Unframed {Cross-stitching}

Baby Report (D-Date +7): nothing. So still finishing up projects, and starting new ones. Many thanks for all your kind words, and sharing your experience with me. I am ok with the situation, but very glad I have some crafty things to do!

So on Friday I may have been overly ambitious and said that I finished the cross-stitch I started at the beginning of the Olympics Game. It had been a while, there were a few posts about it in August - and since there has been nothing. Yes, I did get bored of trying to cross-stitch the linen fabric and count the threads. I picked it up a couple of weeks ago and was determined to finish it, once and for all - and frame it. 


            **Don't forget to enter my giveaway - open until Tuesday night** 

As the title may have suggested, the cross-stitch has been (sort of) finished but is still unframed. It took a while for Mr MiH and I to agree on where the cross-stitch will be hung and the frame size we wanted. We bought a frame, and it is a little bigger than the body of the cross-stitch (nearly as big as the linen fabric), and I do not want as much linen fabric showing. 

So I will be extending the bottom line of the cross-stitch on both the left and right hand-sides. 

I will add a few more flying birdies - I find them so cute that this should not be a problem. 

Pattern: Momenti di Vita by Renato Parolin (you can find a list of his patterns here)

Anchor Colours: I totally disregarded the colours recommended on the chart - I mainly used  Black (403), Bright Orange (333) and Bright Blue (164) - and bits of yellow (beaks); brown (squirrels) and cream (rabbits) I had from previous projects. 

Fabric: Linen cross-stitch fabric (32 count) in Natural Light (similar here). 

Modifications: Although I will add some birdies, there will be handful compared to the chart, I did not make as many rabbits and squirrels, and did not had any hearts. This is a 'simplified' version of the chart. Because of the linen fabric, bad counting, the trees are much more oval than on the chart (as in there were supposed to be round). However the linen fabric was very forgiving in the end, and I can actually live with the mistakes I made.

Result: I really like it, it is quite modern now and also retro thanks the colour work. It was really hard work to cross-stitch on linen and the never ending tree trunks. I am not sure I like the squirrel and rabbit charts as much as the rest. 

And all I will need to do is work out how you actually frame a cross-stitch or a piece of fabric. We have done a lot of hanging frames recently so it may be time for me to share with you bits and pieces of what we have been up to. 

As we are on cross-stitching, and now that Elaine who blogs at Dashasel Sews has received it, I can show you the burlap pincushion I made for her as part of our private swap. I will share my pattern with you at some point next week - just need to put it down on paper. Here is a sneak peak... 

It was very hard to send this little project... 

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Olympics 2012 progress {cross-stitch}

It is WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced and I must report that nothing more was achieved as far as the Upcycled Quilt is concerned, or anything else. But I have a very good excuse: the Olympics 2012 is taking over my life. Hockey, Water polo, Beach volley, Judo, swimming, you name it I am watching it, it is SO exciting! At least I am making progress with my own challenge, the Olympics 2012 cross-stitch project!  

 

I made the little birds so you can see the colour scheme I have chosen. Someone ask me how I manage to count on the linen fabric - it is quite hard and takes quite a bit of concentration (but so worth the result!). As I mentioned before, the pattern is very (very, very) forgiving. 

Small blogs are also meeting over at Lily's Quilts, so I am linking up there too! Although I have washed some fabric and it is drying, so hopefully more projects are to come. Plus I am still making a baby, does that count as a WIP? 

Olympics 2012 {cross-stitch}

The Olympics are finally here, and in London! This is very exciting - even though for me who is more a Winter Olympics fan. Mr MiH however is a definite Summer Olympics fan - he will even be going to see some athletics finals for his birthday - whilst I will be getting on with my own Olympics challenge - a cross stitch one - in the comfort of my sofa. 

For this project, I needed something portable that I could easily stop and pick up - and that would not make too much noise (Mr MiH likes to hear all the comments). I bought the cross-stitch pattern in France on our last skiing holiday (you can find the full picture and pattern here). I will be using some linen cross-stitch fabric (32 count) - to make that little bit harder. 

I will also make some modifications: I will change the hearts for baubles and change the colour scheme (nearly all of the pattern in black except for the birds that will be cross-stitched in orange and blue with brown beaks). The pattern is an intermediate one but should be quite forgiving (all important when I am focusing on two tasks). I have already started - prep work during the Opening Ceremony, and the first tree started during the first events. 

I have a feeling that with the baby kicking for the first time for his Dad during the Olympics Opening Ceremony, that I am going to be doing much more sport watching in the future - Mr MiH reckons the baby is a future sportsman, purely on the basis of the kicking. Hmmm... But just in case, this is an opportunity to assess whether cross-stitch is a viable option for sport watching.