My First Autumn Finish!

Last week I finished Where the Bittersweet Blooms by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle and Thread, so excited that this little guy is my first Autumn Finish! Especially since we are mere weeks away from Autumn!

I stitched it on a piece of 32 count linen that I tea/coffee dyed and I used most of the called for GAST Threads.  I substituted Roast Marshmallows for the white.

I took a quick trip to Michaels searching for the perfect frame, only to discover my stitched piece was a weird size. So I browsed the store trying to find inspiration...and I found myself in the unfinished wood aisle.  A quick scan of the aisle revealed a cute unfinished chalkboard frame!  I scooped it off the shelf and the perfect pumpkin colored paint...brought it all home and set to work! A few hours later and my new Autumn frame was ready.

 After that I grabbed some mat board, a piece of green fabric from my stash, Autumn floral and set to work!  I love how it turned out! It took a little while to fiddle with the floral part, but in the end it came together perfectly and now it's hanging up in my family room...because there's no point in stashing it away until I start my Autumn decorating ;)

I had a few minutes over the weekend to FFO another stitchy project!  This is the August block from A Year of Celebrations by Hands On Design.  I stitched it with all DMC Threads on a piece of 32 count linen that I tea/coffee dyed.  I decided to mount it onto a piece of wood that I picked up from Hobby Lobby, which I then grimed up using antiquing paint and white paint.  I think it looks pretty darn close to old wood! Once my wood was ready, I then mounted my stitched piece onto mat board.  I also mounted a piece of black gingham homespun and yellow fabric onto two other pieces of mat board. After that I attached all the pieces together and finished it off with a simple black gingham bow, with a Black Eyed Susan flower.  Love it! I plan to stitch all the months and switch them up. 

Happy August! It's been a few weeks since my last blog post and for that I apologize!  I know I said I was going to try to be better about posting my progress and finishes...I just need to get into a better habit of doing it!  So yesterday I came across a stitch that I'd finished last Summer, it had already been FFO'd...but I wasn't loving the board that it was attached to.  So I gave the whole thing a fresh new finish.  I grunged up the board using antiquing paint, then once it dried I streaked it with some white paint that I had in my stash.  Once that all dried, I used a little more of the antiquing paint and let that all set until dry.  It turned out pretty darn 'old and crusty', which was exactly the look I was going for! Then I reattached the stitched piece and added a fresh new bow. It matches much better with my decor now (I have more Earth tones/antique-ish colors in my home) and I absolutely love it!