Throughout my website you will see many of the projects I have stitched over the years. I have tried to show a variety of types and styles of needlework related to counted cross-stitch. I would like to tell you a little bit about these various pieces then I would like to share further pictures from my Journal.

 On my HOME page you will first notice “The Road to a Needlework Shoppe…” This is a Linda Myers design that is done on Jubilee. I don’t think it requires any further explanation as the sentiment speaks for itself. Also on this page in the upper right hand corner in the header you will see the picture “Catch the Wind” from Butternut Road. This is done on an Annabelle, a fabric I particularly like. The picture is probably my favourite. The Menu is superimposed over another project that I will refer to later.

 Next on the ABOUT US page you will see a “Welcome” that I had some fun with. It comes from a Shamrock Heart pattern by Seka. Seka does a series of hearts that are done on the large count fabric called tula. They are stitched using heavier fibres such as pearl cottons, braids and Watercolours by Caron and implementing specialty stitches that are well illustrated in the patterns. As you can see I changed the colours here to match my store colours and replaced the Shamrocks with a “Welcome”

 Next if you select PRODUCTS you will see two projects in the oval surrounded by many different fibres. The bellpull (on right) was mentioned earlier – it is the project that the Menu is superimposed on. This is an example of Hardanger and specialty stitches. The pattern comes from a back issue of the Just Cross Stitch magazine. This gave me the idea to finish other projects in this manor when I didn’t want to spend the money to frame a piece. You will see another example of this later. Also pictured in the oval is “Lady Victoria” by Nessy Lynn’s. This is done on Jobelan and incudes beads and Whisper for the plume. It worked up very quickly.

 If you proceed to the PATTERNS section next you will first see a picture entitled “Love Is …” one of the many pictures by Stoney Creek that I have done over the years. This one is stitched on Fiddler’s Cloth. Further down the page you will see another favourite of mine by Lavendar & Lace called “Fairy Dreams”. This is done on a metallic fabric and has beads and braids in it. For those that are familiar with the pattern you will notice that some of the background is left out because of the change in fabric. I received this pattern sight unseen before I had opened the store. I was still a novice with evenweave and had never heard of Lavendar and Lace until then.

If you go back to the PRODUCTS page and now take FIBRES you will see a charted canvas project called “Shining Star”. This is a Laura J. Perin Design done with pearl cottons and a Watercolour by Caron on mono canvas. These projects work up quite quickly and easily. Going back and choosing KITS you will see a picture entitled “Lavender Dreams” by Lesa Steele. This is not a kit by the way – I have no projects at the moment that come from kits. I hadn’t yet started my Journal when I was doing kits and I have given them all away. (Don’t most stitchers give away more than they keep for themselves??) “Lavender Dreams” is another hardanger project with several specialty stitches. This came from a back issue of Just Cross Stitch but has since been issued in leaflet form. Once again I made some changes substituting silver for gold and mauve beads (left over from “Fairy Dreams”) for the cream suggested. This is a customer favourite and they are often enticed to try hardanger after seeing this picture.

Now you need to select LINKS from the menu to see the last of my projects spread throughout the website. It is fitting that I end with a design from a Canadian who distributes her designs through her own company The Stitchers Habit and is located right here in Ontario. I first saw this pattern when a customer came in with it to get the material and fibres. There are many blending filaments in it as well as some other metallics and it is called “Aurora Polaris”. I just had to have it! There are many more Canadian designers and publishing companies entering the cross-stitch market. You will see links to some of them on this page and I have indicated the Canadian designers that I carry in the list on the pattern page.

 I would now like to share further projects that are in my Journal

 These first three were stitched many years ago and are done on Aida. They came from various issues of The Better Homes & Garden annual cross-stitch calendars.

The two cats in the pictures are two of my own cats as near as I could manage. Missy is in the sewing room and Muffy is in the kitchen.

The next two are not your traditional cross-stitch type of pictures. The first one once again on black has some cross-stitch but also a number of specialty stitches and most of the threads are variegated silks. Again I changed a few colours. It is a pattern from Calico Crossroads called “Destiny”.

The picture on the right is another charted canvas by Laura J. Perin entitled “Log Cabin”. I only did part of the pattern. I enjoy canvas work because it works up quickly and I have used this idea to design one of my own. I think when I retire I may try my hand at designing some charted canvas as I love working with colours and different textures as you will see at the end.

The following are two hardanger projects. The heart was a free pattern from Kreinik done with Silk Serica and Silk Mori.

The second one is a compilation of two patterns from Cross n Patch, one for the letters and another for the hardanger heart at the bottom. I put it together using the idea from the bellpull you looked at earlier on my website that is used for the menu and it made a beautiful gift.

 To finish up the Christmas pictures the one on the left below is “Celtic Christmas” one of the four from the Celtic season series by Lavendar & Lace. Again I did a little colour change in the greens and used a Treasure Braid from Rainbow Gallery. The material is a 30 ct. Murano – no longer available. I just love the reds in this picture.

The middle picture is a Paula Vaughn piece done on mauve Annabelle entitled “Wedding Ring Bouquet” and the last picture is one from the Victorian Houses Across America series by Debbie Patrick Designs. This one happens to be called “ Cabbage Town” fashioned after the houses of Cabbagetown, Toronto, ON.

 And finally we come to my version of “NOEL”. People are amazed at the difference in the two pictures.

The picture on the left comes from the magazine The Stitchery and shows the project done with the fibres the pattern calls for. I had fun going through my stash and picking out every different red fibre I had and a few gold metallics. Most of the fibres are from Rainbow Gallery but there is also a Caron thread a silk Serica from Kreinik and a pearl cotton. There are 15 different fibres in this project altogether. I have to admit I changed a few stitches also – I don’t like doing lazy daisy stitches. See what you can do when you let your imagination go?

This brings me to the end of my journal for now. This is just a small portion of what I have done in 25 years of stitching. I also have a needlepoint picture stitched with floss and I have done a couple Japanese Punched Embroidery projects (also known as Bunka). I hope you have enjoyed having a peak into my stitching journal and that you keep a journal of your own. My journal is incomplete as I didn’t start it until many, many years down the road and I could not go back to get pictures of my earlier work that I had given away or sold. If you don’t have one I advise you to start one today.

 I would love to see a sample of your work. If you would like to share a favourite project with me just e-mail me a picture with your name, city and province/state along with the title and designer of the picture if possible. I will try to add these to my website in the future. I hope you have enjoyed your visit to my website. Until we meet again….Happy Stitching. Judy