Cross Stitch and Crochet Photos
 

I just recently joined and these will be the first photos that I have uploaded.

I will be making a quilt in the next week or two, but I also wanted to share some of my other interests.

The Cross Stitch pattern is worked using petite cross stitch. For those of you who do also cross stitch, I have included a photo of the back side of my work because you may appreciate how meticulous I am in burying my thread. The work is unfinished. There will also be candles with flames and smoke and a verse from the book of Psalms: "Behold, children are a gift from the lord." I don't know if the photo will show it, but the woman is wearing a ring and the child's eyes are heart shaped.

The crocheted blanket is one that I began when I learned that my daughter was expecting. We didn't know the sex at the time, so I used yellow. She had his photo taken at the hospital in this and brought him home in it as well. I have made this blanket two other times in blue. I hope that I will need to make a pink one for a grand-daughter someday soon. I showed a close up in hopes that you can see the little hearts in the body of the blanket. Sharon

Very pretty and exquisite work! I had to give up cross stitch due to declining eyesight and never learned to crochet but always thought it was so delicate. I, too, tried to make the back as nice and neat as the front of the stitching.

very pretty work, I too love counted cross stitch. Love your crochet too. and welcome aboard.

Very nice work! You are a woman of many talents!

Beautiful work. Would you share the name of the pattern for the blanket?

very pretty things...

You do lovely work!

Such beautiful crossstitch work. Wish I could still do it but my eyes don't see that well any more. I'll just stick to quilting.

I will never show my other side of cross stitch!! Lol....but yours came out gorgeously!
I would love to learn crochet....one day....

Thank you for your nice compliments. No matter what art or craft I attempt, I always come back to crochet. Many of you can probably relate when I say that I do some of my deepest thinking when I crochet. I get lost in thought to the point of making mistakes at times, and that can be aggravating, but beyond that, it is so relaxing and calms me when I feel stressed out. And cross stitch is the same way for me.

The crochet pattern is called "So Sweet Baby Afghans" and there are 5 designs in the booklet--3 crochet and 2 knit. One of the knit designs is very nice. The number of the booklet is 75015. I bought this about 10 years ago, but Amazon carries it still. They have a used copy right now for $0.01.

Thank you for the reply. I'll look into getting the book.

Welcome to this board.
You work is gorgeous. I use to do both but, gave them up to just make quilts.

Hi and welcome to the board. Very beautiful cross-stitch and crochet! What do you mean by petite cross-stitch? My first love is cross-stitch, and I love the 18 count aida cloth, is that what you mean? Just finished a wedding one for my youngest son and bride getting married in November, it came out sew cute. I do appreciate the back of your work, and I'm proud to show mine too, I keep it neat! Anyway, will post pics of it soon, gotta go take my mama for her walk.

I use to do a lot of cross stitch but my eyesight is not as good as it once was.

Thank you to everyone for complimenting my work!

Latrinka, Please post photos of your wedding gift. I would love to see it.

Petite cross-stitch uses tiny, fine stitches. It shows more detail than traditional cross-stitch. I used Hardanger 22. Hardanger is a cotton fabric, and stitching on 22 Hardanger will make you go buggy-eyed... It is more difficult to see your squares. A magnifier helps. Stitching on it is like picking up a piece of cotton and cross-stitching in the weave. Most people cross-stitch on Aida 14. The number on both the Hardanger and the Aida refers to the number of stitches per inch, but you probably already know that. I have never entered a competition, but I have heard that one of the things that the judges look for is how well the stitches are buried on the back of your work. I am self-taught with almost everything that I do, and I learned to cross-stitch by reading. From the beginning, I tried to practice burying my thread. It is validating to know that you understand why I showed the back of my work. Sharon

wedding cross stitch
 

Here it is! Hasn't even been pressed yet, just finished it a couple days ago. I usually mist them with water, let them air dry on one of those clip hangers, then lightly press the back using a thin cloth to protect stitching. I frame them myself, this one will go into an 8x10 frame or larger with that size opening if I decide on a mat. It's done on 18 ct aida, light oatmeal is the color. I miss working on it already! Started back on hexis! I know what you mean about it being very relaxing, I'd be totally bonkers without my stitching! Wish I would have learned crochet or knitting, but never did, and have invested enough on quilting, cross-stitching, etc.! Tried to put a pic of the back also, but it wouldn't download.

Latrinka,

I love your motto about woman's work. My thoughts exactly!
This is a beautiful pattern and what a great job you did! Do you sign and date your work? I think a mat would really showcase the design. I bet they'll treasure this. Very nice work! Thank you for posting it. Sharon

Hey again Sharon, thank you for the compliments. I'm thinking a larger frame with a mat also. About signing my work, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. My kids always want me to, so since this is for one of them, I will. Maybe even on the back of the frame, not sure yet. Not going to cross stitch it though.

You do beautiful work & welcome to our group. My passion is quilting, but have done lots of crocheting also in the past. Not so much anymore. Also done a lot of cross stitch when my kids were young. They are all grown now & have given us 15 G-kids & 4 Greats. Yes, they all have at least 2 quilts each.

Beautiful work...