Santa's Feathered Friend Cross Stitch (in progress)

I'm starting to think I have a slight stitching addiction, would you agree??? Here's yet another work in progress called Santa's Feathered Friend by Dimensions Gold. It was started in Nov 2013...

I had hoped to have it done by Christmas (2013) but I got sidetracked by stitching 2 ornaments and the busy-ness of life got in the way....

I'll probably save this and work on it again next Nov (2014) This is my progress as of 12-15-13....

Butterfly Forest Cross Stitch (in progress)

This beautiful Butterfly Forest by Dimensions Gold came in the mail as a surprise from my hubs! I especially love it because he picked it out on his own with no input from me or my online wishlists! He also bought me a gorgeous Orchids and Hummingbird kit that I haven't started yet!

I started stitching it on 9-20-13. Oh, and I replaced the 14ct with 18ct Aida just because I prefer the smaller size....

I have discovered that I enjoy doing the back-stitching as I go along, getting little bits of it done rather than leaving it all for the end...

A little more than half done...

This was put on hold for some Christmas stitching but I plan to return to it in the new year!

Harvest Basket Cross Stitch (in progress)

Autumn themed cross stitch patterns are some of my all-time favorites! Each time the season rolls around I find several I want to work on. This past fall, I found this pattern called Harvest Basket in

Just Cross Stitch magazine Sept/Oct 2013 issue....

I'm stitching it on 18ct Fiddler cloth from Charles Craft which I love the soft feel of...

No it isn't finished. I still have some sunflowers to stitch and the back-stitching of course. Stay tuned!

Autumn Owl Trio Cross Stitch (in progress)

My biggest project to date is this one called Autumn Owl Trio by Heaven and Earth Designs....

If you aren't familiar with their patterns you may not know that they are quite an undertaking....

I decided to stitch this project using tent stitches rather than full cross-stitches, 2 over 1 on 28ct hand-dyed Lugana (Zweigart "Setting Sun"). In other words, very tiny stitches....

and a lot of them...

I started on 1-1-13 and worked on it until mid April...

I really like the way this is turning out but I have to admit it's a bit tedious with all the confetti stitches. Not to mention I have to use my lighted magnifier so it's not very portable...

Not sure where I'm going with this project. The mood to work on it hasn't hit me for awhile so it may end up in the UFO bin...

Robin's Nest Cross Stitch (in progress)

I guess you can tell by now that I enjoy Dimensions cross stitching kits! Here's one called Robin's Nest by Dimensions Gold I started in the spring of 2013...

Sometimes I grid my fabric to make it easier to keep track of the stitches. For this project I used a water soluble ink pen that will wash out when I'm done...

I have all the stitching done with only the back-stitching to do...

It really shouldn't take but an afternoon to finish it up and it's most definitely on my to-do list for 2014!

Feasting Frenzy Cross Stitch (in progress)

I love this fun, colorful kit from Dimensions called Feasting Frenzy!. This was a gift from my oldest son for Christmas 2010. This is how it will look when finished...

 I didn't start it right away because I was rather overwhelmed by the size of it at the time (10"x14" on 18ct Aida)....

 So it sat in my stash for awhile until I gained some experience and finally started it at the end of Oct 2012....

 I continued on with it until Feb 2013 and hit a snag with the back-stitching...

The pattern seems to want me to stitch these really long top stitches on the roof. I did a few you can see on the lower right but it just doesn't look right to me the way the long threads lay on top of the design. I need to figure a different way of doing it so the lines don't look choppy. I'll scratch my head on this one a little longer and come up with a solution.

Eagle's Majesty Cross Stitch (in progress)

Another Dimension Gold kit called Eagle's Majesty. I started stitching this one in May 2011 after falling in love with the Decorah Eagles after watching the live eagles cam online...

 I worked on it into the summer and got discouraged when I made a mistake somewhere in the sky near the small Eagle. I didn't pick it back up again until spring of 2013 and got it to this point...

I get really bored of this one and can't work on it for too long. I love it though and hope to get it done someday. It has some sparkly blending filament when I stitch the water so I'm looking forward to that!

Schoolhouse Cross Stitch (in progress)

I was browsing Patterns Online one afternoon and came across this great design called Schoolhouse by Teresa Wentzler...

It's a small little project but it packs a punch! As you can see there all the threads are blended and there are lots of confetti stitches so it is very time consuming....

I decided to try a technique called 'Parking' hence all the hanging threads, but found it wasn't really my thing...

Overall, I didn't get very far and think I may be in over my head with this one, soooooo not sure when I'll return to it. : /

Four Seasons Birds Cross Stitch (in progress)

I received Four Seasons Birds by Janlynn from my oldest son for Christmas 2011 and started stitching it Jan 2012....

I didn't get very far because I don't really like the way it was working up on the fabric provided (14ct Aida). It has lots of fractional stitches which I find tedious to do on Aida. My plan is to restart this on different fabric....maybe something hand-dyed :)

Chickadees On A Branch Cross Stitch (in progress)

This was a gift from my youngest son for Christmas 2010 called Chickadees on a Branch by Dimensions....

 At this point I had only done 2 cross stitch projects and they were both 'counted cross stitch'. This one was a stamped project. Meaning the X's are printed on the fabric and you stitch over them as opposed to looking a pattern and stitching on counted fabric....

 I got started on it right away but was quickly discouraged by the stamped pattern. The stitches looked messy and I could not get the floss through the fabric easily and was quickly getting a very sore thumb...

 So i made the decision to ditch the stamped fabric and restart the project on 28ct Evenweave. Below you can see the new project on the left (much smaller since I'm using a higher count fabric) and the old one on the right....

 So much easier and the stitches look much nicer (my satin stitch needs some work though)...

All I have left to do is the back-stitching but since it's my least favorite part, it sits in a bin, unfinished :( Here's hoping I will get this one done in 2014!