Happy Thanksgiving

I'm swinging by today, before all the turkey day prep begins, to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. There are many things to be thankful for this year and I want to focus on those, not the craziness in the world.  I am thankful for a devoted husband, loving family and dear friends far and near. I am thankful for my many needlework opportunities and the compadres I have met along the way. I am thankful for my health and that I can enjoy retirement. Those are the BIG things, but there are also many smaller things that I am thankful for like a mug of hot tea with a side of biscotti, a warm fleece jacket, a good book, a hike on a chilly day under a bright blue sky, a warm shower, etc.. I'll stop here but you get the point...lots to be grateful for!!! I am also thankful for those who take time out of their own busy lives to read my blog and those who blog themselves and have become friends through our mutual comments. Happy Thanksgiving one and all!!!

Now to some stitching.... I finished up another Christmas ornament, the crocodiles from Noah's Christmas Ark I, by Plum Street Samplers. This one is for my grandson, Asher, who has had a stuffed crocodile since he was a baby.

Here is one of my favorite photos of Asher reading to Croc..he was about 2.

 I am up to date on my Black Band SAL from iStitch Designs...week 18!

We had the pleasure of Betsy Morgan teaching for the VGN this past weekend and I had the honor of playing hostess for her. The class, Cissy's Pin Cushions, was fabulous and most ladies got their sweet, little project done. We did the pre-stitch for one, but there are five others included. Here is my finished one, done with double running stitch:

 Betsy is a wonderful teacher and very interesting lady. If you ever get the chance to take a class, hop on it, as she is retiring in a couple years.

Well that's it..we're off to babysit for the grands and it's a sleepover since my daughter and her hubby have a business dinner out of town to attend. We'll be getting them off to school tomorrow and hoping we can manage it with 4!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship and again.....Happy Thanksgiving!

Stasi

Some Small Stitchin' and Strollin' (477-480)

This post may be a bit long as I have been a busy bee and finished quite a few smalls, some stitched and some FFO'd . FFO is a newly learned term for 'finally finished object', though I dislike the word "object" used to describe our lovely handwork and think I'll use the acronym FFP for 'finally finished project' or 'finally finished piece'. Oops, my sentences may be running a bit long too! :)

Before I start on my stitching, I wanted to let you know that Rich's hand is healing well and he doesn't appear to have lost any movement; it is still swollen but he can bend his finger--thank goodness!!!

When I last posted I was getting ready to head back up to Salty Yarns for a quiet weekend of stitching with friends. Upon arrival I found our "place" all decorated for Halloween by my roomie, Deb. She outdoes herself for this holiday as her birthday is close to Halloween. Here are photos of the decorations (the stitched pieces in the last two photos are mine).

Of course Sara also 'spookifies' the lobby and here are some photos of her work:

Sara and Sally make yummy soups for lunch and the rest of us bring side dishes. We also exchange goodie bags with each other (mine are laying in the orange bags on the table). The gifts ranged from a bag of two apples with peanut butter and caramel, to a Halloween towel, a handmade witches boot, Halloween stick pins and bags, jars and coffins of candy. I made the ladies a Halloween themed ort catcher! Someone had come to a stitch group with one and I took photos and reproduced it. The corduroy rectangle on the inside is supposed to "catch" your orts; it's nice because it lays flat and is easy to transport. I slipped a full size Hershey bar inside!

We usually celebrate Deb's birthday while there and I made her this as part of her presents, 'Til Death by Satsuma Street. It's a Day of the Dead bride stitched on white perforated paper. 

Are you still with me??? Now for some stitching........

Over the last few months, I've been working on a set of placemats. I stumbled across these at Hobby Lobby in the clearance section and immediately recognized that I could do cross stitch on them. I pulled out an old Prairie Schooler chart, Kitchen Table,  that worked perfectly. I positioned the designs in the lower left hand corner and voila.....a beautiful set of 10 placemats (I counted these as one stroll piece)!

For election Day I did this freebie from Ink Circles, I Voted.  This can be found on her FB page or blog and she said to share it freely. I did it on white perforated paper and glued a pinback on.

I also got the model for the January project for my Guild stitched and finished. It is Be Mine Sweet Valentine by Janie Hubble Designs. Sweet, don't ya think??? It's a humbug but not the Bah kind!

We have Betsy Morgan coming to teach at our Guild next Saturday so we had a small pre-stitch to do. This is one of 5 little pincushions that we'll be working on, each a different technique. Hopefully, I'll be sharing  a FFP after class!

  
Next are two pieces in process. First is Thyme to Gather by Hands on Design, which I still have to put together. I did it on some 30 count mystery fabric from the stash and added the JABCO leaf button to the upper wreath. The photo doesn't show the true fabric colors...much more orange on the top one and golden on the bottom.

Then,  I'm caught up on my Black Sampler Band SAL..week 16.

Last but not least, I've started my annual Christmas ornaments for the grands. I've chosen Plum Streets Noah's Christmas Ark  series to do. I'm working on the giraffe (pictured), then the crocodiles, doves and whale. Of course I'm going to do the beehive for me!!! :)  I'm stitching them on 28 count gingham fabric with DMC. Again, the colors are rather faded looking in the photo.

 Whew, I'm pooped!!! I need to post more often so I don't have these epic 'tomes' to write, but time keeps getting away from me. I hope you enjoyed this recap of the past couple weeks. Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi 

 

Salty Yarns Jamboree 2018

Thanks to those of you who commented on my last post; I have figured out how to watermark my photos and will use that along with shooting from an angle to show any finished projects. I apologize if they will not be the most clear shots, but hopefully you will still be able to enjoy my projects while dissuading those that have taken advantage in the past. Enough said...time to move on!!!

I've had a lot going on the past week with my husband. He had two injuries occur while volunteering at our local state park, one that involved a trip to the ER and  29 stitches in one finger. It could have been much worse and we are thankful, but he's a tough ole bird and has only had to take a few Advil for pain. 

I did want to share a short recap (Cliff Notes edition) of my weekend at Salty Yarns for their annual Jamboree. With all that's been going on, it's a miracle I can remember any of it!!! I drove down Thursday ahead of the storms and got myself settled in. This is the goodie bag we received upon check in.....and yes, everything in these two photos and our stretcher bars and tacks for one of the classes.

Dinner that evening with a few ladies and bed with howling winds and lots of rain pelting my window.

Friday, I got up and walked the boards, a beautiful morning after the previous evening. This always makes a great start to the day.  I helped cut fabric in the shop until lunch time; there were already quite a few ladies that had checked in. Then I just did had a little retail therapy and chatted with friends.

The official weekend started that night with Sara's delicious lasagna dinner followed by a cocktail, hors d'oeuvres and dessert reception...we are so spoiled!!!

Saturday, my first class was with Sharon Verbos of the Purple Thread. She has the rights to reproduce some items from the Winterthur collection and we got the first one as our class project. This was a wallet that a wife made for her husband and it is lovely...perhaps too lovely for a man. I know I'd be very afraid of what my hubby would do to it!!! Then a 2 hour break for lunch.

My second class was with Beth Twist from Heartstring Samplery. This had required quite a bit of pre-stitching but most everyone came out of class with two finished pieces and were quite pleased. The circular piece we had pre-stitched was the top for an adorable tin  box. Her finishing instructions were excellent and this was her first attempt at teaching a finishing class. As part of her class we received a cute little matching scissor minder and three beautiful glass pins from which to hang a strawberry.  

 Saturday evening there was a wine and dessert bar in the lobby and time for chatting with attendees. 

Sunday morning I had my last class with Kathy Rees from  Needle Delights. This was a counted canvas class, something I hadn't done before. The blue version is the actual class piece, but we could choose other colorways and I chose a more neutral palette.

After the last class we are free to hang out as long as we like and I checked out my bag of purchases. I LOVE this new chart from Rosewood Manor and Sharon had done a special kit for Salty Yarns where she printed an actual photo of the Lankford Hotel on fabric to use on the back...how cool is that?

 
We stayed and stitched in the lobby that evening since it wasn't so crowded.....with 60 ladies, it can be a little overwhelming but it's so fun to see what everyone else is working on!!! I usually stay an extra night so I can drive home and not have to worry about traffic.  

Monday morning had me on the road home.... and tomorrow morning will find me on the road back to OCMD. Yes, I'm driving up there again for the annual Halloween/ CA  weekend.   The back story is that CA Wells cancelled out, at the last minute,  on a class weekend about 10-11 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. This is a go to year.... after making sure that Rich can take care of himself one handed!!!! I'll be back next week to tell you all about it. 

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

Stasi

A change of pace......

I was getting ready to do a post about my recent stitching retreat but am having second thoughts. Some of you may have read the recent blog post by Stitching Foolishness. She was asked by a designer to remove photos of a class piece due to unscrupulous stitchers using her posted photos to copy and stitch the piece. I, too received an e-mail with this request...it seems my photos were also possibly being used to do the same thing. These thieves were actually telling others on FB where to look for this info so they could also steal the design!!! SHAME ON YOU!!!! Thankfully Admins removed those posts but who knows what damage has been done.

I have removed the mentioned photos from my post and will not post photos anymore unless I can do it in such a way as to make it impossible to stitch from. This is also giving me pause as to whether I want to continue blogging. I have made some wonderful friends here, but I do not want to be a party to such underhanded actions. I like to think the best of people but those rose colored glasses are slowly becoming tarnished. I will take a few days to consider if I continue, or not.

Stasi

Here Today...Gone Tomorrow...and a Little Strolling....473-476

The last two weeks are a bit of a blur.....Rich and I took a whirlwind tour in the Midwest covering over 2900 miles. We had been planning a trip to Rockford, IL to see Rich's brother who, sadly at 67, is in a nursing home due to strokes. We decided to make a vacation out of it and added some cities before and after Rockford. Be warned this post will be a long one with photos, but I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I did experiencing it. 

We started out Monday, 9/24 and headed to Cinicinnati (I lived there for 15 years) where some dear friends put us up for two nights. I wish we had more time there, but we were on a tight schedule. However we did manage a trip to Waynesville, OH--the antiques capital of the midwest. This was one of my favorite places when I lived in Cincinnati and I enjoyed many visits there. They are home to one of the BEST fabric stores, The Fabric Shack, which has expanded and udpated their look.

Fabric Shack

We also wandered into a shop called....

....and look at all the eye candy!!!
 

None of these were for sale (not that I could afford to buy one) but they were certainly a treat to drool over!!!

Next we were off to Rockford to spend a couple days with Rich's brother. After that we stopped in Springfield, IL to learn about Abe Lincoln. There was a wonderful museum there; we got to tour the house he was living in before he became president and see his tomb. It was amazing to think my hand was following the banister where he must have climbed the stairs.

 Then it was on to St. Louis to ride up in the Arch and visit my old boss...and friend...Ruth. The Arch was pretty scary...you ride up 60 stories in a pod they lovingly call a "washing machine". It was a tight fit with five people, but we managed. The room at the top is only 7 feet wide and full of people so we did not tarry!!!

Rich in "washing machine"

At the top of the Arch

Dinner with Ruth and Jen at Vin de Set

When we left St. Louis we stopped at some old Indian mounds of the Cahokia tribe which date back to 1050-1350AD. The main mound was huge and we had to climb 158 steps to get to the top!!! Again, they had a very nice museum and we were amazed that we had never heard of this tribe before.
 

From there, it was on to Memphis with a visit to Graceland and Beale Street. We heard some great music there and spent quite a bit of time wandering the museum at Graceland..a trip down memory lane!!!

Me and Elvis's Pink Cadillac

Beale Street

Next up was Nashville! (We did visit a Civil War site between Memphis and Nashville but at this point I don't remember where it was....might have been Shiloh something or other--can you tell this trip was mainly geared towards my hubby...only one cross stitch stop....but he deserved it) The first night we stayed in Franklin, TN...what a quaint little town...wish I'd had more time to spend there. We spent almost a day in the Country Music Hall of Fame and again listened to some great performers on Broadway. The only downside was having to pay $55 to park for the day!!!!

The Batman building in downtown Nashville

Me bending down to visit Kris Kristofferson's plaque in the Hall of Fame

We also squeaked a visit in to the Antique Archeology, owned by Mike Wolf of American Pickers fame. I was underwhelmed with the actual store, but the old building (they made Marathon cars there in the early 1900's) it is housed in was wonderful....lots of cute shops!

From there we drove to the Asheville, NC area to visit my daughter and SIL.... and the only cross stitch shop on our itinerary, Sassy Jack's. Here are my purchases:

These were great little pieces of  hand dyed velvet  7X8"

 

 

We always enjoy our trips to visit our daughter in Brevard and this one did not disappoint. Our SIL, who is a chef, made a delicious dinner for us one night, we played games both nights  and even made it to a vintage flea market where I bought these items....a Cat's Meow house that says "The Needleworker", two linen napkins I think I can stitch on and can you believe they had all the letters to spell out "stitcher"??? I think I'll be gluing them on so they stay put!

And the piece de resistance.....an old sampler that I stumbled across!!! Sorry for the flash; I coudn't find a spot that didn't have a glare. This isn't in the best shape and the tree at the right side of the house was not completed, but the price was right and I couldn't resist.

We got home this past Sunday and I am frantically trying to get this blog done, along with two weeks worth of laundry, grocery shopping, bill paying, etc., etc.. And why you may ask? Because I leave tomorrow for OCMD for their stitcher's Jamboree. I'll be taking three classes and, hopefully, unwinding from my recent travels. I will post about that when I return next week. 

I wanted to end this post with some additions to my Stitch Stroll; I have been getting some stitching in since last time and while in the car traveling. First up are two gifts I made, 18th Century Pinwheel by the Good Huswife, for our dear friend Mary and Mini Band Sampler  by iStitch Designs for my sweet friend, Pam.

Sorry, Mary and RJ, I had to "borrow" your photo  as I forgot to take one!!!

I finished Scary Berry  by Erica Michaels on 40 count silk gauze and made my first stitched strawberry!

This ornament is called Winter Bluster by Glendon Place and was in the 2016 JCS ornament issue. Vonna from the Twisted Stitcher had done one of these "snow globes" last year and Sally from Salty Yarns kindly gave me one of the clear balls to make one. You only need half, of course, and it makes an adorable ornament. It took some figuring to finish it and the white beads add a snowy effect. Again, hard to get a good photo without glare.

Last but not least... I was not only happy dancing, I was happy jigging over finishing the last of the 48 Samsarah designs for the perpetual calendar. I started this in 2014 and it has been my car/doctor appointment project for almost 5 years. I have enjoyed it immensely but hope to never again do another black/white checkerboard border!!!! 

These are the last two from December and a St. Patrick's Day that I added in place of Veteran's Day. I figured I already had a flag  that could do double duty. I found the Irish design on Pinterest and want to give credit to the person who designed and posted it on her blog; I elongated it to fit the size I needed. It was called Irish Flag Cross-Stitch Chart by Kathleen Berlew, posted on 3/9/15 and her blog is kbbcrafts.blogspot.com.

I am not making these official Stroll pieces until I have them all finished on their little hanging tags.

I appreciate you hanging in there if you made it this far and hopefully you weren't bored to death. I am now off to pack for Ocean City and a new adventure to share. 

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