Family Vaca and Some Stitchy Progress

Tomorrow we leave for a family vacation in the Outer Banks.   This year we rented something farther north in Duck, NC and hope we are not in the evacuation zone should a storm come up the coast.  Everyone is coming with various boyfriends and girlfriends.   Each couple responsible for a dinner one night.   No need to have me and my son tied  the kitchen!   Hope to get in some kayaking and definitely some hot tub time.   It is doubtful there will be little if any stitching accomplished.   One can be delusional and hope that early morning coffee alone time on the deck and stitching can happen.

I have some stitching updaters to share.   My French Alphabet repair.   After I stitched the motif in the area, I  backed it with light weight interfacing just to give it an extra fortification!   I really owe my friend Pat for helping me with this.  I can’t even remember where the two threads were broken.  

 

Best laid plans to finish the Tra La La winter scene in August have gone out the window.    I did put in some stitching but travel and babysitting ate into stitching time.  It is in the suitcase to go with me.

I did fully finish the Vintage Rocking Horse from HOD’s June Patreon.   Not the way Cathy did it but I am AOK with that.   I attempted the suggested finish but struggled with it being too fussy.  I just wanted to be done with it so I did what I knew. 

I managed to get the July Gingerbread House ornament stitched.    I just love the colors Cathy choses.    Boy, that door and the bottom of the house look a little wonky.    Trust me, it is the photographer who didn’t smooth the fabric and  not the piece.  

I haven’t started the August Gingerbread House but it is also in my suitcase.   I been catching up on the weekly videos Cathy does.    I am still enjoying the tips and tidbits she offers.  She is such a giving designer and a great teacher.  

I had  thought I only needed a quick two to three hours to spruce all the flower beds but it turned into 4 or 5 days days of 3 or 4 hours each.   Either I cannot judge how  much there was to do, how much time I  needed to do it or I move a whole lot slower than I used to.   Let’s just say it is a little of all three.   So a week worth of yard work cut into stitching time.   I started early enough to work in the shade and I hydrated the entire time.  Good thing I like a good sweat!  Just one more bed to go but it is not happening today.  One thing, all this rain we have been having has made pulling any weeds easy.  

I did finish reading “Theo of Golden”.   Not my usual reading type but definitely a good read.   I listened to  “Beautiful Day” by Elin Hildebrand this month.   Her books are always a good summer read/listen.    Playing now as my audio book selection is David Baldacci’s “Walk the Wire”.  His books are always riveting and a change of pace from summers in Nantucket with Elin.   Between yard work and being behind the wheel, I get a lot of audio book time.   

As many projects I get done, there are that many more on the list.   I always have a to do list.   Mr. W says I ‘find jobs’ which means I ‘create’ them.  I am just a project driven person I guess.   I have to scratch my head and laugh to myself when people say “what do you do all day”?   I don’t know but I can tell you it is always something.    But it is all good.   As always, thank you for stopping by and for your comments.   I appreciate each and every one.   For now, keep being grateful, keep being positive,  keep being kind and keep on stitching.  

Dog Days of Summer and Dog Days of Stitching

Let me just start with the bad news.    Not bad-bad,  just a big fat bummer bad.   And this is a big one……in more ways than one.  The French Alphabet.     Two vertical threads where the border will be at the very bottom right, are “broken” ??  How?  I don’t know.   I have contemplated using Fray Check - but decided 

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against it.  I have thought about a super light-weight interfacing on the back.   I tried to re-weave it using a thread from the salvage but I couldn’t see it well enough - even with magnification - when done, it looked like a tangled mess on the back like when your bobbin is wrong with the sewing machine.  For now, I am staying away from that area.   I am not happy with this piece at all right now but I am going to soldier on.  

To add insult to injury, I spent the better part of a day frogging the previous day's stitching.    I now have adopted stitching two-lengths-of-thread-a-day approach on days that I stitch. (?)  Shouldn’t that be every day?   IDK. Life gets in the way some days.  Next goal to complete the top border and then the top row of the alphabet.   Come heck or high water, I will get it done.  

The glasses are for prospective on the size of what I call my tablecloth piece.  

Better news, the Shakespeare’s Peddler Retreat was great, great, great.  Theresa runs a very organized event.   Every detail was planned and covered.   Her humor and fun little announcements and games were great.   It was also so great to see many of my needlework friends who I only see at retreats.   And to meet some new friends.  There were some Floss Tubers there too.   And a blogger or two as well.  It is funny since we invite Floss Tubers into our living room we think we know them.   The overall theme was “neighborhood” and our tables were named  like “DMC Drive”, “Smyrna Crossing”, “WIP-poorwill Way”.  The table gifts everyone gave were awesome -  I need to step it up some.   There was no class - just stitching.  Theresa had a trunk show and gave us a stunning kit.  (below)  And there was a rummage sale of charts that others brought in.   Alas, some jumped into my bag.     

I would definitely attend and recommend any of her events 100%.   Here I am being an enabler.  Isn’t this needlework community just beyond great.

The Show ‘n Tell was beyond fabulous.  

Look at the teeny tiny animal crackers in this stitcher’s sewing kit.

Clara, 1876 was about 2-inches tall!!!  That gives you a perspective on the size of the Animal Crackers.

As you can see, someone celebrated one of those milestone birthdays during the retreat.   Stacy, my travel and stitching buddy, really went all out to make it a very special day for me.  

Home I came and the purging of everything craft-y-like started.   When I made the choice to finally do it, I really wanted to jump right in but I put the brakes on.  I told myself I didn’t need any more  half-a$$ projects on the list.   Starting with the guest bedroom closet, the blankets, pillows and other bedding not/never to be used were boxed up for donation.   This gave me room to put my paper crafts on the shelves in plastic see-thru bins I bought.   How many sets of colored pencils does one person need?   Extras boxed up  with some to the grands and others to donate.   

Everything out of the closet.  

I ‘hope’ I have found all the paint brushes and have them in one place.   A zip lock bag of at least half of them has been packed away in the donation box.

Everything that needs to find a ‘family’ has landed in the room I use for crafting.  Things you can’t see that are sorted are the three boxes of small frames that were reduced to two boxes.    All the paper mache finishing boxes are now all in the same bin.  I found 5  6 bags of polyfil.   Three were opened.   I combined bags and marked two for donation.   I found 13 pillow forms - all now together in the blanket chest.  Each of the above were in different under the bed boxes, different shelves in the closet, different closets in different rooms.   Argh!  I just about have the guest room done and I think I will need a week more to thoroughly and completely do the craft room.  No pain/no gain.

I have done little cross stitching  or at least it seems that way when I look at my progress.   Both WIPGO assignments were completred.   I did finish the stitching for  the HOD Rocking Horse but did not fully finish it.       

I did not finish the July Gingerbread house yet.   Operative word - yet.   I think the new pattern comes out the 5th of the month so I better get on it.  Cathy H from HOD always does the best color combinations.

New numbers were called today for WIPGO and I need to look up what they are. 

I did work on Harvest Friends a little.  Sorry for blurry left hand pic but you can get the visual of what I did.

I got myself one of those Bird cameras.  Actually, my husband treated me for my birthday.  I am not having much luck.   The first location was too much foot traffic and no birds other than the goonie  birds pix of my husband and myself.    I dumped all the food, filled it with newly purchased feed even spreading some on the ground below it.   No birds.   Next location was besieged by every ant in the back yard stopping in for a visit.  Somehow an alarm was activated in this location and any time you got in range you heard  “Alert - leave this area - recording in progress.”  It was kind of like “Danger,  Danger Will Robinson!”   Moved to yet another spot to an area minus the over abundant ant population and I wait.     No more alerts sounding but no birds either   I researched it and it says it may two weeks up to a month for birds to get comfortable to visit.   So I start the clock again.

For August, my WIPGO pieces will probably be the only ones I work on.   I have some stitchy gifts to make and I will need to concentrating on them.  I have a lot of deadheading in the gardens to do.  

So that’s  update from my corner of the planet.  Thanks for stopping by.  Stay safe, be kind, be happy…..and keep in stitching and making.

The heat is on……July

Has it been hot enough for you?  My back yard pegged at 107.6 at 2:54 on July 2.    I stopped looking at it after that.    And the last few days, has it been wet enough?   All I know is the weatherman better not say were are still in a drought!   Thank heavens for AC.   I feel for those in Europe who do not have AC.   

What about the FIFA games!  Those Norwegians (my ancestors!) sure are having fun with their Viking Row and what fun the Scots had with the traffic cones on all the statues.  Just good harmless fun.  Everyone is becoming fans.   And imagine having the claim to the fame of drinking not only a plane dry but also the city of Boston who needed emergency beer deliveries.   I feel like FIFA sure has been a goodwill event.  This could come down to England against Norway - my ancestors against my husbands.   

I finished the scrapbook.  Once I started it went smoothly.  I starting by sitting to review where I was and got back into what my thought process was.  I never respect the invisible pressure that is lifted once a job is completed.   And I never respect the time things take to do.  It is done and soon to be delivered.  

 I finished Liberty Inn from Chessie & Me.  It was one of  my WIPGO calls for July.  I recently saw a similar stitch finished on a paper book-like box and I think that is what I will do.  While I have a few Chessie & Me kits, I think this is the first I have stitch.   Such lovely threads and a good variety of stitches.     

My other WIPGO  call was Harvest Friendship.   I met the goal of 5 hours and then some.  Win win.  Somehow, side by side, it doesn’t look like much.  Any forward progress is good.

 

I got the floss I needed but have not yet finished June Merry Moments ornament from HOD.  I haven’t started the July ornament yet, the Quilt Gingerbread house.   Since I have been focused so far with these, I will make sure I get them done by the end of the month to keep my record ‘perfect’.

I put a lot of time in my French Alphabet.   

 

Most important - the border meets!   

I am looking forward to attending the Shakespeare’s Peddler event in Allentown, PA at the end of the week.    Hopefully I will keep a tight reign on the purse strings.    I plan to work on the outer border of the French Alphabet and have more progress to share next time.  

I am now ready to start an all-out 100% craft sort and purge at the end of the month.  I have been laying out a plan (in my bird brain) of where to start, what to eliminate.  I have bought some (Amazon!) storage bins and I am ready.   I am going into this knowing it will get worse before it gets better.    I acknowledge that there are things - while good things - that I will never use.   I know of a craft resale store and they are going to get a boatload when I am done.  I am hoping some young crafter with a limited budget and the desire to craft will find bargains.

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe in the heat - hydrate, don’t drown - go around high water, be kind because kindness matters and keep on stitching/crafting/creating!

Hello Spring

Finally able to string some lovely days together.    Majority of flower beds are cleaned and mulched courtesy of the landscaper.   What he did with his crew of 5 in 3 hours would have taken me weeks.   The first year we had him I felt kind of defeated to be replaced.   Not anymore.   I got over it ready quick.    Now I guess I should call myself  a “Gentlewoman Gardener”.

March ended with a great weekend in Berlin, Maryland at Salty Yarns.   An online stitching group I belong to got together there for a weekend.   There were only 12 of us but it was so nice to see these stitchers in person after meeting with them by Zoom throughout the year.   

Shopping was minimal but I guess that is a relative term.   I only bought two patterns.  Special thanks to Stacy for bringing the Santa pattern to my attention.   I realized when decorating for spring that I did not have enough spring decor so when the bunnies caught my eye, it was a no brainer.  Since they are are perforated paper they are a nice change up from linen.   I also bought linen and some needed flosses.  

Chart from Teresa Kogut, stitched on perforated paper.   

And this one.  I stitched a different Santa in the same size and shape several years ago.   I guess it is my Nordic heritage that made me fall for him.

Neither chart is anywhere close to being on my radar.  

The month started with having the grandkids for three days of Spring Break.   We went to the movies and saw Disney’s Hopper.   We went to a dinosaur museum and on a fossil dig.   Boy did we get dirty!   And we dyed Easter Eggs…..then I took a two hour nap after taking them home!

So stitching was slow to start with for April.   I worked on my French Alphabet when at Salty Yarns at the end of March and into April and I wanted to keep going!   I am hopefully that 7 to 10 days each month I will cross the finish line.    I did stop working on it for now because I want to stay on track with WIPGO and my monthly ornament.  

WIPGO numbers will have me stitching on Quaker Friends and HOD Year of Celebration.     For Quaker Friends, I would like to push through this one to a completion before working on the HOD piece.  The other WIPGO call was the last of the Year of Celebrations series from Hands on Design - October.   Finally!  The other 11 months are  done and hopefully this one can join the batch by the end of the month.

Here’s hoping that my end of the month recap will include sharing some finishes.

Thanks for stopping by, give yourself grace, appreciate all the good things in your life and keep on stitching.

February Progress

I continued to make small steps on both my larger projects.   Once WIPGO for the month is done, I focused on both The French Alphabet and American Sampler.  

With the French Alphabet, I put in some border work, finished off the remnants of some letters on the current pattern page I was working on and then started on a new page.    Three pages done and nine to go!  Thank goodness for photos.   They help me see I am actually making progress.  5th line down, I am getting some of the personalization done:   RThompson is starting to take shape. (If only I have finished that “M” and it would be more clear.)

For American Sampler,  slow progress but progress.   I have actually  managed to work on this for an hour each time I pick it up.  Sometimes that hour is spent on frogging but that is all part of it.  My eyes seem to be getting used to stitching on this piece.

I am getting closer to a finish on Quaker Friends.   I take this to my weekly stitching group to work on there.   This will be another WIP done when I finish and that will be 2026!     

Each of these three prices are motif based and although that makes some stitchers crazy, I am not having a problem changing between them.  

I inspired myself by completing two large samplers last year so I feel good about all my prospects of finishing in 2026.   Even though the French Alphabet and the American Sampler will be multi-year projects, I know I will get them done.  So I did some Nashville Market shoppping…. Thankfully I only saw three patterns from Nashville Market that I want.    I pulled the trigger on only one ……Kitten Stitcher’s pre-order…….Warrior Patriot from Plum Street.  More incentive to complete my two larger WIP samplers.   This pattern appears no where on my  radar but I just really liked it.  With the exception of my WIPGO projects, I am not in the market to start anything new, especially not another big project!

That’s my month of stitching progress.   Being at Diane’s for a week and then having a big snow storm, contributed to my progress.   Once the weather warms and I find myself outside, the progress each month will slow.   But that is ok, I already have ideas for the yard and garden swirling in my mind.  I will have to learn to strike that balance.  

Time for me to catch up on your blogs and comments.  As always, thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching and creating.

February 2026

First of February found me flying to Chattanooga to visit my friend Diane.   Pat and I were joining her to go to the Knoxville EGA Retreat in Carson Springs, TN.  The best laid plans…..somewhere about 32,000 feet in the air over Virginia an email was sent to attendees that the retreat was being canceled.    The retreat location was snowed under, food trucks could not make it to the place which was at that time only accessible by 4 wheelers.   Not to worry, although disappointed we were overjoyed to just stay at Diane’s house for the week.     Always a great time with our friend Diane.  

While at Diane’s she helped us make fancy notebooks for retreat gifts.    

We also got to go to Diane’s weekly stitch-in.    

It is always a good time when the “Jersey Girls” come to stitch with them.                                                It is the cutest store.  Her machines have names like “Dolly” and “Cher”

So cute how she has decorated with what looks to be silhouettes from old patterns with tulle and buttons.  

I took my French Alphabet as my dedicated stitching piece for my time in Tennessee.   I hope to be able to finish enough each month to get this piece done by the end of the FB Leap Year Challenge!   I almost completed a whole pattern page when I was there.  

Raegan turned 6 earlier this month.   OMGosh.  Where has the time gone?   Mom and Dad took her skiiing.  She was a little apprehensive about.   But not once she got there - she loved it.  Soon she will be swooping down the hills along side her brother.

We spend a Sunday making her a couple of 100 Days of School shirts using paint and thumbprints.   Making memories with her and her brother every chance I get.   

I trudged along with American Sampler.   Ugh.  Some days I have to use that little thumb print sized lens on the magnifier.   Slow going but I am not throwing in the towel.   I am doing this piece on 28 over one.  I love the look of 28/1 but my vision does not.   I plan to make this my focus until the next WIPGO numbers are called on the 25th.   The WIPGO numbers give ‘permission’ to stitch on something different and often end with a finish.    If I get tired out before new WIPGO numbers, it will be back to the French Alphabet.  Forward progress all around.

Believe it or not, I am itching to get outside in the yard.   Plans and grand project ideas are swirling around my head.  It is a while off still as we still have a good amount of snow cover because our temps have not been above freezing. 

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching!

January 2026

A little after the fact but Happy New Year!  Don’t you just love the new year when you get the new planner or calendar and it is all pristine.   All clean and hopeful with the year spread out before you and promises to keep your planner/calendar neat.  Short lived promises if you saw what mine used to look like.   Scribbles, scratch-outs, doodles and arrows this way annd that, post-it notes.   Using my new electronic calendar has some drawbacks.   No way to doodle on the pages.  

I thought long and hard for my word for the year.   I settled on diligent.  The internal perfectionist in me needs this word.  I am alright on my work, it is my duties suffer.  I am a procrastinator on tasks I do not like by distracting myself with ones I do like.  I need to be more focused on my “have to’s”  and let the “want to’s” fall in place behind them.    I need to stop is the mindless scrolling on Instagram or the countless games of Sudoko…..like when stitching, I hear the voice say - just one more game….. and I admit I can be such a squirrel when it comes to projects catching my eye or chasing a new high score.   Oy!

I did decide to do WIPGO again this year.   I had always been successful until last year.   I needed to change my approach for the amount to be done on each project.   Rather than list each project and pledge to be finished in the month it was called, I have the luxury of putting lower requirements since I have fewer WIP’s.   And WIPGO did that for me.   Last year, I got to June and just caved.   I wasn’t getting anything finished and it just seemed too overwhelming with all the projects on the list and none coming off the list.   I dialed it back for 2026.   One project may show up three times on the 2026 WIPGO board with an assignment of  5 hours of work that month.   Very doable.  Forward progress will be seen.  Some will even be completed.  It is another win/win.    I will be diligent to stay the course.  

For January, my WIPGO’s were Liberty Inn by Chessie and Me.    I logged my 5 hours and made great progress.   It appears on my board two mores times.  A definite finish in 2026.   I could have kept going but I stitched to the assignment.

The second WIPGO was Quaker Friends, a Round Robin from a couple of years back.   I also logged 5 hours on it.   It was mostly fill-in on the little scattered do-dads in the background.   It too appears on my board two more times in 2026 so I am not worried about finishing it.   If I am diligent, I will get there.   I can tell WIPGO might work better for me this year as I am anxiously awaiting the announcement of the February numbers.

 

Those background motifs meant lots of color changes.   

I chose Chantelle 141/Teresa Kogut Blessings Drum  as my Blessings Sampler.   It was an EZ PZ stitch to complete. I wanted to get it out of the way so started it January 1st. 

Even though I live in NJ, I am only 5 miles from the bridge to Delaware.  Two friends from  my EGA and my DVHSG guild are heading up the Delaware tapestry for the America’s Sampler.   I hosted  a day at my house to give south Jersey stitchers an opportunity to stitch on the tapestry.   For more information check this link.   The concept/goal of the project is explained with details for each state’s tapestry.   It is a good thing both Becky and Amy are retired because this project has taken on a life of its own for them.    This is the artist’s concept for the Delaware design.

American Sampler from Crocette a gogo is a sampler I started with two friends.  I got a slow start as I was having such a hard time physically focusing on the linen.

 4.0’s and a great light were not helping.  It is  over one on 28 count.   I am trying a little bit each morning.  Some days the eyes cooperate and other days they don’t.    I have had a bit of frogging.  Seems counting to 1 is just as hard as counting to 2.  There are 6 stitch-heavy pages in the chart and prior to starting, I knew no matter how diligent I would not be able to get this one done by July and accepted that.    No need to add pressure.   

Mid-month I attended Camp WannaStitch in Ocean City, MD.   This is the annual EGA event I go to.   Probably been going something like 15 years.   Knowing I needed to have an easy to stitch on piece, I took my French Alphabet Sampler and made good progress.   Still a long way to go but I will get there one stitch at a time.    

She’s a big girl.   411x 411.  Below is what I accomplished over the stitching weekend.   The “N” and part of the “Q”, as well as the border from below the “P” to the corner and across the bottom; and, 16 of the letters in the bottom corner alphabet.    Friends who have already stitched this piece disliked stitching this border but it does not bother me……all I worry about is that it meets!  I am doing this as a FB Leap Year Challenge and I’ve got about 25 months left to finish it up.   I really hope I am done before that.  

Look at our view as we entered the area where we stitched at the Ashore Hotel for Camp WannaStitch.

We pretended we were on a cruise ship.🛳  💦   Below is what I saw over my left shoulder.   Don’t let the view fool you.  It was cold and blustery!🌬  Such a rough life for stitchers.

I promised myself some quilt time and I didn’t break the promise.   I thought I would designate Monday’s as Quilting Day but the calendar is not always agreeing. I was able to get 11 blocks cut and  7 of them sewn.    It felt good to be back at it but it came with a caveat…..cleaning and tidying the craft room before AND after.   I have more than half of the blocks completed. I like to say I am on the downhill side but there is the sashing and corner stones and borders……..I am 7 blocks closer than I was at the start of the year so it is a win.  

So pretty happy with my accomplishments in my stitching corner of the world.  It’s early 2026 but I so far so good on the diligent side.  

The first of February, I am heading back to Tennessee to visit a friend and attend a Knoxville EGA event.   I hope to be able to share more great progress on my French Alphabet Sampler.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by everyone.  Keep on stitching.