November 2025

What a wonderful month I had.    I am forever grateful for this wonderful life I have with my family, friends and hobbies!

The last weekend of October I participated in a  one-day class with Theresa Vinette/Shakespeare’s Peddler.    What a delight.   The retreat was organized by Stitches Unlimited in Lancaster, PA.  It was well run and Theresa was a joy.   She is so down to earth and relatable and her patterns are lovely.  This is the class piece we got.   Theresa was onboard about rearranging the layout, stitching it on a bell pull, doing it horizontal or turning it into 9 ornaments.   You never know how a designer will feel if you change their design.  (Not my photo/work - from Stitches Unlimited website)

The first week of November I was off  to Tennessee.   My friend Pat and I flew to Chattanooga to spend time with a mutual friend.   Pre-trip tension/worry of possible flight problems was needless.  We lucked out with no delays.   The three of us went to Stitching in the Smokies for a three-day stitching retreat.   Months ago this became Smoking in the Rockies when I had a brain hiccup and typed it wrong in a group text.   Since then I have had to pause and think of what the darned retreat was called.    We stayed in a Hilton Tapestry in Pigeon Forge.   It was such a great time.   So much laughing and some stitching.  Made a bunch of new friends and meet some Floss Tubers too.  I did buy two patterns at the event.   Teresa Kogut’s  Holiday Stroll  and Brenda Gervais’ Sweater Weather.    Brian and Stacie of Thread The Needle Stitchery did a super great job at having a successful retreat.  

 

Hilton Tapestry

We were home for one day of rest and then  off to our DVHSG Semi-Annual Retreat.   It was another great time.   This is always a fabulous time with old friends and new.   Just so  nice to sit with fellow stitchers, talking, stitching and catching up with each other.   What a wonderful community we have.   Of course I had the most minimal of shopping lists when I went.   And you will never guess what was waiting for me at the Retreat.     My pocketbook.    The whole point of  our trip to Tennessee was to be able to drive back with Diane when she was coming north for Thanksgiving.   We had her house left Tennessee at 3:15 a.m on Tuesday.  When we stopped for breakfast at 7:30 I realized I didn’t have my pocketbook.    Thank goodness Diane has great neighbors and those great neighbors have a key to her house.   Her neighbor shipped it to Salty Yarns and it was waiting at the counter for me when I arrived.    I’m thinking my husband could be right when he threatens to get me chipped!   I’ve got nothing. 

I also purchases Winter Moon from Plum Street because I caved to a SAL.    I got Basket of Joy by Stitches by Ethel.   I love her designs. 

Lastly, the 2025 Collectors Heart from Heart in Hand.   This is going to be my Blessings Sampler for January 2026.

Not too much damage to the credit card considering I was at a retreat with a pop up shop, a quilt store, a side trip to a cross stitch store and a retreat AT a cross stitch store.  

Here is one thing I did that took all of 10 minutes, if that.  Found an 8 x 10 frame from my stash.   Opened it up.  Secured a Loran magnet board with “Yes Paste” to the backing piece.  Cut a piece of scrap booking paper  to size to put over it.  Put the frame back together.   Added my needle minders.    I am sure there are more needle minders lurking to be added.   And this is not an original idea.   I think it was from Instagram.

Quilt progress was nil.  With being away for half the month and then having the kiddos here for three days, I didn’t get any quilt work done.  

 I was able to finish the Jeannette Douglas Christmas Box.  I am super happy to have it done.   Now fully finishing is another story.  I can say I wasn’t really fond of stitching the peppermint stripe stitching around the larger stitched section.    I was able to complete this in just a month.  It is a small piece and not like I was burning up the needle.  

I got Cabin in the Woods back from the framer.   This is a new framer for me and I will use her again.  I love the colors in the trees and it just looks like a snowy winter’s night to me.  Maybe that cabin should have had a chimney with smoke coming out!  Now I think of it.  

I took Cornwall Cottage to both Tennessee and Berlin, MD hoping to make fantastic progress.  Overall, I am not disappointed.   — Before

After

Even though I have let this one languish in the time-out basket longer than I should have, I haven’t lost my love of this piece.   I am amazed that with just 6 colors it is so vibrant.  This is the biggest WIP I have left and I had put off working on it all year.    I plan to focus on this for the rest of the year and I hope to have finish early in the New Year.  Projects are already lining up in a queue for me to work on in the New Year.

 

When in Tennessee, Diane helped me finish my peyote scissors fob.   I had a wrong color bead in one place and I knew Diane had a  trick to replace it without undoing the  whole thing.   Ta-Da!   It was corrected and completed in one afternoon.  This is Home of the Brave from Fern Ridge.
 

Fellow stitchers, please don’t feel you fall short.  I am retired, I am project driven, I am all over the place project wise and I do tend to blather on about myself.  Years ago a friend told me  I must have had more hours in my day then  she did.   IDK.  It is the internal perfectionist I think.   I am just a doer.  Everyone shines in their own way.   I’ve been on a two year craze to finish up my WIP’s so it appears that I am getting more done and actually all I am doing it tying up loose ends.  Next year……after I swore off SAL’s, I have two looming in the wings.   I have no willpower.

Happy Thanksgiving my USA friends and followers.  Tomorrow I will have a houseful and it will be great.    I was supposed to be a guest at my son’s but a busted dishwasher and new to be sink installed - still in the box - caused a change in venue.   It’s all good because I have two little helpers today.   I secretly am happy it is back with me.  45 years of hosting Thanksgiving Dinner for everyone is hard to change.    May you all be blessed with family, friends, good food and happy memories.

   A time to be grateful and to not eat too much pumpkin pie!     Keep on keeping on my fellow crafting friends, thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.

October 2025

At the end of September, I managed 3 days dedicated to the yard.  I dead headed, fertilized, trimmed.   Carrying over into the first week of October, I cleaned up the vegetable garden, stowed the yard furniture and actually put some time in my neglected Back 40 project.    I need to get more stone to finish the pathways and be done.  It’s on the list.  

I did continue my year long purge of all things unnecessary.   I washed, sorted and packed up clothes and stuff for the local shelter.   Some were a ‘fit’ issue and some were things I haven’t worn since I retired others were things I don’t use or have triplicates of….so OUTTA HERE!   I also attacked my laundry room.   Why did I have an overflowing crate of rags and towels for washing and waxing the cars?   I mean really, any washing and waxing is done at the car wash or detailer.     Same for the bag of orchid soil and orchid fertilizer.  I don’t have orchids anymore - gone.  I have two catch-all spots in my house - my craft room and the laundry room.  Maybe three, to be honest, my walk-in closet - it’s out of sight and is a dumping ground for sure.     Things got moved back to their proper place and the trash can was full.  I have a completely empty shelf now in the laundry room.    Twelve boxes and counting ready to drop off.

I finished Cabin in the Woods from Flossibilities but it is currently at the framers.      I did make changes.   To save my eyes from working on black,  I choose Muddy Puddle from Hometown Fibers.   For some reason, I didn’t care for the compass points in the middle of each side of the border so I eliminated them.   I moved the moon a few stitches to the left of the chart’s placement.  Lastly, I filled the sky with beads placed randomly instead of stitched stars. 

Some other little bits to share.   I did a wrapped back stitch to create a label for a quilt my sister made.

This is work on my first ever Hardanger piece.    At first I was thinking I was liking it.   I like the balance of it; the structure of it; I guess since I like numbers, I like it.   Then I got to the corners which I fretted.  Although this is a new challenge to me, I might be interested in trying it again.   This is what I enjoy about my EGA.  They are always introducing new to me techniques in small, doable sized projects.

Here is a new start.  The Jeannette Douglas Designs Christmas Box.  A reward to myself for crossing things off my to-do list.  Considering Jeannette Douglas is my Guild’s Designer of the Year, I guess I should be stitching her designs.   Rationalization at its best.  

I also managed to finish my part of the Round Robin of Harvest Friends.   Three of us are doing this piece and we are each to stitch ‘our’ pumpkin head on each other’s.  Sorry for the glare.   

I hope to sneak in some stitching on Liberty by Chessie & Me for my current patriotic piece.   Another cave on my part because I wanted something patriotic to put in the mix.   While small, it is stitch heavy.    

I just can’t seem to be a one project stitcher no matter how much I try.   No surprise here that I started the 250 day flag project from Primrose Cottage.    You stitch one star a day from October 27 to July 4th.  I cheated and started already so I could see  how long a star takes.   EZ PZ. Even if I miss a few days, it will be easy to get back on schedule. 

The beginning of November, a friend and I are flying to Chattanooga to visit a mutual friend.   While there, we will all head to Stitching in the Smokies Retreat in Pigeon Forge.    We bought one-way tickets because we will drive back to South Jersey together so Diane can spend the holidays with her son and his family and she doesn’t have to make the 11 hour trip alone.    We arrive in NJ on Tuesday and turn around and all head to Salty Yarns for our semi annual Guild Retreat on Thursday.  Bless my Mr. Wonderful that he never has a problem with my galavanting.  I am pretty sure I will take Cornwall Cottage to dedicate all my stitching time to it for both trips.  It is the current biggest WIP.   I feel sure I can make considerable progress on it.  I do know I am taking a peyote project for Diane to help me with.  And it is a WIP too!    Best case scenario, one WIP done and one closer to being done.  And who am you I kidding, Jeannette Doughlas Christmas Box will be going too.

I am trying to formulate some sort of path forward for 2026 stitching.   Hmmm, why?  I mean, I don’t routinely  seem to stick to ‘plans’ long.   But I was a trooper for three years with  WIPGO.  Possibilities.  At minimum, I need to sort my WIP’s basket which just stares at me from across the room.  

I am toying with  working on one WIP and one class piece at a time.      I will have to go through my WIPs, decide on the one that was closest to being finished and  prep everything so I can stitch and finish.  

I think I will choose my oldest class piece to focus on.   I have more than a few fully kitted samplers just waiting for me but I am determined to finish more of the projects that are started or are class pieces.   Two years ago I had 27 WIP’s and 21 Class pieces.   I am down to 7 WIP’s and 20 class pieces.  IYKYK the number of WIP’s changes like the bouncing ball we used to follow on TV sing-a-longs.   If that is not dating myself, nothing will.   

I finally got up the nerve to attempt my Temperature Finish.   I got this piece of wood from Hobby Lobby.   I sanded it.   You know sanding with the grain is not easy when it is a cross cut like this.   Anyway, I sanded, stained and varnished the wood.   I went back and forth on mounting it as an oval or as a square.  There were a few mis-steps.   This actually came out kind of  as I envisioned which is often not the case!  

To the right is the finishing Gods telling me they didn’t like the oval finish.

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.  

PS. I did do 4 quilt blocks on my Civil War Quilt.  Alas when I was squaring up two of them, I squared them to 8 inch’s not 8 and 1/2 inches.   Everything is laying is time out right now!

September 2025

Ahhhs.   Cooler days.  So nice to sit with the windows open.  So nice to sit outside and enjoy the yard without the heat.   I love sleeping on the cooler nights with the windows open.  Doing the routine circuit of flower bed tending for one last time - hopefully - and it is much easier in the cooler weather.

I did manage to get some quilt work done.   Nothing to show but was able to sort and cut four blocks.  

My finishing mode carried on into September.   I managed to fully finish HOD’s July   I shared the chosen fabrics and trims last time and here is the finish.  

And an update on the Faded Flag finish.   I did take all the stuffing out and started over.   I also stitched and fully finished New Jersey in the States Series from Thread Milk Designs.   And fully finished an EGA Blackwork Flag and a flag scissors fob.  

I fully finished Arcaded Pansy Pyn Pillow from Needlemade Designs into a mattress finish.   I just love that I had, what I think was, the perfect fabric in my stash to complete it.  

I fully finished my first drum finish.   It is a little less than perfect but I am OK with it.  I cut the templates as per the instructions but I learned I needed a little more fabric for seam allowance.   Next time, I will add a half inch to the template and trim once sewn.  I just need a bit more fabric for fussing about with my chubby fingers! 

I fully finished  Harvest Time From Lila’s Studio.   More important, I want to share the back of this piece.    A friend shared these easels they found on Amazon, of course.   They come with screws but I attached it with double sided tape.   EZ PZ way to make a fall display.  

Here is an EGA challenge piece.  We had a meeting on embroidery and we were challenged several years ago by our President to use embroidery stitches to embellish.   We were all given the same piece of fabric and let loose.   I managed to incorporate  11 different stitches.  I always think embroidery is easier than it is and then I do it again and I am reminded.  

Of course, there is the need for a quick stitch.  I stitched up this one of a trio from Stitches by Ethel.   Cute seasonal small.     

When you get on a roll, you just keep rolling.   All told, I did 11 fully finished pieces in August and September.  I definitely made a dent in the to-be finished projects basket.

Mid-month I attend an EGA Stitching Retreat.   No shopping, no classes, just stitching progress.   There were about 35 of us and it was a great, intimate size.  It was a beautiful woodland setting.  We stayed at Watson Woods, a YMCA Retreat in Painted Post,  New York.   It is always great to meet and stitch with like minded.  I got to put faces with  many of the names that are familiar from members lists for guilds or see in  stitching newsletters.  

Being doing good with getting on the treadmill almost daily as well as doing some yoga most days.   Closing all my fitness rings on my watch.  My goal is better health.  Weight loss is a side benefit and will be welcomed if it happens.   I’ve got those two little ones to keep up with.   Mainly, trying to create new habits by moving my body more.   It was a scene this summer with me trying to get out of the kayak.  In my defense it was parked up a steep incline with gravity being against me and me worrying about getting a five year old out as well.  There is the need to improve my ‘kayak exit’ ability for sure.  

For September I needed to make progress on my Cabin in the Woods.   I made some changes to it.   I  changed the linen use from a black to the gray mottled, Muddy Puddle.  I changed the border not to include the “N-S-E-W” as I didn’t care for the bright yellow.   I could have taken the route to just change the color which would have been the simpler path, but no, I opted for the harder path.  There was stitching and frogging, and restitching and frogging on that border.    I made such great progress at the EGA Retreat and I am close to a finish.    A tree to finish, some grass to fill in and the border to complete.   Hard to see but I am ‘auditioning’ different colored beads to use for the starry sky.

My remaining WIP’s are all over the place as far as their designs.  The new math must be involved as well.  I started with 27 WIPs two years ago.  I had 24 finishes last year and 13 finishes so far this year and still have 7 WIPs.   It is those ‘new’ WIP’s that creep in the mix.  What remains to be completed is a small monthly calendar piece, a peyote beading fob, a tray with smalls, a Christmas WIP added to the list last year, a band sampler, a large sampler and a Quaker pumpkin I added this year.  Actually I should work on them in the order listed because I could narrow the list down fastest that way.  Hmmm.  Decisions, decisions.    Anyway, these are my thoughts as of this September 22nd for my path forward AFTER Cabin in the Woods and Harvest Friendship.    I hope to continue with completing 12 patriotic pieces between now and June 30th.   I already have done 5 so I am ahead of the game…. as of this minute.   As always, it is all subject to change.  I really want to get to the point of having one larger and one smaller current project.   I will plod on with finishing the WIP’s.     And I haven’t forgotten the SAL’s I have.  They have to fit into the mix somewhere.  I just don’t count them as WIP’s because they are things I was coerced (wink wink) into stitching.  I guess SAL’s and class projects will have to be the next thing I tackle, after WIP’s!!!

That’s all I’ve got……as always, thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching!

August 2025

Things have calmed down to a quiet roar.   Like everyone, once I catch up on yardwork it seems it is time to make the circuit around all the beds again.  I was opting for early morning weeding and tending to avoid the brutal heat but we seemed to be in the midst of a nice cool stretch right now.   My vegetable garden has not produced that well for me this year.  Both zucchini plants got some kind of bug and withered and died before anything grew.  My green beans are doing OK.   This is the third year in a row that my tomatoes have not turned red.   A little research and I found out that when the temperature is too hot they will not turn red.  I picked some and put them on the windowsill with hopes.    My back yard is like a box - arborvitae hedge on one side, woods on a second side,  across a third side is the back of my house and on the fourth side, a story and a half out building. No air flow.    If across town, a friend says her backyard thermometer is 95, I bet mine is 103.   Highest I noticed this year was 107.    Another reason I so dearly miss my pool.   I digress……..

I was in the mood for my quick stitching gratification so I stitched the Faded Flag from October House as one of my patriotic stitches for the next year.  This is such an EZ-PZ piece to take along and work on while chatting with others.  I plan to finish this up later today and hope the flag is less lumpy when I am done.  If not, all the stuffing will come out and I will start again!

 I also stitched this pattern from the French Giraffe on Etsy. Start to finish in a couple of days.  More quick gratification.  All Smyrna crosses.   I have to decide how I will finish it.  

When I took a photo of the completed Land That I Love, something was missing.   Hope you like the idea Stacy and I can up with.   The piece is too stitch heavy to have these two empty spaces - either side of the word “America”.

I found two little projects when I was sorting about.   First, this little stitch book that I got from my Advent Exchange.   I decided to do one or two pages a day until I was done.   For the first few pages, it was easy to do.   Stitches got more time consuming as I navigated through the book and things got in the way.  Setting the goal of my September EGA Meeting to be done.

I also found this EGA project from several years ago.   We had a meeting on embroidery and the effect you can achieve with various stitches.   I hope to do a few lengths of thread a day on this one.  I really would like to have this one also finished by our September meeting.  

With going to a retreat and planning a retreat, I did not sew on my Civil War quilt in either June or July.   I had hope to make it to some sewing time in August but it wasn’t to be.   Now I am 12 blocks behind!!!   Just keep telling myself how you eat an elephant, one bite at time.   Like so many other things,  I know once I get going it will be alright.  September…..that’s it.  I will work on it in September.   Maybe dedicate Fridays to it since my Friday babysitting job has ended.  Darn that girl had to grow up and go to full day Kindergarten.  

I have been working on this stitchy piece, A Cabin in the Woods for a November Retreat  Although I should be picking up Cornwall Cottage when I am done, I am just not in the mood for work on another massive sampler right now.  

I kept pushing that “month of finishing” but somehow I got a few pieces fully finished in August.  Tiny Modernist Halloween Witch finished as an ornament to hang on my Halloween tree.

Statehood Series of Thread Milk Designs - New Jersey.  Stitched and finished in August.  Fit right into my tiered tray of patriotic pieces. 

July from A Year of Celebration, Hands on Design - fabrics picked, matte board cut and ready to finish.

 August from A Year of Celebration, Hands on Design.   It has been fun to dig through all my trims and embellishments and USE them.

And another flag - this was an EGA project a few years back - blackwork flag.  I finished as an ornament for my patriotic tree.

I am not sure but this may be a pattern from Fat Quarter Shop.   It’s out of the finishing basket and marked complete!

Mid-month, I made my second trip to the Outer Banks with two of my children and the grandkids.   It is now becoming an annual summer vacation together.  Pop pop even made an appearance this year.  And then Erin came.   We got the evacuation notice at 6 pm on Sunday night to start evacuating by 10 am on Monday.   We made the most of the rest of the day with a walk on the beach to the pier where the ice cream truck was parked. We were on the road by 5 a.m. Monday.   We had a great time in the time we were there and managed to cram a lot of fun into the 36 hours we had there.    It was beautiful when we left but there was no need to be stranded on the barrier islands if the roads washed out as anticipated.  I made sure pop pop got in the hot tub……hoping against hope that he would get  the idea to put one in our back yard.    So glad my middle daughter and I rode together so we could switch up the driving on the way home.  That is always the worst for me……tired and facing  8 hours behind the wheel. 

Get lemons, make lemonade.  The kids went to Hershey Park for the day.  We all did the Aquarium another day and finished the week with fishing and kayaking.   All and all vacation week did not disappoint.

As always, thanks for stopping by.  I do enjoy your comments and reading your blogs as well.   As a funny aside.  My last post where I talked about the Jello Museum had over 600 hits.   A lot of people looking for Jello recipes must have been directed to my blog!  Keep on stitching.