Toes in the Sand

Toes in the Sand by Hands On Design — designed by Cathy Habermann — a compact summer scene, 69w × 67h, about 4¼ inches square finished.

The chart is a whole beach day packed into a small square:

• Two palm trees arching in from either side to meet at the top, with a pair of gulls between the fronds and little hanging lanterns in yellow and blue strung from the trunks.
• A red-and-white beach umbrella at the centre, with a string of party lights swagged underneath it.
• Two blue-and-white striped loungers side by side in the shade.
• A band of golden sand across the bottom, scattered with red crabs and starfish, a small shorebird, a sun motif, and a line of blue surf running along the very bottom edge.

Stitched on Barefoot Needleart Sea Foam linen — one of the two colourways Hands On Design lists for the model, a soft mottled green-blue that reads as shallow water under the sand line. DMC throughout. The chart also calls for a Just Another Button Co. seagull button, sold separately.

This one was a slow burn: started July 16, 2025, set aside, and picked back up nearly a year later. By July 19, 2026 there was only backstitching left, and it was finished July 20, 2026.

FFO’d September 10, 2026 as a round padded ornament — circular front, a fat turquoise chenille edge in Lady Dot Creates Caribe worked around the rim, a white ribbon hanging loop, and a backing fabric pulled from stash.