Cross-Stitched Irish Flag

St. Patrick's Day is a major celebration in my family. Actually, it's more of a season than a one-day holiday. The big event is my mother's annual dinner, where we eat corned beef, cabbage, colcannon and soda bread, drink Irish coffee and Bailey's, and wear our green. 

I planned on cross-stitching an Irish flag pin to wear this St. Patrick's Day. I knew I wanted the design to include a shamrock, the colors of the flag, and some Celtic-style patterns, but by the time I did that it was too big to be a pin. As you can see from the photo above, I ended up framing it instead of wearing it.

To make your own cross-stitched flag, just follow the chart below or click here to download and print a copy of the chart. I stitched the design with DMC floss in snow white (#B5200), Christmas green (#699), and orange spice (#742), but you can use any green and orange floss you like. The fabric is 18-count Fiddler's Aida. I used an oatmeal shade so the white floss would stand out.

Cross-Stitched Irish Flag    ©2015 Kathleen Berlew

By the way, the background I used for the photo is an Aran sweater I knitted for my husband when we were dating -- about 27 years ago! He brings it out once a year to wear to our St. Patrick's Day festivities. 

Green Eggs and Ham Hoop

Do you like green eggs and ham? I do! So I made this green eggs and ham hoop to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday.

Green eggs and ham patterns.

To make your own serving of green eggs and ham, print out the patterns, adjusting the size so the circle matches the size of your hoop (mine is 3" in diameter). Cut the egg whites from white felt (obviously), the large ham piece from dark green felt, and the small ham piece from bright green felt.

Place a piece of orange cotton fabric in your embroidery hoop and use matching embroidery floss and running stitch to sew the ham and egg pieces in place. Sew on small green buttons for the egg yolks and embroider the round ham bone with white floss.

When I made green eggs and ham, I wanted them to have black outlines like the illustrations in Dr. Seuss's books. To get that effect, I used two strands of black floss and embroidered in split stitch around all the pieces. I also added some detail lines on the egg whites, ham, and the orange background.

I didn't do anything fancy to finish the hoop. I just trimmed the extra fabric even with the hoop. Now I can hang it here, there or anywhere!

Cross-Stitch Bluebird Pin

Thanks to Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year, the blog has been pretty heavy on red this month. I love red, but I'm ready for a calmer color. How about blue?

This little bluebird pin makes me think of spring. It's cross-stitched with DMC floss and mounted in a pin setting from the Etsy shop Kailea. I know I've used these settings in blog projects before, but I really like them. They're easy to use and they give the design a finished look. 

I cross-stitched the design on 18-count Aida; it measures about 2 1/4" by 3/4" inches. If you use 11-count Aida, it will about 4" by 1 1/4"; 14-count will give you a design that's about 3" by 1". Just choose a setting or frame that fits the finished piece.

Cross-Stitch Bluebird Chart     ©2015 Kathleen Berlew

To make your own bluebird on a branch, use two strands of embroidery floss and follow the chart below or click here to download and print a copy of the chart. These are the colors I used: #938 (brown for the branch), #702 and #699 (light and dark green for the leaves), #597 (blue for the bird) and #726 (yellow for the beak). I also used a single strand of black floss (#310) to backstitch the outline of the bird and his eye. You can use any colors you have in your stash. There are only five colors plus black in the design, so you really can't go wrong.

I like this design so much, I adapted it to make a new banner for the blog. See those two cute birds at the top of the page? I guess you can tell I'm really looking forward to spring!

See My Designs in the Spring Issue of Craft Ideas

The Spring issue of Craft Ideas magazine is on newsstands now, and a few of my designs are featured inside. There's a cross-stitch picture for Easter and a Celtic cowl and pin set for St. Patrick's Day too. Enjoy!