I Met a Rock Star.......(541)

....in the blogging/IG world......robin_in_virginia!!!  We crossed paths...sadly for a VERY short time...at an event in Williamsburg this past weekend. Robin was at a stitching retreat and I was taking a class from Lauren Sauer at the same venue. We knew we may have the opportunity to hook up but time was of the essence. I got there as early as I could Sunday morning (my class started at 9:00am and I was driving about 90 minutes from home) and was settling in to my class "space" when Robin walked in and waved. It took me a minute to realize it was her but 'happy day' it was!!! So we had a visit of approximately 5-10 minutes before my class began, but it was so wonderful to meet this most supportive and kind person. Robin has been a mainstay in the blogging world for a long time and now is sharing and commenting on IG. I know I have appreciated her positive feedback for awhile now. In anticipation we, unbeknownst to the other, had brought tokens of our on line friendship. Robin gifted me a fabulous hand drawn needle minder and two packs of glorious colors of rick-rack...love, love..love!! Thanks so much Robin--you know me well.

I had been going through some old UFO's and stumbled across this preface piece from a Betsy Stinner class I took in 1998. The piece was called Friends Sampler and I thought it quite appropriate to finish up as a small token for Robin. I had some perfect backing fabric on hand and filed it with lavender scented walnut shells.

Robin and I have plans to meet up again sometime this spring when we can really 'visit'!!! We only live about 90 minutes away from each other.

Here we are.....

Here is the class I was taking from Lauren, The Sassenach's Sampler .  It is based on the Outlander series of books.

 Other news, I've gotten a couple new 'toys'. First is a Halo Bolt, a power bank that can be used to power your lights at a stitching event. Some venues are requiring you to have one of these so there aren't cords running all over the place. We had bought one at Costco (hubby loved it because it can also jump start your car) but the day before class I realized it didn't have an AC plug...just USB's...wouldn't work. So I ordered one from Amazon, but too late to take to Williamsburg.

The other 'toy' was a little sewing machine.... a Janome mini, that the girls can use when they come over. It's very light weight and very basic.....now they won't be using my Babylock. Here is Esther giving it a whirl.....  The best thing is it was only $10!!!

Hope you have a great week!!! I'm off to JoAnns to buy some fabric to make chair covers for our porch furniture. The pollen is so bad here...... we want to  keep it covered..... and as warm as it's been, feel pollen time may be sooner than usual. Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!
Stasi

All We Need is Love..... (539-540)

 

Love is All We Need..... I don't know where the time is going but it's already the middle of February and winter is almost over without any snow and barely below springtime temps since December. We have trees blooming and daffodils/hyacinth poking out their heads....... I fear a big frost will come and take them all out leaving us without a lovely, blooming actual spring. Oh well, mother nature will have her way whether we like it or not!

Okay--got that out of my system....now onto some 'love' related projects in honor of the day. I managed to get two Valentine related pieces stitched and finished. One was for my hubby and the other was a kit from JoAnn's; I had bought three of them on sale last year...one for me and one for Cora and Esther. I'll be giving them theirs this afternoon and setting up a time I can help them. The piece for my hubby was one of the freebies I mentioned in my last post.....Meant to Bee by Hands on Design. I changed it up and stitched it on a 32 ct. mystery fabric with GAST Black Crow, Soot, Buckeye Scarlet and a LE Cypress Mulch. I finished as a flat fold ( I had this already made up as a sample for a class I taught at my Guild last year) with black rick rack and an old bee pin I've had for years that was painted by Frank at Mosey n Me.

So, I'm starting to see a problem with me and SAL's....I think I need to be reined in!!! I've joined two SAL's  so far this year and signed up for a free on line class at Sassy Jack's. I will admit that, like many others, I get caught up in the frenzy and think I can do it all.  I WANT to do it all!!!!   Then reality slinks in, so I reel myself back in, tell myself to calm down and enjoy the stitch. If I don't keep up, so be it. If I never finish the project, so be it. I love the process and it is always a THRILL to place that first stitch in a blank piece of fabric. So with my urges under control....yea, right.... here are the projects I am undertaking.

1. Burgandy Band Sampler SAL by iStitch Designs........I have changed this up since my post on January 22. It has been a headache since the get go, but I think I have it on the right path now. The first piece of banding  I bought was accidentally cut too short so I ordered another piece from a different source. I received the wrong color banding this time , natural instead of antique white, and had to wait for another piece to arrive. In the meantime, I started the SAL on a different banding I had in my stash and  had to rip it out twice as I couldn't seem to get it centered. UGH!!! After all that I wasn't happy with my colors on the antique white and decided to keep the natural and do it on that. Don't really know why I'm telling you all this but some pieces are just cursed!!! I also strayed away from my usual two complimentary colors and opted for four solids and one over dyed ..it's a little out of my comfort zone. I'm using Glorianna silks--Bellagio (overdyed), Elizabethan Green, Rosewood, Lacquered Gold and NPS Williamsburg Blue. It's a bit brighter than my usual color palette, but it's growing on me!!!

2. Blackwork SAL by Peppermint Purple..... I chose to do this on banding too. Many of the stitchers are using an array of color and they look fabulous, but I decided to stick with the traditional black. There will be a block a week for 52 weeks---falling behind quickly! :)

3. Learning Stitches by Jeanette Douglas...an on-line class at Sassy Jacks.....This is a free class---you just have to go through the process of adding to your cart and "buying" it, but the cost is $0.00. Since I already had the booklet, I decided to give this a go. You can work at your own pace and Kim, the owner, is doing videos to guide you along. I am doing mine on banding though you can choose to do as a framed piece (see photo below). Kim designed a top piece and an ending piece and we'll do the different stitch blocks in between. I started with the topper. The banding is approx. 4 3/4 " wide, 21 count and cream colored. I'm using fibers from my stash, as Kim suggests, and chose Amy Mitten silks. I changed my squirrel to a white one as my daughter lives in Brevard, NC ( not far from Asheville) and they are famous for their white squirrels.

We recently drove to Baltimore for my parents birthday ..they share the same date.... and had forgotten my 'home' stitching. Luckily I had a small kit in my car project bag that I could work on. I think we got this as part of our goodie bag one year at Salty Yarns, A Tisket, A Tasket...a Little Scissor Basket by JBW Designs. It was a quick stitch and done with the included 32 count fabric and fibers. Pretty sweet, isn't it? now to FFO!

I leave early Sunday morning for a quick overnight trip to Williamsburg. I am taking two classes with Lauren Sauer, Sassenach's Sampler and Crofter Catchall & Smalls. The sampler is based on the Outlander series and I've been wanting it for awhile. This turned out to be the perfect opportunity because I don't have to travel far.

I hope you are having a sweet day with your Valentine or maybe dreaming of Jamie Frasier from Outlander...now that I have him on my mind! I awoke this morning to Jamie on the TV...my hubby tapes the Stephen Colbert show every night and watches it the following morning, and the actor who plays Jamie was on. Yummy...now that's some nice eye candy...and no calories!!!

On that note, I'll sign off....thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi (who's wishing she was Clare about now)

A SUPER weekend.....

What a wonderful weekend spent with fellow "cross stitch addicts"!!! We all testified to this after dinner on Saturday night. Here's a shot of some of our group:



It was the annual Super Bowl sale at Salty Yarns and a group of us have been meeting  there for years. There was a lot of stitching, shopping, sharing and eating going on over the weekend. For the most part we stitch in our own apartments in small groups but cross paths in the shop, at Sara's reception Friday night and have a pot luck dinner Saturday night. There is always a delicious spread on Sunday while we wind down and check out our bags of goodies.

Of course some items somehow 'jumped' into my bag....

And take a gander at these adorable cookies that Sally made for us...almost..and I say almost...too cute to eat!

  
I did get some stitching done over the weekend and I can share one piece...the other is my exchange piece for the PSS retreat and I want to keep that secret until the recipient receives it in April. But here is the pre-stitch for one of my classes... Measure Twice and Stitch Once by Dames of the Needle.

 And there were gifts....one a Christmas gift and one for Valentine's Day...such sweet goodies inside! Thanks Debbie!!!

I have been stitching at home and finished Rack Stack by Plum Street Samplers.

I've also done a bit more on Bee Contained by Betsy Morgan.

 

I've stumbled across a few nice freebie charts/SAL's I thought I'd share in case you haven't seen them. Our designers are so generous!

Meant to Bee  by Hands on Design

Bent Creek Newsletter  Now this one is a newsletter you sign up for and receive updates and free charts

Peppermint Purple Blackwork SAL  This is a Facebook group you can join and they post a small, approximate 1 X 1 inch on 28 count, blackwork work square...one a week for a year!

Well, I think that's it for now. I hope you have a great February! Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi




 

A Year in the Making.....538

 I am back with a quick post to share my latest finish-finish.....A Year of Celebrations by Hands on Design. I started this project last February by stitching the first monthly piece on an 18 ct. Davos linen....I wasn't happy with it...it didn't fit my finishing plan...too big. So, I switched to 14 ct. perforated paper which worked out perfectly and, this quickly became my travel project ( I can work on the perforated paper in the car). Of course this also caused more work, as I had to stitch the backgrounds on each piece. So colors were changed up to accommodate this and I managed to get them all stitched by the end of December. 

My finishing plan all along had been to somehow attach these to an old cigar box I had (which was shaped like a book), change out monthly and store the remaining months inside the box. So I borrowed the idea from Sally at Salty Yarns to display the pieces on the front of the box by hanging the individual months on tiny painted spools that I glued a JABCO button on. I glued a magnet to the cigar box and and a small, thin washer to the back side of the spool. 
I cut matboard and spray glued coordinating scrapbook paper to each month. I then attached the stitched pieces with double stick tape (thanks Sally) adding a hanger and small bow.

And it all came together......

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

Stasi

Off to a Good Start in 2020.... (534-537)

Winter has finally arrived in the Richmond area....but not for long. So, I will take what I can and enjoy some hot tea after a brisk walk.

 I have been a busy bee and have quite a bit of stitching/finishing to share today. I spent last Wednesday to Monday up in OCMD helping cut fabric at Salty Yarns. There were 204 stitchers at Camp Wannastitch, an event put on by the Mid-Atlantic EGA....so there was a LOT of fabric to be cut!!! In the evenings I worked on the Silk Sampler by Birds of a Feather. I stitched this on 46 count Vintage Buttercream linen with Silk N Colors Tapestry Green, Glorianna Arctic Ice and Lacquered Gold.  Thanks to my friend, Tracie, for loaning me this chart.

I did not do much stash enhancement this weekend as I will be going back to OCMD for Super Bowl weekend and take advantage of Salty Yarns sale. But I couldn't resist this chart....Rack Stack by Plum Street.

While there, I gifted my friends their belated Christmas gift....a project bag I made from a kit sold by With Thy Needle and Thread. I made four total...this one is mine. Note the cute little strawberry zipper pull!

I received some wonderful birthday and Christmas gifts too...lots of bee related fun! Sadly I didn't think to take a photo before I put everything in its place. :(   But here are two I could put my fingers on easily....A scissor display with a stitched bee in the center and a tape measure that you rewind by hand. Thanks Sara and Debbie!!!

Now on to some finishes.....First up is my completed Amethyst Band Sampler SAL by iStitch Designs...stitched over one on 27 count banding with Glorianna Blue Grass and Avonlea Green. It's been attached to an antique spool as have my other three.

Next is Sweater Weather by October House Fiber Arts. This was stitched on 20 count linen with Tweedie fibers from Rainbow Gallery. I felted an old wool sweater of mine,  attached the stitching to it, and made it into a pillow. I'm really tickled with how it turned out! I sewed the stitching to the back of the sweater and used the front, with buttons, for the back of the pillow. This will help remind me of chillier temps!!!

Then we have a project I started in 1995 (had the upper right hand corner done) and finished in 2020. It is Home Sweet Homes by Homespun Elegance...also made into a pillow. This was done with called for fibers on a panel of Home Sweet Home fabric.

My last finish-finish is a freebie offered by Sassy Jacks to help our friends in Australia. They made the chart available  Aussie Friends and if you stitch and post on their FB page or website, they will make a donation to the fire relief.

Now a new start....the Burgandy Sampler Band SAL by iStitch designs....is it possible to be addicted to alphabets???? I'm doing this on an antique 27 count white banding with Glorianna Bellagio and various solid colors when I get the urge. Here's a funny little story...I bought my fiber (Bellagio) last March for this next SAL. Three other ladies I know have also picked the same color..great minds think alike!!! It will be interesting to see how we all do it. I'm going to try to not look at the iStitch FB page so I'm not influenced by them...we'll see what develops!!! :)

 I am not off to a good start with this. First, I had been sold the wrong cut size for the piece. The seller made it good lengthwise but sent the wrong banding the second time around...sigh! I then ordered it from the Netherlands (where I'd ordered it for all the others) and was sent the wrong color....that's now being taken care of. In the mean time, I found a piece in my stash that would work and got cracking. So, after having to rip out the first line not once, but twice...I evidently can't count anymore.... I have the start of the first line placed correctly!!!

I've also gotten back to Bee Contained by Betsy Morgan...I really want to get this done but keep getting distracted. Concentrate Stasi...concentrate!!!

I'll close out with a shot of my snowman display. I recently had my hubby mount our TV on the wall ...it had been sitting on the furniture top...so I could put displays there...worked out great!!!

Well that's it until next time. Keep stitching and thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of frieindship!

Stasi



 
 

 

Tis A Gift...... (530-533)

Happy New Year to all--hope everyone had wonderful holidays with your loved ones and are refreshed and ready for a new year and new decade!!! Can you believe it's 2020??? Seems like we were just celebrating the new millennium and we're already 20 years in!!! I hope 2020 brings good health, much happiness and an abundance of down time to stitch! 

Our Christmas was very nice and low key. We brought my parents down from Baltimore for 5 days to spend with us and my daughter's family, then drove them back and spent a few days visiting my siblings and some family. We spent New Year's Eve with my brother and his wife but that ended with my hubby getting a stomach bug and a quick retreat home. So far, so good for me and I have my fingers crossed!!!

My hubby and I didn't really exchange many presents; he got me a new CD player and I got him the latest season of Game of Thrones on DVD. We don't really need anything, so why spend just to  spend? But, I did receive a number of lovely gifts from my blogging friends. I am the proud recipient of five wonderful ornaments....a BIG thank you to Carol, Robin, Vickie , Meg and RJ! These all found a special spot on my tree and will be treasured always!

L to R....ornaments from Carol, Robin and Vickie

L to R... ornaments from Meg and RJ

 Aren't they all just the sweetest??? Meg designed her ornament based on a Charles Wysocki print and you can read about it on her blog Live to Stitch. She is a beautiful soul who is going through a rough patch right now, so if you visit her site, please leave her a supportive comment.

Another stitched birthday gift I received was from my friend, Sally. It's one of Erica Michael's strawberries and I LOVE it!!! Thanks, Sal, from the bottom of my heart! I know it was a lot of over one stitching and I so appreciate it!

My daughter gave me a Rowenta travel iron, so now I won't have to run up and down the stairs so much. Maybe I better re-think that...the exercise does me good!!!

But perhaps my most cherished gift was given to me by my 9 year old granddaughter, Cora...a Harry Potter key chain! She is a very thoughtful child and bought this because she knows how much I love HP!!!

Now, on to some gifts I made for friends, which were few and far between this year due to those darn needlepoint ornaments for the Grands! :) These are being added officially to my Stroll.

I made this box for my friend who went to Yellowstone with us. I may have mentioned the "spider" incident in my blog post about the trip, but she literally landed in my lap  after spotting a spider in the car. I thought it was perfect for her...Nothing to Fear by My Big Toe Designs.....stitched on 32 count Vintage linen with called for fibers...I think.

Next, I did a couple ornaments on the Tokens and Trifles perforated paper.

Bristol Ornaments 2019 by Dutch Treat Designs (freebie)

Nice by Tricia Wilson Nguyen (freebie)

I also did a little paper ornament for me:

Quaker Stocking by Wendy White (freebie)

 I finished the stitching on Sweater Weather by October House Fiber Arts. I have an idea brewing to finish this so stay tuned.... I stitched it on 20 count natural linen, over two. I wanted to use Rainbow Gallery Tweedie (had a bunch in my stash) to make it look "wooly".

Last but not least,  I pulled out a very old WIP from the mid 90's as my first stitch for 2020. It is Home Sweet Homes by Homespun Elegance. It's stitched on 18 count Home Sweet Home fabric with two strands of the called for DMC. I bought this at a time when I hoped to one day to live in a log cabin home....that's not going to happen, but I still love the design.

I am looking forward to a year of enjoyable stitching....working on whatever moves me at the moment. I need to get cracking on some finishing, put my craft room back in order and work on some languishing class projects. 

I hope all your 2020 resolutions/plans come to fruition, but if not...enjoy the journey! Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi