Z is for ... Zweigart fabrics

Zweigart is 100% cotton and comes in a variety of colours and counts.  Here is a list of Aida sizes ... 6, 8, 11, 14, 16, 18, and 20.

Here are some of the colours for 14ct Aida that I found on the internet.

They also make Cashel 28ct Linen and Belfast 32ct Linen.  

Personally I don't like stitching on linen because it is harder to see the holes. I prefer to use 28ct evenweave.  Charles Craft Monaco is my favourite because it is soft. 

No matter what fabric you use to cross stitch, everyone uses what works for them and their project.

This is the end of my A to Z Challenge.  Thank you for following along with me every day.  :)

Y is for ... Yellow Sunflowers

In 2003, I stitched a Yellow Sunflower Welcome for my sister Pam because it is her favourite flower.  I didn't want to finish it as a picture.  I put it in a wooden tray (clear coat of protection on the wood) and cut a piece of plexiglass to cover the cross stitching, and finished it with a bead of clear caulking.  She loved it, and it is useful.  Photo is shown before plexiglass was added (easier to photograph without the glare).

Just Nan SAL 2014 - April

I know I'm late with my Just Nan update.  If you still don't know about this SAL, please click the icon on the left hand side bar.

Here are two of my Just Nan Limited Edition Ornaments.  First is Little Princess Snow all stitched.  I blended some white DMC Rayon and white DMC Metallic for the huge snowflake in the centre of her back.  Then I continued using the white DMC Rayon for the other big snowflakes at the bottom.  She looks more sparkly in person.  I will show you how she looks all sewn together later this week for my Smalls SAL.

The second is Lorelei Lamb all cross stitched and beaded.  I haven't finished sewing her together yet.

X is for ... Xmas

Last year, I stitched Santa's Village all in a row 6 feet long on 28ct Coffee Lugana.  I sewed it into a quilted hanging banner.

In 2012, I also stitch Sue Hillis' Stitcher's Days of Christmas.  I change a few of the motifs, words and colours.  Then I sewed it into a hanging banner, which is easier to store throughout the year.

W is for ... Wedding Sampler and Winnie-the-Pooh

I stitched this Wedding Sampler in 2009 for my husband's aunt and uncle who celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary.  I created this sampler from several motifies I found in my books and magazines.

I stitched this Winnie-the-Pooh picture called Pooh is Bouncing for a friend several years ago.  This was bought as a kit, but I scrapped the 16ct or 18ct aida and used my favourite 28ct evenweave which made it a lot bigger.

V is for Visiting the Neighbours

I borrowed the patterns (x3) from my friend.  She had them in Cross Stitch & Country Crafts magazines, but you also get them in a Better Homes and Gardens 101 Best Loved Design from Cross Stitch and Country Crafts.  I stitched all three parts as one full scene called Amid Amish Life.

The first part is called Hanging the Quilts.

The second part is called Visiting Neighbours.  Here is a photo of the first and second together.

The third part is called Tending the Gardens.  Here are all 3 parts stitched together.

U is for ... UFOs

In the 19 years that I have been cross stitching, I only have 2 UnFinished Objects.  That is because I am a One-at-a-time stitcher (99%) of the time.  I usually only put a project aside for a special occasion (deadline).  In the case of the 2 UFOs, the first one is called Cabin Fever (started in July 2009).  I absolutely love the picture, but it was a Dimensions kit.  I should have swapped out the 16ct beige aida for 28ct evenweave (and didn't).  So everytime I stitched I hated working on it.  Here is a photo of what it should look like finished.

This is how much I got done in the first month (July - August 2009).  I will probably just scrap the project and if I have nothing else to stitch I might restart it someday on 28ct evenweave.

The second UFO is called When I am Old I shall wear Plaid Trousers.  It is the only project where I have missed a deadline (March 24, 2013 - my husband turned 50).  I love the words of the poem, but don't like the inconsistency of the letter style.  Every letter a looks different.  I like things to be symetrical and always the same.  I was recharting as I was stitching, but that was getting confusing, and a lot of frogging, so I stopped.  I need to sit down and rechart it in my cross stitch program.  Then it would be easy to stitch.  Just haven't had time to sit long enough to rechart, that cuts into my stitching time (and that is very limited as it is).  I have 9 years until my husband retires, it might get done by then.

This is how much I have done.

T is for ... Tea, Roses and Romance

In 2002, I stitched a Paula Vaughn picture for another teacher who was retiring.  This teacher was lucky enough to teach both my sons so I thought she deserved something extra special.  I gave her my 2 Paula Vaughn cross stitch books and told her to choose the design she wanted as a retirement gift.

She chose Tea, Roses and Romance.  It is the only Paula Vaughn design I have stitched.  I have a few on my stitching To-Do list for myself.  There are a few with houses and flower gardens that I like.

S is for ... Spindles and Posts

I borrowed the chart from a friend.  In 1999, I stitched it for myself because I love pictures of houses with flower gardens.

R is for ... Roses in Crystal Vase

I bought the roses in crysal vase as a kit with aida.  I swapped the aida for evenweave and created the RETIREMENT poem to go beside it.  This was stitched in 2001 for my youngest son Jordyn's Grade One teacher when she retired.  She had a beautiful garden of hybrid roses, so it seemed appropriate.

Here is the RETIREMENT poem I created myself.

Relax

Enjoy life to the fullest

Travel the world

Ignore schedules

Read a good book

Explore a beautiful garden

Master a new hobby

Expand your horizons

No more alarm clocks

Take the time to smell the roses!

Q is for ... Queen Nefertiti

This is another Lanarte kit I stitched for my youngest son's egyptian themed bedroom.  This is the Queen Nefertiti is the matching pair to King Tut.

P is for ... Paradise

I bought the Stoney Creek Paradise chart at least a year ago.  It was on my stitching list for this year, but has been moved to 2015.  I want to stitch it for myself, I love summer.  This chart is so colourful.

  

O is for ... Orcas

In 1996 I stitched 2 orca pictures for my bathroom.  I wanted a water theme and with green.  The first one is called Orcas Swimming from a Stoney Creek book.

The second one is from a kit Orca Jumping.  I swapped the grey aida for white to match the other orca picture. 

N is for ... Noah's Ark

In 1997 one of my close friends Lisa, had her first child.  She decorated the nursery in Noah's Ark.  I wanted to find the perfect Noah's Ark project to stitch for the baby.  When I visited her in the hospital after her son was born I brought a small stitched gift until the huge one was finished.

This is the huge Noah's Ark project that I stitched for her nursery.  It was in one of the Cross Stitch & Country Craft magazines.

I stitched this Dragon Dreams version in 2011 when she turned 50.  I have always wanted to stitch this piece because I love fantasy creatures and Lisa loves Noah's Ark, so I thought this was the perfect gift from me.  She was so surprised when I gave it to her, she didn't expect another Noah's Ark cross stitch.

M is for ... Moon ABC

When my sons were in elementary school I taught students from Grade 4 - Grade 8 how to cross stitch after school. The sponsor teacher was pregnant and her theme was Moons and Stars so I stitch this for her in 2002.

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L is for ... Ladybug and Lighthouse

My youngest sister Denise loves ladybugs so I stitch this freebie from Ellen-Maurer Stroh's website for her in 2002.

My dad's best friend Grant and his wife Jody love photos of lighthouses. Jody bought a stamped cross stitch kit of a lighthouse but didn't enjoy working on it. She knows that I love to stitch and in 2008 asked if I would finish it for her. I HATE stamped cross stitch, but it came with a chart so I followed the pattern and stitched it on 28ct mushroom evenweave. I cut out the nautical theme border from the original stamped cross stitch and used it as a matt for the finished project and used a simple black frame. She loved it.

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Spring & Easter Stitching Exchange

Yesterday I participated in my second cross stitching exchange at my LNS (Stitcher's Place).  This one was an Easter & Spring exchange.  There were 4 of us that exchanged at the store.  Here is a photo of the four beautiful exchange pieces.

Heather gave Leigh the Just Nan Spring Frills humbug, Leigh gave Heather the 2 Lizzie Kate pictures, Wilma gave me the Jeanette Douglas flower (modified) and I gave Wilma the 3D Easter basket.  

I want to thank Wilma for the beautiful 3D flower and for hosting the exchange.  It was a lot of fun creating something unique, the exchanges give me a chance to challenge myself.  The next exchange will be a Halloween theme.  It should be interesting, I've never stitched anything for Halloween before.  I will start planning soon, I like being prepared.

Here are a few close ups of the basket I created.  I took the flowers from one of my books, the 2 rabbits with the heart from another book and finally the egg shape from a third book.  I did my own design on the egg.  There are purple beads for the centre of the pink border flowers.  The bottom is stitched with the same 28ct coffee evenweave as the rest of the basket.

I lined the bottom and inside with purple fabric to match the purple on the bow and on the egg.  I added green buttons to the end of the handle for decoration, and a cable tie inside the handle to make it stand up.

K is for ... King Tut

My youngest son Jordyn always loved anything egyptian, so when I came across this Lanarte kit I knew I had to stitch it for his bedroom.

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J is for ... Joan Elliott

I loved working on Joan Elliott's Victorian Dollhouse in 2012. The colours were so pretty. It always made me happy to stitch on the project.

It worked!!  I had to remove the old Blogger iPad app and install the new version.

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I is for ... Ink Circles

I have only stitched one project by Ink Circles called Namaste (2012).


I have watched others stitch 99 and thought it would be a unique piece to work on. Even though I hate the taste of beer, I think it still might be fun to stitch.


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H is for ... Handprints poem

There is one chart that I have stitched 8 times, but it never looks the same. I bought a chart/pattern called Baby Keepsakes when my oldest son Jaspar's Kindergarten teacher was pregnant with her first baby (1998). The first time, I stitched it exactly like the chart/pattern was created.


In 2006, my brother became a grandfather. His daughter had a baby girl, so I stitched it again, but this time I used the freebie toys from Ellen-Maurer Stroh's website and motified the blocks to spell girl. I also personalized it with her name, and birth date.


Each time I change the toys to match the nursery theme or the colour of the words/hands. The next 2 were for past co-workers both had boys. This one was done in green because at the time she didn't know if it was a boy or a girl.


This one was definitely for a boy, so I stitched it in blue.


This one was stitched in 2008. It was an unusual request from my sister. She has a friend that is a reptilian and asked me to create a cross stitch for them with reptiles on it. It was fun, even though I hate snakes.


This one was for my husband's old boss's granddaughter. The nursery theme was butterflies and I knew it was a girl. I personalized it with her name, etc.


My sisters requested two more in 2011, for family friends. The theme for the first one was jungle animals. I personalized it with the baby boy's name, birth date, and weight.


This second one was for a baby girl. I didn't know their theme, so it is more simple. I personalized it with her name, birth date, and weight as well.


And this month I will be stitching the poem 2 more times. Once more for the new baby sister of the pink one above, but this time I will stitch it in purple. I will show a finished photo in May.

My sister has crocheted a baby gift for another friend with a jungle animals theme (no photo of the finished project yet). I told her I'd match the same animals (giraffe, elephant, lion, tiger, and monkey) in the cross stitch. I will show a finished photo of the cross stitch in May. Photo below is from the Annie's crafts website. Pattern is called Into the Jungle (crochet pattern)
http://www.anniescatalog.com/image.html?prod_id=102946&mode=gallery


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G is for ... Gemstone Dragons

Dragon Dreams had these as freebies on her website. In 2001, I stitched several for my son's and their friends, but also wanted to stitch them all for myself. I used DMC, DMC metallic, and the gemstones were done using DMC Rayon.


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