After more than a decade hiatus from seriously working on counted cross-stitch, a few weeks ago I picked up a small project, a Liberty Bell design. After completing that in a few days, I immediately started a small floral piece (used in the card posted here recently), which led to another small floral piece, and now I’m working on a larger floral piece. I love needlework and it feels wonderful to be happily stitching away.

As mentioned in my previous post on Pinterest, this photo-sharing idea allows for easy searching and sharing of crafting, decorating, cooking and sewing ideas. After decades of reading many books, magazines, leaflets of patterns, etc. on all sorts of needlework, I thought I had learned all there was to know about counted cross-stitch, until I found this wonderful blog on counted cross-stitch, Pinwheel Ponders. The blog offers loads of creative ideas for finishing cross-stitch Christmas ornaments, but many of these ideas can be used for other cross-stitch projects. This blog offers advice on stitching small projects in a small photo mat, by taping the cross-stitch fabric flat, rather than using an embroidery hoop. I’ve stitched three projects using this mat idea, after using many types of hoops, Q-snaps, and wooden frames over they years. This works great!  I’ll be revisiting this blog for inspiration and if you love counted cross-stitch, check out Pinwheel Ponders.