Stitches in October 2025

 Patchwork Quilting Applique & Crochet 

I'm feeling much more like myself this month. Had a pretty clear head and been able to get lots of Lovely Stitching done. 

Hand Stitching Machine Stitching & Crochet my my...

Machine Stitching 

Spent quite a bit of time Machine Stitching on my beloved Bernina this month. I've dived right back into The Winter Village 

I've machine stitched (Appliquéd) all the Branches Berries & Birds 🐦 on. 

I decided to not to free motion stitch them as the Applique pieces were mostly straight. So I slowly stitched around all the shapes. Turning my work slightly after every couple of machine stitches on the round Berries and Birds. That's when Needle Down & my machines Knee Lifter really show their worth.

Hand Stitching 

We've had some lovely Bright Days this month. In fact it's felt more like September than October, and with September being so wet for us here in South Wales I've felt September & October swapped places this year.

Anyway, as I said we've had some lovely Bright Days. Just perfect for me for Hand Stitching.

September Mouse of the Month 

My making of September's Mouse of the Month ran over in October...

October Mouse of the Month 

And Yay! I actually started and finished October's Mouse of the Month in October!

Christmas Hearts 

I've also Hand Stitched some pieces of fabric that are going to morph into Christmas Heart Hangings.

They are for my local W.I.'s Christmas Tree which will be displayed in Margam Park's Christmas Tree Festival.

Christmas Hearts

Crochet 

Looking at projects to make for Christmas I found a lovely Granny Square Scarf pic on Pinterest. Which gave me an idea.

I had a bag of Crochet Circles I had made a few years ago - the start of a Crochet Blanket. For some reason I didn't continue with it. And those Crochet Circles would make a perfect first few rounds for a bit of a different Granny Square to my usual ones.

A Lovely Scrap Busting Project 

So far I've made three of these Scarfs with number four a Work in Progress.

Christmas Star

This year I give you my Christmas Star Tree ornament

And another....

You can easily make one of these yourself.

Using two star templates - one large, one small.

 

With just these simple ingredients.....

Sew

Lets get stitching!

Cut two pieces of fabric (one piece will be your star front, the other will be the back of the star) roughly about half an inch larger than your large star shape.

&

Draw around the large star shape on one of the fabric pieces

On a contrasting piece of fabric

Draw around the small star template 

(I've used cookie cutters - and as you can see I'm making lots of Christmas Star ornaments)

Cut out small star and place onto centre of your drawn star .

Stitch in place using a contrasting thread.

(note you are stitching onto the front fabric only at this point)

Place front onto back fabric

 and stitch around outer star.

Cut out your star

Attach a ribbon for hanging

 And there you have it

Your very own Christmas Star Tree Ornament
The cookie cutters I bought came in a set of three - you only need two, but having these three gives me options to make different sized stars.

The original was made in felt.

But they work just as well using cotton fabrics,

or woolen ones.

Below are stars I've made from,

felt, cotton, brushed cotton and wool fabrics.

Experiment and have fun making your own Christmas Stars.

A little test for you now.

I machine stitched one of the hearts

and it worked out well

see if you can spot which one is the

Machine Stitched one.

As there is no padding/stuffing these little beauties will fit nicely inside Christmas cards.

Making a special little gift for your close friends and family.

And of course you might like to see how to make last Christmas's Hand Stitched Hearts

Or even the Machine Stitched Hearts

Enough information for one post!

Yours in Stitches, Joy