Section #4 September Free Stitch Along

Hi everyone, sorry for the week delay of the 4th section of the stitch along. I can't believe how exhausting it is taking care of a cat and kittens. We ended up finding a foster home for them where they will all get fixed, vaccinated and good homes to go to. On to the final section of the SAL now!

Each specialty stitch is done using 2 threads. The grid lines in the following diagrams represent the threads of your fabric.

For the eyelet sections of this project you will bring your needle up through the odd numbered holes and down through the middle for every even hole then up through the next odd. Pull tight to achieve a hole to create your eyelet.

For this satin stitch bring your needle up through 1 and down through 2 then up through 3 and down through 4. Continue until you have done all five lines.

To create the leaf you are going to bring your needle up through 2 and down through 1 then up through 2 and down through 3 then up through 2 and down through 5 and continue this until you have created your leaf.

For the fan leaf you will bring your needle up through 1 and down through 2 then up through 1 and down through 4 then up through 1 and down through 6. Continue this until you have finished the fan shape.

For the straight petals go up through 1 then down through 2 then up through 3 and down through 4 until you have finished the petal. Continue until you have done all 4.

For the diagonal petal go up through 1 and down through 2 then up through 3 and down through 4. Continue until your done the whole petal. Do three more.

Section #4 Will be Delayed...

Sorry but section #4 of September free SAL will be delayed for the next day or two. I will make it up to you guys with 3 week old kitten photos tomorrow!

If some of you didn't know we had a stray show up in our back yard about 3 weeks ago.

Well she has basically adopted us and the past week or so my dad and I have been outside trying to coax her indoors and giving her lots of love, attention and food. Did I mention she was pregnant? Yeah...she had her kittens right out side of my bedroom window under a pile of branches.

I have been on night duty and completely lost track of what day it was. Tuffie (as we affectionately call her) likes to sit outside a lot so when we see her we go out there and pet her and talk to her trying to gain her trust. We have made so much progress this past week, she eats inside with the door closed and allows us to pet her as she eats and purrs away. She even comes running when we open the door knowing she is going to get a really good ear scratch. We bought a little box and today she used it so we know she is house trained which means someone for sure dumped her :( She looks about 6 or so months old herself.

Tomorrow we are going to bring the kittens indoors because it is getting really cold out at night and they are starting to wonder out of the nest, we also found a raccoon the other night (another reason I stay up all night) so it is a lot safer inside. I honestly have had no free time...my whole life revolves around this cat right now and I hope once the kittens are inside I will be able to do some more stitching related stuff knowing they are safe and warm.

And yes we do plan on keeping Tuffie and one of the kittens with both for sure getting fixed ASAP! All of the other kittens (4 that we know of in total) will be adopted out to people we know.

Again sorry about the delay...I will get it done as soon as I have a little free time in the next day or two. I should be sleeping right now as I have a job interview in the morning!

September SAL Section #3

It is time for the third instalment of the September Free Stitch Along!

If you were able to do section #2, section #3 should be easy for you. It is a variation of the Satin Stitch, just now creating texture and a different shape.

*Remember for the diagrams below, each line represents a thread of your fabric, and all stitching is done using 2 threads.*

Leaf Corners:

Bring the needle up through 2 and down 1 then up 2 and down 3. Then bring needle up 5 and down 4 then up 5 and down 6. Then up through 8 down 7 up 8 and then down 9. Bring your needle up 10 and then down 2 to create the stem. Rotate diagram and repeat steps to do the other two leaves in each corner and finish off with a French knot.

Acorns:

Basic cross stitch 3 stitches then bring the needle up through 1, down through 2, up through 3, down through 4 and so on until you finish up through 9 and down through 10. Finish off with a French knot on top then move onto the next acorn.

Leaf Sides:

Bring needle up through 1 down through 2 then up through 1 and down through 3. Move one thread down and repeat the same and continue doing this until you reach the bottom. Flip the diagram upside down to create the upwards stitch.

Owl Christmas Ornament

This little owl Christmas ornament was cross stitched for my little sister. She draws these cute little animals and when I saw these little guys I knew it would be the perfect project for her. I plan on finishing it off with fabric in the next few weeks so she can have it for Christmas this year (I meant to have it finished last year oops).

This pattern can be found in Just Cross Stitch 2000 Christmas Ornaments Collection. The pattern is called Woodland Joy by Something in Common. I did alter a few things in the design, I left the border off around it and I added sparkly threads in the ornament, because every ornament needs something blingy.

French Princess Shoes WIP

The wisdom tooth surgery went very well! It was all over by noon and I had a very yummy smoothie for lunch and that's about all I remember. Apparently the first thing I said to my dad when I came to was "I want to stitch my Cinderella" which probably wouldn't have been the greatest idea! The rest of the afternoon and evening I was passed out and not fully with it. Around 3am though I woke up and decided I needed to do some stitching. That lasted for about a half hour before I realized I was dozing off again. Oh and I bought a cross stitch magazine on my iPad...don't recall doing that, thought it was a dream! It was the new World of Cross Stitching magazine with Joan Elliott's Christmas motifs so obviously I needed it.

Yesterday and the day before I pulled out one of my own patterns to stitch the model. The shoes have been sitting patiently in the bookcase waiting to be picked up again. I don't take too many photos of it because it is difficult to photograph. The photo doesn't do it any justice. All of the colours are jewel tones and they do look awesome together.

Lasting Allure's French Princess Shoes

I am nearing half way done this pattern. Once the beads are on I think I am going to be madly in love with it. Still unsure what type of frame I will pick out for it or if it will need a matt, but I have plenty of time to figure that out.

September Free SAL Section 2

For all of those who are participating in the September Free Stitch Along here is section #2. I am releasing it a day early since I will be out of commission for a few days due to wisdom teeth surgery tomorrow. If you have any questions I will try my best to answer them as soon as I can.

Section #2 of "Tiny Autumn Sampler" Copyright Lasting Allure Designs

In this section you will be stitching a Satin Stitch in the empty spaces between your cross stitching. A satin stitch can be worked in many other shapes, it is a stitch used for filling in areas. You will be using 2 threads for this area. Here is a diagram of how you will work this stitch:

Square Satin Stitch Diagram

 The lines in the diagram above represent the threads of your fabric in the area (When you're cross stitching you're counting up 2 and over 2 but for this step forget about that rule). When you have finished the stitch it will be the same size as your 2x2 blocks of cross stitching. You will start in the 1 position and bring your needle down to position 2. Then you will bring your needle up through position 3 and down to position 4. Then up through position 5 and down to position 6 and so on until you finish filling in the blocks.

Your piece should now look something like this:

All Stuffed up for Christmas

Christmas is coming!! It is my most favorite time of the year (just ask anyone in my family). I know it is only September but I have been playing with some Christmas ideas since July.

This little guy is a new prototype for my latest pattern. He is about 2 inches tall and chubby from the stuffing. There will be a few other little characters to follow but I was making sure that he could be sewn up like a gingerbread man shape.

I am stitching up another one over the next few days with the alterations I learned from doing this guy and then will put the pattern together as a PDF with instructions on how to finish them off. I personally don't think the photo does this little guy justice, he is so cute in person! Just imagine a plate full of them...

To keep it simple the first part of the September Stitch Along is simple cross stitching. Follow the pattern below to create the framework that you will fill in during the following weeks with the other sections!

Please don't send the pattern to others, instead point them in the direction of the blog so they too can join in and be able to participate in other future activities. Please also note this pattern is not intended for resale including but not limited to patterns, kits or finished projects. If I find someone has breached my trust I will be unable to continue hosting future stitch alongs.



Section #1 of "Tiny Autumn Sampler" Copyright: Lasting Allure Designs

Stitch count is 40 stitches wide by 40 stitches high. It is highly recommended to stitch this pattern on 32 count even weave linen. (Don't pull a me and stitch on an uneven weave linen or else you will end up with a rectangle rather than a square as depicted in the bottom photo) Use your imagination and try different threads for this project!

September Free Stitch Along

Autumn is definitely in the air right now, well at least at night time, but days are becoming shorter and the leaves are slowly starting to change colour ever so slightly.

With fall time in my mind I decided to offer my readers a challenge. During the four weeks of September I will be releasing certain parts of the following design for those of you interested in stitching it! The autumn sampler is a mixture of cross stitch and specialty stitches to help some of those interested in dabbling in embroidery.

"Autumn's Tiny Sampler" Copyright: Lasting Allure Designs

The design is pretty small and each section will only take an hour or two of your time to stitch. However I feel the small project will help some who may want to learn some specialty stitches without being overwhelmed. With each section released there will be a few diagrams to help you stitch the pattern.

The first section will be released on Tuesday and all of the other sections will be released on the following Tuesdays. I encourage all of those who are stitching the pattern to change the colours up or use special threads and to post links in the comments section below so we can all see what you have done.

For those of you who want to get a head start you can get your fabric and floss ready. You will need:

• Stitch Count is: 40 stitches wide by 40 stitches high
• 32 count linen (28 is ok but you won't get very good coverage...and this project MUST be done on linen to be done properly)
• DMC colours: 741, 742, 780, and 3011
• I recommend using a Qsnap or hoop

If this stitch along goes well I will consider doing more!