Happy Halloween and a Couple Stroll Additions.....521-522

 
I'm back from my last weekend in OCMD for a bit and while we had a smaller group than usual, it was very relaxing and enjoyable. Here is the group of stitchers hanging in the Lankford Hotel lobby. Sara and Kathy would sneak over when they could but  were working net door in Salty Yarns. Thanks to all for a wonderful weekend!

I  stitched on  Miles and Priscilla exclusively and got a lot accomplished on them.

Sorry about the wrinkles--too lazy to pull out the ironing board! :)

 I also drilled another pumpkin which I will stitch at some point...might not be this year..but hopefully by next year.

 My roomie, Debbie, always decorates our apartment for Halloween and here is a photo of our room aglow!

And, speaking of Debbie, we celebrate her birthday this weekend. This is the gift I made her ... a set of Halloween themed project bags. The outer fabric of the large one is flannel and very soft. I used the lining of that one to make a coordinating tool bag. The zipper pull on the large bag was a small kit from Prairie Moon called Halloween Key Chain. It's on black perforated paper...kind of a big zipper pull, but cute!!! The design on the smaller bag is the pumpkin from  Time for Halloween by With Thy Needle and Thread.

And, speaking of project bags... I see another one in my future. I stumbled across this fun fabric with a national parks theme..isn't it great??? The smaller motifs are symbols on signs you'd see in the parks like picnic area, hiking trail, food, camping, etc..

Well, that's it for now. I hope you all have a fun Halloween...I'm going to dress as Tonks from Harry Potter but am debating if I want to color my hair...her hair changes color all the time depending on her mood. I'm not sure how easy it will be to wash out and I have to leave for a day trip very early the next morning. Any suggestions?

Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi

Popping in with a Few FFP's and Stroll Additions (517-520)

Greetings on this damp, dreary Autumn day...and no, I am not complaining...I love this kind of day---it lends itself to warm drinks, a little organizing and, regretfully, laundry. But I did want to swing by and share a few recent FFO's.... or as I like to call them FFP's (finally finished projects). Here we go.....

First up, is Halloween Chalk, my recent class piece with Cathy from Hands on Design. I had finished one in class, but now have the other two completed. Aren't they the cutest???

You can see them better here:

They were stitched on WDW 32 count Gun Metal linen over two with two strands of called for colors. This was a kit, so everything was included.

Next up are two necklaces I made for Halloween. On the left is another HOD piece that Cathy gave us in class. It is called White Pumpkin and I stitched this up and popped it in a tin frame as a necklace. I stitched it on a 32 count mystery green linen. Cathy left it up to us to choose the fibers so I used GAST Burnt Orange, Oatmeal and Sarsparilla...two strands over two. On the right is the witch from Time for Halloween by With Thy Needle and Thread. That was stitched over 2 on a 40 count mystery linen with a combo of GAST and WDW. I popped it in a Tim Holtz pocket watch and voila...it's ready to go!!!

Last, but not least, is the adorable piece we received at our Jamboree weekend, designed by Sally at Salty Yarns, Halloween 2019. This was also a kit complete with the box, linen, fibers, ribbon and charm. I added some rust mini ric-rac along the edge, but otherwise, stitched as recommended.....one over one.

I did have a couple more finishes, but they are gifts so I will share after they have been presented.

Do you stitch for Halloween? There are so many cute designs out there but space is limited here at my house...at least two of these finishes I can wear!!!

I'm off to OCMD again on Thursday for a mini retreat with friends...see you on the flip side. Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi

Salty Yarns Jamboree 2019....Stroll Addition (516)

 

First, let me start by saying I wish each and every one of you could experience Jamboree at Salty Yarns. We are spoiled rotten by Sara, Sally, Mary and the Lankford gang from homemade lasagna dinners to delicious desserts to a generously stuffed goodie bag. We then have three fantastic designers teach three fabulous classes...all with the sparkling Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop. There is even a parade of cruiser style cars parading down the boardwalk each morning!!! Can it get any better??? I hope you will enjoy my recap of a fun loving weekend.

Greeting us at the entrance to the Lankford Hotel, which is the oldest hotel on the Ocean City Boardwalk, is this lovely autumn display undertaken by Mary and Brian.

Then there is the obligatory sunrise photo taken while I'm walking the boards in the morning.

 And a shot of part of the parade of cruisers...this usually lasts well over an hour.

The weekend officially starts with the lasagna dinner on Friday evening followed by  teacher introductions and some time to  mingle while enjoying appetizers, desserts and wine. There are two classes on Saturday, with a lunch break between, and one Sunday morning. The attendees are split into three smaller groups and assigned a classroom. We stay in our designated classroom and the teachers rotate between us. 

Our first class Saturday morning was with Cathy Habermann of Hands on Design. We had pre-stitched three Halloween designs and learned how to finish a shaped flat ornament in class. Here is the one I managed to get done in class....just about everyone had a finish! Cathy is a great designer AND finisher and her step by step instructions, with photos, made the finishing so easy.

 My Saturday afternoon class was with Vickie LoPiccolo Jennett of Needlework Press. We started a scissor pocket that was made using motifs from an antique sampler by Sarah Barker. We also got a chart of the sampler. Vickie is very knowledgeable about antique samplers and this project is precious.

My last class on Sunday was so much fun!!! Janice Note of Noteworthy Needle had drilled us all pumpkins to stitch.....quite an undertaking as I think, if I remember correctly, she drilled approximately 42,000 holes for all of our pumpkins. I was determined to get mine done, as well as a number of other stitchers, in the lobby Sunday night. We cheered each other on as one after the other completed the project. Here is mine:

And here are the ladies:
 

Photo courtesy of Bernadette Matthews

The leaves go all around the pumpkin in fall colors. It was tough pulling that needle through the shared holes, even using a needle grabber, and I do have to admit to sore fingers by the time I was through. Sometimes we must suffer for our art, but none as much as Janice. She accidentally cut her wrist with an exacto knife Saturday night while cutting off the top of a pumpkin and had quite a scare!!! Thankfully, she didn't need stitches and, having a great sense of humor, was able to laugh about it the next morning. This will go down as a legend now....in tales of Jamboree!!!

Now on to acquisitions...first up is our goodie bag! It all came in the bag that says 'Random Crap" though I wouldn't refer to any of the contents that way! 😉

Next are the kits we received that were designed by Sally .......there was a choice between two .....but aren't they both adorable.... and all materials were included. The ribbons go on as a band around the tin box for this one.

And this one had wasabi tape around it.

Then there was the stash enhancement.....

I tried to keep my purchases to a minimum since I'll be going back to Salty Yarns in less than two weeks for the annual CA Wells weekend. If you don't know the back story, this is it in a nutshell....  CA  cancelled out, at the last minute,  on a class weekend about 12 or so years ago, but the ladies still got together to stitch and had a "wake" in CA's absence. They continue to do this every year and since I was signed up for those original classes, I try to go when I can. 

Well, that's all she wrote for this blog edition. Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi

Coasting into Fall.......

 

Greetings fellow stitchers....I hope you are enjoying some beautiful autumn weather! We are finally experiencing some fall temps after dealing with a couple days that hit 100 last week!!! I am so happy to be in my jeans...I may even have to put a sweater on when I go out later. Speaking of sweaters, check out this adorable chart I stumbled across...I think on IG...but you can't hold me to it. Sweater Weather is an adorable chart by a new to me designer, October House. I am hoping to incorporate an old sweater of mine in the finishing....stay tuned!!!

I have some stitching to share, all of which is waiting to be FFO'd. First up is Miles from A Pair of Pilgrims by Lizzie Kate. I'm doing this on a 28 count mystery fabric, over two, with called for fibers...a mix of GAST, WDW and Anchor.

 Next is Stitching by the Sea by C A Wells. I had done this for a friend years ago and have been trying to get another one stitched for me. I used a 28 count mystery R&R fabric, a very pale blue, and the fibers (silks) provided in the kit; I happened to have enough left over from my first one. 

Next, is the Bee Pinball by Carriage House Samplings. This is full coverage on a 36 count mystery linen ( do you see a pattern forming here?). I substituted fibers and used  different threads for the front and back backgrounds. I used Gloriana Spanish Moss for the hive side and NPI 335 for the bees side. 

Last but not least, I got on the Halloween band wagon and did a couple of the small motifs from Brenda Gervais's Time for Halloween. I pretty much used the called for threads but sometimes substituted leftover threads from kits, since not much was needed. The pumpkin was stitched on a 40 count...yet again..mystery linen. The cat was done on some gingham ribbon I found at JoAnns, which turned out to be 40 count. I'm working on a third and will share that next time hopefully along with a finish on the pair shown here.

Ribbon from JoAnns--orange and brown

 To end, I'm going to share a couple photos from my reunions this past weekend. Yes, I had two reunions on Sunday...a when it rains, it pours scenario! But I managed to get to and enjoy myself tremendously at both. The first was a Codd family reunion, my Dad's side of the family. He was one of seven children and all branches were represented. There were about 150 people there which made for a lot of mingling and I tried my best to speak to all my cousins, aunts and uncles but had to leave early to get to my next event. (I was already losing my voice by the end of those 3 hours) This is what my daughter posted on FB:

“Legacy is not leaving something FOR people, it’s leaving something IN people.”
These two are legacy-builders! ❤️

 Next was a reunion of my grade school classmates..we had 17 out of 47 that were found and could make it. What a blast!!! I hadn't seen most of these people in 50+ years....but the years faded away and we were remembering, catching up, laughing, and making new memories...what a special night!!! Sadly we were all so excited we forgot to take a picture until after some people had left, but here is a shot of those still there....not too shabby for a bunch of 67 year olds!!! And yes, the voice was SHOT by the end of the night!!!

Well, Thursday I am off to OCMD for Jamboree at Salty Yarns. We will be having three teachers..Hands on Design, Needlework Press and Noteworthy Needle. Hopefully I'll have some finished pieces to share next time and, of course, some stash enhancement.

Until then, thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi