Sailing Home is one of two birth samplers by Blackbird Designs. It is copyright 2003 and long out of print. With another great-grandchild on the way, I decided to stitch it.

I selected a piece of 16ct Olympia aida by Mystic Fabrics and Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss Periwinkle for the blue. Also used the called for Gentle Arts Brandy and Cidermill Brown and DMC 822.

Now I need to order the perfect frame for it.

Looking through my stash, I had two 8×10 frames that might work. Both had deep enough rabbets so that the glass, spacers, stitched piece and backing would fit nicely. I decided to add the baby’s weight and length at birth to make the sampler better fit in the standard size frame. One frame was an ornate black frame and one a simple white one.

While I like the look of both of them, I thought I could improve on the final piece. So, I got out my bottles of acrylic paint. I chose Deep Midnight Blue and Silver Marlin. I painted the white frame with the Deep Midnight Blue first, and then a watered-down version of Silver Marlin. I am much happier with this sampler now.

Now to package it up and get it in the mail to the proud parents.

A couple of months ago I was roaming around Michaels, and they had some pads of paper on sale cheap, so I bought one. Who knows what I would do with it. Well today I found a use for it as I framed the baby sampler. I normally cover the back with brown kraft paper and spritz it with water but the pad I bought had a couple of sheets of the perfect blue. So, I added double-sided tape to the edges of the frame, placed it on the sheet of paper and trimmed it to fit. I added the hardware and a label for the back. The color of the paper perfectly matches the frame.

A Tribute, designed by Barb Adams is a cross stitch chart included in the quilt book, Women of Grace and Charm: A Quilting Tribute to the Women Who Served in WWII from Blackbird Designs.

They were the unsung heroines of World War II – the women who built the planes, wrapped the bandages, nursed the wounded. Now their inspiring personal stories are combined with beautiful quilt work in “Women of Grace and Charm.”

Each of the 12 quilt blocks, designed by best-selling authors Alma Allen and Barb Adams, feature a center star. The stars represent the service star that families placed in their windows to recognize sons and duaghter in the armed forces.

Allen and Adams demonstrate how one design can have infinite variations in this compelling tribute to the strong “Women of Grace and Charm.”

The book was published by Kansas City Star Books on October 2003 and is now Out of Print. I saw the project stitched in green on Instagram and decided I wanted to stitch it. Luckily, I was able to get the book at a reasonable price.

I went in search of fabric and floss and ordered two pieces for Fabrics by Stephanie – Simply Sage and Friendship Greene.

And my start on this lovely project.

Thy Love More Strong by Blackbird Designs was one of the retreat projects at the 2022 Shepherd’s Bush Retreat.

The called for fabric is 36ct Veldt by Picture This Plus. I had some 18ct Veldt but decided to use a piece of 16ct mystery fabric that I had in my stash. I just thought it would be an easier stitch. I am using all of the called for floss.

It’s a finish, Thy Love More Strong stitched in honor of my great-great-grandmother, Melissa Phillips (1841-1924. Added her husband’s initials GBS (Guy Bayington Sherman) and her daughter’s initials AES (Addie Ellen Sherman) who was my great-grandmother. Stitched on 16ct mystery aida with called for floss. Melissa is pictured on the far right. Addie is in the single photo. I will be adding to the back all of the info on the family and the two photos.

I have always been a fan of the Prairie Schooler Band Samplers and stitched many of them when I first started cross stitching. I wanted to stitch something special for my grandson and his wife for Christmas this year. When I saw the Tall Oaks one from Book 40, I knew I had found the perfect one.

Rather than just stitch the boy’s initials, I wanted to use their full name and birth year. Since the only way I could do it would be to use 28ct and stitch their names over one, I chose a piece of 28ct cream Monaco with pretty much the called for colors of floss.

I chose one of my favorite frame moldings (Rustic Wood Sandstone) to use for the frame. Luckily it was on sale with free shipping.

Package has been mailed and my grandson (like his father) opened it before Christmas.

Union Forever was designed by Maggie Bonanomi for Blackbird Designs. In the past, I had never really had any desire to stitch this particular design. Then a number of stitchers shared their finished projects, and it grew on me. When the chart was donated as a giveaway, I decided to stitch it first.

I selected a piece of 16ct aida I had in my Stash. I’m not sure of the color but it is a mottled tan. I used mostly the recommended floss with a couple of changes.

• WDW Havana
• GA Gold Leaf
• WDW Bark/DMC 3781
• GA Tin Bucket
• GA Raspberry Parfait/DMC 3721
• GA Barn Gray/VMSS Bedazzled
• GA Chamomile
• WDW Swamp Water
• GA Cidermill Brown

I started stitching on July 15, 2022

Finished Stitching: July 29, 2022

I decided to finish this one as a drum. Finally using all the crushed walnut shells, I bought a couple of years ago. I followed Vonna Epperson Pfeiffer’s drum making tutorial in the Summer 2022 issue of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher magazine. Only thing I did different is to use a circle of foam core rather than all matboard so my pins would actually stick into something while I stitched the top and bottom to the drum tube. Vonna also has a video tutorial on finishing as a drum. I followed her tutorial for making the twisted cording. Next time I will use more strands to make it thicker. The little stuffed heart was from the Summer Sweets kit.

Swan Lake by Blackbird Designs is #7 in the Anniversaries of the Heart series. I recently saw the bonus chart stitched and decided it was a small sampler that was calling my name.

I had recently purchased five spools of Anchor floss in various shades of purple from dark to light. I decided to use three of the shades for the letters and numbers in the sampler.

I chose two shades of green from my collection of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss. I thought I was stitching this on 16ct cream but it appears to be 14ct.

• Anchor 0873
• Anchor 0871
• Anchor 0870
• VMSS Dried Ferns
• VMSS Lamb’s Ears
• VMSS Butter Pecan

Now to see if I can find a 6″x8″ frame and the perfect fabric to use on the bottom.

I used a piece of Blackbird Design fabric with a bit of lace for the trim and framed it with a white frame that I may paint with cream paint at a later date.