Bent Creek's Bird Seed Cross Stitch, Finished as a Cube!

Hey everyone, hope you all had a great weekend. Winter is definitely starting to settle in here, temperatures have dropped noticably and the heating is back to running regularly. I'm also making good use of my hand-knit yo-yo jumper/sweater, it's so snuggly warm, just perfect for Winter. I posted a picture of it on my Facebook page recently, click here to check it out and like my page to get updates! I will do a blog post on that in the future, as it recently got a proper photo shoot and I have have lots of lovely pictures of it.

Anyway back to todays post, I have my very first cube finish to show off. I have seen lots of this type of finish around on other blogs and just love it. I have been wanting to try one myself for a while now, so I finally took the plunge and used my Bent Creek Bird Seed finish, posted here, to try it out. I had checked out a few posts showing how to put these together in the past, so I had a good idea of what I needed to do to complete it.

Bent Creek Bird Seed Cross Stitch - Cube Finish

I had two styrofoam blocks I had bought some time ago in my stash. One of these was too big for this project so I used the smaller one. Unfortunately it was too deep, so I ended up cutting it in half with a bread knife. Not the easiest thing I have ever done but it worked. Next time I think I will raid my partner's toolbox and use his saw. Also I will do it outside and not in our kitchen on the chopping board!

I searched through my stash of fabrics and selected a few different ones, before I settled on a tan piece with white polkadots. I pinned the cross stitch to the styrofoam block using flat headed pins, and did the same for the backing fabric. The back of the block was uneven from being cut, so I pinned a piece of batting to the back of the cube under the fabric to even it out.

Cross Stitch Cube Finish - Back

I used a strip of the same tan fabric to cover the sides and top of the cube. I wanted it to go all the way around but alas I didn't have a long enough piece, so I folded in the edges at the bottom and pinned them in place. The whole thing is finished off with a wide green and narrow tan ribbon.

I'm delighted with how this turned out, it was actually a relatively simple finish. There are a few things I would change the next time I make one of these. I would add in a piece of batting to the front under the stitching, as it adds a bit of dimension to the piece. Also the stitching on the front is slightly tilted, so on the next one I will have to make sure it is straight when pinning it in place. I think it just needed to be stretched slightly to get it to sit properly.

I'm really looking forward to doing more of these cube finishes. The next one I have in mind is the Soda Stitch Harvest of Love, seen here, and I think I have the perfect fabric for it but will have to wait and see. Does anyone have any tips or tricks for these finishes, anything you do differently? If you haven't done one before would you like to try it out? Let me know in the comments below!

That's all for now!

My Journey to Improve My Photography - Soda Stitch Harvest of Love

Hey everyone, I hope you all had a lovely weekend and that the week is off to a very creative start.Today's post features a cross stitch finish that has appeared on my blog before. I am re-posting it because I was always unhappy with the photographs I used. In fact there are a number of finishes and WIP's which require new pictures. So the first of the re-photographed finishes I want to share is, Soda Stitch Harvest of Love.

Soda Stitch Harvest of Love - New Photo Shoot

Soda Stitch Harvest of Love - Original Photo Shoot

The first picture is from a recent photo session, the second is the original I posted. As you can see the second picture has a blue tint, which doesn't represent the piece correctly. This is because the light at the time I took the picture had a blue cast to it that came through in the photo. This probably could have been corrected if I had changed the white balance setting on my camera but alas I still haven't quite gotten the hang of that, although I am learning.

Recent Photo Shoot

Original Photo Shoot

While the original pictures give a good idea of what the finish looks like, the blue tint doesn't show the colours correctly. The new pictures are more accurate and I am much happier with the results. Seeing these photos together, I am actually fairly surprised by the difference between the old and the new. I hadn't realised how significant the blue cast was on the originals.

Soda Stitch Harvest of Love - Love that big grin!

There are lots more projects that will be re-photographed in the near future, however there are some that I don't have access to as they were gifts. Hopefully my photographs will continue to improve as I learn more about my camera, photography in general and of course get in that all important, practise!

What do you think of the new photos? Is there a big difference between them and the originals? Let me know in the comments below.

That's all for now!

Harvest of Love Finish and Update on YOTA

Hey everyone, I hope that you had a wonderful holiday season and that 2016 is off to a great start. We had an unusually busy Christmas and New Year period here but I did manage to squeeze in a little down time with some stitching. I decided I would continue on with Soda Stitch Harvest of Love and so I have my first finish of 2016.

The backstitching on this project was absolute bliss compared to some other projects, it was all straight forward so it took very little time. I was unsure how many strands to use for the backstitching, as it doesn’t specify on the chart, but looking at the picture on the front of the booklet, it looked like the usual 1 strand.

Soda Stitch - Harvest of Love Finish

I also decided to leave out the two hearts that are charted in this project.I just didn't think they suited the overall piece

I also want to update you about what I have decided to do regarding YOTA this year. Unfortunately I think it is time to give the YOTA SAL a break for this year, for a number of reasons. However I would like to thank everyone who has participated in this SAL over the last few years. I have had so much fun stitching up those UFOs and managing to get 2 long term projects completed. Who knows maybe it will make a reappearance next year.

Soda Stitch - Harvest of Love Finish Close Up

Lastly I want to share with you all a YouTube show that I have been watching while stitching. It’s a board gaming show with Wil Wheaton where he and a number of guests play a particular board game in each episode. All the ones they have featured are not games as many of us would remember from childhood, monopoly, cluedo etc. There seems to have been a revival of board games in recent years with many really fun, challenging and interesting games being created. Since watching this show our collection of games has grown significantly. If you are interested in gaming it is definitely worth checking out.

Has anyone seen episodes of TableTop? Has it led to a game purchase? I would love to know, so leave a comment below.

Soda Stitch - Harvest of Love Cross Stitch

Hey lovely readers. Hope you are all enjoying the season, looking forward to lots of relaxing and crafting. It has been a while since my last post, again, things have been so busy here. I am doing a night course and had an assignment due and of course there is also the Christmas rush to contend with. I am really looking forward to the holidays, I love getting to spend time with family and enjoy lazing around watching movies and eating chocolate.

Anyway to the crafting, I have something completely new to show you all today. Some of you will have heard about a cross stitch design company called Soda Stitch. I have only recently discovered them through an amazing WIP by Mii of Mii Stitch, if you haven’t seen Mii’s work check it out, she is fantastic. Anyway I asked her how easy the charts were to follow and she very kindly sent me an email assuring me that they were simple, so I recently decided to give them a go.

Soda Stitch - Harvest of Love

I popped on over to Sew & So and checked out their selection. Unfortunately for my wallet, they have a substantial collection of Soda Stitch charts and I couldn’t decided on one. So I bought 9 instead, opps. The delivery from Sew and So was incredibly fast, it was my first purchase from them, I was very impressed with their service. I couldn’t wait to make a start on one once I had them in my hands.

Next came the problem of deciding which one to start! I finally picked Harvest of Love and put in the first stitches, and I become completely hooked. These charts are so much fun. They are really clear and have listed DMC, Anchor and Yeidam (which I have never heard of). They are printed nice and big, so are very simple to follow and there are lots of sections of block stitching, so they stitch up very quickly. The back stitching looks fairly straight forward and I can’t wait to get some time on this over the holidays and maybe even get it finished.

Soda Stitch - Harvest of Love Close Up

I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, if you celebrate it, and a Happy New Year. I have some plans tumbling around in my head for next year, so here’s hoping I can stick to them. Do you have any special resolutions for the new year? Let us know in the comments below.