The Sweet Birds Sing was one of the two new books by Blackbird Designs offered as part of the 2025 Nashville Needlework Market. The book contains three projects. Two of them were part of the Quilter’s Station Retreat in September 2023.

I decided to stitch the big project first, The Sweet Birds Sing that is shown on the cover finished as a needleroll. I plan on either framing it or finishing it as a bellpull.

The suggested fabric is 36 ct Heartland from Picture This Plus but I selected a piece of 16ct Vintage Country Mocha I had in my stash. I used the called for floss (some DMC and some fancy floss).

Threads:

• WDW: Bees Knees, Caper, Chickpea (DMC 371), Dove (DMC 927), Oscar (DMC 3011) and Putty.
• CC: Camouflage (DMC 3051) , Licorice Red (DMC 22), Tennessee Red Clay (DMC 356)
• Gentle Art: Heirloom Gold

I decided on a simple bellpull finish. Hardest part was finding the hardware. I order one that was 7 inches wide but it looked to heavy after it arrived so I used one I had in my stash. I love how it turned out. The vintage country mocha fabric as wide enough to I just used a 1″ seam on the back then turned it right side out.

Autumn is my very favorite time of the year. So when I saw October’s Party by Little House Needleworks posted in one of my Facebook groups, I knew I HAD to stitch it.

I selected a piece of 16ct aida I had in my stash. No idea of the color but it was a mottled light orange and tan with the called for floss colors.

Unfortunately, as I was stitching I made mistake in the placement of the verse but did not discover it until I had finished stitching the verse. I knew if I started frogging to fix said mistake, the whole thing would have ended up in the trash. So I just went on and made adjustment to the leaves on both sides.

I had purchased a pretty fabric with a leaf design that I plan on using to make either a flatfold or wall hanging or maybe a drum. We shall see.

I ended up ordering an inexpensive 8 1/2 x 11 black frame from Amazon for $15.99. I covered a piece of matboard with some pretty fabric I had that matched the colors. The frame is deep enough so as long as you use matboard for mounting instead of foam core, there is room for the glass and spacers and backing board.

I’m So Glad by Cathy Haberman of Hands on Design, appeared in the October 2015 issue of Just CrossStitch magazine. I saw it stitched in one of the cross-stitching Facebook groups I belong to.

I selected a piece of 16ct aida I had in my stash and two skeins of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss Fireside Glow and Sierra Sunset. I cut two small pieces of felt for the bottom of the acorns.

My plan is to frame the stitched piece and use the leafy fabric as a background. I ended up stitching the bottom part of the acorn rather than using the felt pieces. Framed using a simple black frame I ordered from Amazon.

Hope Song was an exclusive design is by Beth Twist of Heartstring Samplery offered through the Facbook Group, Homespun Needlework (Cross Stitch and Samplers). The kits were provided by Acorns and Threads and included the chart, fabric, threads, and Acorns & Threads needle slide with magnet and needle. It was available in both linen and aida kits in several counts. I chose the 18ct aida and the fabric was Vintage Country Mocha. A finishing kit was also available, but I chose to use a board I already had.

While this one was meant to be stitched with one strand of floss, I chose to use two strands.

Now to mount it although my board is a perfect circle, and this piece is not.

Dear Daughter by Blackbird Designs is copyright 2013. After seeing it stitched, I thought about stitching it for my granddaughter with some changes to the chart. I changed the Dear to Grand so it read Granddaughter of mine. I had to move it over a couple of spaces but otherwise if worked perfectly.

I wanted to add her name rather than just her initials so chose to stitch this one on 28ct Monaco so Rebecca would fit if stitched over 1. I also changed the color of the house and instead of the shades of rose for the flowers, used three shades of Anchor purple floss.

Once I finished the stitching, I was lucky enough to catch a sale on frames so chose one I had used in the past, RUSTIC WOOD SANDSTONE PICTURE FRAME.

Now to get it wrapped and in the mail, so she gets it in time for Christmas.

I first stitched Moonlit Garden by Blackbird Designs back in 2015 as a Christmas gift for my little sister. I’ve always wanted to stitch it again for me. This year I finally did. I chose a piece of 16ct mystery aida I had in my stash and used the called for colors.

Framing has gotten to be really expensive even though I do the actual framing myself. I decided to try something else for this one. I bought a cutting board for $7.20 (half price) and painted it with Americana acrylic paint Expresso.

Description of the Board: This charming piece is made from beech wood with a light brown wood grain finish. It has a thick rounded handle with a hole in it and a rounded square base with the phrase “Peace, Love, And Joy” engraved in the lower left corner. Dimensions: Length: 14″ Width: 9″ Height: 5/8″

I laced the stitched piece onto a piece of chipboard since I wanted to keep it fairly thin. I then added the trim using tacky craft glue. The entire thing was then mounted on the board using a combination of tacky craft glue and double-sided stitchery tape.

You really can never tell what you might find when you start going through drawers where you store cross stitch stuff. I stitched this one back in 2017. Pomegranate Santa by Plum Street Samplers stitched on 16ct Heritage by Picture This Plus with called for colors.

Started April 1, 2017
Failed to note when I finished.

I went looking for a frame for this one and picked out two red frames I liked. The thin profile was too red; the darkish red was too wide so settled on a dark brown one. Fits a standard size 8×10. It will now join the other residents of my Christmas wall.

Without a Mouse by Blackbird Designs is now Out of Print. Alma has indicated it will NOT be reprinted anytime soon.

Since some of the wording is over one, I decided to use using 25ct cream Jobelin (I think) and Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Chimney Sweep, Autumn Range B (pumpkin) and Hot Chili Peppers. It is a BIG pumpkin.

I found a clearance frame that is the perfect size for the finished piece (8×10).

I was first introduced to designs by All Through the Night in 2020 when I purchased three charts. Blackbirds is the 2nd one I have stitched.

I selected a piece of 16ct Parchment aida and three flosses by Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe -Charcoal and Blacksmith were both a really dark gray and I wanted to stitch the word cherries in Scrumptious Red. I started stitching on August 9, 2020 but did not get very far.

I picked it up again in 2022 and decided I HAD to finish stitching it which I did on January 30, 2022

Now I just need to decide how I want to frame it (red or black frame)?

I selected a red cherry frame for this one.