EGA Brandywine Guild, Cross Stitch and Beyond by JoAnne Westerhaus, Stitched and Finished into a Thread Bed

October 14, 2025, 1:44 pm
Filed under: Brandywine Chapter, Cross Stitch and Beyond by JoAnne Westerhaus, Embroidery Guild of America

I’d picked up Cross Stitch and Beyond by JoAnne Westerhaus (with some additional rows) off and on over the last couple of months.

EGA Brandywine Guild held our Quarterly meeting last Wednesday and I stitched rows 9 and 10 there and finished it during the baseball playoff games. I have stitched the Montenegrin stitch (row 13) before but have done it differently.

Then, I finished it into a thread bed. That is a place to lay to rest some working threads until you need them again while working on a project. Patrick made his into a thread bed and it looked like a great idea and useful.

I make up my finishing as I go and use what supplies I have on hand. This is just for me!

I didn’t want anything too thick. This peel and stick backing is super thin and been in my stash for years! I cut one large piece and had a strip left over that fit perfectly on the end. And, I added an edge of double sided foam tap that’s also been in my stash for years.

The Congress Cloth folded over and came together in the center. It was meant to be!

I trimmed, folded, and glued the ends in place with Aleen’s Super Fabric Adhesive.

I used this double stick fusible web (the last one in the package).

I cut the fusible web and felt to size and attached white Command Strips rather than Velcro because my Velcro squares were black. I wanted white and these link together really nicely whereas Velcro rips the one side apart. So, I’m glad I used what was available.

Is it possible the fusible interfacing is old and not working well? Also, I was not happy with the puckering in the fold area. Any recommendations for next time on how to not to get any puckering?

I sewed around the edge using Coats and Clark Quilting & Piecing 35 wt thread. While I was at it, I tacked the Command Strips in place using a really sharp leather needle and a thimble being very careful not to jab myself. It’s much better now.