October - calendula

 I made a start on the next flower.

I also completed a 1000pc puzzle of wild birds.

September - aster

 I finished this flower the middle of April but forgot to post a photo.

I only have 3 more to do. I really like how the flowers looked backstitched, so I am going to back stitch around the flowers I already completed before starting October. I did January this afternoon, and now I’m working on February. 

August - gladiolus

 I just finished another flower August - gladiolus.

July - Larkspur

 I finished the July Larkspur flower last night. 

I hope to start August - Gladiolus later today or tomorrow.

Monthly Flower borders

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Dave & I have both had head colds for over a week now.  We feel better, but can’t seem to get rid of the cough and stuffy nose. I haven’t stitched much this month, but did manage to measure and cut my fabric, then stitch the borders for the last 6 monthly flowers.

I am about to start the July - Larkspur (top left) flower today.

The other flowers are August (gladiolus), September (aster), October (calendula), November (chrysanthemum), and December (poinsettia). 

2023

 Happy (late) New Year!

I am still cross stitching, but just terrible at blogging.  I started a new project for my husband.  He asked me to stitch something to hang on the wall that isn’t winter themed because I already have a winter wall hanging (Snowman Wisdom) and he wants to replace it during the other seasons of the year.  So I looked through my computer files and thought flowers would be nice to look at throughout the other parts of the year.  You can find the free monthly flowers by Ellen Maurer-Stroh on her website.

This is what the flowers look like (I borrowed these images from her website. 

I plan on doing 2 columns of 6 flowers. This is the butterfly fabric I will be using in between each square. I couldn’t find one with brown, but I think it will be fine with the flowers.

The pattern calls for DMC 3864 for the square borders (outside and inside), but I used DMC 3862 (a bit darker) for the outside double border and the DMC 3864 for the inside square border instead.

January - Carnations (Nov 14-23, 2022)

May - Lily of the valley (Dec 2, 2022 - Jan 5, 2023)

February - Violets (Jan 5-13, 2023)

March - Daffodils (Jan 15-19, 2023).  This is the only pattern so far that has backstitching.

April - Sweet Peas (Jan 19-27, 2023)

June - Wild Rose (Jan 27 - Feb 1). I added the backstitching because I thought it needed it. Might go back and add to the other flowers, but not sure yet.

I am thinking of participating in the 2023 Botanical Blackwork SAL at The Steady Thread. I have joined their Facebook page and am watching everyone else to see if I want to commit to the project.  It is 47 weeks long.  There are 2 versions (square and hexagon) with different border options to make the project more personal for everyone.  I’m planning mine out first on my computer to see which border and extra items to add to it in case I want to join in.  It won’t take long to catch up on blackwork.

FFG - October 2022

I'd like to thank Rachel at Ten Hour Stitcher for hosting this SAL. You can visit her site to join or for more information about this SAL.

This is the first time participating this year, but I do have 2 big projects that are now framed.

Dave & I designed and built a shadow box frame to put my 2021 Animal Crossing Switch project inside. I took the photo before adding the glass, so there is no glare.

I finally completed Frederick the Literate which was a wedding/anniversary gift for my youngest son Jordyn and my daughter-in-law Sarah. I bought a 14" x 14" frame at Michael's and framed it myself. I took the photo without the glass, so there was no glare. We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving this past weekend, so they took Frederick home.