Charles Dickens Saying

This is a repeat of a post from last year – I want to make sure you didn’t miss out! A beloved holiday tradition is “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens and whether you like to read the original, watch the Mikey or Muppet version, or participate in the local stage version, this free chart will allow you to create your own stitched version of Scrooge’s famous saying. Thanks to Feathers in the Nest blogger Jennifer Dalenberg for posting this free chart.

Be sure to visit her blog Feathers in the Nest for the full-size chart. (When I post about a free chart, you always want to visit the blog indicated for the full-size chart – the post here will be a thumbnail version at best. Here at Craft Gossip we always want to encourage you to visit the original post for more information about the free charts or tutorials we let you know about each day.)

Looking for more Christmas Cross Stitch patterns? Check these out on Etsy.

Inkspire Studio Shops offers cross stitch patterns as well as tons of different stitch minders, scissor charms and thread organization tools.

We’ll get to all that, but since we’re mostly here for the patterns, let’s start there.

All of the patterns are in one category (called Inkspire Originals if you’re following along). There are a lot of book-themed projects and more of the designs are bookmarks than anything else. You’ll find trope bookmarks, a Reading Rainbow themed design, flowers and a super cute watercolor set bookmark, to name a few.

And while the book themed projects are by far the most numerous, I wanted to share this super cute pile of vintage Pyrex style bowls. I love the colors on this one and it should be easy to stitch because so much of it is blocks (or bowls) of a single color. This one is only available as a printed pattern, but most of them are digital.

It calls for six colors and comes out 5.6 by 6.9 inches, or 14.2 by 17.5 cm when stitched on 14 count fabric.

In addition to the bookmarks and book themed projects you’ll find a few kitchen projects and some Halloween and Christmas designs as well.

But what this shop is really about is needle minders, and there are tons of them, with all kinds of themes ranging from introverted and snarky to animal themes, food and beverages, retro designs and religious and inspiring needle minders.

If you don’t know about needle minders, these are acrylic with magnets. You stick a magnet to the back of your work, add the needle minder to the front of the work, and then it holds your sewing needle when you’re not stitching. No need for piercing your fabric or losing your needle between stitching sessions.

She also makes charms you can attach to your scissors (or use as a stitch marker if you’re a knitter or crocheter), inventory and project trackers and bags large and small to hold works in progress and other supplies. She’s also got a great collection of vintage cross stitch patterns and kits, so check out all the fun goodies at Inkspired Studio Shops.

[Photo: Inkspire Studio Shops]

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