairies, but my color conversion only mentions one fairy. 

Once both pieces were stitched together, I went in search of a fun frame. The thrift store gods blessed me with a gorgeous black frame. I used some of charts' motifs to stitch more flowers in order fill out the fabric so it would fit nicely into the frame. I love the results! 

This piece is asked about the most on my Flosstube channel, and I hope my frugal finishing, sustainable stitching (thrifted even weave fabric and frame), and classic cross stitch charts inspires you to create your own fairy piece. Oh and I almost forgot, there are two other fairies! I am currently on the lookout for the Fairy on the snail. So cute!

Thank you and happy stitching!

​Amanda Mae

Behold my new fabric samples from SpoonFlower! My new Halloween fabric designs can be found in my "These Spirits Love Needlework" collection on the Spoonflower website.  The fabric sample swatch of Spoonflower's new Belgian Linen was the main focus of my Flosstube episode. In the episode I open my fabric package and I count the linen threads in real time. I count the threads in to find out if the fabricit is even or un-evenweave linen.

 I decided to film a spur-of-the-moment unboxing of the fabric. You can watch the unedited video on my Flosstube channel right here.  Do you like my new fabric? You can find it in my Spoonflower shop.

Within the embroidery hoop print in the fabric, you could always use Sulky Stick N'Stitch to cross stitch your own design within each small hoop. 

Thank you again for your support and Happy Stitching, 

​Amanda Mae

This post contains affiliate links. As an affiliate, I do receive a small commission if you purchase an item through the link that I have provided in this post. 

This was a week of fully finishing cross stitch projects. I did, however, stop to smell the roses (and sunflowers and peaches...).  You can watch my new Flosstube episode here. 

I am thrilled with "Autumn Dream" and how it turned out in the 11 inch square frame. I removed the glass from the frame and cut a piece of foam core board approximately 10.9 inches square using a utility box cutter knife. The frame I purchased can be found here. It came in several colors, but I chose the "carbonized" wood color. I stitched my piece on a 32 count toasted almond linen and I feel like it turned out great in this frame. 

“Patriotic ABCs” by Barbara Ana Designs can be found in the summer 2020 issue of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher magazine. I used all of the called for DMC threads. It is stitched on 32 count natural linen. After finishing the stitching, I ironed the piece. Next I used pins, a ruler, and patience to carefully cut the linen to give the piece a three inch margin on all sides. I decided that a thrift store frame I originally got for framing Blackbird Designs “Blessings be Thine” sampler would be perfect to hold this prim eagle sampler.

I feel very overwhelmed and grateful to receive this beautifully stitched bookmark from a stitching friend. Look at that variegated thread in the blackwork! I love that she stitched my motto, "I matter. My Stitching Matters." Thank you so much Vonda for such a beautiful piece. I will treasure it! To my fellow readers of this blog, remember that YOU MATTER and that YOUR STITCHING MATTERS. 

“Remember Me” by Birds of a Feather is complete. I am very excited to have this project completed and framed! I Rit dyed the 14 count Aida fabric. The pattern is stitched using a combination of Sulky 12 weight cotton petites thread and the new Sulky 12 weight Filaine acrylic thread. The witch is stitched in cotton. The houses and the cat are stitched in Filaine. I love the coverage of the acrylic! I am excited to acquire more colors and to work on reproducing a 19th century wool work sampler with acrylic thread.

The frame is one that I found at a thrift store. I removed the glass and used the existing mat board. I laced the piece to the mat board. I used a chenille needle and a single strand of Filaine to lace the project. I know several needlework finishers use upholstery thread for lacing their projects. I have had a lot of success with using 12 weight cotton thread and now I am happy to report that the 12 weight acrylic thread works too.

Thanks to my Flosstube friends last year for helping me to identify one of my Save the Stitches pieces. I found this autumn farm landscape scene at a used bookstore. I took it out of the frame, cleaned it, and then set it aside for more than a year trying to figure out how to fully finish it. Finally I decided to display it. It was already clean but pretty wrinkled. I pressed it with a hot dry iron, and then attached it with two sided stitchery tape to an acid-free mat board. I used my rare earth magnets and E600 glue to attach it to a thrifted easel. The pattern is the autumn scene from the 1990 book “Sloane's Four Seasons” designs by John Sloane from the Something Special/Candamar company. It was stitched on 18 count cream white Aida. I am so happy I found this finished stitch. It looks like you can find a used copy of the chart on ebay. 

While reading this fun book to my kiddos, I remembered there are a few penguins I'd like to stitch from the back issues of Mary Hickmott's New Stitches magazine. Again, I have found some of the back issues available on eBay here. It is fun to read about Antartica while thinking of whales, penguins, and snow to stitch. 

I am happy to report that I was able to venture out to a local farm for “pick your own” season. My family and I picked a ½ bushel of yellow peaches and one peck of tomatoes. It was quite an adventure. I had picked peaches back in California, but this was the first time for my children and husband to pick peaches. Fun fact, the clear plastic bag is a “1 U.S. Peck” size and measures 13.5 inches by 16.5 inches. Now I want to make a project bag and have “I love you a bushel and a peck” cross stitched on the front of it!