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I got a lot of stitching time this week. My daughter, Kalissa, was over one day, and we binge-watched a series for much of the day. I stitched the whole way through it. The series was pretty racy, so I spent lots of time stitching. HA! Last week, I showed you that my Tiny Town …

Cross Stitch Update: December 12, 2025 Read More »

Back in July of 2024, I went to a cross-stitch retreat at the Stitchery Nook in Osage, Iowa. I was with a group of friends, and we all decided to pick a cross-stitch piece to stitch. I don’t remember the who and what of it all, but we ended up picking Humming of the Bees …

Cross Stitch Finish: Humming of the Bees Read More »

No change in the numbers.

After finishing a big project, I started something much smaller.

I stitched these designs over 25 years ago from a Bucilla ornament kit.   I knew from the start I didn’t want to make ornaments.  I already have more ornaments than I can fit on the tree.

I was thinking a small wall hanging but never figured out a design.  Then I stopped stitching and forgot about them for 20 years.  Now that I’m stitching again, I’m determined to finish all my old pieces (and the new ones too).  There is no sense ...

I had a little more stitching time than I expected this week. We had a snowstorm last weekend. Some of my kiddos were planning to stay several days, but everyone ended up going home on Thursday or Friday, as the storm was scheduled to come in overnight on Friday. That left me with more of …

Cross Stitch Update: December 5, 2025 Read More »

You might remember I finished this piece, Primitive Merry Christmas Pillow from Abbey Rose Designs, a few weeks ago. This was stitched on a piece of scrap linen. I think it was a smaller count than 40- count…I never did measure it. I can’t tell you the linen name as I didn’t label the piece. …

Cross Stitch Finish: Primitive Merry Christmas Read More »

I finally finished this wall hanging, just in time for Thanksgiving. Designed by Laura and Rita DeMarco, the pattern for it was featured in the October 1998 issue of McCall’s Quilting magazine.

It was my first attempt at applique and bias stems, intimidating at first, but not a big deal once you get into it. It was also my first attempt at a scrappy look, and I had enormous fun pairing the different orange prints with their backgrounds and selecting the two different prints for the leaves.

The backing is a two-toned print from South Sea Imports.

The binding ...

I fully finished my Queen of the Harvest piece. This is a With Thy Needle and Thread design. I have wanted to have this stitched for such a long time. I think being a farmer’s daughter and a farmer’s wife, the harvest theme really pulls my heartstrings. After going to my basement frame shop, I …

Cross Stitch Finish: Queen of the Harvest Read More »

I love it when you all ask questions and leave comments here on the blog. It makes me feel like we are on a two way street and communicating. So often it’s just me here on the computer writing with communication back from you. It can get pretty lonely on this side of the conversation. …

Ask Jo: From the Comment Section Read More »

The February Colorful Cat is done:

 

I will upload the new designs to Kitty And Me Designs on Etsy this coming weekend.  Also, they will start arriving at needlework shops in the next week as well.

I am so excited to be writing this today. Sometimes, as a blogger, when I am working on projects, the progress I show you seems so incredibly slow. As I write, I imagine you reading, thinking, “Is she ever going to finish that? I’m so bored of reading about that!” Well, you won’t be saying …

Cross Stitch Update: November 21, 2025 Read More »

 Below are a few early winter photos while the snow is a novelty. While walking the dogs, I'm finding the air so wonderful and bracing. But I am a little shocked with just how cold it is already in the season. It was minus 12 with strong wind gusts that took my breath away one day, but it's back to mild and kind of damp feeling today.

Here is my usual kitchen window photo; it was dark enough very early for the big garage light to stay on. That's another thing; here in the Northern Hemisphere we ...

If you’ve been reading the blog long, you know I have a spot in my basement that I lovingly call my frame shop. I have a bunch of pieces that I can use for finishing cross-stitch pieces. I have thrifted all of this. My general rule is that I only spend under $3 for any …

My Basement Frame Shop Read More »

 I’ve started another project.  I do have a lot of projects in the works, but since this is a Christmas project I didn’t think it would count, right?  I couldn’t resist this one since it has hexagons (my favorite thing to stitch) and embroidery.  I basted the hexagons first. 

I 

This is called Merry Mistletoe by Lilabelle Lane Creations.  This is what the finished project will look like.  It finishes at 15” X 16” so it should be pretty quick to finish.   Those are famous last words. 

 Since I love sewing hexagons, I went ahead and ...

 I’ve started another project.  I do have a lot of projects in the works, but since this is a Christmas project I didn’t think it would count, right?  I couldn’t resist this one since it has hexagons (my favorite thing to stitch) and embroidery.  I basted the hexagons first. 

I 

This is called Merry Mistletoe by Lilabelle Lane Creations.  This is what the finished project will look like.  It finishes at 15” X 16” so it should be pretty quick to finish.   Those are famous last words. 

 Since I love sewing hexagons, I went ahead and ...

I spent some time last week kitting up a few projects. I had finished my small cross stitch pieces that I had started, so I thought I would kit some more things up that will last me through the end of the year. My first goal was to put together a car project bag. I …

A Kitting Session Read More »

No change in the numbers.

Work continues on Verticals.  I need to add four more strips and the borders.  I would really like to have it finished by the end of the month.

Many days I wasn’t able to get in the sewing room, but I was able to stitch.  I haven’t shown my progress on Fairy Tales Live on the Roofs for a good while.  The backstitch on this piece is no joke.

I’m about halfway across the design, with maybe 40% stitched.  The left side of the pattern is more stitch heavy than the right ...

I got quite a bit done in my cross stitch world this week. I was working on Queen of the Harvest. You might remember I lost the pattern and then found it under my stitching chair. Here is where I was when you saw it last. …and here is where I am now. FINISHED!! The …

Cross Stitch Update: November 14, 2025 Read More »