pattern // kawaii crossing garden center embroidery pattern

Are you ready to embroider a kawaii garden center? This month's free Kawaii Crossing pattern is here! I really love this little flower pot shop and all its tiny details.

When I was little, I spent a lot of time at Frank's Nursery and Crafts. Did they have those stores by you? I have such happy memories of shopping there. Certainly lots of craft supplies. I even recently used some felt from my stash that still had Frank's price tags on the sheets!

But I also loved walking around outside by the plants. Like many garden centers, they had tiny pea gravel, separated by sidewalks. That pea gravel was my favorite. I used to look through it for "special" rocks and then slip them in my pocket. It's true. And boy did I get in trouble! My parents clearly didn't want me growing up to be a rock and landscaping thief. Ha!

Anyway, without realizing, I added a little yellow flower above the door on this garden center, which may have been a sub-conscious nod to Frank's. They had a similar yellow flower in their logo! But back to the pattern...

The tiny details that make this extra cute will make this a tricky pattern at times, but if you use only one or two strands on the bitty plants (on the shelf out front), that will help. That's for the tiny version that will work for the mini quilt. If you're using the larger version in the PDF those bits shouldn't be a problem.

Now, download the pattern and start stitching!

DOWNLOAD THE PDF GARDEN CENTER EMBROIDERY PATTERN

pattern // kawaii crossing garden center cross stitch

It's time to get out in the garden and do some stitching! Okay, so it might still be a little chilly in some places to stitch outdoors, but at least you can cross stitch a garden center and mentally prepare for a new season. My latest Kawaii Crossing pattern is free and ready to download!

I've been adding these new patterns all in a row, and with the garden center, this top row is complete! I'm working mine in three rows, but I've seen some folks change this up a little. Here's the first little lane:



This is my first time making a larger cross stitch design made up of smaller elements, and I learn a little more with each pattern I add. Thank you for bearing with me. But I have to say I'm having so much fun!

If you're new to this, I'm working with two strands on 16-count Aida. You can grab the entire pattern (so far!) below, or work with the individual shop charts. For those, you'll need to look back through the cross stitch patterns from this year.

DOWNLOAD THE APRIL KAWAII CROSSING CROSS STITCH PDF

DOWNLOAD THE GARDEN CENTER CROSS STITCH PDF

And don't forget to tag me (@molliejohanson) on Instagram and/or use the tag #kawaiicrossing or #wildolivestitchingclub so everyone can see!

the secret to doing it all

Times are weird. Some of us have more time than they used to. Others are busier than ever. And no matter where you land in that spectrum, you may be feeling like you you're not sure what you should be doing. Or even what you can do. Someone reminded me of the embroidery pattern in this post, and it felt appropriate for me to do a quick update here and help folks find it again. So enjoy this post and free embroidery pattern from 2014. Do what you can do.



The Internet is full of examples of people who appear to be "doing it all," and perhaps they are. You may have even looked at me and asked, "how do you do so much?" Well, today I'm here to share the secret.

Every day there are dozens, hundreds, even thousands of things that call for your attention. Do you tackle all of them? Probably not. Spam filters and caller ID are examples of how we choose to weed out some of the things that we don't need to handle. Once those things are filtered out, we're left with the bigger stuff, and this is where it gets tricky.

In the latest Uppercase magazine newsletter, editor Janine writes about how she does so much: "My day is always a juggle of what is imperative and what I want to be doing, with the must-do always winning out." If you have a job outside the home, that's a must-do. If you're a stay-at-home mom, feeding little ones throughout the day is a must-do. If you freelance craft (like me), meeting deadlines is a must-do.

Everything else falls under things that would be good to do, or that you simply want to do. These are extras.

Squeezing in extras whenever you can is how they happen. Yes, you can try to schedule things with the best organizational strategies, and that may work for some, but Janine from Uppercase has this insight: "What I have learned, though, is that time cannot be controlled. It is basically unmanageable." Another way to say this is "life happens."

And so here's the big secret to doing it all: don't.

Rather, I offer this alternative...

Download the Do What You Can Do pattern.

Say yes to fewer things. So no to more things. Choose what's really important for your life...for your soul. Do what you can do, and don't feel bad that you're not doing it all.

I spend a ton of time making things, and I can do that because there's a lot that I don't do. I don't go out with friends often (maybe one Saturday morning a month...if that!). Crafting is now my primary job, but it doesn't pay a huge amount. I don't live in my own apartment, because I choose this work (and time with my family) over that independence. I'm also single, so I have less family responsibilities. I also don't release nearly as many patterns and projects as I would like to.

But it's a lesson I'm still working on. I'd like to think that this post is progress. You see, I had hoped to embroider the design above. I have a hoop with fabric and floss all picked out. I'd like this hanging on my wall as a reminder to do what I can do.

I opted to share my thoughts and not worry about the stitching just yet.

This might not have been the big secret you were looking for, but I hope it gives some hope. It's okay to let some things go. Doing everything, or even just doing more, may not be what you need. You may just need some grace in your days. Do what you can do.

beyond embroidery basics // woven circle stitch

Do you ever need to embroider a small circle? You can use simple outline stitches, but there are more options. And that's where the woven circle stitch comes in! Today's beyond embroidery basics tutorial shows you how to form this stitch and ways to use it.

A while back, I showed how to make another type of circle stitch. The woven circle stitch is similar to that in how it looks, but it's easier to do. Instead of making a circle of thread and tacking it down with two stitches, this starts with four tacking stitches and then you weave the circle under them.

But before I get too far, let me bring in a friend of mine...



It has been a long time! Everyone say hello to Olive! She likes to help me out in these stitch posts and it didn't feel right to make another one without her.

Plus, I had olives on my mind when making this tutorial. (Don't tell Olive this, but this stitch is perfect for making the sliced olives on the pizza in my pattern set, A Pizza My Heart.")



Oh, nothing! Let's move along, shall we?



At the top of what will be your circle, make a small straight stitch.



Make three more straight stitches like the markings on a clock at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock spots. Come back up near the top stitch.



I know, Olive. Right now it looks more like a diamond or twinkly star shape. But trust me...it's gonna become a circle! A woven circle stitch!



Slide the needle under the top straight stitch.

Now, despite that clock description I gave before, I'm actually working counterclockwise. But you can work in either direction!



Slide the needle under each stitch around the circle. Don't pull the thread too tight or it will look more square-ish.

Repeat this, sliding the needle under each stitch, so you go around the circle several times.





It's okay, Olive! Because now it's time to end the stitch by going down through the fabric under the circle part.



And that's a woven circle stitch!



Really, you can use this for any time you want to make a circle. You can even make the straight stitches a little longer so you have a fuller area to fill in with more dizzying times around the circle.

It's also great for making tiny flowers!



I made these with a few different sized circles (some are a little more like ovals because I wasn't being super careful), and then I added french knots in the middle to make them into flowers. See how fun and easy that was?

Try these out for your next floral embroidery project, for stitched pizza toppings, or anytime you need some fun polka dot circles. And thanks to Olive for joining me again!

calendar // april's kawaii crossing garden center wallpaper

April is here! Normally (at least in the northern hemisphere) that means lots of people heading to the nursery to buy flats of flowers. We're staying home in these parts, but people are still using the opportunity to get outside in their yards and prepare for spring. If we can't shop as usual, at least we can imagine visiting the garden center in my little fictional town of Kawaii Crossing!

I'd like to think that if you buy flowers and other plants from a shop that looks like a flower pot that the flowers would all have smiling faces in your garden. That might be why snapdragons are one of my favorites to plant...you can squeeze them and make them talk so it's like they have little faces!

Okay, so let's add some spring cheer to our screens! Grab a wallpaper below!

Download the Desktop Wallpaper

Download the iPhone Wallpaper

Download the iPad Wallpaper

What other flower things might come your way this month? I'm already thinking about some fun!