Better Late Than Never: April Reflection
Hello, lovely friend! I know, I know — we are well and truly past April at this point, and my calendar tells me I'm playing a serious game of catch-up with these monthly wrap-ups. But if there's one thing stitching teaches us, it's that slow progress is still progress, and good things take exactly as long as they need to. Life has a funny way of piling up, between running a creative business, keeping up with family schedules, and simply finding the energy to sit down and type. So, let's just pretend for a moment that the spring breeze is still fresh, and dive into everything that filled my world during April.
Honestly, looking back at my journal and camera roll, April was a beautifully full month, even if it felt a bit like a whirlwind at the time. It was a month of deep nostalgia that sparked some of my favourite design work in ages, steady progress on a massive rotation of works-in-progress, and some wonderful family milestones. Of course, real life threw in a few literal and metaphorical speedbumps just to keep things interesting — including some truly bizarre Washington weather! Pull up a chair, grab your current project, and let's have a chat about how it all came together.
Jump to:
Finished Pieces
Teacher Gifts
Even when life gets a bit chaotic, there are certain traditions I really try to hold onto. Teacher Appreciation Week is a big deal in our house, and it has become a yearly ritual for me to stitch up a little something handmade to say a proper thank you to the wonderful humans who help my girls grow every day. This year, I stitched custom mini portraits for each of their main school teachers using my signature Stitch People style. If you look at the below photos, you can see easier how they turned out! I loved capturing the little personality details for the two teachers, right down to the custom lettering for their names and the "2026" date at the bottom.
Because I was juggling quite a few things, these actually came together in what felt like the absolute final hour right before the deadline. I ended up writing a dedicated blog post all about the frantic, late-night stitching session and the specific details that went into making them. I actually wrote that post up during May, but it feels relevant to include it in here. If you want to read the full story and see some closer views of the details, check it out.
Post-Apocalypse Fantasy
My other finish for the month is "Post-Apocalypse Fantasy", a wonderful pattern by FlossyFoxShop. I honestly don't know exactly why I was so intensely drawn to this piece when I first laid eyes on it, but it was one of those rare instances where I purchased it almost immediately and started stitching it shortly after! The pattern actually came with three different colourways, but I ultimately chose this specific muted colour scheme. It just felt so incredibly appropriate for the theme. I stitched it on 16-count Aida, which has a beautiful, subtle texture and an overall beige colour tone that doesn't quite show up perfectly in photos, but it grounds the piece so nicely in person.
I had such a lovely time working on this project. If you've ever stitched a FlossyFoxShop pattern before, you'll know exactly what to expect — it is absolutely packed with plenty of detailed confetti stitching, sweet little flowers, and the cutest animals. If you look closely at the smaller pictures below, you can spot a deer, a dog, and, of course, a little fox hanging out amongst the overgrown buildings and cars! It's such a charming, cozy take on a dystopian setting, and it was a total joy to watch it all come together stitch by stitch.
New Patterns
Behind the scenes with Two Little Kits, this month could be said, was driven by a wave of nostalgia. It all started when I felt an overwhelming pull to design a piece celebrating the era of dial-up internet and corded controllers. But as I was charting out the design, I realised it needed just the right kind of text to tie it all together. That creative spark ended up spurring on a brand-new cross-stitch font alongside it, making it a double-release month!
"1900s Baby"
If hearing someone say they were born in "the nineteen-hundreds" makes you feel like you belong in a museum next to a spinning wheel, this one is absolutely for you. It's a cheeky, lighthearted nod to life before everything went wireless, featuring the "holy grail" of 90s tech: a chunky iMac, a trusty Discman, a Tamagotchi that is definitely crying for food, and a corded phone perfect for a three-hour gossip session. It uses 12 DMC colours on 14-count Aida, making it a relaxing, beginner-friendly project that is totally "da bomb" for Millennial and Gen X stitchers looking for a bit of a laugh.
"Quinn"
I wanted something small-to-medium-sized and easily legible, but with a unique twist: the letters are specifically designed to read on roughly a 45° angle. With an x-height of just five squares tall, it is the perfect choice for adding a few words to your custom Stitch People portraits or alongside an existing border pattern. The font pack includes upper- and lower-case letters, all 10 numerals, three alternative lower-case styles for the letters 'f', 'r', and 's', and even a pattern to replicate a full pangram.
Works-in-progress
Moving onto the current rotation of WIPs, April was the month for stitch-alongs! Two major releases dropped, and I've managed to get completely up-to-date with one and make good progress on another. For "Life at the Cottage", the first two parts are officially out and stitched, while over on "Museum After Midnight", the frame has finally been released. I've already finished the first colour and am pushing through the next, so those arches are already starting to peek through. On the flip side of steady progress, I am still technically keeping up with "Flower Prairie" on a fortnightly basis, though I have to admit I'm kind of doing it begrudgingly, just a little!
I also found myself diving into a couple of brand-new projects this month. I couldn't resist starting a piece called "Ancient Tales" from the "Fantasy Cross-Stitch" book by NeedleLot Designs that I received up last month. I spent a significant chunk of time on it, and it's already well past the halfway mark! My other new start is "Femurs and Fungi", which comes with a bit of a funny backstory — I accidentally bought the pattern twice. Whoops! I've started stitching it on a absolutely gorgeous piece of fabric, and I am so excited to see how the future colours are going to pop against it.
To round out the frame, "Firefly" is tantalisingly close to having the cross-stitching completely finished! I do have to make a slight adjustment to something I've already stitched, though, as one of the colours isn't quite playing nice with my dark fabric choice. And finally, after the great spillage debacle of last month, "Extraordinary Birds" didn't get a tonne of love, but I did manage to at least get release 9 across the finish line.
New Blog Posts
Aside from pattern designing, I also managed to write two new articles on the website this month. It's not a massive amount of new content, but both posts feel incredibly special for very different reasons.
The first is a deeply personal piece titled "Stitching the Pieces Together", which I shared in honour of World Autism Awareness Day. In it, I open up about my own journey of self-discovery and navigating the process of an Autism assessment — an exploration that originally sparked from researching neurodivergence to support my oldest daughter. On a much lighter, more celebratory note, I also published "Celestial Closure: The Final Installment of the Zodiac Series". This post brings an end to a long-running project, officially releasing the final four star signs —Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces— so you can finally complete your entire celestial stitch collection!
See The Episode
Stitchy Talk Show - Update
Check out the episodes I released during April for my Stitchy Talk Show.
IRL
Looking back, April was a month of beautifully mixed bags — from treating myself to some fun new studio goodies to navigating an unpredictable transition into spring. Between upgrading my thread storage with a clear, six-drawer organiser for my spare floss and flipping through the gorgeous pages of "Cabinet of Curiosities", I was feeling incredibly inspired. That creative energy was a welcome comfort, especially on the day our Washington weather threw us a total curveball with giant, fat blobs of snow! It didn't stick around, thankfully, and before long, the neighbourhood walks were filled with blooming flowers instead. Even with a few real-life speedbumps: like an incredibly painful eyelid stye that required medication to clear up, and a family movie trip that didn't quite hit the mark for me. Getting to cheer on my youngest daughter at her school and district choir concerts made the month feel bright, full, and beautifully human.
Haul
Of course, no stitchy wrap-up is complete without a little look at the fun new goodies that made their way into my hands this month! First up, I treated myself to a copy of the awesome new cross-stitch book; "Cabinet of Curiosities" by Innocent Bones, which is just packed with beautifully moody, modern design elements. I also picked up a couple of stickers and a whole bunch of awesome enamel pins from Strike Gently to add some flair to my collection.
On the practical side, I sorted out a bit of floss storage with a clear, six-drawer organiser that is absolutely perfect for taming my spare skeins. But my absolute favourite addition has to be a large new project bag — a lovely "just because" gift from my mum that arrived in a care package with other goodies. It now houses my "Extraordinary Birds" work-in-progress.
Miscellaneous
When I wasn't stitching frame or designing, April kept us busy with a real mix of the lovely, the mundane, and the somewhat bizarre.
On the sweet side of things, I got to attend multiple musical concerts for my youngest daughter —one for her school and another for the district choir— which was awesome to see. We also had a family outing to see the Super Mario Movie; surprisingly, it wasn't really my cup of tea, but you can't beat the quality time out together. On the less-than-ideal side of life, I had to deal with an incredibly painful stye on the inside of my eyelid that got so bad it required medication just to help clear it up. Safe to say, 10/10 do not recommend that particular experience.
The weather also couldn't quite decide what season it wanted to do. We had one wild day where big, fat snow blobs fell from the sky. It didn't actually stick to the ground, but it was certainly a weird sight for April! Thankfully, spring won out in the end, and it was so lovely to finally see the flowers start blooming. I even snapped a few pictures of the beautiful blooms around the neighbourhood during my usual walks to capture that fresh, green energy.
Garden flowers ❤️
Final Stitches and Looking Ahead
Looking back at everything that packed out the weeks of April, I'm reminded of why I love keeping these records, even when they happen a little later than planned. It is so easy to feel like you're spinning your wheels when you're in the thick of daily life, juggling school events, pattern releases, and the endless rotation of household chores. But seeing it all laid out like this —the finishes, the new starts, the little moments of family joy— makes me realise just how much magic gets woven into the quiet corners of our days. Stitching really is that grounding anchor through it all, a gentle space to process the busy moments and celebrate the slow ones.
As we clear the decks of April and look toward what's next, my focus is on keeping that sense of gentle encouragement alive in the studio. There are more exciting things on the horizon, some big milestones for my WIPs, and hopefully, far fewer eyelid styes to contend with! Thank you all so much for being here, for sharing in this slow-making journey with me, and for always understanding that handmade work —and handmade life— takes time. Until next time, I hope your needles are flying smoothly and your threads are tangle-free. Happy stitching, friend!
👋 Kate
