Recent Cross-stitch Finishes

Hello readers! I have just finished up some freebie designs that we are doing as a monthly SAL at Needleworkers' Haven. I wanted to share a picture of my finishes with all of you. The pattern for these freebies can be obtained at Lune d'automne. The designs are by Gencat. Scroll to the December design and then continue on down the page to print each month's design. There are page numbers at the bottom of the page for you to get to the other months.

Here are the months I have completed so far:

I have made these into magnets for my daughter. They were stitched on 14 ct. ivory perforated plastic using DMC Variations thread. These designs are quick to stitch.

The above images were created for personal use from copyrighted

designs owned by © Gencat

I have also finished a Christmas ornament for our annual Christmas Ornament Club we hold at Needleworkers' Haven. Following is a picture of the ornament along with all the details. I still need to finish this for hanging on the tree.

Details
Source - Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Issue 2000

Designer - Homespun Elegance Ltd.

Threads - DMC

Fabric - 28 ct. Silkweaver's One of a Kind linen (gry/grn)

The above image were created for personal use from copyrighted
designs owned by © Homespun Elegance Ltd.

Until later.....

My Online Community

Good morning stitching friends. I hope your day today is blessed in all you do. I thought I would talk about my online stitching community that I own. Hope you don't mind some advertising. LOL

Back in late 2000 I opened an online stitching community to meet new friends and stitchers from all over the world. When I first opened my little community was called Shelley's Stitching & Stuff. I met so many wonderful people from all over the world as well as some not so nice people. Running an online community has wonderful advantages but there are some downsides to it as well.

My little community grew into a very busy place with so many members. We had programs for exchanges, SALs, Round Robins (RR), charity stitching, reading club, games, contests, chat nights, etc. We had so much fun in the community. As time passed I started to encounter some personal attacks on myself as well as my family. You really can't be sure who you are befriending when you meet online. All we have are words to form our opinions. I try very hard to trust everyone but once that trust has been broken I am not one to give it back so easily. With that being said I decided to clean house within the community and got rid of some 'bad' members. I made the community private (by invitation only) and things improved drastically.

I also moved my community several times to better the forums. My trusty group followed along with me and we are, to this day, still together. Our friendships have grown to the point where I feel like they are my family now. If someone had ever told me that I can become friends with someone on the other side of my computer monitor I would have told them they were crazy. But it is true. My dearest and best friends are all friends I met online. And I have had the pleasure to meet most of them face-to-face. There are all my wonderful friends in the US - Linda W., Ann B. & Shelleen T.; and from Canada - Glynda N., Loretta R., Gloria J., Caroline S., and Vivian K. These women are the most precious women I have ever met and I count my blessings that I have the honor to call them my friends.

It was back in 2004 or 2005 that we decided as a group to rename our community to Needleworkers' Haven. Starting out we had quite a few members but with time things slowed down. We are now a very small group who love to get together to chat or stitch together. Just a group of friends sharing our lives and our love of cross-stitch.

As life so commonly does, it got in the way so that I am not able to devote as much time to the community as I used to. I used to have all the time in the world to stitch but my times are so limited these days. I now have a very full house with both of my children living back home. My daughter is a single mother of a very active one year and my son & DIL are new parents to a three week old son. My son & DIL are saving for a place of their own and should be out soon. I hope in the near future that I will have my house to myself so I can devote more time to my stitching, online community & the Lord.

Well, have I blabbered enough for all of us? LOL I hope that some of my readers will drop in to Needleworkers' Haven to meet all of us. Have a blessed day! Until later.....

Blogging

Well, I am finally catching up to the times by opening a blog to share my needlework projects as well as my love for needlework. My two favorite needle arts are cross-stitch and crochet. I learned crochet when I was in junior high from my Home Economics teacher. My first project was an adorable green worm bookmark. I was so proud of it. Coming from a large family (I had six siblings) my parents couldn't afford to support a hobby of crochet so I never continued on with this wonderful needle art. It wasn't until many years later when my son and daughter were very young that I bought a 'Learn To Crochet" book and the rest, shall I say, is history. I have enjoyed my crochet over the years making bookmarks, doilies, ornaments, afghans, and charity projects. I still crochet today and imagine I will until I am no longer able to do so.

My very deep love for needlework is with counted cross-stitch. I taught myself to do this wonderful needle art 26 years ago. My son was almost two years old and I would have the time in the evenings to stitch. My mother had given me a cross-stitch poinsettia bell pull kit and that is where my love began. I read the somewhat complicated (at the time) instructions and told myself that I could do this! Well, one bell pull kit and many projects and years later I can proudly claim the title of Cross Stitch Addict!

After the birth of my daughter and finding myself a single mother of two small babes my cross-stitch sat in a bag for years. I was able to get back to it when my daughter was three years old and have not stopped since. I remarried in 1987 to my 'knight in shining armor' who supported my hobby and encouraged me to pick it up again. Can you imagine that? For my 30th birthday he took me to the store and bought me every color of DMC six stranded threads that was available. What a gift! I am current with every color DMC offers including their new Variations!

I find that stitching reduces my stress levels and keeps me patient and relaxed. When I first started stitching I frequented a little LNS in my small town and increased my stash in leaps and bounds. I would visit her shop once a week. The shop owner would invite in the back for a cup of tea and give me lessons in specialty stitches. Bless her sweet heart for being so patient with me in teaching me that darn French Knot! (Note: If you are looking for a place to learn the stitches for cross stitch I recommend Johanna's Needlework Stitches. It is the best site!) I so loved my weekly visits to the LNS until the shop owner was forced to close due to her failing health. Shortly after the shop closed she passed away. I will always remember this wonderful teacher and friend.

As the years went by I found out more and more about this craft. But it wasn't until we bought our first computer in 2000 that I found the world of cross stitch was larger than I could ever imagine. The sites that offers tips, online stitching shops, designers, etc. I thought I had died and gone to heaven! LOL After stitching for 26 years now I am still finding new things regarding counted cross-stitch.

Back in late 2000 I decided to open my own cross-stitch community so that I could meet stitchers from all over the world. It was a very slow start but Shelley's Stitching & Stuff eventually grew into the best little online stitching community. Just a few years ago I changed the name of my stitching community to Needleworkers' Haven and we have shrunk down to just a handful of faithful friends. We love to visit together and work on stitch-a-longs, exchanges and our annual Ornament Club! By the way, feel free to join us at NH. We love to meet new friends. You have to join in order to view our place so be sure to let me know where you heard about us. I

plan to add links to some of my favorite online stitching shops, sources and anything else I can think of. I love this special needle art and will be stitching for as long as God blesses my hands. Until later stitching friends....