I started that super secret cross stitch project the other night. I got the black stitching done, but only after a lot of fighting with the threaded needle. Anytime I came up through the back of the fabric with the needle and reached around to pull it through, it would just fall out the back. Frustrating! I started on the next color and decided things just weren’t right. So, I started comparing the Loops & Thread (Michael’s house brand) fabric I was using to some other 14-count fabric I have on hand, and the issue became immediately apparent.

Bad Fabric!!!

Good Fabric!

No wonder my needle wouldn’t stay put. The holes on the Loops & Thead fabric are waaaaaaay too big. That issue aside, the fabric’s overall quality isn’t all that great either. I really should have been paying more attention before I got started. Now I get to ditch what I have done so far and start from scratch on new (and better) fabric.

I swear this isn’t going to become a crafting blog. Ha ha.

Not much to report … just a fat boy here stitching donuts.

And, it’s done!

After way too many years, this damn Dimensions “Butterfly Accents” cross stitch kit is finally done. The home stretch on this thing was a slog. The “light gold” floss was so old that it disintegrated when I was stitching with it. Thankfully, DMC had a matching color that I was able to use. But let me tell you, the backstitching on the butterfly wings was a bitch and a half. VERY tedious. I have never done cording before, so the cording for the medalion and scroll didn’t turn out 100%, but not too bad for a first time trying it.

I stitched my signature “C” and added a “22” below it because that’s how many years it took to finish this damn thing. Just for reference, this blog will turn 24 in November.

It feels a bit weird to be making progress on that cross stitch kit I bought back in 2004.  Yesterday, I finished the bulk of the stitching on the main part of the image and started on the back stitching that creates a shadow around the butterfly and scroll. Then disaster struck! I was almost done when the very last of the dark gold thread when it bunched up and then broke as I was trying to straighten it out. So, now I am stuck having to go to Michael’s tonight to see if I can find some matching thread. If I can’t, then I am going to take out all the dark gold stitches and replace them so that everything matches. Two steps forward and three steps back, it seems.

Before the disaster …

Speaking of Michael’s … the other day, I found (and purchased) this adorable donut kit. I can’t ever be accused of becoming obsessed once I get started on or rediscover a hobby.

And speaking of being obsessed … I can’t stop adding Hello ads to this post from last week. New ones keep popping up constantly! It’s the eye candy gift that keeps on giving.

Not that anyone cares …. but here is the Twin Peaks owl I was working on framed and ready to gift.

A&A really liked it. Like, liked it to the point that it was hung on a wall in their house immediately. That made me smile.

I have been debating what to stitch next and decided to drag out the kit I bought back in 2004. When I started having really bad anxiety attacks, I bought this kit because I thought it would give my brain something to focus on other than being anxious. I worked on it for a few weeks and then got distracted by life. It stayed on the shelf for a few years, and I eventually did some more work on it. Then life happened again. It’s been on the shelf for the better part of 15+ years now, so I figured it was time to finally finish it. The fabric had become discolored where the hoop had been on for so long. So, I ended up soaking it, which pretty much took care of the issue. Now, the piece is dry, ironed, and back in the hoop for completion.

It should be interesting to finish this because the pattern calls for A LOT of backstitching and some cording (which I have never done). You can expect the occasional progress photo.

And just like that, it’s done. I got inspired a few weeks ago to do a cross stitch project. After digging around on Etsy for a while, I found a Twin Peaks-inspired owl pattern that caught my eye. I was on my way after a supply run to Michael’s for fabric and thread. I started with a standard wood hoop but upgraded to a bigger plastic one so that I could just stitch and not have to move the hoop around.

I gotta say that I was super happy to be done with the black thread and could start filling in the color sections. I got mostly done with the rusty red color when I somehow managed to break the actual fabric on a row. What the hell?! It meant I couldn’t stitch along that section anymore because the corner holes of the squares were now obliterated. Panic ensued! After some thought, I came up with a patch by cutting some unaffected fabric and layering it behind the ruined section. It was a tedious fix, but it seemed to have worked pretty well, all things considered, and, from the front side, you can’t really tell that there was a major issue in this area.

Then all I had to do was add the final two colors.

And, here’s the finished piece!

Fabric disaster aside, this was fun to do. All I need to do now is iron and frame it for gifting (if Amazon will ever ship the frame I ordered!). A&A had better love this! Ha, ha.

The big question now is if I should find another pattern to do or should I go back to doom scrolling TikTok for hours every night.