Cross stitch has been taking over as my favourite pastime recently. To be fair it's probably half and half with quilting, though I find I'm drawn to the meditative following of charts and making cross stitches after a day of work.

I purchased a few patterns this year and I'm working my way through them. The first one I completed is Good Intentions by Kathy Barrick. Its a lovely design and the sentiment is just so true of me.

Good Intentions by Kathy Barrick cross stitch, words read I myself am made entirely of flaws stitched together with good intentions, a lady holding an embroidery hoop and needle. There are scissor and star motifs and stacks of thread spools.

I made a few adjustments to the pattern and changed the colours slightly. The colours are a similar palette to the original but was using what I had and substituted the black for a dark navy blue. I stitched a 3 on the hoop she's holding, 3 is the magic number and the number of kids I have. 

Good Intentions by Kathy Barrick cross stitch, a lady holding an embroidery hoop and needle. There are scissor and star motifs and stacks of thread spools.

There's a few single threads used in the pattern and the trickiest part for me was the detail in the face, though I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Good intentions by Kathy Burke, close up of the lady holding an embroidery hoop and threaded needle

I like the little motifs too, the 'star' shapes very much remind me of patchwork.

Good Intentions by Kathy Barrick cross stitch, words read I myself am made entirely of flaws stitched together with good intentions

The pattern has a dog on top of the spool stack on the left but I chose instead to mirror the other stack and put a small spool on top.

Good Intentions by Kathy Barrick cross stitch, words read I myself am made entirely of flaws stitched together with good intentions, a lady holding an embroidery hoop and needle. There are scissor and star motifs and stacks of thread spools.

Close up of stitched thread spools, star and scissors motifs

I'm excited to get this one hung up so I can enjoy it! I definitely recommend her patterns, very clear and well designed.

I used Aurifloss and Aurifil Brillo and the fabric is 18 count Aida, Honeycomb by Fabric Flair.

Good Intentions by Kathy Barrick cross stitch, words read I myself am made entirely of flaws stitched together with good intentions, a lady holding an embroidery hoop and needle. There are scissor and star motifs and stacks of thread spools.



Next is a different vibe, though equally cute and fun to stitch. This is Good morning! by Satsuma Street.

Rooster cross stitch, pattern by Satsuma Street

Again I changed the colours I used but kept the vibe of the original. I went for a slightly warmer palette. 

Close up detail of geometric plants and border

I love this sun, with a plant motif inside, mine doesn't have as much contrast on one side but I still like it. The shape is so nice.


Again I used Aurifloss and the fabric is 28 count Zweigart Cashel Linen in Platinum.

This 70's looking rooster is going to hang in my kitchen in a bright orange frame! I'll try to take pictures when it's up and I'll post them on my instagram




My final stitching project is blackwork. My sister was helping my mum tidy her house and she came across this blackwork, which I started when I was 8! Can't believe my mum kept it all this time. I'm not sure where the design came from, I do remember tracing the outline though.


Strangely the Aida has been glued to some backing fabric, I'm not sure if that was to get it in a hoop or why that was done. It definitely makes it harder to stitch than just using Aida! I wasn't about to try to detach it though, so carried on regardless. 

It's not bad on the front but the back is a big old mess.


To be fair, it's probably not that bad except for the quite large loops here and there. Even now I'm still not bothered what the hoop guts look like, who cares about the back if it's not going to be seen?!

Even the needle I had used was there and a tail of thread still to be used. 


I put my Clover Macaron to work and sharpened the needle, it did the trick. Thankfully the needle hadn't rusted or anything, my mum probably had this tucked away good.


The thread tail hadn't fared so well though and after a couple of stitches it tangled and snapped. So I continued with my trusty Aurifloss. Not knowing what the rest of the patterns should have been, I found ones I like in The Stitch Bible by Kate Haxell and used them to fill in the remaining sections of the design.


I added the year I started and the year I finished, and my initials. I mentioned on social media that it was funny thinking that my initials have changed in that time. Someone suggested that I add my maiden initials on there too and I really like that idea, so I'm going to do that before I hang it up.


I was really proud to finish this. It feels like a full circle moment. I appreciate my growth and skill development. Plus it's pretty :)