Kathy's Valentine Fob

Design: Valentine Fob - freebie available here

Designer: Linden Bee Designs

Stitcher: Kathy

Kathy took my Valentine's fob and stitched it all in red. I wish I'd thought of that! LOL. Kathy writes a great blog, full of stitching and adventures with her Irish Setter, Rory - if you love pictures of cute dogs, get yourself over there now if you aren't already a reader!

Kathy will be getting a little something in the post from me and if anybody else out there has stitched a design of mine and will let me post a picture on my blog, you could win a small prize too!

If anyone would like a copy of the chart, leave a comment on the pattern post and I will get it out to you!

Valentine Biscornu - Linden Bee Designs

 

Design: Valentine Biscornu - freebie design available here

Designer: Linden Bee Designs (i.e. me!)

Threads: DMC in three shades of pink - I've used the "antique" colourway on the chart

Fabric: 16 count aida, grey but overdyed with tea by me.

My design style seems to have settled into incorporating words with little sampler motifs, and the word on this Valentine biscornu is "amour" ... seems a bit more glamorous ;o)

Again, I used some tea dyed aida to give it an antique feel and chose the colours to go with it. I thought about beading the edge, but it seemed a bit too much, as the borders are quite busy.

 

The middle is drawn in with just a single bead, which was quite fiddly!

Valentine Fob - Linden Bee Designs

Design: Valentine Scissor Fob - freebie design available here

Designer: Linden Bee Designs (i.e. me!)

Threads: DMC in three shades of pink - I've used the "antique" colourway on the chart

Fabric: 16 count aida, grey but overdyed with tea by me.

This little fob is stitched from my own design, and I dyed the fabric too. So perhaps I can be excused my little glow of satisfaction :o)

The fabric was some I got in a grab bag, and it was rather a drab grey/blue colour. So I stewed it in some very strong tea and it came out looking suitably aged. Hence my decision to work the "antique" colourway on this.

I was surprised by how much more delicate the 16 count looks to my previous fobs on 14 count.

 

You can't see it very clearly, but there's a heart shaped charm attached at the top, which says "Made With Love" on it.

Valentine Biscornu and Fob - Free Cross Stitch Chart!

Biscornu Front

 Biscornu Back

Scissor Fob (with my initial - chart given for yours!)

The chart uses only three shades of DMC, and I've given options for a "bright" and an "antique" colourway. I will be starting work on my own shortly, so hopefully will have a picture to share soon! The fob design can be personalised with your initial.

If you would like a copy of the chart, please comment below and leave an email address unless yours is visible in your blog profile. Some people ask for charts but I have no way of getting them to them :o( Charts are sent in PDF format.

If you do stitch this design, I'd love to see the finished article - and there will be a prize for any I show on my blog!

If you feel so inclined, a donation to the MS Trust for this chart would be appreciated. Pennies will do - and you can make payment via the link in my sidebar or by clicking here

There is no obligation to make a donation - you will be sent the chart whether or not you choose to make a donation, as I appreciate that some people are not in a financial position to do so.


This pattern is offered for personal, non-commercial use only. Items made from this pattern may be sold on a small scale basis such as on Etsy or at craft sales. Sales for charity are positively encouraged! This pattern and the text and photos contained within, may not be copied or reproduced for any purpose other than personal use. Please direct people to this blog rather than forwarding the pattern, thank you! Copyright 2010 N M Wray

Valentine's Flip It - Lizzie*Kate

Design: Valentine's Flip It
Designer: Lizzie*Kate
Threads: DMC and various overdyes
Fabric: 14 count aida, tea dyed by me

This little cute and cheery design needs the charm attaching, but I thought I would share it anyway.

As far as I can remember, I used the charted DMC conversions and also some of the new DMC varicoloured threads. I really ought to keep notes ...

The fabric was part of a batch tea dyed with my own fair hands, and I have a couple of other pieces to stitch others in this series with.

The series will be framed in simple pine frames from Ikea, to go with the original monthly Flip Its I stitched.

Valentine's Day Exchange

Design: All You Need is Love
Designer: The Drawn Thread (freebie available here)
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 28 count evenweave, cream

I stitched this for Staci on the HoE blog.

The freebie from The Drawn Thread was originally much brighter - more reds and deep pinks - but I wanted something softer, so used the palette from the Heart Throb (below) and added a couple of my favourite greens from the 50* range of DMC. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Like all DT designs, it was a pleasure to stitch, and the stitch diagrams are so easy to follow.

I finished the piece as a mattress pincushion, but used a quilting fabric for the sides and base, instead of an evenweave. I think if I do this another time, I will use four shorter pieces instead of one long one, as I think there is room for improvement in the corners, but overall I like the effect, and Staci has told me she likes it, and that's all that matters!

These are the rest of the goodies I sent along - I had a good time finding pink and flowery things. I'm not normally so girly, but sometimes one has to be girly! I found the heart in a gift shop which specialises in 'Fair Trade' goods and it's got me thinking about whether I could do something similar ... LOL

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone who reads my blog - may you feel loved and blessed today.

Heart Throb - The Drawn Thread

Design: Heart Throb - freebie available here
Designer: The Drawn Thread
Threads: DMC as charted
Fabric: 28 count evenweave, cream

I love The Drawn Thread designs, and whilst I was looking through my charts for ideas for the HoE Valentine's Exchange, couldn't resist stitching this up for myself!

Despite all the speciality stitches - and I even did the dreaded Queen Stitches! - it's a reasonably quick stitch, and the result is so pretty :o) Because Cathy gave me a wonderful Valentine fob (see previous post) this is now hanging from a drawer knob :o)

Valentine's Day Exchange

I emailed Cathy to say I'd received her wonderful exchange, but I forgot to post here! Blame it on the disrupted week I've had because of the snow, I don't know whether I'm coming or going ...

Here you can see the whole exchange:



Wasn't I spoiled rotten?!

Not one, but two beautiful hardanger stitched pieces - and a pair of matching scissors, some flavoured coffee, two almond crunch bars (yummy!), some Sweethearts candy (which I gave to my sweetie LOL), some soap flakes, a sweet Heart in Hand chart, and a great selection of GAST colours in pinks and mulberries. It was like Christmas all over again :o) (and sets the bar for my sweetie for Valentines LOL!)



This is a close up of the gorgeous sun catcher. Of course, we've had snow ever since, but I'm sure the sun will return when it hears about this :o)



And this is the fob. It is so delicate ... I wondered how Cathy stitched it together, the joining stitches are almost invisible...

Thank you once again, Cathy, for such a wonderful gift!

Love - Birds of a Feather

Design: Love

Designer: Birds of a Feather

Threads: Gentle Arts Sampler Threads

Fabric: 28 count linen, flax.

This was the sampler I stitched for The Hermit for Valentines. It should have been quick to stitch, but the frogs came to visit, and I had to unpick several motifs - especially annoying as on one of them I was only one thread out!

I altered the colours slightly from the original chart, but tried to keep within the same family that the designers used. The major alteration was changing the man to look more like my beloved - hence the beard!

The frame was a cheap ready made one from Wilkinsons - it isn't real wood, although you wouldn't guess from the photo - the wood effect is a photo on paper, which has then been glued to an MDF backing (by the manufacturer, not by me, I hasten to add. Glue and I don't really mix...)