Crazy Stitching Habits #21

CSH #21I was stocking buttons at work today, when I came across one that said “Hook 310.” And I said, “310 is DMC Black!” to myself. I converted numbers to DMC thread colors in my head!

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Have a crazy stitching habit of your own? Feel free to leave a comment and your habit may be in the next segment! 🙂

Crazy Stitching Habits #20

CSH #20You run to your local craft store every time you hear of a new cross-stitch magazine coming in!

(Some of those magazines are expensive, but you can only get them in-store because they’re imported from the UK! So I spend a lot of money on them anyway… especially if it’s got a chart I want!)

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Have a crazy stitching habit of your own? Feel free to leave a comment and your habit may be in the next segment! 🙂

Friday Finishes #24: Humming Bird

The finished piece!

Today’s Friday Finish!

Today’s Friday Finishes is a unique take on framing a finished piece! The first of its kind I’ve ever done.

Name of Piece: Item 4241 Hummingbird

Designed by: There is no designer listed.

Distributed as a kit by NeedleMagic, Inc. under their Stitch ‘N Frame series.

Kit Contains: 18 ct. Aida fabric, embroidery floss, needle, hanger, graph, and easy to follow instructions.

Finished Size:  Roughly 3 in. by 3.75 in.

» Read more

Friday Finishes #23: Love

The finished piece!

Today’s Friday Finish!

I’ve wanted to do this kit since I bought it, but I was actually rather disappointed with it. I’ve come to realize I don’t really like NeedleMagic Inc. kits that much!

Name of Piece: Item 4109 Love

Designed by: There is no designer listed on the kit.

Distributed as a kit by NeedleMagic, Inc. under their Stitch ‘N Frame series.

Kit Contains: 14 ct. Aida fabric, yarn, needle, graph, frame, self-adhesive mounting board, and easy to follow instructions.

Finished Size:  I’m going to guess 3 in. by 3 in. because the kit only says “cover model shown as actual size.”

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Friday Finishes #22: Dragonfly

The finished piece!

Today’s Friday Finish!

We are straight back to the Mini Kits with today’s Friday Finishes! I made a mistake with this one with the backstitch… and I framed it a little different from the cover model.

Name of Piece: #998-7011 Dragonfly

Designed by: Kooler Design Studio

Distributed as a kit by Janlynn Corporation under their Ready, Set, Stitch! Janlynn needlecraft series.

Kit Contains: 18 ct. Aida fabric, 6-strand cotton floss, frame, self-adhesive mounting board, needle, graph, and instructions.

Finished Size:  2.5 inches round

» Read more

The 100th Post Reflection Post

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Happy 100th post!!!

Over the past two years, Little Thread Crafts has posted 100 articles on cross-stitch. From articles on finished pieces, to defining words stitchers use, to articles describing stash saved from the trash, and plenty of random articles about cross-stitch stuff! To celebrate, here are the Top Ten articles of the past 100 posts! Click the title to read the article. Happy Stitching!

Salvaged Stash: A Rescued Paula Vaughan

The second article in the Salvaged Stash series, I talk about a professional-framed Paula Vaughan finished piece that I rescued from a consignment shop, where the owners mentioned the piece was going to be thrown out if no one bought it, as per the consignor’s instructions. This is the number one article on the blog and written as a part of the Save The Stash From The Trash campaign.

Term of the Week: Railroading

In this Term of the Week, I define my favorite technique a stitcher can use while stitching. I personally railroad all my stitches! To see this in action, check out my video series The Five-Minute Stitch!

Crazy Stitching Habits #6

Crazy Stitching Habits is a picture series on all the things stitchers do that might seem crazy to other people. #6 is all about tiny mistakes a non-stitcher can’t see drives stitchers crazy. Click the link to view the image and read the article. You can also like and share the pictures on Facebook, at Little Thread Crafts’ Facebook page!

Looking For a Cross-Stitch Community? Try Facebook! & Facebook Cross-Stitch Groups Revisited

These two articles go over some of the cross-stitch communities on Facebook that are available for everyone to join! As long as you have a Facebook account, you can be a part of a group of stitchers on Facebook. Share progress on WIPs, talk about stitching, get advice… it’s the best way to get in touch with other stitchers when you don’t have a local presence in your neighborhood. 🙂

Salvaged Stash: Cross Stitch Pillow Cases

The first article in the Salvaged Stash series, I discuss how I found hand-stitched pillow cases being used to wrap up dirty glassware at a thrift store I used to work at, and how I rescued them. I was able to save a set to use as pillow cases, but I had to re-stitch the second kit. This article was written as a part of the Save The Stash From The Trash campaign.

About The Blog (And Me)

The “About Me” page on my blog. It outlines my mission statement and what I hope to accomplish with Little Thread Crafts. 🙂

A Stitcher’s Dictionary: Table of Contents

This article is literally a Table of Contents for all the Term of the Week articles I do on the blog. In this article, you can find an alphabetized list of every article done on different terms so far. Including frogging, railroading, pinking, SINS, stash, confetti stitching… the list goes on!

How To: Make An Ort Jar

In these articles, I describe what an Ort Jar is, how to make one, and I show what one looks like! I need to update this as I have this particular Ort Jar finished, and another, and half of another one, since I last wrote these articles. They’ll get updated eventually!

Stitching with Care: Pain Management Tips for Stitchers with Health Issues

This Random Corner article is a brief list of tips and tricks for stitchers with various health issues to manage their pain while stitching. I have a small variety of health issues that can interfere with my stitching, so I share some of the ways I cope in the hopes that it can be helpful to other people as well.

Why I Hate Large Projects

Last but not least, this Random Corner article is a small rant on my dislike of large projects. It caused quite a stir as a majority of stitchers in fact do like large projects! And it rounds out our Top Ten List for 100 posts.

Term of the Week: RAK

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Our Term of the Week this week once again dives into our stitchy acronyms and pulls out a popular term!

RAK stands for Random Act of Kindness, and it’s become a popular term to use in the stitching world to refer to charity items and gifts.

A lot of stitchers do work for charities, and others simply don’t have the funds to support the stash a lot of us have access to. That’s where RAK comes in. Stitchers will pull together and collect thread, fabric, charts, all manners of things and pass them along to someone less fortunate than them. Sometimes a stitcher will send a ‘care package’ without prompting, surprising the fellow stitcher with stash supplies.

A RAK is something meant to be passed along. It’s a random good deed from one stitcher to another that benefits everyone in the end. 🙂

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“Term of the Week” is a weekly blog post highlighting a new word or phrase commonly used among cross-stitchers but not found in an ordinary dictionary. These posts are to help explain the words’ meanings in context and provide a resource for anyone wondering what a term like “frogging” means. Check back every Thursday!

Progress Report: Beary Kissmas, Start to Finish

It is now May, and I am only just now sorting through all my progress pictures and getting them ready for articles from Christmas. I am such a procrastinator.

Anyway, I thought I would start with the small kit I got for Christmas from my grandparents two Christmases ago, and made to hang on our little Christmas tree this past Christmas. It’s called “Beary Kissmas” and fits in great with my love of the teddy bear motif. I didn’t pack it away with the rest of my Christmas decorations. It will be a year-round decoration!

Out of the four Christmas projects I started, this and a present for my nephew were the only two I actually finished. You can read more about my dilemma in this article: A Christmas Gift Fiasco.

The first round of stitching on this piece!

The first round of stitching on this piece!

A little further before putting it down for the day!

A little further before putting it down for the day!

This was an incredibly fast piece to do. I worked for probably around two or three hours and got more than half the piece completed in one sitting. Then I set it aside for a little while (as I tend to do) and when I picked it back up, I finished it!

Here it is, all finished! Just needs washed, ironed, and framed.

Here it is, all finished! Just needs washed, ironed, and framed.

There will be a Friday Finishes on this piece shortly, with it all pretty and in its frame. Until then, you can see it on display in my Mini Kits article: Displaying My Minis!

Displaying My Minis!

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So, after much procrastination and delay and the purchase of more thumb tacks, I have finally finished display the majority of my small kits, and thought I would share!

Main DisplayThe mini cork board strip on the whiteboard above my desk was overflowing with my mini kits. I had them piled one on top of the other on the hooks, and I needed a better way to display them. So! I finally got more thumb tacks and hung up the ones that won’t fit on the cork board. 🙂

Left Side Display

A pyramid of finishes.

If you’re curious, here are the articles on these finishes, with information about the kit and the design:

Friday Finishes #2: Love Bug

Friday Finishes #12: Love Bug 2012

Friday Finishes #16: Frog and Bee

Friday Finishes #17: Snoozing Kitty

The Dragonfly and the two Christmas bears don’t have articles yet! I will update when they do!

Some of my favorites!

Some of my favorites!

That “Welcome Home” house is one of my favorite finishes. There will be an article on that soon!

The only finish pictured here to have an article is the Seashells:

Friday Finishes #20: Seashells

The other articles will be coming soon!

The last of the finishes!

The last of the finishes!

My Sleepy Moon finish is still missing – I haven’t been able to find it. 🙁

Friday Finishes #13: Buzzing Bumblebee

Friday Finishes #15: Noah’s Ark

I have more finishes displayed around the room, but I like to keep all my mini kits in one place, so this is where they all ended up. 🙂 The humming bird doesn’t have an article, but it will soon!

And that’s it! How do you display all your mini kits? Leave a comment and let me know!

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