Author: stitchesandquills

Christmas Card

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Christmas is coming, so there is the highest time to stitch postcards. This year I haven’t got time for them at all, but I made one card at my daughter’s request. She needs it for changing Christmas gifts at work, so I hope the postcard will arrive in the UK on time. The main theme of the postcard is, of course, mouse, because the next 2020 year is Rat’s year by Chinese Horoscope. And since I’m very fond of Lucie Heaton mice, I stitched this one. I found it in The World of Cross Stitch magazine and I needed to change it slightly: to add Holly, because I wanted the frame of the postcard would be green, not red. So, the result is here. What do you think about it?

 

Cross Stitch Birds

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We have some small birds cross stitch patterns, here I’d like to present you new – House Sparrow and Common Linnet.

House Sparrows live across many different regions of the world.  Humans have not domesticated House Sparrows in any way. So, House Sparrows do not make good pets. Humans have attempted to keep them as pets, but they do not thrive in a household setting. Additionally, they are not the most colorful of birds, and their song is not particularly catchy or melodic.

Common Linnets were popular cage birds during the 19th century. Now they can be found in Europe, West Asia, and North-West Africa. Eastern and northern populations of Common Linnets migrate to the south during the autumn. These birds produce melodic, pleasant songs that consist of fast trills and twitters.

The scientific name of common linnet, “Carduelis Cannabina”, refers to the feeding habits of this bird and its affection for hemp (variety of cannabis). The common name “Linnet” refers to a fondness for flaxseed, that is used in the manufacture of linen.

In any case, both birds can be observed in my country, and you can cross-stitch them for yourself or as a gift for a bird lover 🙂 They are beautiful, aren’t they?

Sokoke Forest Cat

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Hello, my dear readers. I wasn’t there for a few days because I had a lot of translation work, but I’ve come back and I want to show you the new pattern in our shop – Sokoke Forest Cat. This exotic cat originates from the Sokoke district of eastern Kenya but was further developed in Denmark. Despite its wild character, Sokoke Cat is friendly by nature and can be perfect for those seeking an animal companion. It has a relatively small head with almond-shaped eyes that are usually amber to light green in color. But the most eye-catching feature of the Sokoke Cat, however, is its unusual coat, which is lustrous, short, and body-hugging. The coat pattern, dubbed “African Tabby,” resembles the Blotched Tabby with a “wood grain” look. The color of the coat ranges from warm light brown to deep chestnut brown. So if you are a Cat person, you can stitch this beauty and have it for yourself forever!

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Finished Cloudberry Picture

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I’ve done it! Complete cross-stitching and framed in a hoop.

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Now I can say, that it was an adventure and a challenge for me. Cross stitching wasn’t a big problem, I know the author of the pattern and I was aware of the fact, that Serafima Abramova uses a lot of blends in her projects. That’s ok, but I haven’t back stitched with two threads before. One thread is ok, but two? What is more, it was a light green thread. So when I started back-stitching, I noticed, that it doesn’t look nice for me. And since I’m a perfectionist, I couldn’t leave it like this. After consulting with the author of the pattern and my cross-stitching colleagues from a Facebook group, I tried some different methods and decided to do this backstitch with couching. I did it for the first time and I understood, that I need either stands or the third hand to do it correctly. Can you imagine, what it looked like? But because I’m still very stubborn, I made it.  Everything else was simple. Although I was afraid that the red color might stain the fabric during washing, I almost completely dried out the picture and only then I ironed it carefully and it turned out that ironing the natural linen is much harder than evenweave. I was also a little afraid of sewing white felt to the back of the picture, but everything went well and in the end, I’m satisfied with the result of my work. I hope that the customer will also be satisfied with this cross-stitched picture.

Fox

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We’ve just started a new series of wildlife patterns – foxes. The first one is a Fox in Autumn or a Fox in the Fall, due to November – still autumnal month. It’s so cute, isn’t it?

Foxes are found all over the world — in North America, Europe, Asia, and even North Africa. These animals are very social and live flexible lives. They live in forested areas. What is interesting – foxes are usually monogamous, so they have only one mate for life. They also take on nannies to help with their pups. The nannies are female foxes that are not breeders. Foxes can identify each other’s voices, just like humans and they also have excellent hearing. In folklore, foxes are typically characterized as cunning creatures sometimes having magical powers.

 

Lighthouse

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We have two lighthouse patterns at our shop now. The first one is in colour and the second one in sepia, so you can choose the one you like more. It is said that we cross-stitch a lighthouse for a dream to come true. What is more, a lighthouse can symbolize various things, such as overcoming challenges and adversity or guidance. It is most commonly used to symbolize a way forward and help in navigating through the world. So, what are you waiting for? Just grab the pattern and help your dreams come true!

This is a lighthouse built on the small island at the southern tip of Sakhalin, Russia, by Japan in 1939. Now the Aniva lighthouse is abandoned. There are many young seagulls there and they do not fear man, but they hover around. You can see the 360 degree sea on the lighthouse and the place where the Sakhalin Island begins.