On Top of the World - Cross Stitch Complete!

Back in May I posted about the adorable designs by Genny Haines that were being released by Goldleaf. Now, a few months later, I can happily show you my completed version of Sam and Peeps On Top of the World.

I stitched this and had it framed to be part of the boyfriend's birthday gift. He was quite pleased with the picture and surprised to receive it, even though he'd seen me spend several weeks working on it. Considering I have things I stitched 7-10 years ago that still haven't found their way into a frame, I can understand how he wouldn't connect my stitching it with his upcoming birthday.

This was a lot of fun to put together and definitely gave me plenty of opportunity to practice my French Knot skills, which have always been a little weak. I reduced the fabric size down to an 18 count aida because I wanted the picture to be a little smaller. When working with dark coloured backgrounds, I prefer it if the fabric doesn't show through the crosses of my stitches and I find the lower thread count really helps with that.

At some point I want to make a complimentary daytime picture of Sam and Peeps to go with this one. The hard part is going to be deciding which of the patterns to choose since they're all so cute.

Like this picture? It's available as a leaflet or kit, courtesy of Goldleaf, as are a number of other wonderful patterns by artist Genny Haines.

Adorable Genny Haines Cross Stitch Patterns

I was very excited when I checked the mail on Friday and discovered that my Genny Haines patterns had arrived courtesy of Goldleaf. Only about eight days travel time from the UK to Canada, that's not bad!

I received great service from Goldleaf and I highly recommend checking out their range of charts and kits if you're a fan of cross stitch - especially cross stitch with cute animals in it.

Now I just have to wait for my fabric to arrive so I can begin working on the Sam and Peeps on Top of The World chart that I purchased (pictured above). I could have bought the pattern as a kit, but it came with a 14 count aida cloth and I wanted to make my design a little smaller, stitching on a 18 count fabric. I have so much embroidery floss in my stash that I knew I'd be likely to have all the colours needed to make this. After a quick inventory check, it tuns out I'm only missing three of the colours, which I'll be able to find easily at a local store.

This design I'm going to stitch for our home, along with a daytime pattern of Sam and Peeps that was in a cross stitch magazine I recently picked up.

I also bought the Dillon and Ko! chart. It was very hard to resist ordering the one where they're reading a book as well, but I wanted to keep my first order small. I have no idea who I'll stitch this one for yet, or if I'll keep it for myself, but I really like the colours and the uniqueness of the dragon.

Dillon the dragon looks like he has a bit of giraffe in his family tree doesn't he?