Since Fall is one of my favorite seasons for decorating I am naturally drawn to Fall cross-stitch kits. Such is the case with the Be Thankful cross-stitch kit by Mill Hill - MH14-7202.
The Be Thankful Beaded Counted Cross Stitch Kit Mill Hill Buttons & Beads Autumn Series MH14-7202 pattern uses full and half counted cross-stitch and straight stitch highlighting as well as beads of various sizes for emphasis and depth. The Mill Hill patterns usually call for certain areas of the perforated paper to be left untouched like the background the border. In this case they were leaving sections of the brown perforated paper background and border untouched.
In embroidering the cross-stitch I decided to once again utilize the rectangular wood frame jig that my darling husband built for me that I could tape the edges of my perforated paper to. The wood frame jig is a rectangular embroidery hoop of sorts, but without bending the perforated paper. He had made it out of 1/2" x 1" pine wood strips with an adjustable center strip that I used for this 5.25 x 5.25 square design.
I had learned from previous mistakes that I needed to draw diagonal lines to locate the exact center of the perforated paper as in previous perforated paper cross-stitch picture I have done the picture was slightly off center by a few holes which caused a problem with inserting the needles in the holes along one of the edges of my frame. So, I lightly drew a diagonal line across each corner with a pencil to get the center point of the perforated paper.
A lot of the cross-stitch 5.25" by 5.25" pictures I have made were finished in small 6 1/2" by 6 1/2" shadowbox frames with 5" by 5" openings that I had gotten at Michaels when they went on sale one year. I used up all the shadowbox frames I had gotten that year and have been looking for them ever since and haven't found them again.
So, I decided to buy some 8" by 8" hand painted wood frames that Mill Hill created for their cross-stitch pictures. This frame is bare bones. There's no glass or plastic cover and there's nothing on the back to hold the picture into the frame. They do, however, provide a thin 6" by 6" cardboard back and wood dowel for inserting in the holes in the back to allow for the frame to stand on it's own. Of course, if you're going to hang this on the wall you'd just add a picture hanger to the back.
The directions did not include any instruction for finishing the back. I decided to finish mine with 1/4" thick self sticking art needle-craft mounting foam. I used an 8" by 10" by Pres-On sheet that I cut 6" by 6"with an X-acto knife to fit my picture. Since the depth of the back of the frame for inserting the picture is 1/4" deep the 1/4" foam was a perfect fit for inserting it as well as the cardboard backing that came with the frame.
After adhering my cross-stitch picture to the 6" by 6" adhesive foam board that I bought I inserted it into the back of the frame and then inserted the 6" by 6" cardboard that came with the frame over it. I taped the back of the cardboard with masking tape to hold it.
The antique white wood frame is 8" by 8" so to totally finish the back I cut a piece of thick decorative paper 8" by 8" to entirely cover the back. I rubbed purple color disappearing glue stick all over the back and then pasted my 8" by 8" decorative paper sheet on the back. I signed by name and dated it and was done with finishing the back. I used a pencil to stab the decorative paper I had glued to the back so I could insert the dowel into it so the picture would stand on it's own.
The pattern called for a antique white colored wooden frame and for the border and certain sections of the background of the perforated paper to be left untouched like the picture shown below:
