Stitches And Diamonds

02/10/2025

I have finally enough progress to show you on this beautiful pattern by - ‘One Stitch at a Time’

This is a Stitch-A-Long organised by the lovely Sarah of for our Stitch Across The Pond Facebook group jointly run for over 2 years by myself and the amazing Angi .

Sarah has prepared monthly assignments for this pattern (that I’m already not keeping up with😅) - all instructions are available in our Across The Pond Facebook group ❤️

Pattern: One Stitch at a Time by La-D-Da
Stitched on 46ct Pemberley by
With the called for Weeks Dye Works threads kitted up by

01/31/2025

A couple of us will be stitching this month’s box by as a SAL - we’ve divided the photo into 4 assignments to stitch in the 4 weeks of February, and hopefully have a finish before the end of the month!
Anyone fancies joining? 😊
We’ll be using hashtag on Instagram and start stitching new assignments every Saturday, starting tomorrow ❤️

P.S.: There’s a couple of these left on the C&T website for anyone who missed the subscription deadline 🧵

01/22/2025

Determined to make 2025 a year of finishes. Picked up this old WIP to stitch on for my birthday weekend instead of starting something new and enjoyed so many happy hours stitching on it ❤️

Fingers crossed for a January finish!

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Project: Have Courage from the Songbird's Garden series by .garden.samplings
Stitched on 40ct Saltbush by Fox&Rabbit with called for WDW threads

12/31/2024

Closing the year with a finish of the beautiful Harriet (from British Animal Cracker Series) by - hopefully a sign of many more finishes to come in 2025! ✨

2024 has been an incredible year. Full of challenges and joy alike, and so much support from this wonderful community. and would never be what they are today without all of you.

So thank you, for following along, for supporting this crazy girl with a head full of plans and dreams, and for so much kindness and love.

Wishing you a very Happy New Year full of joy, love, good health, blessings and those little moments that make life beautiful.

Much love,
M xx

11/15/2024

Time for a weekend photo/video dump! 📸 This past weekend we did something we almost never do these days - took time off just for ourselves! And what a time we had. We saw 2 amazing concerts in London and Bristol, ate tons of sushi, I got some stitching done and walked through some of our favourite spots in London ❤️

1. Since we were about to see the one and only in concert, it was only appropriate to take out her beautiful design September Revenge and put some stitches in it! I am stitching it on the called for .flossco Panettone linen in 40ct and Roxy floss threads. So beautiful to stitch ❤️

2. There she is!!! Ellen on the stage 🎶 Find her signing via , her gorgeous patterns via and her wit, stitching and all around gorgeousness at ❤️

3. live on stage in Bristol Trinity Centre. They were absolutely amazing!!!

4. Selfie with the legend herself 😘

5. It’s not too late to see Ellen & the whole band yourself - 3 more nights left in the UK! Southampton, London and Milton Keynes 🎶🎤

6. Just a few snippets from our walking through London - there’s Christmas everywhere and it’s as lovely as ever 🥰

7&8. My literal dream come true - I got to see live in the O2 in London last Friday! I love this man and his music and the way he bares his soul to the world so much. Unforgettable night ❤️

9.&10. I did it!!! I actually did some stitching after months of working flat out and not having much time for my projects. This was like a chicken soup for the soul - stitching is truly my happy place 🥰 both projects stitched on 🦢

11. Me and Mr G ❤️

09/08/2024

05/13/2024

Weekend stitching recap 🧵

It’s been another crazy busy weekend in the Gerstner household so I haven’t had much time to stitch - but made the most of the time I did have!

1. Started stitching on the Bee Creative project I was gifted as part of the subscription (April 2024 box). Designed by with a lovely colour palette.

I have started stitching on this this past Friday as part of SAL called by - hashtag 😍

Marking this as as I’m working with / - I provide their socials with videos and tutorials!

2. The beautiful September Revenge by the one and only Ellen of ❤️ started this at Stitch North 2024 with my stitchy bestie Angi - no hashtag, just a celebration of friendship. It’s ever so special that we got to kit it up together and start it when sitting at the same table ❤️

Stitched on beautiful 40ct Pannetone by .flossco with called for Roxy Floss

3. Got myself a mild heatstroke on Saturday (we got first proper sunshine after 6 months of mud and rain 😅) and got a terrible headache. So it was time to pull out something super simple - Mill Hill kit for the win! Stitch North 2023 purchase and start. (When there’s one available, I try to purchase a Mill Hill kit at retreats as a souvenir)

And that’s a wrap! Now I just need to show you the remainder of my 50 WIPs and we’re good 😆

I would have loved to shoot a Flosstube episode this past weekend but I only got a couple of non-working hours in the evenings and those were all used up as precious stitching time ❤️ but it’s coming, I promise! I have SO MUCH TO TELL YOU!!

05/06/2024

It’s a finish!! 🥳🥳

I am determined to both post more and reduce my WIP pile and here’s my proof instead of promises! 😁

Stitching on this reminded me how much I like stitching on Aida time to time - I love how stitches look nice and neat on it 😍

- marking as [AD] as I am working with /

~
Project: December 2023 - still in stock for anyone who wishes to join!
Stitched on 16ct black Aida with DMCs provided in the sub box

04/28/2024

Stitch North 2024 - Stitching 🪡🪡

I don’t really know why I took all of 7!!! WIPs with me to the retreat when all I wanted to do is START ALL THE THINGS. So here’s the two projects I started at the retreat together with my stitchy sister, the ever so wonderful Angi ❤️
I will document the remaining 7 WIPs in another post to give them some love but only managed to put some 20 stitches in on the plane (stitching and travel don’t go well together for me!) 🤷‍♀️

Project 1: September Revenge by the one and only Ellen
I now understand why everyone just kept on stitching this instead of adding it to the WIP pile, I just can’t put the project down since coming back from SN!!! I am obsessed with the design, with the colours, with the fabric, everything about this project is just perfect. Also, this is about 4 days of stitching altogether so really easy to see some tangible progress. 10/10 would recommend ❤️

Stitched on 40ct Panettone with called for threads, both by the genius dyer and all around beautiful human Kerri .flossco

Project 2: Roses and Violets (G-210) by Gitta’s Charted Petit Point
Visiting Gitta’s when in Toronto is a must - I’ll make sure to share some highlights in another post. It’s a beautiful LNS with walls absolutely chock-a-block with models including there beautiful flowers. And because I’m fully into my flower era, I simply had to haul the heck out of it, right??

But here’s the thing. We had the pleasure of catching up with the lovely Gwyneth .stones.and.xstitches - aka the Queen of 56 count stitching - on Thursday. And she goes ‘The best way to start stitching on 56ct is *not knowing* you’re stitching on it.’

And guess what! Went to vendor stall on Friday, bought a fat quarter of fabric thinking it’s 46ct, started stitching on it (no magnification) thinking to myself - ‘well, that’s a bit of a tight weave, isn’t it. But my eyes are probably tired, jet lag and all!’

Well, as it turns out it wasn’t the jet lag at all, it was an accidental 56ct start and I shall persist!! 😂 It’s so tiny and delicate 🥰😍

04/23/2024

Stitch North 2024 - People

Coming back to Earth after the most wonderful weekend spent with friends old and new ❤️ My camera is full of smiling faces and my heart is full!

We all say we’re going to the retreats for the love of stitching but really it is for the love of people, for laughing until tears stream down your face, for chatting about the silly things and the serious ones too, and for giving the biggest hugs to people who turn out to be even more awesome in person than you even imagined.

Sending the biggest thank you to:
❤️ table nr 5 crew - when I first went to SN last year knowing only 2 other stitchers in the room, little could I imagine that I’d find such amazing people. Table 5 did it again and I couldn’t be more grateful for having you in my life!! and the newest member of the crew
❤️ Angi, my dearest friend - when we created Stitch Across the Pond some 1.5 years ago, I couldn’t have hoped for gaining a better friend along the way. Love you so much, sweet friend!!
❤️ the cool kids table full of amazing beautiful humans who are the poster table for the ‘bring the best of your friends along’ and ‘laugh until you cry’ parts of the retreat! Especially when a fart machine is involved (sic!). .stones.and.xstitches
❤️ the ever so wonderful Caroline and Kerri .flossco for hosting SN and for being such beautiful humans!!
… and to many more stitchers who I had the pleasure to chat to throughout the weekend ❤️

It’s been an absolute blast and I cannot wait to do it all over again 😍

03/31/2024

CORRECTION: weekend 2 dates are 11/12/13 October 😁

Happy Easter dear friends ❤️

It is my utmost pleasure to bring you this year’s October edition of Stitch In London - UK cross stitch retreat. Registrations are open - many wonderful stitchers from my mailing list already secured their space ❤️

We’ll be holding 2 weekends this year and simply cannot welcome you in the Stitching Room. We currently have about 20 spaces left for weekend 2 and we’re accepting waiting list registrations for weekend 1.

We’re planning on extra perks this year for those on the waiting list so don’t hesitate! And if you don’t end up getting in, you’ll be notified about next open registrations via email ahead of us publishing the retreat on social media to increase your chances of getting in.

Head over to my bio or www.stitchesanddiamonds.com to find out more ❤️