Zoomin' into Fall (565-567)

There was actually a "nip" in the air this morning; I do believe fall may be on it's way. Woo-hoo!!!

On a sad note, my heart goes out to all facing these horrific wildfires and the pending hurricane in the south. I know we Americans are resilient, but how much more can we take??? It seems there is a continuous barrage of natural disasters on top of Covid and the daily news. But we will persevere and hopefully come out the other side a stronger, more united nation. Hang in there all and prayers going out for those in affected areas.

It's been a busy month around here. We drove up to Baltimore 12 days ago and brought my parents back for a 5 day visit.  We thought about it a lot and decided they could really use a change of scenery and chance to see our family here. We had a relatively quiet time... some competitive Scrabble games, a country drive to an Amish market...mainly just hanging out.

 While they were here, Rich and I tackled putting the chair I was reupholstering back together. When we were visiting my daughter and SIL, they were going to throw this cool chair out. It had been in my SIL's family beach house for many years and was a bit worse for wear. Rich and I kept looking at it and thinking "what a shame", when I saw it had a matching ottoman. Lightbulb time!!!! I have been wanting a stitching chair for my craft room. So home it came and the search began for fabric (which I scored at JoAnn's for $2.25 a yard), removing tons of staples (my lovely hubby did that for me), taking apart the old pieces and using them as templates to cut out the new, sewing cushions, pillows and arm rests and finally.....putting it all back together. I am so glad we could rescue it...I found a tag saying it was made in 1928! I sat in it pretty much the whole past weekend (more on that later) and it was very comfy!!! Here are some before and after shots!

 Before                                                              After---great light from a window!                                                            

 

 

This past weekend I had two wonderful virtual opportunities via Zoom.....Friendstitch and Sassy Jack's September Soiree.  Sassy Jack's event started Thursday at noon and went until Sunday at 2:00. There was a 24/7 stitching room available and 8  (some live and some recorded) sessions with designers. We received a package ahead of time with a lovely reproduction sampler chart from Sassafras Samplers and a kit for a biscournu. I worked on the biscournu during most of my time in the Stitching room. 

Friendstitch was a collaboration of Heart in Hand and Bent Creek. It ran Saturday from 11-6 and was a fun filled day. We received a box a couple weeks ago and were asked NOT to open it until the day of the event. We all opened them at the same time and what a bevy of fun items inside!!! I am not going to reveal or share what was included that day as I don't want to spoil the excitement for those in the next session in October. I will share the designs at a later date but for now, here is the cute box it all came in. 

The designs are adorable...all five of them!!! The kits were complete with fabric, fibers, wool, embellishments, etc. There were videos of a ....new to me.... starting stitch, how to mount your finished pieces, creative ways to display your items and the history of these two creative companies. A very enjoyable day and top notch in every way!!!

Now some finish-finished projects.....first up is Busy Bee Tuffet by Chessie n Me. I stitched this on a 32 ct. mystery blue linen with a mixture of WDW and Anchor flosses.

Next is Beehive Sampler by Threads Through Time, done on 40 ct. silk gauze, over one, with included DMC fibers. Tiny, tiny, tiny!!!!

And finally, A Harmony in Autumn, House on a Hill by Hands on Design. I stitched this on 28 ct. Wheat R&R linen with a combo of WDW, GAST and Valdani.  I am definitely trying to use fibers from stash,since I'm always in a hurry to start and don't want to wait for a delivery! I finished this as designed and stood it up in this little drawer you can find at Hobby Lobby in the floral section. Cathy had them in the drawers at Market and I thought it was so clever.

And I have more......I have finished the stitching on this, but need to frame....Heart and Compass by Erica Michaels. This was done on 40 ct. silk gauze (measures about 2X2) with a combo of GAST, WDW and DMC. I'm planning on giving this to my younger daughter as an anniversary present in October. The colors are so pretty in person, but subdued in this photo.

And last, but not least, is my start on Coming to America, the Women of the Mayflower by With Thy Needle and Thread. How many of you are sailing along on this???  I chose 40 ct. Sandstone linen for this and Victorian Motto Shoppe and GAST fibers. I have had to readjust as I go, because some dye lots aren't showing up that well  or are too lose to other shades. But, I am enjoying it tremendously and trying to stick to the 66 day schedule. Isn't that the cutest needle minder? I'm not showing the box and goodies it came in as I know they've been all over social media.

For my friends from OCMD/Salty Yarns......look closely at one of the seagulls on the left....I added a little something..can you guess what it is???

On a final note, I want to thank all of you who follow my blog and, especially those who take the time to comment.  Please be sure you are not set up as a 'no reply blogger' as I have no way to respond to you. Keep your spirits up...be safe....and thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!  Oops..I almost typed Friendstitch!!!

Stasi