Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2015 i Cross Stitch Collection

October brings glorious colour, as the landscape throws off the pinks and mauves of summer and turns rusty brown and orange as it prepares for the winter season to come. With bonfire night just around the corner, close on the heels of Halloween, the air is full of aromatic smells – from pumpkin carving to jam making and baking. The weather can be unpredictable as it shifts from storms to golden days, bringing little gems of sunshine into our lives. The extra time spent indoors is a bonus for stitchers, as it just means more time for WIPs! This month we reflect the season in our selection of projects, with our poppy vase worked in the glorious colours of autumn, a woodland animal study and pretty hanging hearts. However if…

This month the countryside is rapidly changing colour. The remaining bright hues of late summer have turned into the lovely browns and golds of Autumn. Fox and deer break cover in their hunt for food, as the landscape shuts down for winter. This Autumn Woodland study by Eva Rosenstand is the perfect wildlife picture for a formal hallway. The four well-proportioned animal designs fit beautifully together, showing a fleeting glimpse of nature at its best. Each animal has been cleverly designed in whole stitches, with only a small amount of backstitch on the faces. We have stitched our model on white linen, but aida fabric would work just as well, and with the four separate parts to this design, it's perfect for those wishing to progress to something more complex.…

Star letter The writer of our star letter wins this lovely Snowman kit from DMC - Magical (£26.99). Each kit contains a chart, instructions, 14 count iridescent aida 20x20cm (8x8in), and pre-sorted stranded cotton on an organiser. Well done Janie Holmes who will be receiving her kit very soon. Geranium pixie I wanted to share my latest finished project, Nora Adam’s Geranium Pixie. She is done on a fabric that I hand dyed. I stitched her in the car on various trips but had to do the beading at home. I tried beading in the car once - wouldn’t recommend it. I love her colours! Janie Holmes, Ontario, Canada Ed says... I stitch on the train Janie, and on a ship, but I could never stitch in the car,…

Rhoda’s impressive portfolio of community stitching projects includes these beauties. If you look at the detail, you can see why Rhoda has made a name for herself! The huge 49” x 90” Guildford Embroidery she created with the Broderers now hangs at G-Live in Guildford. Rhoda and her husband were Mayor and Mayoress of Guildford in 2007-2008. The colourful and bold Jubilee garments were designed and embroidered by Rhoda for the Bishop of Southwark,. She also created the Pirbright banner for her local church last year, celebrating 800 years.…

STITCH & SEND Wish the Great British Bake Off fan in your life many happy returns with this card complete with three yummy tiers of cake and cream – even better if you pair it with the real thing like we have here! You will need… 28 HPI evenweave (or 14HPI aida) white, Zweigart Brittney 3270/100 7½x6½in (19x16.5cm) Stranded cotton as listed in the key Card with a 5½x4¼in (14x11cm) aperture How to make your card WORK all the cross stitch in two strands of stranded cotton over two threads of the evenweave, and the backstitch in one strand. 1 TRIM the stitched evenweave to fit your card with the design placed centrally behind the aperture. 2 ATTACH double-sided tape to the inside of the card around the edge of…

ANN’S ORCHARD  www.annsorchard.co.uk 01342 311545 For contemporary and traditional bead and needlework kits, plus handmade frames to display them in BARNYARNS  www.barnyarns.co.uk 0176 569 0069 For Anchor, DMC and Madeira threads and all kinds of haberdashery supplies COTTON PATCH www.cottonpatch.co.uk 0121 702 2840 For fabrics, books, wadding, notions, accessories and haberdashery CRAFT LAMPS www.craftlamps.co.uk 01373 454448 Stocking a fantastic array of craft lamps including desk, floor and magnifying lamps, including DaylightTM lamps DKH CREATIONS  www.dkhcreations.co.uk For cross stitch kits, threads, aida and essential accessories DP SOFTWARE  www.dpsoftware.com 01454 612598 Software for creating charts for cross stitch and tapestry E-FRAME  www.eframe.co.uk Bespoke and ready-made picture frames and mounts for displaying your stitching HOBBYCRAFT  www.hobbycraft.co.uk 0845 051 6599 For cardstock, paper, paint, glue and general crafting supplies JOHN JAMES NEEDLES  www.jjneedles.com 0152…

Shining white How stunning are these intricate whitework designs? They’re part of a collection from the Royal School of Needlework (RSN), on show at Hampton Court Palace in Surrey until December 2015. Curated by Dr Clare Rose and Dr Susan Kay-Williams, the exhibition reveals how Whitework was once part of everyday life, with women and girls spending hours creating these intricate works of art for practical uses. “In the past, whitework embroidery was big business, with professionals producing monogrammed underwear sets for Princesses – and for lesser mortals,” says Dr Rose. “Ayrshirework christening gowns and women’s accessories were worked on by teams of embroiderers, with apprentices doing the edging and the most highly skilled doing the delicate needlelace fillings.” The exhibits include delicate antique collars, sleeves and cuffs, christening robes…

DAINTY MAKES Organising your stranded cotton before you start a project is always a good idea, but when you’re working on a project with lots of very similar shades, it’s indespensible! Add a little joy to this simple chore with our organiser. You can get the eyelets in most haberdashery shops and these can be easily applied with a punch or hammer. You will need… 28HPI linen (or 14HPI aida), Zweigart Cashel linen, light rustic, Ref: 3281/52, 9x9in (23x23cm) Stranded cotton as listed in the key Cotton backing fabric or linen Eyelets (12) and tool Sewing kit – usual essentials including matching thread Fabric for the stitched piece supplied by Willow Fabrics – visit www.willowfabrics.com or call 0800 0567811 Turn to page 62 for hints and tips! Stitching the design…

STITCH & SEND What could be better than a nice cup of tea and a biscuit? A handmade card from a friend to read with your cuppa of course! This lovely card is just perfect to fill with all the little bits of news you wish you could share over a pot of tea. You will need… 28 HPI evenweave (or 14HPI aida) white, Zweigart Brittney 3270/100 4x5in (10x12.5cm) Stranded cotton as listed on the key Card with a 2½x3½in (6.5x9cm) aperture How to make your card WORK the cross stitch in one and two strands of stranded cotton over two threads of the evenweave. The area worked in one strand is inside the cup, and is marked with separate symbols on the chart and key. The backstitch and the…

The City of London panel is one of the 12 panels which make up the Magna Carta embroidery project to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta. All the panels of the Magna Carta embroidery project were designed and drawn by Rhoda. A Broderer would choose an element of the design which they wanted to stitch, trace it, then take it home to transfer onto fabric and embroider it. When each stitched piece of fabric returned to Rhoda’s HQ, it was glued around the edge using conservation glue and cut out carefully. The stitched elements were then appliqued onto the background fabric and couched using metallic or perle threads to hide the edges. Interestingly, while London played an active role in the events leading up to…

Our favourite recipes are scattered around between sheets torn from magazines, a couple of old-faithful cookbooks and an overflowing Pinterest page for our online favourites. We'd love to gather them all in one place with this fun stitchy recipe book cover. We’ve made it with an ordinary notebook so you can add personalised tabs to suit the sort of dishes that you like preparing most. We stitched white on blue linen, but you could flex your creative muscles and choose your own colour scheme – or if it’s a gift you could pick a colour to match the recipient’s kitchen. Recipe Book Our stitcher says… there's some lovely details in this design like the beaters on the whisk and the oil bottle Recipe book You will need… 32HPI Linen (or…

Can you believe we’ve shared seven sampler motifs already? That’s over half the spaces in the printer’s tray filled with little lovelies! Next I want to show you two little bird motifs lifted straight from my most recently purchased vintage sampler. I have to admit that when I received my state pension and my private pension paid me, I felt completely shattered – I cannot be that old! I obviously needed to go shopping immediately and I bought myself this exquisite band sampler. It’s called The Collared Stag Sampler. The sampler was stitched in about 1740 and includes cross stitch, satin stitch and Montenegrin stitch (a denser cousin of cross stitch that looks a bit like long-legged cross stitch). The stitcher obviously started this piece from the top and made…

Meet the designer... Jenny Barton “When I’m producing new Christmas designs, it’s often during the spring/summer months so, as you can imagine, it’s not the ideal time of year for festive inspiration! Fortunately, I have daughters aged seven and five, so I am able to find plenty of inspiration from their Christmas books and the hordes of leftover Christmas cards that they use to practise their handwriting on. My two hugging angels design in the blocks sampler is actually based on a photograph of my daughters, I like to think that I’ve managed to capture their cuteness in cross stitch! Hopefully, I’ll have time to stitch some of my Christmas blocks ready for this Christmas. Of course I’ll have to start by stitching my angels!” What could be more festive…

June this year marked 800 years since the day King John of England signed an historic agreement with feudal barons of the land in Runnymede, near Windsor Castle. This document, known as Magna Carta, was to become a cornerstone of legal systems, justice and freedom in many countries across the world. It laid out important rules regarding the protection of personal liberties. To mark this landmark event and defining moment in UK history, Runnymede Council commissioned a series of Magna Carta embroidery panels. And what a marvel they are, in terms of embroidery, teamwork and historical information! Embroiderer Rhoda Nevins, a member of the Royal School of Needlework, was asked to design and create the panel series. Rhoda was approached as she had become known for her high end embroidery…

Meet the designer… Lesley Teare “This was a fabulous picture for me to work on as poppies and blue and white china are two subjects that I particularly enjoy painting. The sheer vibrancy of the colours almost “pop out” at you from the stitched design. The poppy is one flower I never tire of drawing and the colours from oranges and pinks through to deep reds always zing out. I have collected blue and white china for 40 years and my large pine dresser groans under the weight of it. The china is in daily use and even the more collectable pieces are dearly loved and used, so it makes it easy to pick from this display when it comes to using them for a design.” Stitched on white linen,…

DAINTY MAKES This sweet keyring is just big enough to help find your keys in the bottom of a bag. It would make a perfect house warming present – you could customise the design to match their new house, or change the backing fabric to their favourite hue. You will need… 28HPI Linen (or 14HPI aida), Zweigart Cashel linen, blue, Ref: 3281/562, 5x5in (20x20cm) Stranded cotton as listed in the key Cotton backing fabric Cream ribbon 3in (7.5cm) Stuffing Split ring Sewing kit – usual essentials including matching thread Fabric for the stitched piece supplied by Willow Fabrics – visit www.willowfabrics.com or call 0800 0567811 Turn to page 62 for hints and tips! Stitching the design FOLD the linen in half both ways to find the centre and stitch at…

Collection 250 • Enchanted summer fairy by Lesley Teare • The ultimate card for a special friend! • An exclusive mini Cotswold cottage from The Nutmeg Company • Gorgeous garden apron • Mediterranean-inspired table linens • Chart of the month – Stunning wildflower meadow designed by Lesley Teare Collection 251 • Old-fashioned florist’s shop by Maria Diaz • Travel set to give as a gift • Beautiful butterflies from Permin to frame in an embroidery hoop • Exam congrats card • Giant cushions with fun tropical motifs • Make your own vintage style button sampler • Chart of the month – Scrapbook style rose study by Durene Jones Collection 252 • A burst of summer colour with Lesley Teare’s gorgeous bouquet • Carry off first prize at the village show…

Getting started Select your needle Try these three ways to get going, then choose the one that suits you best Loop start When stitching with two threads Cut a single thread that’s twice as long as you need, and thread both ends through your needle. Come up through the fabric and make a half stitch, then pass the needle through the loop that’s formed at the back to secure it. Loose end start When stitching with any number of threads Bring your needle up through the fabric, and be sure to leave a little piece of thread at the back. Hold this thread underneath the area to be stitched so that you will secure it with your first few cross stitches. Waste knot start When stitching with any number of…