Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Stitch Some Fun with Cross Stitch Quickies

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50 cross stitch quickies flowers and fun

Little cross stitch projects are perfect for beginners who like the instant gratification of finishing a project in a day or two, but they’re fun for everyone who wants a little diversion in the summertime or a tiny project to take while traveling.

50 Cross Stitch Quickies: Flowers and Fun, produced by Bucilla and published by Leisure Arts, has a fun collection of little patterns that are great for kids and adults alike.

The patterns are arranged by theme: garden flowers; kitchy kitchen; floral love; eat, drink, play; and frivolous and fun. You’ll learn to stitch flip flips, a unicorn, fun flowers, cherries and much more.

These little designs would be cute on dish towels, in tiny frames or used on greeting cards.

The book runs $9.99 for a printed copy and $7.99 for the PDF version.

About the book: 32 pages, 50 patterns, paperback. Published May 2016 by Leisure Arts.

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How to Cross Stitch a Table Cloth

Most of the cross stitch projects I make are pretty small and not something I would consider heirloom quality (though I am working on a big project for my daughter that I hope to have done for her high school graduation in two years that I hope is something she’ll want to keep forever, but that’s another story). 

But it is definitely possible to cross stitch projects that will stay around for generations, and one prime example of that is a cross-stitched linen tablecloth. 

Linen tablecloths are classic, while stitching one can be a big project, depending on the size of your table, it doesn’t have to be really complicated. 

Koekoek has a good, detailed post about figuring out how much linen you would need to make a tablecloth that you can cross stitch and/or embroider on (they also sell tablecloth linen in their shop if you don’t already have some or a linen tablecloth you already use). Of course for a project like this you’d want the best fabric you can find and afford, because you’ll be stitching it for a long time and hopefully using it for years. 

The post walks through how to measure your table and determine how much fabric you’ll need including the drop you’ll want and hems.  It includes the math for rectangular and square tables as well as circular tables, which helps take the guesswork out of buying fabric. It also talks about preparing the fabric and making mitered corners if you have a square or rectangular table, which will help the tablecloth sit nicely on your table.

The tutorial doesn’t include specific patterns to use for your tablecloth, but it does advise keeping it simple because this is a really big project. You can start with a motif in the center or doing borders, and this is a project you can add to through the years by, say, stitching a symbol for each family member or adding names, wedding dates, etc. and making it a real record of your family. 

Would you ever cross stitch a tablecloth or have you done so? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Koekoek]