Quite pleased...

... with the way my robin cross stitch has come out.

It has been a while since I did one of these counted chart kits, but have actually quite enjoyed it, although I had genuinely forgotten just how long they do take to do.  

How funny to watch Kirstie Allsopp last night battling with cross stitch - therein lies the danger of wearing a dress on TV to present a show, do it once and producers automatically assume that you have the monopoly on craft abilities and are really a girlie at heart - no wonder we only ever see Sarah Beeny in jeans - albeit maternity ones!

To my chagrin I have found another unfinished kit - a kitchen sampler, in the box of left over silks, I have dragged it out into the light of day and hope to get some bits of that done now.

Today's quickie was to mount the birdie.

I bought a set of three pictures at a summer boot sale, but only liked two of them

so tucked the third one away for a rainy day. 

 It happens to be the perfect size for the cross stitch.

Iron out the aida on the reverse side.  I do my cross stitch without a ring and roll the aida to get to the bits I am working on, I find it pulls out of shape less this way.  

Turn your aida right side down onto a clean surface and position the frame.  You will need a staple gun and possibly a small hammer depending on the wood your frame is made of.

Staple once on the top edge to hold the correct position of the picture to the frame, then pull the aida into position gently but making sure the material is taut along the bottom edge of the frame, staple along the edge, if the staples stand a bit proud, give them a tap with the hammer.

Tuck the corners in neatly along the edge of the frame and staple the folded material into position, tap again gently if needed to bed the staples flat.

And there you go - done.