Countdown to Christmas: Reindeer

Stitched by Eclair B.

This sweet reindeer pillow, stitched by Eclair B. from a free Badbird pattern is gorgeous. I love the subtle earthy tones she chose for this, and the cozy throw behind it. Lovely! Get the free pattern.

Patterns: ~glenda's Christmas stitching

Dachshund with gift - free pattern by Orange You Lucky

Ninjabread man - pattern by Urban Threads

Holiday Penguin - free pattern by Badbird

Singing girl with bird (I unfortunately can't find the link to this pattern)

Dachshund with Christmas antlers - free pattern by Orange You Lucky

~glenda has stitched up these beautiful ornaments up as part of the Bastrop (Texas) Wildfire relief effort, replacing Christmas decorations for those that lost their homes in the fire this summer. Click on the links above to take you to bigger versions of the embroideries or to go to the pattern source. Go here for a great photo tutorial on how ~glenda made the embroideries into ornaments.

Patterns: Halloween

1. Badbird's Batty Framed, 2. Halloween Cross Stitch Wall Hangings, 3. progress 9/24/11

I think Halloween has to be one of the most fun celebrations to stitch for, so I couldn't just mention one Halloween pattern -

Badbird's Batty Framed was stitched beautifully by xperimental, the pattern is by Badbird and can be found here.

Halloween Cross Stitch Wall Hangings were stitched by Early Bird Special from patterns by My Paper Crane which can be found here. These wall hangings were stitched on plastic canvas with acrylic yarn and you can read more about them on the Early Bird Special blog here.

progress 9/24/11 was stitched by Kunderwood from a Lizzie Kate Halloween pattern and I've been following Kunderwood's progress shots eagerly on Flickr recently.

Also worthy of Halloween pattern mentions are Zombies and Monsters from Sublime Stitching and Urban Threads Halloween selection, both of which I've been using as I prepare for my own Halloween celebrations. I haven't stopped stitching yet however and plan to stitch something from this great new Halloween pattern set from Cate Anevski and hopefully of course Feeling Stitchy's very own Halloween pattern from Cathy Gaubert.

Spooky stitching everyone!

Patterns: Mommy & Baby Whale

I just had to stitch Badbird's free September pattern this month, it's so cute (and as mum to a boy I love anything that's more boyish). I think this would look great on a swim bag or a towel or just in a hoop hung up in a bathroom. You can find the pattern here, thank you Badbird!

Polar Bear Pattern

January's Free Embroidery Pattern - Polar Bear, originally uploaded by badbird.

Eep! Can you stand the cuteness of this polar bear? And what's even better, it's a free pattern from badbird! Yay!

Patterns:Bigfoot

Bigfoot embroidery sampler stitched by Karina Ascencio

I have a real weakness for buying embroidery patterns but my hard drive is so full of them, ones that I don't even remotely yet have time to stitch, that I've had to control myself, so it is always a pleasure when I see someone else stitching up a pattern I've been eyeing up myself. I think of it as the embroidery equivalent of window shopping! So I was really pleased to see Badbird's Bigfoot embroidery sampler stitched up by Karina Ascencio recently, although it does make me even more tempted to buy this pattern now!

Woodland Sampler Wall Hanging

I'm loving this wall hanging comprised of some of my favorite embroidery patterns. Joely from Australia (aka Flickr user twolittlefishes) combined these woodland-themed stitcheries with a selection of bright, fun quilting fabrics. Notice how she even coordinated her floss selections?

I was so inspired by this project that I'm hoping to create my own quilt blanket version comprised of the embroidered pieces that I'm receiving as part of the Hoop Up swap. More on that soon!

Blogged (with links to all patterns) here.

Patterns: Octo-bunny

Now I wasn't planning on any specific Easter embroidery but then this Birdbird fella swam menacingly into the Flickr pool and persuaded me otherwise. Free pattern here!

Pumpkin Girl

Stitched by lissaknit

I love this time of year, when it becomes delightfully creepy in the pool! This Pumpkin Girl freebie by Andrea Zuill is a perfect little pattern to stitch before Halloween hits.

Happy Easter!

stitched by small::bird

Based on a free embroidery pattern by Badbird: get it here. I love how Jenna simplified the pattern so it wouldn't be so imposing for a beginner - this is her first embroidery. She's off to a very good start, no?