Stitch!

 

I don't know if we can call it awesome!🤷🏻‍♀️ somewhere someone said they were done with winter. We haven't even had a winter! 

Instead of the groundhog, Arizona has Agua Fria Freddy who is either a rattlesnake or a Gila Monster. The Gila Monster is a large beaded lizard that lives in the deserts south of me. They're protected and they're venomous. I guess when they bite they will not let go. I didn't think to get a picture of one!

Take a look at what's going on in my yard...

Yes, those are flowers, lol. This happens in April not February! As I've said before, Mom Nature has gone crazy!

Shall we do stitching? Let's go!

I have 2 finishes and 4 pieces that I've been working on.

Here's my finish...

Stacy Nash's bonus pattern that I've called Gingerbread Houses. I finished this on the 27th of January. The big house on the right was not bad at all! It's just lovely! My plan is to finish it as a pillow with either pompom or chenille trim the same color as the floss which was WDW Parchment. I forgot to include what's left of the floss...1 strand! This design took almost the whole skein. 

Next up is the ornament SAL that Carol leads...

I finished the moose at the top right. I measured them for round sticky board and it'll take 4" rounds. They'll be kind of big. I have a 4 ft green Christmas tree, artificial of course, that I'd like to hang these on. I have another moose finish that is from a JCS Christmas ornament mag that I will add to the tree. I might stitch a couple more to fill the tree.

WIPs 

Here we have A Bit of Spring by BBD...

I've added the F, G, T, and the Y. I'd like to be done this month but there's a lot to the letters. 

Next is...

A Victorian Christmas by Samplers and Stitches. Just last night alone while watching flosstubes I stitched in the tree and its pot (ghosty) on the right. It needs hanging flowers now in red. Maybe I can finish this before the 28th which is just 12 days away🫣

Last but not least is my foray back into Halloween! I missed it, lol...

He's coming right along! I'm just moseying along through my WIPs and decided to see if I could finish him. It's close!

Because I got Meowt out, I want to start this chart...

So gorgeous 😍 I could graph 1776-2026 in there somewhere to be my 250 year celebration sampler.

Lately I've been signing up for Patreon accounts. I'm with Hello From Liz Mathews already but jumped on the HOD Christmas ornament Patreon; for tier 1. I'm sure you all have seen the first ornament...

So pretty. I signed up in November for an autoshjp from Barefoot Needleworks? Not sure if that's their name. The autoship is for a new series of charts from Country Cottage Needleworks. Here they are...

I am missing one. The 4th chart is on its way soon. Because I finished Frosty Forest a couple years ago, I'd like to stitch another series onto one piece and these charts are it! Oh here's that lost chart...

I also might stitch this instead for March...

This would be the 4th in the series of White Christmas by HOD. I have 3 stitched already. We shall see🤔

So the 29th of January was my bday. My boss gave me a Visa debit card and I promptly spent it at Primrose Cottage!...

The Toadstool Stitches chart I found on a stash selling site. It was an exclusive to their Sip and Stitch mystery boxes.

I'm feathering my nest, folks! When I move I'll have to clamp down on spending. 

I'm just about done! On March 6th, I have to drive down to Phoenix to see a doctor. Back in January, I ended up with a pain in my gut, front side, and my gut would just swell up. It hurt and I couldn't sleep on my right side or flat on my back because of it. I don't know about your area but around here doc appointments are far out! When the receptionist said March, I thought in my head Well I could be dead by then! When the pain began, I read that soda pop with its carbonation could create bloat in your stomach. So could swallowing air🤷🏻‍♀️ so I lowered my soda intake down to 2 12 oz bottles of Coke Zero a week and started drinking a fiber powder and water drink at night before bed. It has helped as I can now sleep on my right but whatever it is, it's still there. It also leaves me with back soreness on that side. I have sciatica on my left side and my right side has never ached before like it's doing now. My mother died at 49 years of age with renal carcinoma so it's best I get this thing checked.

I believe I'm done. Thanks for your comments last post. Honeybee, I tried to comment on your post from today. I just wanted to say that I agree, stitchy blogs have a place on the net judging by those of us still hanging on!😂

Take care everyone! I'll leave you with this to peruse 👇🏼👇🏼

Lost and found

Helloooo! I haven't really been lost, just sick, again! This time around I lost my sense of smell and nearly taste. A week later, I can now smell again but things taste strange🤷🏻‍♀️ lots of congestion still.

It's been a weird winter and January! For once this month has flown by. Probably because I wasn't looking!🫣

However, I have been stitching, so let's look at that!

I started out the year stitching 4 projects, 1 new start and 3 WIPs, and 2 are now a finishes. I joined Stitching Dreams Carol and her 12 ornaments SAL and finished Christmas Eve, from a JCS ornament issue. I don't have the date of that magazine but if you'd like to know, let me know in the comments.

All the colors are darker than IRL. I used a 40ct linen from Heartstrings Samplery during Jingle Ball. I like to look for unique colored fabric from the designers shops. This fabric was for one of her designs. It's similar to Chives from GAST. One down and 11 more to go. I don't have February's picked out yet but I have one in mind.

Next are my WIPs. Martha Richardson is a finish!!!

I'm not sure of the name of my fabric but it's 36ct and definitely a PTP. Isn't she something?! That mansion is H U G E! I saw someone talking about this sampler and she thought that's a lake with a sailboat on it. It does look like a sailboat. Below that is the large wreath stitched in Otter Creek by GAST which is now my favorite color. If you look at it under good light, there are dk greens, med greens, and what I thought was blue. When I first looked at this chart, I thought the wreath was just a bunch of stitches but no, there are flowers on the top and bottom. I love it! It's an adaptation of an antique and adapted for Needlework Press. 

The next WIP is A Bit of Spring by BBD and in their Ooh La La book...

I finally turned the corner at top right and could cut off the extra fabric getting in my way! Sorry for the wonky-ness. On 36ct Patriot's Brew by R & R. I think I'm going to carry this into February, this and the next piece...

The bonus pattern from Stacy Nash. I wish I could get the correct color of the fabric😕 anyway, I'm stitching on this to the end of this month as long as my WDW Parchment floss lasts! It's coming along nicely. Only thing is I wished I had done a better job placing it on the fabric. That tall house on the right threw me off so I started in the middle. I could've had some extra fabric to start something else on. Oh well!🙂

I'm liking this little plan I have to work on the Christmas ornament and then stitching on WIPs. For finishing the 2 pieces, I'm going to have a new start in February besides the ornament and it's also from the Ooh La La book by BBD.

Stay tuned!

That's it for the stitching. I may have had more to talk about but I can't remember!😂the brain fog is real, folks!

The sun is shining but it's about 43 degrees out. Nowhere near what those of you out East are dealing with. Here's to keeping warm and safe and with stitching on your lap!

See you in February🙋🏻‍♀️

2025 Re-cap and more

Hi everyone! Welcome to my annual re-cap of the doings on my blog. BTW, on the 21st, I celebrated 15 years of blogging. Sometimes I think I'm going to stop but then change my mind. I don't know about other stitchy bloggers but I like to go back into mine to read through the years of what I was stitching. So you're all stuck with me!!

Today before I do the update I'll show what I've been stitching and I even have 3 FFOs. After the update, I'll talk about my plans. So grab a drink and get comfy!

On Black Friday, I started Christmas Carol Sampler by the Primitive Hare. I've picked it up in the month since and have some progress...

I have now gone past the halfway point at the top border. I want to get that top border done and then drop down to go backwards. Mostly, I stitch left to right. Even on 36ct, she'll still be a good size.

I also had a Christmas day start. That's the Santa's Coming to Town sewing roll by Stacy Nash...

Stitched on the called for fabric of 36ct Aspen by WDW, I tracked it down and found this fat quarter on JensStitchingNiche on Etsy, the last one in stock. I'm using mostly the called for floss but I have some subs for the WDW floss of other over dyed floss companies. I nearly have the roof finished and that's taken me the entire time since Christmas day! Lots of filling in of that background color which is WDW Dirt Road. One of my substitutions I wasn't crazy about is the color of the reindeer and the sled bottom, that dark color. It's WDW Chesapeake which I thought was a very dark blue but it's actually very dark green. The DMC sub is what I used and that's DMC 500. I'm still not crazy about it but in Stacy Nash's infinite wisdom, she thought it was a good color! So I'm sticking with it. It's used further down on the trim of the windows. 

For the rest of the pattern, she says to use 2 over 2 for all the snow and on the sides of the house; I can't do that!😁 I am a 1 over 2 stitcher on 36ct🤷🏻‍♀️ That's it for my Christmas start.

I have a bit of progress on my Gingerbread Man bonus pattern, this is how it should look...

 And here's mine. My fabric IRL looks like that of the model. I have stitched in more of that tall skinny house on the left. After I press publish, I'll get back to stitching on this until midnight where I'll start my new start.

Carol, I'm joining you on your 12 Christmas ornaments SAL in 2026, and here's what I have planned...

The fabric is 40ct. The called for count is 36 but I thought the measurements could afford to be tweaked a bit. I'll start this at midnight.

Why am I joining a Christmas ornament SAL? Because here in the next 4 days, I'm off and I'll have time to FFO a few more Christmas ornaments that I have. Carol's SAL will keep me in ornaments for next year.

Btw, you could probably start a drinking game with how many times 'Christmas' appears here on this blog!

What's next? My FFOs!

😍😍😍 They're wonderful and they make a good size for display. On the left is O Tannenbaum by Pineberry Lane Designs. I believe she's on 36ct Cocoa by WDW. Stuffed with sawdust and a black pin holding the bell in the corner. I tend to subscribe to 'less is more'. On the right is, ahem, Christmas Alphabet by the Scarlett House. On 36ct WDW Grey. I stuck 2 red and 1 green pin into this. The picture is not great because it's gloomy out...

I'm at the library.

The 3rd FFO I have is Soot-y Santa by Notforgotten Farm...

Yes, it's a flat ornament, and yes I managed to find a piece of sticky board in my craft/bedroom to fit him on. On top of the chimney and on his tree is Kreinik silver braid. It was easy going until the last bit of the tree and then things got awkward! I'm not a fan of Kreinik but it's all I had. I trimmed him with that pretty faux pom pom and attached a rusty bell at the bottom.

The backing fabric is a favorite but I now have just a small piece left.

Surprise! I have a finish. This is Sweet Pleasure by October House Fiber Arts Designs...

Once again, a few subbed floss for this. I used 36ct Sheep's Straw by R & R. Measurements are 5" x 9". I will mount this on sticky board and set it on a easel display on my kitchen counter.

Carol, I laughed about your comment on pie making! I'm right there with you. I once made, or tried to make, a Pecan Pie. It was a disaster. It was best eaten with a spoon!

Now's a good time to mention the Great Sweetened Dry Cranberries Search! So, 1 of the gifts to a coworker, my daughter and SO, and their roommate was a mini loaf of Cranberry Pumpkin bread. Sweet breads are what I can bake and they turn out great. I waited until the 23rd to buy the cranberries. My favorite store...nope. The Veggie Man said they didn't have dry, fresh, or even frozen cranberries in the store due to problems at a warehouse, wherever that's at. He also said Safeway was probably going to be out too. I went anyway! Nope...the guy says I might have luck at Trader Joe's. We also have a Sprouts here so I went there. Not a cranberry in sight. So off to Trader Joe's where I managed to find dry cranberries but Unsweetened cranberries! What the heck, maybe they'll be find. My coworker is 79 and has some chronic health issues so I thought the less sweet the better. I made her own loaf with the unsweetened. Now I had to think of how to sweeten those cranberries. Voila! Simple Syrup! I had to Google that, lol. One part water to one part sugar. I thought 1 cup sugar to 1 cup of water would do it. Boll it then pour over the cranberries and let them soak. I soaked them for an hour and then baked the loaves. According to the gifteees, the bread was delicious! The recipe is found at Libbys. Whew!

Update time!

I started out the year doing my 61Bday SAL. I was turning 61 and thought it would be fun to start 61 pieces. The previous year I had worked on almost all WIPs. I started 17 projects and actually finished 9 of them. I stopped in May to stitch an exchange piece and had too much fun starting things and WIP-ping after that. I never went back. 

All those starts didn't do too much damage as I'm left with 23 WIPs on this last day of 2025. 

Finishes I had 22, including those SAL finishes. Not bad.

As for reading books... just one🫤 the same book I started the year out with and I'm only a little past the halfway point. I used to be a voracious book reader. On Goodreads, I'd join the challenge and read 15 to 20 books. Now I can't get through 1! It's stitching, it's taken over, lol!

Plans for 2026! Finish that book!!

I am all over the place with stitching 2026. At first I was joining WIPGO, then Christmas WIPGO, and now no WIPGO! I did pull out a couple WIPs to work on though, and these are...

Martha! She's so small! I'll take a week in between my ornament stitching to get some progress going. The other is...

The Noel Sampler by WTN&T. I've seen this on so many flosstubes that I thought I should just get back to it. I may even add another old WIP to my month so I'll have 3 WIPs to stitch each week and the ornament SAL the other week. 

Sounds like a winner!

Thanks as always for commenting, thanks for joining me this year for my stitching adventures. I'm coming up on 62 years in January. I don't think I'm retiring just yet. I may hold out to 65 but we'll see.

Take care and see you in 2026!

Many wishes for health and happiness and lots of stitching!🎊🎉🤗 

Christmas 🎄🎁

Greetings from a balmy day in AZ. Hope those of you in winter conditions are staying warm and cozy.

Turkey Day was wonderful! We had a lot of food including a turkey and a spiral ham. I ate leftovers for 4 days😂

So Jingle Ball has came and went. I didn't get to watch the Stacy Nash video for the Gingerbread Man piece but I can still access it in January. Like last year, my daughter gave me Christmas cash early and I spent it in Stacy Nash's shop, lol. 

I also bought from Heartstring Samplery and a PDF from the Annie Beez shop. Stay tuned for my Christmas day start, it could be from my new stash of Stacy Nash. I've really become a huge fan😍

So once again, I've been tardy with another post, just about a month lost. I've been under the weather for 2 weeks but last Friday I felt terrible. A couple days before I noticed my throat feeling irritated. I thought it was from sour candy I'd been eating. Needless to say I've been coughing my lungs up, one nostril runs and then it plugs up and then the other begins running. But it's the coughing that's been hard to handle. Nyquil is allowing me to sleep at night finally because that Friday night I don't think I slept at all. It was horrible. Added to that is a constant headache. Tomorrow I'm calling the local urgent care and see what they're charging for a COVID test. I work at a school and the last thing I want to do is set off a firestorm with that! 

I called out of work tonight and now I'm trying to put a blog post together🤷🏻‍♀️wish me luck!

The Christmas stitching marathon continues! Let's look at what I've been working on..

I finished O'Tannenbaum by Pineberry Designs..

Isn't it pretty?! I'm pretty certain the fabric is Weeks Cocoa 36ct. I was watching the Periwinkle Stitcher Sian's flosstube before this and she held up her sampler by Mani di Donna that is on Cocoa and I thought Yep, that's it! The tag said Confederate Grey but that's a mistake. I've got it sewed up but needs to be stuffed and embellished. 

I also sewed up Christmas Alphabet by the Scarlett House...

She looks wonky because I have partially stuffed her with sawdust and need to finish that. It's sooo messy though. 

How about a start or two? Sometime after December 1, I picked up this HOD piece, started and finished it, all in 3 days...

My picture is not so great🫤but this is my favorite of the 3 that I have stitched up, North Pole Trading Co. I need 6 more patterns in this series, White Christmas. I have the finishing pack for all of them and the templates to cut the mat board. This picture is not giving this sweet little design due justice. 

Another start after Dec 1, is Sweet Pleasure by October House Fiber Arts. I can't tell if I bought it or it's a freebie but here it is...

On 36ct Sheep's Straw by R&R. Christmas pies, right? I have since stitched in the mixing bowl that is to the lower left of the flour sack that is all white. I had to do some substituting with DMC or other hand dyed floss but it's coming along. It took me no time to stitch in the words. Looks like I'm 2 thirds of the way done👍🏼 

How 'bout 1 more start😁here's that bonus chart that Stacy Nash added to the chart for the Gingerbread Man. Using WDW Parchment, I just started this earlier this evening. Using the same fabric as for the G Man, 36ct Cocoa by Blackberry Primitives, here's what I've done...

I'm stitching the wall of a taller gingerbread house on the left. There'll be another tall and wider house on the right. I had to center start this because I didn't trust my placement of my starting stitches. I'm hoping to finish this before December is over. It'll be a pillow, albeit a big pillow! I want it to look like the model. I don't have a picture but if you go to Stacy Nash's IG and scroll down to her post of her Jingle Ball class subjects, you'll see it. I think I want to add small off white pom-poms to trim it. Eventually, I'd like to have a Gingerbread vignette for next Christmas going. I have a Gingerbread pattern from Stitching With the Housewives that I won earlier this year. I'll probably be in my new place by the 2nd week of January and you can bet I'm going to go all out with decorating with all my cross stitch goodies😍can't wait!

And the last start was my Black Friday start...

Here's the Christmas Carol Sampler by the Primitive Hare, on 36ct Thornfield by Needle & Flax. I'm enjoying this, watched the movie with Jim Carrey while stitching. That top border is at the halfway point across. It's still going to be a good size, even on 36ct. 

That's it for all my stitching!

I recently broke one of my readers so I bought another...

A 3.25, I'm styling! The frame is NyQuil green, lol, which is fitting since I've been living on that vile tasting stuff for nearly 3 nights!

Since I'm moving soon, I thought I better start packing stuff. My bedroom/craft room is going to be the first room to get packed...

I have another box of that same size filled with pin pillows, hanging pillows, and flat ornaments. I had everything hanging on 2 walls in my room and now they're bare. The walls look sad as do these boxes. I still have to box up my cube finishes, my tall plastic storage tower filled with trims, ribbons, buttons, rusty bells, etc etc. I have 2 and 3 drawer plastic storage things all lining 1 wall, some are empty. Three bookcases, 1 is tall. That's all just in my bedroom! I can't forget my bed!😂

That will be my life from the last week of December into January🙂

Alright! I believe this is it! Hooray for my phone sticking it out with me. 

Thanks to all for commenting on the last post! Jackie, so glad you stopped by and left a comment! Honeybee, I'm still trying to get through your past years Christmas Open Houses! Last but not least, all of you who read my blog! Thanks for dropping in🙂

Just 10 days before Christmas, I should be back before Christmas to show some Christmas FFOs.

Take care and see you soon!

Christmas 100%

Helloooo everyone! It feels like I've been gone forever but it's been just 16 days. How in the world did we get to the middle of November?!? It's madness! Hope you're all well!

Today I have 3 finishes, progress on a WIP, a few plans, and a near Jingle Ball pre-stitch done, all Christmas! I was stitching Halloween for 2 straight months!! It was time to clear the slate. So let's look at what I worked on.

November 1st found me starting Christmas Alphabet by the Scarlett House...

And it's finished, just 10 days later. I couldn't put it down! It's on 36ct linen, it might be Confederate Grey or just Grey now. I made a substitution for the red color. It called for Buckeye Scarlet but mine was bright red when I wanted it to be a bit darker. I used Cranberry for all the red. I'll turn it into a pin pillow. I may have had a fan girl moment on Instagram when I posted my start. Tanya Brockmeyer commented "Enjoy"!!😏

My Halloween night finish was Fall Frolic, also by the Scarlett House...

A lot packed into a small space! Also on 36ct linen but not sure of the dyer. It turned out great. I love the squirrel with the pumpkin. 

Third finish was a tiny Christmas piece by Notforgotten Farm that I snuck in in the middle of Halloween stitching! Here's Sooty Santa...

He is soot-y, for sure! That's just a paper frame laid on the stitching. I think this is stitched on 32ct linen. FYI-I need to get better at tagging my spare linen pieces with what count and color! I think he'll be turned into a pin pillow too. I still haven't gotten my hands on sticky mat board. Santa took just 3 days, in between work. 

I may have mentioned that I joined the Jingle Ball class of Stacy Nash, the Gingerbread Boy. I was really after the bonus pattern that's included. So I bought the called for linen from Blackberry Primitives that weekend when ball tickets became available and received the fabric last week. It's 36ct Hot Cocoa, very pretty dark brown/gold color. However, I can only stitch on the Boy during the day! I can't see the holes at night, lol. Anyway, here he is...

He's about 4 1/2" tall, maybe to 3" wide. On the inside of the white outline are scattered stitches of Pink Sand (WDW). I have those to add on the right side from the candy cane down, and the front will be done👍🏼 I have to start the back side soon. I've seen this made into pillows, and they're cute but I'd like to make this into the sewing book and challenge myself. My picture is a little washed out though, the fabric is darker.

I wanted to join the Hello Liz Matthew's class but the kit is nearly $100 and the PDF is $40. I'm moving soon and will be renting a moving van so I have to be careful with my spending.

Next up is 

O' Tannenbaum. My lone WIP, I stitch on this at night because I can see the holes! It's not very big as you can see. Most of my progress was made last night. You can't see it on the chart but with the Avocado border are red single stitches. I put on my big girl panties and stitched them all in on the left border and it hasn't been that bad😂 What is a big mystery is my fabric. I kitted this up a long time ago and this could be a 61 bday SAL start earlier this year. I love the color but as for the count who knows. I have a card that says 40ct but I can easily see through it! It also says WDW Confederate Grey but it looks nothing like my other Confederate Grey! At any rate, I think I can finish this before the end of this month. The building the angels are in is not filled in with stitches so there's that. 

Plans!

I'll start this pretty stitching by SubRosa soon...

I'm in a primitive stitching group on FB and the designer advertised this there so ka-ching!! I have 4 called for flosses so far and will raid my WIPs for WDW Moss for the trees or just look for an over dyed floss that looks the same. I have the red for the Cardinals wing but may find a different red for the bird's body; it's too bright for my liking. 

Etsy has been dangerous for my bank account! I bought a PDF from Crocette a Gogo but can't find the printout. It's super pretty and I'll start it when I find it. Funny thing but I resisted PDFs when they first came out. Now, I'm more than happy to buy them.

For Black Friday I'm starting a piece that I have stitched before and that's 

Christmas Carol Sampler by The Primitive Hare. It'll be a good bit smaller because my linen is 36ct Thornberg (sp?). My first piece was on 30ct and it was large. That's been my MO lately, stitch things on high count to shrink them down. I have all the called for floss. Can't wait to start this!

That's it for stitching!

Thanksgiving coming up and we're still in the planning stages for our meal. I'm getting a turkey from work but my daughter and her SO and their roommate might want something else. I'm not crazy for Prime Rib and a ham sounds good to me. One thing for sure is the family fruit salad! My mom has been gone for almost 36 years. She was making the salad for 20 some years already and I picked up the fruit salad torch after she passed. It's not Thanksgiving with out our salad, lol! 

Finally, we're getting some late fall weather. I have the heater running and it's been rainy on and off. Heck, it's been in the middle 70s here for 2 months! So it's been nice having to wear a light sweater to go out. 

And that's all she wrote! Thank you as always for commenting and also for checking out my Halloween party. I enjoyed my night stitching and watching Vincent Price, Sleepy Hollow, and Hocus Pocus.

Because I won't be back before December, I want to wish all who celebrate a

Take care and stay safe😊