cross-stitch

Pyramid of Skulls from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

I didn't know that Pyramid of Skulls was a famous painting by Cezanne, I just stumbled across the pattern when I was looking for still life cross stitch on Etsy and was drawn to the slightly creepy subject matter. And I'm so glad I did, because this is one off my favorite finishes and I'm about to start scouring thrift shops for an over the top ornate frame to display it in.

Pattern: Pyramid of Skulls by The Art of Cross Stitch on Etsy

Pretend that you can't see the two missing stitches. I checked and ...

added by Michelle 5 years, 10 months ago. under 2020fo , cross-stitch

Confetti Stitching Tips from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

I've fallen into a happy rhythm where the confetti stitching is just working. It's as fiddly and time consuming as always, but I can see my progress and the more bits of blank aida that get covered up -- even if it's only with a few stitches at at time -- the more I fall in love with this project.

A few people have asked me for tips on how I do this type of stitching, so here they are...

Grid your fabric.
Make sure that you have all of the colors you need and, if possible, keep them ...

added by Michelle 5 years, 10 months ago. under cross-stitch , xstitching

A Flying Monkey, Oz the Great and Terrible, and Part of a Hot Air Balloon from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

Is it weird to describe the Emerald City SAL as a quick stitch? Now that I've settled into it, I can get a part of the pattern done in a couple of evenings of stitching. They're not short evenings, but still -- it's visible progress that's happening quickly.

I got most of the monkey done in one night, the rest of the monkey and all of the wizard done another afternoon and evening, and the hot air balloon (which looked like a lot of stitching before I actually sat down and worked on it) took two short ...

added by Michelle 5 years, 11 months ago. under cross-stitch , xstitching

Handwork Happiness – A Review from Hooked on Quilting

Given that it’s still too cold in most places to get out and do outdoor things, sitting inside with a project that can be done indoors, either at home or elsewhere, is the perfect solution to keeping yourself busy while possibly multitasking by listening to podcasts, audio books, or that movie you just love and have seen 100+ times to the point of not needing to actually look at the screen because your memory takes over and plays it in your head without ever having to look up. You know the ones…

On a particularly cold wet day last ...

added by Hooked on Quilting 5 years, 11 months ago. under applique , cross-stitch , embroidery , general chatter , hexies , magazine , magazine monday , quilting , review (Comments)

Riolis SAL Update -- It's a Leaf! from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

That slightly blobby green thing to the upper left is a leaf. It's reassuring to know what I'm actually stitching and to be working in a color that's different enough from its neighbors to help me keep track of where I'm stitching.

I cant wait to stitch my way up to the orange and the grapes. Please don't ask me why those sound exciting to stitch, because I have no earthly idea.

If you want to see everyone else's progress, check the posts over on Instagram at #riolissal. And use the hashtag yourself if ...

added by Michelle 5 years, 11 months ago. under cross-stitch , riolis sal , xstitching

Peer Pressure and the Emerald City SAL from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

Some members of the PNW Stitchers recently decided to do the Emerald City SAL together and once I started seeing their pictures I remembered how much fun I was having with it before the end of the year. It was just the kick in the pants I needed to pull my own neglected piece out of its project bag.

I've been worried about what would happen once I finished the towers. They only use three shades of floss and I knew that going back to sections with more color changes was going to be harder. Not hard because this ...

added by Michelle 5 years, 11 months ago. under cross-stitch , xstitching

Mystery Stitching from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

I have absolutely no idea what this is...

My best guess would be that it's a detail of the tablecloth. I could be completely wrong and I'm not going to spend any time worrying about it. It's completely possible to follow a chart and have no idea what that thing you're stitching actually is. I did that with the crochet hook and doily on Crocuses in the Windowsill. It's clear if you look at the picture on the packaging, but once I start to stitch I get focused on the chart itself.

Whatever this mystery ...

added by Michelle 5 years, 11 months ago. under cross-stitch , riolis sal

Back Stitching As I Go from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

I'm ridiculously in love with European Bistro and the more I stitch the harder it is to put down.

There are going to be miles and miles of back stitching, but if I work on it as I go, it shouldn't be too bad. Just look at that fancy lettering and how much it adds to the piece!

added by Michelle 5 years, 12 months ago. under cross-stitch , xstitching

Stitching Along the Roofline from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

I'm starting to remember what I loved so much about stitching buildings. They have edges and corners that make it easy to keep track of where I'm stitching.

I haven't looked at the entire chart, but what I've done so far makes me wonder if this is going to be an easy project that just happens to have sixty-seven thousand or so stitches.

added by Michelle 6 years ago. under cross-stitch , xstitching

Riolis Stitch Along from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

I've been collecting Riolis cross stitch kits for almost two years. Or maybe hoarding -- it's all in how you choose to define things. I've also completed four of them in that time, so I'm not worried at all about finishing (or not finishing) the rest.

People collect all kinds of things and I'm not going to feel bad about collecting these. Wouldn't it have been nice if I'd given in to the temptation to collect the Thomas Kinkade Disney Dreams kits before they all suddenly became unavailable? Those are currently selling for hundreds ...

added by Michelle 6 years ago. under cross-stitch , xstitching

Stitching Something New from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

I gave myself permission to start one of the kits I got for Christmas now instead of waiting four months until Maynia....

I've been coveting European Bistro forever and I suspected that I wouldn't want to put it down once I took the plunge and started it. As I type this late Saturday night, my eyes are a little blurry from all of the gridding so I only managed a little bit of actual stitching, but I'm excited to do more in the morning.

added by Michelle 6 years ago. under cross-stitch , xstitching

Confetti Stitching from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

This week, I'm enjoying the challenge of confetti stitching. While that lasts, I'll see how much progress I can make on Ripe Apples and Pyramid of Skulls.

The weave of the basket and the shading of the skulls are both extremely fiddly and the skull chart uses lots of similar symbols, which adds to the...what's the word I want... Challenge? Tedium?

It's actually feeling like I could finish both of these, if this confetti stitching mood doesn't pass first. Either way, I'm not stressing over it.

added by Michelle 6 years ago. under cross-stitch , xstitching

Hedgehogs in Lingonberries from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

I guess we can hang it on the wall while I search for the perfect frame. I'm still loving the idea of a round one.

Kit: Hedgehogs in Lingonberries, by Riolis

The back stitching was tedious (and I was tempted to skip most of it) but it definitely paid off. My prickly little hedgehogs are actually prickly looking. And their little noses look like actual hedgehog noses! In most of the patterns I've seen, they don't.

added by Michelle 6 years ago. under 2019fo , cross-stitch , xstitching

Stitching at the Coast from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

The plan was to spend four days at the coast working on our quilts and sewing projects. I spent way more time with Crocuses in the Windowsill than I did in front of my Janome and I'm not complaining. Just look at all of those yellow flowers that weren't there last week!

I probably should have brought the lighthouse I started on our last coast trip, but I decided to stick with what I've been actively working on. Pyramid of Skulls and the Emerald City SAL were both in my project bag but I never pulled them ...

added by Michelle 6 years, 2 months ago. under cross-stitch , xstitching

Stitching Goals for November from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

I had stitchy goals for the month of November and, just halfway through the month, I've met them both. Maybe that means I'll finish these projects by the end of the year. Or maybe I'll get distracted and stitch on something else. Either way, I'm fine with it.

The Emerald City SAL is a freebie from Owl Forest and I don't know how I got so confused by this one. I started out about the same time as the first clue was released and got bogged down a bit with the house and tornado. I ...

added by Michelle 6 years, 2 months ago. under cross-stitch , xstitching

Less Like Ink Blots, More Like Skulls from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

Here's my current stitchy obsession --

Pyramid of Skulls was a Maynia start and at the time I had some serious concerns about it. I love full coverage pieces, love still life pieces, but oh my gosh the confetti on this one! I really did think that was going to be too much for me. The projects I love most tend to come with a lot of confetti but this one is something else entirely with so many similar colors and so little definition between the different elements.

Now that I've stitched lot of the black blots, or at ...

added by Michelle 6 years, 3 months ago. under cross-stitch , xstitching

Mixing Thread Types in Cross Stitch from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

All of my stitching time last week went to Crocuses on the Windowsill and I'm still loving it.

This is the first Riolis kit I've done that combines the fuzzy wool/acrylic thread with cotton six stranded floss. I wasn't expecting that until I switched to the purple colors and realized that something was different...

I'm honestly not sure why they did this. Maybe it makes the flower petals reflect the light differently or makes them look more delicate. I'm guessing that the more I stitch the more sense this will make.

Have you mixed ...

added by Michelle 6 years, 3 months ago. under cross-stitch , xstitching

I'm Obsessed With the Crocuses on the Windowsill from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

All of the stitching I've done in the past week has been on Crocuses on the Windowsill. I'm seriously in love with this little scene and once I settle in to work on it, it's hard to put it down again.

I think it's helping that I'm keeping my focus on just the lower right hand corner and not letting myself even look at how much more there will be to do once I finish this part.

added by Michelle 6 years, 3 months ago. under cross-stitch , xstitching

The Peaches are Better Now from Michelle's Romantic Tangle

On Thursday I made the drive up to Acorn and Threads and spent six solid hours stitching with my friends. I took breaks to wander around the shop and breaks to listen to the conversation but mostly I stitched a jar full of peaches.

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the problem I'd run into with Canner's Kitchen. It was the first stitching I'd done in ages and I'd made a lot of progress and then I realized that a big chunk of what I'd done was wrong and I didn't know ...

added by Michelle 6 years, 3 months ago. under cross-stitch , xstitching

Aunt Sue's Cross Stitch Quilt :: A Finish from Alamosa Quilter

This one is going in the mail today back to it's owner so now I can share it with you.

So ... here is the story: My aunt's MIL passed away a couple months ago. She was a quilter. Like most of us, she had several unfinished projects. My aunt, who doesn't sew at all, asked if I would finish a few of them as they were for her girls (my cousins). Those quilts were already to the finished top stage. They only needed quilting, binding and a label. I had my local long arm quilter do the ...

added by Lynn 6 years, 5 months ago. under cross-stitch , family , finish

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