Cross Stitch on the machine

I’m a bit of a linen snob – yes, I admit it. I love fabulous linens that are woven from long fibers. For kitchen towels, I want them lint free and super slurpy. I do weave my own but my absolute favorite “store bought” kitchen towels are Aunt Martha’s. I’ve tried at least 15 different flour sack towels, and Aunt Martha’s are by far the best. They are 100% long staple ring spun cotton and don’t need ironing if you fold them right out the the dryer. They are available lots of places but if you want to purchase them in bulk, definitely check out Colonial Patterns website.

My dear husband consistently refers to them as “dish rags”. He just doesn’t have the same appreciation as I do for a lovely perfectly white lint free towel with a special motif. I know I’m not alone in this because I have many friends that experience the same frustration of finding their well meaning husband cleaning up a spill with a beautiful white kitchen towel. Oh well, some things are not worth fighting about.

So with the new year, I took a hard look at all my lovely kitchen towels. Some are not so lovely anymore. A few will be downgraded to rags (sigh) and replaced. But it gives me a chance to embroider one of my favorite items and they'll be new and perfectly white.

Since my house is kind of modern minimalist farmhouse, I though cross stitch would add a little vintage feel. But of course, if you can’t do it on a machine… it’s really not worth doing 😊

I created a simple traditional cross stitch sampler design. The crosses are 2mm which means it’s not stiff at all and doesn’t interfere with using the towel. It is still soft and slurpy.

I used wash-away stabilizer and it stitches out in a snap!

Cross stitch on an embroidery machine is super simple and tends to be super fast because it’s not that many stitches.

I liked this so much that I made several for family members in different color combinations.

I've made this my free design for February. I hope you enjoy it and if you have a way to keep your husband from wiping things up with your kitchen towels, please share it with me!

With spring just a couple of months away for us here in the Hill Country, my focus will move from the inside to the outside. I’m so excited about my garden this year. My beds are done, my hay bales are composting, my cattle panel trellis is super cool and I'm so ready for my first garden in the new place.

I’m putting my seed order together and hope to have an abundance that I can share with neighbors and friends.

Have a lovely February!