Cross stitch therapy - Rosie Destructor

Heeeey crafty friends! Sorry I’ve been away for so long, no real excuse, health has been sh*te (still is) and I really just haven’t been overly crafty tbh. I will be back on the clothing board hopefully to show a couple of things I’ve made in my absence, but I wanted to show the project that I’ve just finished first as it means so much to me. :dog: :heart:

It’s going to be a tough project to talk about because it’s about my beloved pup Rosie that we lost in June 2022, but that was really the point of it. I wanted to use my crafty skills to create something to go on the wall, to remind us of her, and as a therapy of sorts.

(Sorry, bit of a reflection at the bottom left quadrant!)

It certainly was a bigger project than I anticipated, I started working on my pattern early August 2022, and I finally finished it at the end of Feb 2024, so an absolute labour of love.

Here’s the photo I used for my pattern initially, it’s one of my favourite photos from when we were at one of our local parks taking a rest from an exciting game of ball, which included many “where did the ball go?!” (whilst hiding it behind my back and then quietly dropping it on the floor when she wasn’t looking), ninja jumps (her, not me), and spinning ballerina dances (again her, not me, we used a ball on a rope and if she picked it up with the rope she had to dance around like a ballerina with it spinning around) :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

I used Blend Threads cross stitch software, and initially planned to just use the picture as is, but even playing with the size, dithering techniques, merge options etc etc I couldn’t get it to a decent picture without breaking the bank in terms of floss I’d need to buy!

Sooooo, I started playing around with the PicToPainting plugin in PaintShop Pro to try and get more of a smooth cartoonised effect that would require less dithering, and I ended up using 2 different options, one for the backdrop and one for Rosie, and putting those together. And hey presto, my pattern…

Which ended up being 6 A4 pages worth of stitching, and took me a good deal longer than I’d anticipated!

I mainly stitched in the evenings in front of the TV, whilst I was stuck in bed with the aforementioned health issues with Arwen our new dog taking care of me, on holiday, round my friend’s house, and when I took time off of dog collar making for a couple of months to raise (e.g. clean poop off the floor, get bitten over and over with tiny needle teeth, stop him from chewing things he shouldn’t…) our new puppy Atlas.


15th Aug 2022


28th Feb 2023

Apologies to any advanced cross stitchers out there, this was my first photo style cross stitch, I’d only ever done basic text cross stitches before so it was a big step up. Also I don’t use a hoop, maybe I will in the future, but I found it easier to kind of roll up the area I wasn’t stitching and use that as a hand hold of sorts if that makes sense, hence it’s a bit wrinkly!!


14th Mar 2023


1st May 2023


Whilst having a Sharknado watching marathon on Boxing Day 2023

After I’d finished, ironed and just framed my Rosie cross stitch.

And after Mr Loops finally put it up on the wall for me a month later! :wink: You can also just spy (behind the booze) the paintings that MiL did of our pups Arwen and Atlas for us, which will also be going on the wall, and hopefully she’ll do one of Rosie also.

I hope you like it anyways, it’s my first foray into the cross stitch world, but I do plan to do a couple of Bob’s Burgers cross stitches for our bathroom, and then either another Rosie cross stitch or one of Arwen and Atlas.

Loops xx

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What an awesome tribute!

The progress pictures are amazing!

There is always one that grabs your heart and never lets go. You have captured her forever.

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This is beautiful!

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It’s so nice to see you and this incredible project!! Quite the undertaking but I know Rosie was worth it. Definitely a labor of love that you will be able to enjoy for years and years. Love!!! :heart:

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Lovely and perfect. This is such a great tribute piece and so, so special.

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I’m practically speechless. This is just such a wonderful tribute to your girl and you really did such an amazing job capturing that gorgeous photo in cross stitch. She’s stunning!

I think a lot of accomplished cross stitchers who work on Aida or similarly stiff cloth don’t use a hoop. You’re in good company!

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Ikr, she was our first dog, and whilst we love Arwen and Atlas I don’t think any pup will ever quite compare to Rosie :sneezing_face: Argh, my eyes are leaking, I knew this would be a difficult post! :pensive:

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Thank you so much, she was such a super model and I’m so glad that I managed to capture that. She was such a happy playful girl! :heart:

Ah that’s good to know, I was kind of just going on my one friend that always cross stitches in a hoop!

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Beautiful. (((Hugs))) I know this is hard for you. I also know you stitched your love & sorrow into each little x, like kisses. I hope the process helped to lighten your grief & now mostly just feel sweetness when you look at that darling face :dog: :mending_heart:

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This is a fantastic tribute!

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What a labor of love! It’s cool that you have such vivid and positive memories of the day that photo was taken. Makes for a perfect tribute. Hugs!

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With my mind blown and eyes are wet/blurry, I too am speechless. Alllll those tiny stitches and colors to choose. WOW

My big tribute to “my children” no longer with us is to hang their collars on the wall.

Gotta’ go blow my nose. :sob:

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What an amazing piece to honor such a wonderful girl.

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This is absolutely amazing and such an amazing tribute. I love how you made the background more painterly so that Rosie stands out even more. She is absolutely perfectly done. I am sure there were many tears shed during this. My heart goes out to you.

On a lighter note. I can’t wait to see the Bob’s Burgers ones. I am a HUGE fan. My little fur baby is named partially after it. Yeti Louise Pegleg. It’s Yeti Louise when she is being particularly bad yet cute at the same time.

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@Magpie Thank you so much. There definitely are some tears sewn into it, along with some of her new siblings in the form of Arwen’s fur that gets everywhere, and Atlas’ saliva when he managed to get hold of one of my flosses and chewed it when he was a little pup!

@endymion Mr Loops actually thanked me after we lost Rosie, for taking so many pictures and videos of her. He’d never understood why I took so many until then. So many happy memories.

@Tee :heart: ((hugs)) I want to put up a box frame at some point with her last collar in, and paw and nose prints that the vets sent us, but tbh even now I don’t think could take seeing them every day :cry:

@gozer Thank you so much, I really wasn’t prepared for the grief (I guess we never are), she was everything to us, but it’s definitely helped me to work through some of it.

Oh that’s fab, Louise is definitely my fave character, Mr Loops likes Gene the best tho. I’m still working on the patterns at the mo but I’ll defo post them when I’m done!

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:rose: :rose:Congratulations! Your beautiful and heartfelt cross stitch is a Featured Project! :rose: :rose:

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Thank you so much guys! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Is someone cutting onions here???

What a labor of love. Truly. It’s like you knit the whole family together in that one amazing piece. Every time you look at this the memories will get sweeter.

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This is simply amazing! I lost my furbaby last year and totally understand the love you have for Rosie. What a great tribute to her and her smiling face. I can’t imagine that you actually finished it with all of those stitches. Cross stitch never seems like it should take as long as it does!

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Wowww, no way!! That’s cross stitch?! Man, you have a lot more patience and artistry than I do! I tried cross stitch a couple of times and gave up within thirty minutes lol.
This is beautiful and the love for your pup is evident in every stitch. I’m sorry for your loss - sending you virtual hugs :hugs:

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