June 2025

Finally sitting down to get this post done.   It just seems that lately my lists have lists.  I finally got my vegetables in Memorial Day weekend.   If I ever get a yield this year it will be amazing.   Strawberries however, were coming out my ears the beginning of June!    And I have been having some nice fresh green beans as well.   I had the little boy from next door come over when I was out of town for 10 days and pick all the strawberries he wanted.   

I didn’t realize I should trim my Rosemary and Sage plants in the fall so I have taken care of that now.   I have been trying to limit my time in the yard from 7 to noon - with water breaks for sure.   It has been kind of dreadful here, weather wise, as it has been in a lot of the country.  Sure makes a person miss their pool even more.  A lot of rain recently and I need to give all the beds a good once over for weeds again.

We needed to replace our sliding glass door and this is what I woke up to the next morning.   It must be some their suction cups.   All the condensation makes it look like an alien.

I am not going to make my deadline of a completion by July 4th on Land That I Love.  It was an unbelievable relief to take it off my to do list and removing the self-imposed pressure.   The bad thing is it is from a SAL that I SUGGESTED.   The others have been done, framed, won ribbons for, displayed and maybe even accumulated a bunch of dust on their frames and I am yet to finish..    A small hip-hip hooray may/will be in order by month’s end.      I am not discouraged because I did make a lot of progress.

I had to put Land That I Love aside to work on Harvest Friendship from Teresa Kogut.   Three of us are working in this together.   We are each sewing one of the pumpkin headed ladies on each others piece.   This is my lady on Caryl’s piece.   I have until the 15th to finish her head.    EZ PZ

 

My next start is going to be Cabin in the Woods.   I will be going to Gatlinburg, TN in the fall and this is the suggested group stitch.      It is for the Stitching in the Smokies Retreat in November.   Inadvertently I keep referring to it as Smoking in the Rockies (??) !   I plan trade off between this and working to complete Cornwall Cottage by Rosewood Manor, another large piece that I really want to move to the finished column!

Lately I have been stitching using my floor lamp and its magnifier and stitching is going much better.    I was able to pick up a Potoky stand second hand and I am finding I sit up straighter and I am back to two-handed.

A bit of a yard tour.   My favorite place to sit and glide and read and stitch.  I admit to having taken a nap or two in my chair as well. 

I lost some of my Cone Flowers so I bought more.   They were not marked and I am thrilled that they opened up to this pretty orange version.

They are blending in nice with the other flowers.

Inside, I’ve got the patriotic stitching out.   I am toying with the idea of stitching one small patriotic piece a month between now and the 250th Birthday of America next year.   Toying with……no committing yet.   And definitely only stitching from stash.   LOL

And I almost forgot.   I took this wool piece to Wisconsin and worked on it there.   I did not finished it until I got home.   I am going to make it into a pillow.   

Lil Miss Raegan had her first ballet recital.   She didn’t have every step correct but she had a good time and danced her little heart out.    This girl loves to dress up.  Her hair looks red only because it was recently dyed pink for fun.  

Catching up on blogs, I read Carol/Stitching Dreams post about her trip to Italy last fall.   I realized it was not too late for me to put up my last post for my trip to Canada last fall.   I hope to post that next month.

Mid-July, I will be in Rochester, NY area for my guild sponsored retreat at Hobby House in Pittsford, NY.  Again, I pledge to refrain from purchases but with there being a wool section and a quilting section in addition to the cross stitch, it is going to be hard.   It really is a useless use of energy to pledge to not buy.  I have been busy to within an inch of my life making the plans.   I want everyone who is attending to have a great time.    I just need to let it go and say it will be what it will be.   My internal perfectionist needs to dial it back.  

It has been a rough 8 weeks of guild obligations, dealing with the hotel arrangements, form generating, information packets and just stuff in general - albeit, self imposed.   Some good (travel), some bad (summer head cold).  I know I am my own worst enemy by committing to too many things and then feeling like I don’t know which way to turn.   No worries.   When that happens I make a list.   (of course I do)  First list didn’t help; it just overwhelmed me further.    Couple days later, I started again, prioritizing by deadlines and filtered in a few of smaller tasks and before you know it, I felt less overwhelmed.   I need to working on learning to say no.   You know it is bad when your husband, who never says a word about all I do, makes a couple of comments a couple of weeks in a row about letting myself being taken advantage of.   I don’t know why I feel like I need to fix everything.   

In July, I hope to work on my bins of finishing and fully finish any fall or Christmas stitched .   Here’s hoping I can be successful.  Not to mention I haven’t done the June quilt blocks.   Deep breath.   It will all get done in time. 

Stay tuned for my follow up on my trip to The Country Sampler Summer Camp that I took in early June. 

TTFN - Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.

May 2025

Hello all and happy warm weather season - words that I will be eating before the summer is over.  Other words I am eating are the ones where I said I would be doing less traveling this year.  With a little salt and some cracked pepper, the words  are edible.   

Back in the fall, I came across the Creative Hands Gathering in Hagerstown, Maryland.  I dilly-dallied about signing up because I didn’t have anyone to go with.   Boom!  Ask Stacy and yes, she would go.   We signed up late so we were put on the wait list.   Two weeks before the event, we got notified we got in.  It was a really great retreat.   There were eight vendors with the most beautiful projects and sumptuous wool for sale.  I did buy 3 wool projects and I finished two of them while I was at the retreat.  It was very nicely run, great vendors, very organized, great attendance gifts, fun games, fabulous door prizes and a spread of goodies to munch on to please everyone.  I am on board for signing up for the next one as soon as it is posted.    Working on wool appliqué pieces at a retreat is really the way to go.   You get so much done and it has got to be the easiest thing to work on it a group setting in a noisy room.  Prep your work ahead of time and it is smooth sailing.  

These are the wool pieces I worked on.   I prepped all the pennies for Christmas tree pillow project from my stash.  I bought the fall themed pin cushion.  I completed the pumpkin pin cushion and the ornament.

I have ramped up my yard time.  Ramping up from a complete standstill doesn’t take much.   I really must have been very thoughtful in the fall when I planted bulbs.   I am loving what is coming up.   Still no major yard plans for me, only normal maintenance.  The only downside is it means less moving about of an already sluggish body.  Having shoulder problems for the last 9 months has really curtailed my physical activity level but a couple of shots and PT are getting me back in (shoulder) shape.  Now for the rest of me I just need to get my back-side off the couch.  This stitching hobby of ours does not promote physical fitness.

I have worked on Land That I Love.   I didn’t follow my plan of attack.  The eagle is my nemesis.   Frogging an entire wing is what lead me to park this project last summer.    A teacher once recommending saving the challenging section of a pattern until last with the idea that leaving it to last you are more likely to stitch it since it is all that stands between you and a finish.   This is against my thoughts of getting the most difficult part out of the way first.   I am not beyond learning a new trick so that it was I have decided to do.   The eagle will have to wait for me to get to him.

Before and after

Life and obligations get in the way of stitching sometimes but overall I am happy with what I have finished.  I am aiming for a finish by the 4th of July.  🤞.  I think it is possible as long as I don’t stray.

Here is my progress on the Sampler Pumpkin which is my take along project.   For a smaller piece this has a lot of stitches.

I have continued early morning quilting at least a couple days a week.  I have completed all the blocks received to date.   I need to make additional cornerstone pieces and more sashing so I can assemble another row.  I do need to remove a row on the block with ‘red’ in it to match the corners better.

For the Booksy Project Blocks, I have fallen behind.  The website and Instragram site have gone silent so I am picking own patterns but using the same premise - a different block pattern each month with block colors inspired by the book cover of each book read that month.  I read a total of four March books, two April and two so far in May.  That’s 8 blocks!  Two are sewn and I have pulled the fabric for the other six which is part of the battle.

As for purging this month, I had hoped to do the laundry room cabinets but didn’t get to them.  I boxed up all the pool toys and beach toys in the shed.  I know I have sorted the Tupperware and plasticware somewhat recently but did it again and more got eliminated.    I got rid of  many of my reusable grocery bags.   My husband has caught the bug too and he is going through all his clothes and I am boxing them up for the homeless shelter.   More streamlining of things and I am loving the rewards of doing it. 

Coming up, the first week of June, I am driving to Wisconsin.   I am enrolled in Summer School at The Country Sampler in Spring Green.  It is a bucket list store to visit.     Five of us will meet up at an Air B&B in Dodgeville, about 20 minutes from the retreat venue.   It is a 14 hour drive over two days.   That amount of driving each day will leave little time for too many adventures.  I need to start my no buying mantra on the ride out so I don’t go overboard with the shopping.

I use the X-Stitch Ap like many of you do.   But I had never put in my linen.  I did recently, much to my chagrin.   I have 103 pieces of linen.   On the bad side, this number does not include linen that is kitted up with charts.   On the good side, many pieces are 10 x 10  or 10 x 12 and smaller that I have saved for  ornaments.  Many will be going to the Guild Yard Sale in the fall.   The pitfalls of being organized and knowing what you have.  Ugh.   If ever I need a deterrent from buying more, all I need to do is look at the Stats page of the Ap.   This brings to mind the perfect mantra  - Stitch From Stash - Stitch From Stash.

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.

  

April 2025

I hope all had a lovely Easter.   I hosted two of my three children and grandkids for egg hunts and dinner.  We had a good dinner and great fun and laughter around the table.  My Boston daughter stayed in Boston which I understand.   It’s a long drive for a Sunday dinner.   

How wonderful this community is.   I heard from many that have faced the same feelings of being overwhelmed by all the things.   All the things stitchy that is.    So many patterns, so many projects, so many ideas, so many starts, so hard to decide what to work on.   Something new always popping up or a ‘friend’ convincing you that you need to participate in something.  I mean really, if this is my only worldly problem…..I need to get over it.  I just need to put myself on a better stitchy path and I think that means giving up on WIPGO, at least for now.  It has worked well for me for the last two years.  But now, instead of giving me direction each month, it has been giving me stress.  Again, if this is the only worry I have in the world then I need just more on.  March is in the rearview mirror.    No looking back, it is behind me!  

So what have I been up to?  The last weekend in March, I was in Berlin, MD at Salty Yarns for my semi-annual Guild Retreat.   Always a favorite retreat because I get to chat and stitch with friends that I usually only see during a meeting or on Zoom.  You can’t be talking during a meeting, or at least you are not suppose to.  (Pet Peeve of mine - the talkers during meetings.)   I shared an AB&B with 3 friends.    It was an inexpensive weekend until check out time at the register at Salty Yarns but that was not bad either.  I only bought these two patterns which both have caught my eye for some time.  From WTNT I bought Spring Fling.   I have liked this since I first saw even though there is a lot of white.   I got the “In The Pink” fabric too.    

I also bought Sampler Band Pumpkin from Samplers Revisted.   I have had my eye on this one too since released.  Nothing in my WIP basket was grabbing my attention so I did start this piece.    Since it is on Aida, it will be easy to see regardless of the lighting.   I know I shouldn’t have a new start but I really have refrained and have knocked down the number of WIP’s the last two years from 28 to 6.   This will be my take-a-long piece.   Totally justified and absolutely no will power on my part,

 .  

Progress after two Thursdays stitching days

Either I am getting more selective or I have ALL the patterns but I am finding it harder and harder to find things to buy!  How can that be?   It is certainly not how it used to be - putting everything that caught my fancy in my bag.   Many of those purchases are still pristine in their original packaging.   So since I ‘had’ to buy something, these two made the cut. Anyway, good times, good food, good fun, great friends.  

Turn around and the first weekend of April, I was back at Salty Yarns for my first Remote Stitchers Retreat.  I stayed at a friends condo so this weekend was even less expensive.  Again, all the good things.  So thankful to have my stitching and stitching friends to keep myself positive during trying times.  One of the stitchers lead a peyote class.  And who had a kit in their stash?  Me!   This is Home of the Brave from Fern Ridge.   I have done two peyote pieces before but, trust me, I am still in need of help getting started.     Now I just need to dedicate an evening to finishing this up….especially before I forget what I was doing.   I’ve got 36 of 46 rows done.  

For the two weekend Retreats, I took easy things to work on.  I needed to do the nun stitch on the logo project and needed to do the backstitching on the friendship basket piece to get ready to fully finish it.   These were great projects to work on at retreat weekends.  Great use of time without having to following a pattern.   All necessary stitching and easy to chat while doing and easy to do in the evenings.

   Finished Thread Bed book after Guild class

I have been enjoying looking at all the greenery and blooming in the yard.  So far, the weather has not cooperated or the urge has not hit me yet to be out there putzing about.   I think I am becoming a Gnetlewoman Gardener! 

So far no big yard plans for this year.   I think I am over big yard projects.   Operative word being ‘think’ because one never knows what crazy idea will manifest in my mind.

I have started heading to my sewing machine the first thing many mornings - literally 5:30 a.m. - a cup of coffee and working for an hour and a half to catch up with my Civil War BOM quilt.   Some of the blocks have been trying.    I took scraps from previous blocks and from stash to start  the 9-patch corner pieces.   I am trying to assemble the quilt top as I go rather than having all the block piecing at the end.  I am using the “how do you eat an elephant” theory to get this done.    I got caught up and the next four blocks arrived the next day.  I need to assemble more sashing and more cornerstones so I can add the next row.   I think I need to find a bigger place to lay this out.

For the Booksy Quilt, I also need to get up to date.   I am glad to be using up some stash for this set of quilt blocks.   I am enjoying be back at the sewing machine on a regular basis.   So much so that I have some more quilt patterns circling overhead in those cartoon bubbles above me.  For the Booksy Quilt, I have two January Blocks, one February block and one March block sewn. Fabric is pulled for the second March read.    I need  to do get the pattern for April and choose the fabric for two April book.

Working in the bedroom/craft room several days a week, lead to the grand idea that I needed to rearrange the furniture in the room.    A day and a half later, baseboards wiped down and furniture moved.    The closet, a walk in, was not so much a walk-in, so you guessed it.   This closet houses all the batting, mat board,  polyfil,  frames,  boxes and packing materials,  finishing supplies, a tub of things needing to be fully finished, a tub of class pieces to be stitched and more.    It has now been partially sorted and some purging has happened.  I went through my class pieces and I pulled all the bits out of two projects that I will never do.  Ugh! But a necessary job done.   I organized all my project bags and totes neatly instead of being pushed and shoved in there.   I went through all my packing materials - envelopes, shipping stuff, bubble wrap, padded envelopes and more, eliminating some and straightening the rest.  I have gone through 3/4 of my cross stitch patterns to pull patterns I like but will never do and filled a shopping bag to take to my Thursday group for them to “shop”.  I am using that “how to eat an elephant” approach.   I am picking something that needs to be straightened up or weeded out, setting a timer, and launching my attack.   I feel more productive having a focus and a set time than looking at everything-thing-in-the-room  at once and being overwhelmed.    I also went through sewing notions and put a bunch in the yard sale pile.   How many tape measures does one person need?  Not 9 with most still wrapped in original packaging!

And talk about having too much stitching…….I started adding my linens to the X-Stitch ap.   Yikes!    Not only do I never need to buy patterns or floss, but I have enough linen for the next pandemic and more.  The more I went through the linens, the more I feel compelled that I must now truly take a vow of non-purchasing.   I sorted them all by count and have logged 3/4 of them each into my X-Stitch Ap - oh the shame of how much I have.   And it does not even include fabric to be found with charts that are fully kitted.  I truly suffer from an over abundance of things!   I am pledging to only stitch from stash for as long I am can hold-out!   Maybe this has been the root of my stitching anxiety.  Too much stuff accumulated.  🤔  🤪   I did put a stuffed gallon sized zip lock of 10 x 10 or smaller pieces in the Yard Sale pile and more may be added to  the Yard Sale pile before I am done. 

Since I made the decision to sideline WIPGO, I pulled the two samplers that I WILL COMPLETE this year and put them in my work basket.  Both have been on my WIPGO board for two years.   The small amounts I have put into each of these the last two years is pitiful.    I consider myself at 2/3’s done on each.   I am starting back first on  Land That I Love from Teresa Kogut..  I plan to work on it steadily and move to Cornwall Cottage when finished.    Both are bigger projects but one stitch at a time, slow and steady.   It will be so good to get each of these languishing projects done.

Land That I Love  - start of April

I finished the berry basket and worked on the eagle in the top section.  In the bottom band, I finished the house, added the tree and bird and started the left side of the last house.   I think the flag was stitched one thread too low.  Hey!  For the man on a galloping horse going by, he will never see it.  May’s goal will be to finish the eagle.   Work on the middle strawberry band and bring the side border down at least to the strawberry band.  Maybe I will do a little on the blue house at the bottom so I don’t have it all to do at once.    🤷‍♀️

Forward progress, not looking in the rear view mirror or saying could have, would have, should have.   Progress has been made.   It always  amazes how much I can get done when you focus on ONE stitching project.   I will be sharing more progress next month.  

Cornwall Cottage from Rosewood Manor is just waiting for me to get done with Land That I Love.   I really hope I will be able to dedicate time to this piece mid-summer and move it to the completed pile in 2025.

Of course, both of these are too big to take to stitching group to work on ergo the need to start the Patty Yergey pumpkin piece.  ✅ Justified.    

I had Raegan for three days and then it was a couple of days to ‘recover’ so stitching has been a bit curtailed.  I love those chubby little hands washing the ‘treasures’ she found in my garden.  

My purging throughout the rest of the house continues.  I went through the grandkids toy box and packed up things they have outgrown.  I don’t have the heart to get rid of the Fisher Price barn and little people yet.    Last but not least, I sorted, purged, folded and stowed all the shopping and brown bags.   It is not like I have nothing else to do but again assigning myself an hour or two a few times a week to sort and clean a closet or basket, etc. is working for me.   I have been taking 2 or 3 boxes every other month to the local donation store.  I have this fantasy spinning in my head that when I move,  everything will have been culled and minimized.   I mean what magic mushrooms am I eating?  OMG - just riding on the crazy train in my neck of the woods.  At least everything is slowing becoming stowed neatly.   That’s a plus right?

Looking forward to May and some yard time.  Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching and creating!

March 2025

At the beginning of March, I was so fortunate to spend a week in Vero Beach, Florida.  I believe I brought the warm weather home with me from Florida.  We have had some beautiful days here.  I am itching to get myself out in the yard.  The bulbs that I planted last fall are peeking through the soil.   Actually some are doing more than poking their heads through the soil.

First, back to my Florida trip.  I meet up with five friends and we enjoyed a week of non-stop laughs and stitching and hot tubbing!  These are the stitchers that I have been doing a Round Robin with.   We had the reveal and got to see our pieces for the first time since we exchanged them in Cincinnati in June last year.     The pattern is Quaker Gardens from Hello at Liz Mathew’s.  Here are all six before leaving  Vero Beach.  Most of us have our own piece back so my plan is  was to have it join my stitch rotation doing one thread a day along with the monthly WIPGO projects.   

When in Florida, I  finished the Arcaded Pansy Pyn Pillow from Needleworkers Delights.  This was designed to finish in a mattress finish and go in a cigar box with various stitchy type things.   For now, it will join a bunch of other pieces that need to be fully finished.   

At any rate, it was the greatest trip.  Wonderful hostess(es), fabulous weather, scrumptious food, their beautiful homes, and oh so much laughter.   Our next get together is planned for Boulder, Colorado in the fall.   Why Boulder. 🤷‍♀️ But a visit to Colorado Cross Stitcher is sure to happen.

Travel is great but it is always good to get home.   Seeing Cape Henlopen out my plane window told me I was close.  

When I returned home, it wasn’t long before I had myself in a dither with my WIPGO basket. My stitching basket was all of a sudden exploding and it was stressful.   This should only have my current month WIPGO’s in it.   It was only 10 weeks into the year and it had mushroomed into something that was formidable.   

I seemed to have become so hyper-focus on completing WIP’s that I thought could be quickly fully stitched.   Thusly, any monthly WIPGO project not completed became was made part of my monthly rotation.    Add two Round Robin’s and two BAP’s.   I had the brilliant concept that I  would be doing a thread a day on.  Also  blend in a  couple EGA small stitches;  marinate with the current month WIPGO’s.   Before I could rein myself in, I was already worrying how I could get it all stitched before the April numbers would be called and added to the basket.  My head was spinning with this recipe for disaster I was brewing and NO stitches were happening!   Oy! 

I had a little talk to myself.  Put it in perspective that it is just cross stitch and not world hunger I am trying to solve.   Deep breathe.  Dumped everything and rethought my stitching must-dos.   

I have a Round Robin that starts April 1st so that  became my #1 priority.   I needed to get the bottom border in on Harvest Friendship so it is ready to pass to the next stitcher and they will know where to place their respective pumpkin headed witches!  That has been accomplished.   ✅   I’d like to finish the motifs across the bottom border but I am not making it a necessary to do thing.

I also needed to complete the next three rows on my EGA project on the to-do list and got ‘er done!  ✅

I had such a successful year last year with WIPGO  finishing almost all the assignments for the first 6 or 7 months of the year that  I just had  set the bar too high for myself.     Back on track now.   

I truly do need to find time to focus on some fully finishing as well.   Maybe I should sort through the finished box and do the same priority ordering of what to work on to fully finish first!  Oh what about making 2026 WIPGO a fully finishing board?   Could work but…. I already penciled in a Class Piece WIPGO Stitching idea for 2026. 🤦🏽‍♀️

I then focused on a Guild piece that would be best to have it done by the April Guild Meeting.  Fortunately it is going fast and I have no worries able being done on time.  Once done this one, I will have to sort through the bag of tricks of mine for what I will dedicated the rest of the month on stitching-wise.   

I took a break from cross stitching to work on trying to keeping up with my BOM Civil War Quilt.   I debated about the sashing - to do or not to do.   As I see others post their progress, more and more I am liking the way the sashing is looking.   I didn’t want to wait until the end and have  it all to do at once. Before jumping into the February blocks, I did all the sashing with the fabric supplies to date.  I  have completed 51 strips and need to make 116 strips total.

It took a minute but I am glad to have it done and look forward to starting the actually assembly of the quilt shortly.  

I understand the fabric for the 9-patches used with the sashing comes in the Month Five shipment so I want to be ready to start the quilt top assembly as soon as I can stitch the 9-patch cornerstones.   

I am a visual person so I had to lay out the blocks I’ve done so far.   I have the sashing attaching to the left side of each block.   Three more February blocks to do and the March fabric has arrived!   I hope as I go along I get faster at putting the blocks together.  Block 5 took almost two hours one morning this week!   Followed by 2 hours on Block 6 which has since been ripped apart a second time.🙇🏼‍♀️

I am also working on a Booksy Quilt.   Each month is a different block pattern you can download for free.  I am finding these blocks much easy and closer to my skill set.   Using the colors on the cover of a book you read during the month, you select fabric from your stash for the block.   I have two blocks completed for my January reads and I have a February block done as well.   Fabric is pulled for one March block and I am close to having to pull for a second March block.  The March block is a Bear Paw pattern and is a new one for me.  So if you are counting, that’s 5 books read so far this year and summer is the time I usually read/listen on audio to more.    This quilt is going to be one wild color combination.  

Weather is warming and I know I will be spending time outside.   And less stitching time will be a result.  I am going to remember to take a deep breath and not get myself wrapped around the axle worrying about  what I am not getting done or what I have to do……..Stitching is supposed to be stress-relieving not stress inducing!  

Enough of the woe is me of the amount of projects on me plate - self-imposed.  Until next month,  thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.