Two Cross Stitch Projects Fully Finished (FF)

Auditioning the frame

The two cross stitch projects that I began in London are FULLY FINISHED! When I packed the little kits, my plan was to fully finish them on my trip. While I did complete the cross stitch, I didn't have enough materials available to finish the items.

The first kit that I finished was the "Love one Another" kit. As I placed the plastic frame that came with the kit over the cross stitch work, I discovered the frame was too small! Hm m m. . .perhaps this was the reason that the kit was on sale for a dollar!

Lacing the edges

I paused. What to do? The kit was for a refrigerator magnet. I planned to add a hanger and turn it into an ornament or a piece of art for someone who loves blue. I thought about searching for a larger frame. I thought about making it into a pin cushion or a mug rug or a tiny wall hanging. 

Then I decided that what was most important was that I finish the work. So while I liked the hearts at the bottom of the piece, I allowed the frame to cover them. 

Finished view

I cut a piece of card stock and using some heavy thread from my grandmother's thread stash, I laced the edges together. I started in the middle on one of the sides and worked my way around the piece. 

It was a bit of a fiddly job. I needed to flip the piece over to ensure that I was keeping the design centered. Sometimes I was and sometimes, I needed to do a little correction. This was the first time that I tried this method for finishing cross stitch. I liked the results and will make this my go to method for finishing future pieces.

I also added a piece of ribbon as the hanger. Then I placed the work in the frame and slipped on the back. The back clipped snuggly under the edge of the frame. I like how it looks. It is a small piece. It measurers two inches x two and half inches.

Note on the back

Then I moved on to finish the second cross stitch piece which was the "All hearts come home for Christmas" piece. I followed the same format as I did with the first piece. Because I wasn't inserting this work into a frame, I used a second piece of the card stock that came in the kit to use to center the design.

Once I had the work secured to the piece of card stock, I added the lace. I hand basted a thread along the edge of the lace and used this thread to gather the lace until it fit the edge of the ornament. Then I hand stitched the lace in place. I added the hanger and the back. It measures about two and a half inches by four and a half inches.

This piece was also finished! I thought that it would take me much longer to finish these two pieces. I probably spent a couple hours total to get these projects finished. Because this truly was an ornament, I wrote the recipient's name, our grandparent names and the year. It's cute and it's special . . .just like the recipient!

Finished front

This was goal number seven on my third quarter list. It was goal number four on my August list. I am glad that I have written these goal lists, otherwise, these finished cross stitch pieces wouldn't have been fully finished!