THE BUZZ FROM THE HIVE

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

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







 

19 comments:

  1. Dear Stasi
    What a great post!!
    So much in it ...first of all I love that you were able to rescue your now comfy chair and foot rest.
    You did an amazing job and now you can enjoy it.
    You got a lot of beautiful stitching done and your Coming to America is “sailing along” nicely
    Keep stitching
    Love
    Paola
    P.s. still can’t see what is in bird’s beak..

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  2. Enjoyed reading all of this. Sounds like lots of fun.
    Do you know if Sassy Jacks is open for customers? I'm going to be
    in that area soon and would love to go. I've been several times but I live
    4 hr away. I did send her a message asking, but have not heard anything.
    take care, Denise

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    1. Denise, hope you see this as you are a no reply blogger. I think Sassy Jacks might be open by appoitment but am not sure. You will have to check with them. Try calling as that's how I got through recently.

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  3. Always enjoy your blog; the finish on the chair is absolutely awesome! Love seeing the Coming to America sampler - it will be beautiful when finished. Keep up all the great stitching!

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    1. Thanks Jan...hope to see you soon.....one way or another.

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  4. Hi Stasi - it was good “seeing” you this weekend. I’m going to guess a Thrasher’s fry - what a cute idea.

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    1. Kelly, you are correct!!! Thanks for stopping by!

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    2. I almost stopped at Thrasher's last week, but did get popcorn from Fisher's. Stasi, are you going to Jamboree?

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  5. That chair looks awesome & so comfortable.
    Great stitched pieces, that Biscornu is too cute.
    You are really making good progress on Coming to America!
    Marily

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  6. Good for you reupholstering that chair Stasi! :)
    What darling little finishes you have!
    Is that a french fry in the gull's mouth?

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  7. Stasi, you (and Rich!) are one talented gal/couple!! Your stitching chair looks brand-spankin'-new!! You must be so proud of yourself and rightly so. Your breadth of finishes are enviable and expertly accomplished, as usual. I haven't stitched much on gauze, but hope to be as fearless as you one day. Kudos all around!

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  8. Great job on the chair-looks so comfy! And made in 1920’s-wow-thats when things were built to last! I l love what you put in the seagulls beak! Thrashers!!!!

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  9. Super post to read this AM, Stasi! You (and Rich) did a fabulous re-do on the discarded chair and ottoman. Well done! It sounded like you had two incredible virtual gathering with Sassy Jack's Soiree and Friendstitch. You have finished an awesome variety of projects and your Mayflower stitch is looking great.

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  10. Stasi, you did an incredible job with that chair. It looks brand new and very comfy. I have an old French chair with ottoman that I bought at the Hospice Thrift shop that I really, really want to recover. If this autoimmune pain after lessons I may have to tackle it.

    So many lovely stitches and you have done such a wonderful job on all of them. The virtual retreats sounded great. Can't wait to hear and see more of what you made.

    Glad your parents were able to come up and spend some time with you. I can't stand being locked up...please let this end. RJ

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  11. Oh, I'm so happy your parents got to visit with you and Rich, Stasi--I'm sure that made their year! It's so hard for our elderly to be walled off from everyday life during this pandemic, and even though they have each other, I know it's been hard on them and you've had to worry.

    Your chair is SUCH an accomplishment--wow! My grandma used to dabble in upholstery (she was willing to tackle anything that involved fabric :) and I know how much work it can be. And that chair seems to have a lot of "parts!" Well done!

    Lovely, lovely stitching, especially that tiny beehive--it is so delicate and detailed. Just beautiful! I look forward to watching your Mayflower progress--you are such a fast stitcher, I'm sure you'll have a finish in no time. Glad to see you enjoyed the Friendstitch day and contents of the box, too.

    Hope you have a great day ahead ♥

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  12. You have some lovely finishes and your progress on Coming to America is good. I am enjoying seeing the progress on it in different blogs. What a great job you did on re-upholstering the chair. It looks so comfortable.

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  13. Stasi: How fun to be able to spend time with your family I hope you have many more visits soon.
    Your chair redo is beautiful, nice fabric color.
    Oh my goodness you have been busy stitching, what fun to be able to do zoom, my computer security will now let me do zoom anything.
    Love the fabric color of the biscornu.
    Have a lovely week.

    Catherine

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  14. Oh yes, bring on fall but enough of the rain here.
    Your chair and ottoman look great, what a save!
    It sounds like you had two great events, what fun.
    You have some fabulous finishes, I still need to try using silk gauze.
    Could that be a Thrasher fry?!

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  15. Great chair, Stasi! So glad you gave it new life.

    I did Friendstitch, too! October session. I still haven’t stitched the projects but I did start one...better late than never. So glad we all have Zoom to connect us.

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