X-Stitch aka Cross Stitch

Cross stitch -- some call it x-stitch because of the little x's that are made -- you go from left to right making stitches that look like / and then back along those stitches from right to left, crossing them with \ stitches. That's probably about as clear as mud!  

Smile was stitched for Markie

Anyway, I love to cross stitch -- probably even more so than crochet.  (But don't tell my crochet hooks that -- they will be very jealous!) But there's only so much you can do to give as gifts or do for yourself. Although I must admit, there are about a million cross stitch pictures that I would like to do for myself. I keep telling myself to decide on one and just do it, but, well you know how things get. 

 Follow Your Dreams was stitched for Tylynn

One way that I get in some cross stitch time is to stitch for an organization called "Love Quilts" which gives finished quilts to children who are critically ill or who have lifelong illnesses. 

Family was for Inspirational Words and Phrases to be used on any child's quilt. These are extra squares that have no deadline and can be used on any child's quilt to fill in when needed, or to assemble a quilt in an emergency situation. 

When the child is signed up, the parents provide a photo and some background on the child -- siblings, pets, favorite sports or other likes, information about the child's illness, etc. Then a theme and a favorite color are picked and the stitching volunteers sign up to stitch a square for that child. They usually try to get around fifteen to twenty squares for each quilt.

The two cutie bears were stitched for any child's quilt

The squares are sent in and then they are assembled into a quilt by quilting volunteers. Depending on how many squares are received, the quilt could be all cross stitch squares, or with some fabric squares to round things out. They are finished with batting and a fabric back and then machine quilted. Then they are sent or sometimes taken to the child. The parents usually send in pictures of the child with the quilt -- that's probably the best part! They always have such huge smiles on their sweet faces!

There are some ladies who stitch for each and every child, sometimes more than one square for each! It just amazes me the love and care that go into each of these quilts.

 

Ducks stitched for Shane

This is the quilt for Shane -- you can see the duck square on the left side

Butterfly stitched for Karon

Karon's purple quilt.  The butterfly square I stitched is on the bottom row on the right.

There is a lot of work involved to assemble each quilt and the only monetary request is a small donation to accompany each square that is stitched. And it doesn't matter if you stitch one square or many, all are accepted with love and all are assembled and presented to the child with love. 

A number of years ago my computer crashed and I lost all my photos -- so a lot of my cross stitch pics are gone. I always wrote the year and the child's name on the chart, and of course I remember each one, but I sure wish I had those pictures! 

I didn't participate at all this year, but plan to do at least a few blocks in 2014. 

Maybe I'll even do something for myself!

If you'd like to learn more about the Love Quilts organization, or perhaps stitch a square for them, here's a link to their site. 

sharing over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter X

♥♥

Cross-Stitch Love and a Challenge

One of my very favorite things to do is counted cross-stitch. But there's only so many you can do to display in your home or give as gifts! Even so, I have so many designs that I'd like to do and a huge love of doing them!

Here's where Love Quilts comes in. Love Quilts is a charity organization that makes quilts for children with life threatening or life long illnesses. The children or their parents choose a theme for their quilt and stitchers sign up with a design of their choosing that fits the theme. When all the cross-stitch blocks are finished and sent in (by a certain date), they are assembled into beautiful quilts and sent off to the child.

from the Love Quilts site

The parents keep in touch and send pictures so we can get to "know" the child. Sometimes angel wings appear next to a child's name, and that is always a sad thing. But the parents have that quilt, so lovingly made for their child, to remember and hang on to. (Oh my, tears are in my eyes...) And then there are the ones who get better and stronger and your heart just grows!

The block I just completed is for Caitlyn who will turn 6 in March (the same as my granddaughter) and her theme is the word "Love" along with hearts, flowers and the color purple somewhere on the square. I saw her and knew she was the one I wanted to cross-stitch for next! If you'd like to meet Caitlyn, you can click on her name and say howdy-do and a little prayer for her.

Can you see the "V" in Love coming through my magnifying glass?  

These are the colors I'm using -- I changed the colors from the original red/pink/blue to Caitlyn's colors of pink and purple.  And, yes, that's a shower curtain hook that my floss bobbins are on!

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That was the cross-stitch love, now for the challenge part of this post!

The February challenge for the Blogging Business Artisans (BBA) Etsy team was given to us by Edi of Memories for Life. She challenged us to create a love-themed item for the month of love. So a little girl named Caitlyn, and a love-filled challenge met in my cross-stitch hoop!

I'm part way though!

I so enjoyed stitching this piece! 

Finished!

I think the word "Love" is so sweet in this design and it fits perfectly for February, the month of love, and a sweet child who has a bunch of wonderful women stitching that love just for her.

I hope you'll visit the Love Quilts site and perhaps stitch something for a child yourself! 

And be sure to visit the BBA Blog to read about our team and our talented members. 

♥♥♥  Today I'm linking up my Love Cross-Stitch to Pink Saturday over at How Sweet the Sound! Lots of lovely pinks over there!
♥♥♥  Also linking to Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different...Act Normal. Fun, fun, fun!!

♥♥

Love and Smiles for Kids

Have you visited any new websites that you'd like to introduce us to? Everyone likes to find new places to visit!


That's one of the questions posed by Deb of The Storybeader for the current EtsyBloggers blog carnival. 


The sites that I am going to introduce are not really new -- but may be new to you.

Love Quilts is made up of a group of very talented, hard working and loving women who stitch and sew cross-stitch blocks into quilts for kids who have life-long or life-threatening illnesses.

As a stitcher, you can sign up for a certain child, or for "Charlotte's Kids" both of which have themes and deadlines. Or you can send in as many "any child" blocks as you'd like. These have basically any theme and no deadline! The stitchers are from all over the US and there are also Love Quilt groups in other countries.

It is very gratifying to stitch for Love Quilts. I've been involved for a long time - I think since 1999! 

I do remember how I started.....I used to work in a Hallmark shop and a shopper was looking for cow greeting cards. I was helping her and we got to talking. She was getting the cards to send to a young girl with a terminal illness and who loved cows -- through a site called "Make a Child Smile."  Anyway, Love Quilts was listed on that site and I knew I had found my place!

Which brings me to my second site to tell you about -- Make a Child Smile (MACS). You send encouraging cards (through snail mail because kids love to get mail!) to kids with life-threatening illnesses -- you can send one or as many as you like, and to however many children as you like. You can send little gifts if you choose, and they always post the names of any siblings so you can remember them too! 


So even if you cannot cross-stitch, you can still bring happiness to a sick child through MACS! Both are such worthy organizations and bring smiles to so many kids. If you look around both the sites, you will see the stories of the kids -- some will definitely make you cry, but your heart will grow and your life will be touched.


From the MACS site:


When life's problems seem overwhelming, it helps to look around and see what other people are coping with. You may consider yourself far more blessed than you imagined. 
~Author Unknown




♥♥

It's Been Such a Long Time....But I'm Back Now!!

And one of my New Year's Resolutions is to blog more! I know, I know -- if I was really serious about that, I would have posted on New Year's Day to usher in the New Year!! But, hey, I do what I can!  : )

I did promise that I would post pics of the hat and fingerless gloves I made (just so you know that I actually do crochet from time to time!!)

This is Noli's new bomber hat -- we picked out the colors with Noli in mind and then I found those cool flower buttons which matched perfectly.

And Stephanie really likes her fingerless gloves -- I liked this pattern because the ribbing is crocheted onto the glove part -- not sewn on afterward like some patterns. So no seam!!

I have finished my latest quilt square for Love Quilts -- it's for Tylynn who loves the sun, moon, stars and rainbows! If you'd like to meet her, click here. Isn't she a cutie?

My next cross-stitch project is for a theme of inspirational words and phrases for quilts made for any child (as opposed to a certain child). Several quilts are made from these squares so there are unlimited sign-ups. If you like to cross-stitch and want to help out, please check out the site. New stitchers are always welcomed with open arms and open hearts. ♥♥

And to end, here's a pic of Noli, up close and personal!! 

See ya soon!!

Purple Butterfly for Karon

I love to do cross-stitch. I love the outlining and embroidery at the end that just makes the stitching pop! So one way to combine this love with helping others is through Love Quilts -- a group of very talented and hard working and loving women who stitch and sew cross-stitch blocks into quilts for kids who have life-long or life-threatening illnesses.

This is my latest -- a butterfly for Karon. She loves purple, and butterflies.

Next, I will be stitching for Tylynn who loves rainbows, the sun, clouds, stars, planets and the moon! So mine will be a bright rainbow and sun over a cloud that says "Follow Your Dreams." I'll add some pics when I get some done -- haven't even started it yet!

And, just so you can see an example of a finished quilt, here's one that I contributed to from earlier this year. It was for Shane, who likes the great outdoors.

 This is what I stitched -- ducks in flight sampler

Finished quilt!

And, now, have a perfectly beautiful, purple butterfly kind of day!

Cross Stitch Love

Cross stitch is one of my favorite things to do -- I just never have time to devote to it. I mostly stitch for the charity group Love Quilts (button over there on the side bar). They assemble cross-stitch blocks into beautiful quilts for children with life-long or life threatening diseases. The stitchers are from all over the world. There are also Love Quilt groups in other countries.

Unfortunately, due to a computer melt-down, I lost all of my pictures and so only have a few of the most recent ones to post. But here those are, and apologies for the tiny size -- these 3 came from the Love Quilt site and I can't seem to resize them. The Smile one actually came from my camera!

But, you get the idea!

I'm starting one now for a little boy in Texas (I try to always stitch for the Texans since that's where I live...) whose theme is the great outdoors. My design is of four different types of ducks. I haven't gotten far along enough to take pics, but will when you can tell what it is!

And, please, if you have any interest in cross-stitch, visit their site. You'll fall in love with the kids and maybe decide to stitch some blocks!

My Creative Space - well, not exactly... (and a freebie cross-stitch to finish)

You may remember this cross-stitch from here . I haven't gotten very far on it in a month.

This is a picture of it finished (in the pattern book).

I was making it for a charity I stitch for that makes blankets for children with terminal and life-long illnesses. You can check them out here. Anyway, each blanket has a deadline and there was no way I was going to make it this time. That's bad enough, but I really began to dislike the pattern and I know that I will never finish it, even for another child. I feel so guilty about this, but I've been talking long and hard to myself and have decided that I will just begin another one with no deadlines (where you don't sign up for a specific child) and go on with life. Also, I have a crochet blanket destined for Project Linus so I will finish up the loose ends (literally) on it and take it to my drop-off place.

Sorry this is so depressing, but I just feel so bad about it. I had decided that I would definitely, absolutely stitch for any child from Texas, and of course this one is -- so there you go, even more guilt...

Hey! I just had an idea -- if anyone reading this would like to finish it, I'll be happy to send it and a copy of the directions to you. It's on 14 count Aida, cut to 13"x13". I should add that I was only going to make the part with the fish bowl and the one cat on the right side so it would fit into the dimensions needed by Love Quilts. The fish bowl part is all half cross stitch. (You'll have to provide your own thread, however...)

Anyway, if you'd like it, please email me via the address on my profile page.

OK, time to get moving again. I'm going to go crochet some scarves and neck warmers for the shop. And then, very soon, start another cross-stitch.