29 December 2011

I hope you had a lovely Christmas and are enjoying a few days off.  Have you managed to find some time to sit in your favourite chair and do some stitching ?  I hope so.

We had a lovely Christmas celebration.  I must admit however to being glad it is over for another year.  New Year’s Eve will be a quiet affair with friends and a BBQ.  The temperature is predicted to be a scorcher at around 32C.

I am making some plans for Happy Threads in 2012.  There are a number of new charts being worked on some free some not.  New tutorials to make gorgeous things and lots of new photos.

I am stitching three projects at the moment.  The cross stitch Alphabet Chart, the needlepoint pansy and a new chart yet to be revealed.  How many projects are you working on at the same time ?

Wishing you a relaxing day.

See you on New Year’s Eve !

Take care

Charlie

© 2011, Happy Threads. All rights reserved. All cross stitch and needlepoint charts are the exclusive property of Happy Threads Pty. Ltd and cannot be copied or reproduced

24 December 2011

It’s Christmas eve… What are you doing today and tonight ?

I have been watching Christmas cooking programs the past few days and today.  Nigela, Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver and I have loved every minute of it. They are all so clever and cook such beautiful dishes.  There is so much pleasure in watching them. It’s a wonderful way to start enjoying the Christmas celebrations.

Today our extended family have arrived to celebrate Christmas with us.  It is a lovely time of the year.  I hope it is for you too.

In a few hours we are visiting friends to celebrate Christmas eve.

I hope you have a lovely Christmas and have the time to celebrate with family and friends.

Thank you for visiting the Happy Threads blog this year and for your comments and good wishes.  I look forward to sharing with you again in 2012.

Take care and I wish you lots of happiness, lovely times and beautiful people, animals and flowers in your life.

Charlie x

© 2011, Happy Threads. All rights reserved. All cross stitch and needlepoint charts are the exclusive property of Happy Threads Pty. Ltd and cannot be copied or reproduced

Sunday 18 December 2011

I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday.  It’s humid and mild here.

I spent part of my afternoon stitching the Merry Christmas gift tag using the free chart I created earlier this week.  I am very happy with the result and can’t wait to give the label away tomorrow as part of a gift for a dear friend.  You still have time to stitch a few yourself as it only took an hour to make it including stitching time.

Materials

• Red and White cotton fabric (you can select any fabric including Aida and Linen)
• White cotton floss
• Iron Interfacing
• Soluble Canvas – I used DMC Soluble Canvas

Instructions

• Place the soluble canvas over the area you will be stitching.  You can pin the canvas to the fabric or stitch in place. If you pin the canvas into place take care when stitching as the canvas may move away from the fabric while you stitch and your letters may end up looking a little irregular.  

• Once the design is stitched cut the fabric to the size of your desired gift tag.
• Wash the fabric to dissolve the canvas away from the fabric.
• Dry the fabric and give it a light iron once dry.
• Iron the interfacing on the back of the finished cross stitch letters.
• Cut another piece of fabric the same size of the finished cross stitch.

• Place the wrong sides of both pieces together and use blanket stitch to stitch the pieces together.
• If you would like to learn how to blanket stitch then I recommend “Futuregirl’s” blog where she has a great blanket stitch tutorial.

I hope you have time to stitch a few gift tags and that you have a wonderful Sunday.

I will still be blogging from time to time between now and the New Year but I am planning on spending most of my time with my family over the Christmas break.

Have a great week !

Take care

Charlie

© 2011, Happy Threads. All rights reserved. All cross stitch and needlepoint charts are the exclusive property of Happy Threads Pty. Ltd and cannot be copied or reproduced

14 December 2011

Hello !

There are only 10 days left to Christmas !  Hope you are having a lovely time with your Christmas preparations.  I still have some Christmas presents to buy and wrap but there is still time… right ?

There is still time to stitch a few cross stitch gift tags.   Just click on the image below to save the page to your computer and print.  The image will appear much larger when you click to save it as an image in your computer so don’t worry.

You can stitch the words “Merry Christmas” on plain Aida fabric or cotton fabric using Soluble Canvas.  I  am using the DMC soluble canvas and it seems to be working.  The only issue is that I have to stitch the canvas in place before I can begin to stitch but overall I think it is a good product to use. I am still stitching my tags and will show them to you this weekend !

See you later this week and remember to be Happy today !

Charlie

© 2011, Happy Threads. All rights reserved. All cross stitch and needlepoint charts are the exclusive property of Happy Threads Pty. Ltd and cannot be copied or reproduced

9 December 2011

It’s Friday again and there is so much to look forward to today.  It’s getting hot in this part of the world and the kids are now on their summer vacation break.  I love this time of year.

I have previously advised on my blog that I would remove the Free charts over time from the Free Charts Page.  Many of the Happy Threads free charts have been downloaded multiple times by people all over the world over the past 3 years and I hope they have provided much stitching joy.  It’s time now for many of the free charts to be placed into the Happy Threads Store.  There might be some blog posts which features the free chart and indicate it’s free as I have not had a chance yet to remove all the references in all the blog posts.  I am hoping you will be patient while I update the blog and the Happy Threads Store.

There will still be many free charts remaining however they will also be moving from their current location into the Happy Threads Store under a heading called “Free Charts”.  Stay tuned for that but it is likely that by January 2012 the changes will be made.

I look forward to creating many new charts in 2012 and will share some free ones too.  In the meantime I am making some cross stitch gift tags which I hope to share with you on the weekend.  Best of all the chart and the instructions to make the tags will be free

Enjoy your Friday !

© 2011, Happy Threads. All rights reserved. All cross stitch and needlepoint charts are the exclusive property of Happy Threads Pty. Ltd and cannot be copied or reproduced

Wednesday 6 December 2011

This beautiful rose is growing in my garden.  It is soft, pink and beautiful.  Every time I look at it I feel good.  I wish you a wonderful Wednesday.  Remember too that “There are hundreds of languages in the world, but a smile speaks them all”.

I am working on some cross stitch gift labels which I hope to share with you later this week.  In the meantime take care and Smile !  It’s Wednesday

Charlie

© 2011, Happy Threads. All rights reserved. All cross stitch and needlepoint charts are the exclusive property of Happy Threads Pty. Ltd and cannot be copied or reproduced

4 December 2011

Every time I look at the calendar I am reminded that Christmas is only a few weeks away.  Once again I am not ready and there is still so much to do.  Instead of going shopping this weekend I decided to stay home and finish the Christmas needlepoint frame I shared with you a few weeks ago.

It was fun to stitch and only took three hours or so to stitch. The finished frame  would look fabulous on your fridge.  All you need to do is place some small magnets on each corner of the frame and place it on your fridge.  Your favourite photo can be added by simply placing some tape around the photo to the back of the frame.  Make sure to use plastic canvas to ensure the needlepoint keeps its shape.  I used 10 count mono canvas which is also suitable to use but my frame is not as rigid.

The wool colors used in this frame are Anchor as follows;

Red for the Candy Cane 8198

Lime Green 9116

Hot Pink 8454

White

When I finished the frame I cut the centre of the canvas and folded the sections back.  See image below.  You can skip this step if you used plastic canvas.

I then used some green fabric with interfacing and cut the same shape as the frame but added a few cm as a border which I then folded in and stitched to the frame.  The right side of the fabric needs to be stitched to the wrong side of the frame.  It is then a matter of stitching the sides together by hand.

Hope you enjoy stitching this cute Christmas needlepoint frame as much as I did.

Take care

Charlie

© 2011, Happy Threads. All rights reserved. All cross stitch and needlepoint charts are the exclusive property of Happy Threads Pty. Ltd and cannot be copied or reproduced

Saturday 3 December 2011

Wishing you a happy Saturday

I bought these roses on Thursday last week.  They have now opened and their fragrance is intoxicating.

Have a lovely weekend

Take care

Charlie

© 2011, Happy Threads. All rights reserved. All cross stitch and needlepoint charts are the exclusive property of Happy Threads Pty. Ltd and cannot be copied or reproduced

1 December 2011

Today is a beautiful day !  I hope you are so very well and I wish you lots of good things.  I took the photo of the rose with the morning rain droplets with my iphone on my way out. Amazed by the beauty of the rose as always.

It’s time to start making some gift tags for the Christmas Season.  You can buy them of course and there are some beautiful cards around.  Don’t you think that the handmade card the best ?  The clever folks at frolic show how to make holiday cards with mini wreaths.  I love them !  Crisp, beautiful with a touch of nature.   For details to make these yourself make sure you visit their blog “frolic”.

Have a fabulous Thursday !

Take care

Charlie

© 2011, Happy Threads. All rights reserved. All cross stitch and needlepoint charts are the exclusive property of Happy Threads Pty. Ltd and cannot be copied or reproduced

Monday 28 November 2011

I think there are only four more weeks left until Christmas but whose counting ?  Have you started your Christmas shopping yet  ?

With only four weeks left there is still time to stitch a few Christmas ornaments or make Christmas gifts.  To help you with some ideas why not browse through the 10 quick and easy Christmas Cross Stitch Charts.  The charts are a compilation of the best of Happy Threads Christmas charts.  The charts come with full color and symbol charts, instructions, color key and are available through the Happy Threads Store for only USD $3.95.

 The little Christmas owl would look fabulous on your tree as an ornament or maybe stitch the Christmas candles as a card for someone special.  The little Christmas trees would look great on a Christmas serviette for your Christmas table.  Best of all these charts will take you no time at all to stitch leaving you plenty of time to relax and focus on roasting your Turkey

All the charts are clear and easy to follow.  You can read the chart on your PC or simply print the page you need.  Here is a sample of what you get for each chart;

Have a fabulous Monday !

The tutorial for the photo frame has been deferred to next weekend so stay turned.

Cheers

Charlie

© 2011, Happy Threads. All rights reserved. All cross stitch and needlepoint charts are the exclusive property of Happy Threads Pty. Ltd and cannot be copied or reproduced