Valentine Roses

My latest counted cross-stitch finish is a small piece I stitched for my eldest. It's called Valentine Roses Mini Cat. It's a free design by Lynn B, found on the Happiness is Cross Stitching blog. She's got a lot of adorable freebies to share there, so check it out.

I worked the entire gift up in two days. The first day I was able to do all the stitching in about 2-1/2 hours. I did the finishing work the next day. There's so much expression in such a tiny kitty design! 

This was another case of trying to use materials already in my stash: 

• A paper copy of the chart was tucked away in my "cat designs" folder.
• I had a scrap of pink 14ct aida on hand. I needed about a 5 inch square.
• I didn't have the red floss called for in the design, so I substituted in a brighter red. 
• I had to piece together the polka dot fabric that covers the foam core since I only had a single long strip. 
• I found a pink satin ribbon in my stash that precisely matches the aida. 
• I made this as a flat piece that uses a plate stand for display. I even had spare plate stands on hand.

I forgot to sign my work in thread this time, but on the back, I left a label.

Perhaps I should mention ... one of my 24 Goals in 2024 is to attempt to not add a lot of new supplies to my studio stash, and to find ways to use what I have on hand. So anytime I can come up with a solution to a supply problem, I get all proud of myself.