When It Rains, I Stitch
cross stitch · knitted cowl · Knitting · Mirabilia · Pillows · Tiny Modernist · yarn

When It Rains, I Stitch

My Time Stitching6 Comments

Hello my Blogging friends! We’ve had a lot of rain where I am, so what to do when it rains? Stay in and stitch! On Saturday I pulled out my May Pillow kit from Pine Mountain Designs. These pillows are no longer available, but there are other cute pillow designs from Pine Mountain Designs that are so cute.

It didn’t look like it would take me too long to stitch. Could I get it done before May 1st?

So I pulled out all of my supplies and got busy. I stitched on it for quite a bit on Saturday. And then on Sunday I stitched on it some more. And then I ran into some trouble. I was one stitch off-after stitching the flowers and swirls on top and the letters M A and then the Y was going to run into a flower. I could have left it….but I didn’t. I ripped out all that I had put in on Sunday. Now I was doubting if I would get it finished before midnight. But I did! With about 40 minutes to spare.

So cute! I couldn’t wait to pull the pillow out of the April case and put the May inside.

So Happy May!! These pillows look like they would be pretty quick to stitch up, but they do take a bit of time. Both the April and May took me 2 days to stitch up. I have no idea what the fabric count is, but I used 3 strands of the included floss over one. Another pillow off the to do list and 5 more to go!

I also started a knitting project after not having a project on my needles since finishing my 22 Little Clouds shawlette.

This is the March Garden Society Ocean kit. I love everything about this kit. The colors are gorgeous and I really like the Cowl pattern so that is what I will knit with this Blossoms skein of Mary Ann fingering yarn in color Actiniae.

The yarn is so soft. I already can’t wait to get to the next color! And look at that cute but dangerous fish progress marker. So cool.

Finally! Some lighter green is starting to emerge. So exciting! Makes me want to knit more and faster.

I really love how these Blossoms very gradually change colors. It may take a bit to get to the next color, but it is so worth it.

So pretty!!

This is where I left it this morning. Just getting into the peachy/orangy color. So beautiful! I usually knit in the morning with my coffee. You can see my new coffee cup in the last picture. I purchased it from the Heidi Swap Shop. Stop the Blur is the name of her memory planning process. Days, Events, and vacations go by so quickly. Like a blur. Getting those moments documented is important to me. I am so far behind in my memory planning. Almost 8 months. I am hoping to get back to it soon.

Anyway, I also stitched on Blossom. When I posted about her last, I was here:

I stitched and stitched.

She is such an enjoyable stitch. Her colors are so bright and cheerful. Here is where I left her on Friday night.

I just love her! She is from Mirabilia and I am stitching her on 16ct Aida Busy Izzy from Fabrics by Steph. I will have to put her aside for a bit. Last night part 2 of the Ocean Pearl SAL from Tiny Modernist came out, so I will probably stitch on that one for the next couple of weeks. So that is what I have been stitching on. I did get a little bit of haul this week.

I watched a flosstube on Youtube (I do believe it was Sanctum Stitching) where someone was stitching on those cute Halloween pieces from Hands On Designs. I thought they were so cute and I just had to order them. Probably won’t get to them this year, but now they are in my stash. The little heart hoops are so cute. I also ordered some Hexagons and I do have some small round one’s from Stampin’ Up! in my stash. These will be so cute to put a tiny stitch into. I saw them made up on Nichol Sophr’s flosstube. I am not sure what I will be stitching for them, but I will find something. The book I ordered on Amazon. It is full of cross stitch patterns from the Tiny Modernist. Lots of cute things in there. And the thread is for a Halloween project that I was thinking of stitching later this year. It was the only thread I was missing.

So, that is what I have been up to the last few weeks. What are you up to?

Happy Stitching!

ginny

Back To Blossom
cross stitch · Fabric · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Mirabilia · Tiny Modernist · Uncategorized

Back To Blossom

My Time Stitching4 Comments

Hello my blogging friends! I finished part 1 of the Ocean Pearl SAL from the Tiny Modernist.

I can’t wait for part 2 to come out. This is such a fun stitch. I am using all of the suggested overdyed flosses for this one and I like how it is stitching up. The DMC equivalents are also provided. The fabric is 16ct aida Cascade (retired color) from Fabrics by Steph.

After finishing Ocean Pearl, I knew I had to pull Blossom out. I have been wanting to get back to her the last few months. She is from Mirabilia and she is just the sweetest!

I haven’t stitched on her in almost a year and was so excited to pull her out. I have been looking forward to stitching all of her beautiful colors. I actually stitched on this for a couple of nights before taking this photo, so I don’t have picture of where I was when I put her down almost a year ago.

My photos really do not do her any justice at all. Her colors are so beautiful, bright and cheery. Perfect for getting into the Spring mood even when the weather outside is not saying Spring.

Just look at those colors! So pretty.

So that is where I am with her as of last night. I am stitching her on 16ct aida Busy Izzy from Fabrics By Steph. This fabric has many of the same colors as in Blossom, but much paler, so she really pops on this fabric. I think I made the perfect fabric choice for this one.

I am in desperate need of some new scroll frames. If you use a scroll frame that you love, I would love to hear about it. Let me know in the comments. I would also love to know what you are working on this week.

Happy Stitching!

ginny

Busy Crafting and Purging
cross stitch · Cross Stitch Patterns · Durene Jones · Fabric · Hand Dyed Fabrics · organization · Pillows · Tiny Modernist

Busy Crafting and Purging

My Time Stitching7 Comments

Hello blogging friends! How are you doing? The sun is shining here today. Still a little nippy outside, but warmer temperatures are coming next week.

This week was a busy week for me. I spent a lot of time going through my crafting stash and doing a bit of reorganizing and getting rid of what I no longer want. I went through all of my Mirabilia and Nora Corbett patterns and made sure what was kitted was put into my Xstitch app as kitted. Even if it was just a bead pack or fabric. I was pretty much caught up on that. But there were a lot of patterns that I needed to add. Serendipitous Jo reminded me of the Inventory part of the app. There were some items already in the inventory section, so I have used it in the past. I think the reason I didn’t continue using it was because you can’t put a photo of the pattern in that section. But I guess when I go to stitch that pattern, I can move it to kitted and then add a photo. Almost none of my Nora Corbett patterns were in the app unless they were kitted. I added all of the Nora’s and a few Miras; there are a lot. I have been collecting them since the mid 90’s. They have their own storage trunk!

I still have a whole filing cabinet of patterns to go through maybe this week. I also went through a closet that had 2 bins of yarn in it. I will probably never use that yarn, so I donated all of it to a local senior center. The Activities Director was quite pleased as she said that a lot of the women don’t get to get out and shop for yarn. I am happy that it will bring joy to the women there. I am really trying hard to let go of the things that I know I will not use or no longer want. I guess this is my Spring-cleaning phase. Anyway, enough of that. Now on to the crafting.

I pulled out the April pillow to get it started. Good thing, too, because it is more of an Easter themed pillow.

I had forgotten how large the holes in the canvas are. Three strands don’t really give enough coverage, but that’s ok. It is what the kit came with so that is what I am going with.

It only took me about 2 1/2 days to get the stitching done on this one. When I finished, I noticed this:

I tucked the threads in and did a little stitching on the back by hand. Hopefully it holds up. I didn’t see this when I started the pillow, so maybe I pulled the piece too tight in the hoop. I do love a tight as a drum fabric. So, note to self; do not pull the next pillow to tightly in the hoop.

I think it turned out pretty cute and it is finished in time for Easter too. This is an old kit from Pine Mountain Designs. Another pillow finished, and 6 more to go.

I also stitched a bit on the Ocean Pearl SAL from Tiny Modernist.

I really like working on this piece. Very relaxing. I am stitching on 16ct Aida Cascade from Fabrics By Stephanie. And I thought this one was going to be my last new start for a while. You know, I had planned on getting back to my WIP’s. But just look at what I saw while browsing social media the other day!!!

Oh my gosh you guys! I saw this posted in the Durene Jones Cross Stitch group by Heather Hopkins. I hope that she does not mind me posting this picture here. But I think this is the cutest pattern and the best finish ever! I absolutely fell in love with this pattern and this finish! It is not usually my style of pattern, but I just gushed at the sight of this. So much so that I immediately went to Durene Jones’ Etsy shop and purchased the pattern.

It is the Haberdashery Shop, and it is so adorable. I just want to start it right now! I want to stitch this on a soft aida. I don’t know why. It just came into my mind that it should be stitched on soft aida. So, I will look through my stash and see what I can find. It is a full coverage piece, so the color really shouldn’t matter. Probably something light though. I will let you know what I find and if I caved and started it 😉

Well, that is what I have been up to. For now, it’s time to do a little cleaning up in my craft room. What have you been up to lately?

Happy Stitching,

ginny

I Started A New SAL and Project Bags
cross stitch · Fabric · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Mermaids · Mystery Stitch A Long · Project Bags · Stitch A Long · Tiny Modernist

I Started A New SAL and Project Bags

My Time Stitching10 Comments

Hello blogging friends! Spring still has not arrived where I am. Severe weather is in order for today, so I am getting my blogging done early.

In a previous post I told you a little about a new SAL that I signed up for.

The Ocean Pearl Series by Tiny Modernist. The word Ocean grabbed me as well as the cute little mermaid. I showed you that I found fabric in my stash (Bonus!!) and ordered the threads. The fabric is 16ct Aida in color Cascade by Fabrics By Stephanie. I am using the dyed flosses from Classic Colorworks and Weeks Dye Works as well as 3 DMC colors as recommended.

The first section came out on April 1 and I was so excited to get started.

So I was stitching on this project and the hanging threads were driving me crazy. So I pulled out some of my extra clear bobbins from GWStitchinDepot and my label printer.

I don’t think I can be a floss drop stitcher. I know that there is not much floss on Classic Color Works cards, but I don’t like working with them hanging and having to put the floss back through the hole. I am a bobbin girl and I love these clear bobbins that I had purchased a while ago. I had put some CCW threads and Waterlilies threads on these bobbins before, so I already had a file saved in my PT Touch. So all I had to do was open the file, change the text for each color and print them out. I did have to trim them a little so they would fit at the top of my bobbin.

Ahhh. This is so much better! Now I can continue stitching. This is where I am at with Ocean Pearl.

Just look at that cute little seahorse and those little fish! This is a cutesy pattern, but I am really liking it. And I do like stitching with Classic Color Works threads and Weeks Dye Works threads. There is something about stitching one X at a time that feels different, but fun. And of course, a cute mermaid bag for a cute mermaid project. I’m not sure if I showed that bag before or not. These are my favorite project bags from @clevergirldesignsco. She does a beautiful job on her construction and choosing fabrics. At the end of 2022 my husband bought me another year of bags. One a month for a year, but I let Kristine know that she can do them anytime and the last couple of years she has been doing 2 or 3 at a time.

These are my November and December bags plus an added bonus of an extra mermaid tail zipper pull or knitting progress marker. These bags have the vinyl fronts which I LOVE. That way I don’t have to unzip the bag to see what is inside. I have many of these bags and love that I can just flip through them.

Here are my January, February and March bags. This is the front of the bags with the vinyl fronts.

This is the back of the bags. I never have any idea what my bags will look like. They are all a surprise when I get them. But I know they will be beautiful and very well made. Kristine has a knack for putting prints with prints that look amazing together. All of my bags have projects in them. The yellow bag on the right contains my Rainbow Dice project because the colors are so similar.

I recently purchased some pink bins to hold all of my project bags. The other pink bin on the shelf above holds all of my leftover yarn from projects. It is full.

All of my project bags have a kitted project in them. And as you can see in the left bin, I still have to replace some of those little plastic bags with pretty Clevergirl bags. I think by the end of the year I will make that goal.

So that is what I have been up to. How do you store your kitted projects?

Happy Stitching!

ginny

My Spring FFO
Craft projects · cross stitch · Fabric · Pillows

My Spring FFO

My Time Stitching12 Comments

Hello blogging friends! It is a dreary day here today. The perfect day to be inside making a blog post.

So when I last posted about my Spring Basket piece, I was almost finished stitching it. I just had about half of the border left. Well, I did finish all the stitching and it turned out so cute.

Please excuse the wrinkles. I just love the colors in this piece. The pinks and corals are so pretty and the white really does pop on the Dirty Aida. So now that it is finished, my plan was to turn it into a pillow.

I had so much anxiety about cutting into this fabric. I pressed it and ironed on some interfacing and walked away. And walked away many times. But then I did it! I cut it out! Great! On to the sewing.

I was so nervous throughout this whole process. I didn’t get any pictures of the sewn piece and turning it outside right and using a chopstick to gently push out the corners. I was so afraid of poking a hole through my aida that my corners on the finished pillow are not pointy at all. And then I stuffed the pillow. I have stuffed things before, so I know how to pull apart the polyfil and push it into the object. I had no idea how much I needed to stuff it! I second guessed every step of this process including stuffing! I stuffed and unstuffed until I thought it was right. Then I stuffed in some more and thought that was too much. So I pulled some out. And then I pulled even more out. Then I Added a little more back in. I Pushed polyfil into each of the corners and added more polyfil. Then it seemed like the gap in the opening wouldn’t close nicley, so I pulled out some of the stuffing. Finally decided it was perfect and I sewed the opening closed. And it was finished.

My first pillow finish. It is not perfect. As I said, my corners could have pushed out a bit more and it definitely needs more polyfil, but it is what it is and I am happy with it. I definitely want to give a shoutout to @clevergirldesignsco. In a panic before I could cut into the fabric, I messaged her for advice and she was so helpful and encouraging. And very patient with me with all of my questions. So now that I have my first cross stitch pillow done, it should be easier the next time, right? At least I should feel a little more comfortable cutting the fabric? We’ll see. Here is how I have my cute little pillow displayed in plenty of time for Easter.

The details: Spring Basket by Crocette a gogo’. Stitched on 16ct Dirty Aida and fully finished by me, Ginny 😉

So that is what I have been up to. Did you make a special project for Easter or Spring?

Happy Stitching!

ginny

Today is The Day!
Give-away

Today is The Day!

My Time Stitching11 Comments

Hello my blogging friends. What a week! It flew by! I did finish the stitching on Spring Basket, but I don’t have a picture. I am hoping to turn it into a little pillow today. I will post a picture when I get it fully finished.

So, I spent the morning going through the comments for all of my giveaways. I am not very techie so I have no idea about those computer picking things, so I did it old school; I wrote out all the names on paper and put them into a hat. So, here are the winners!

For day 1 – Reina Mariposa is Southern Patches!

Day 2- Berroco Yarn – Myparamedicafterlife

Day 3- Blossom – Bkgriffinsnest

Day 4a – Jazlyn fabric – Marielinton

Day 4b – Lugana fabric – Marilyn

Day 5 – Knittterly Things yarn – Pink

Da6 6 – CCN Christmas pattern – Claire93

I wish I had a prize for everyone who left me a comment because you all are so special. You have made blogging so much fun for me. So I thank you all for visiting and commenting and participating in my giveaways. You made my 11 year Blogaversary so special. I look forward to blogging for the next 11 years! So if I pulled your name, email me at mytimestitching@gmail.com with your address so that I can get your prize to you.

Enjoy your stitching and I will see you soon!

Happy Stitching!

ginny

My Time Stitching
Country Cottage Needleworks · cross stitch · Give-away · patterns · WIP

My Time Stitching

My Time Stitching17 Comments

Hello blogging friends! I’m back for my 6th day in a row with another quick post. I didn’t know if I could do it, but I did. It is the 6th and final day of my blogaversary celebration. My last giveaway will be at the bottom of this post. remember to use the special code word in your comment for today and the previous 5 posts. I will draw for all of the prizes on March 31, 2023 and post the results here on my blog. I truly don’t know where the last 11 years went, but I have had fun with this blog. I have enjoyed posting and sharing what I have been up to and reading your comments and getting to know you through your blogs, too. I have really enjoyed my blog and hopefully you have, too. So what have I been up to since yesterday?

Still stitching on Spring Basket. Sorry about the wrinkles, but I don’t really feel like ironing it just to get it all wrinkled again when I work on it later. It is a more involved stitch than I first thought, but I really am enjoying it. I thought about leaving the border off, but I think it really adds to the design. I just have to finish the border and decide how I want to finish it. The next time that I post, it will be a FFO (Fully Finished Object)

Now for my last giveaway. Another cross stitch pattern. Another favorite designer, Country Cottage Needleworks.

I have many of this designer’s patterns in my stash and I loved this one so much I purchased it twice, LOL. So now I am giving you a chance to win this one. Put code word Christmas in your comment if you would like a chance to win it.

I won’t post again until March 31 when I have picked all of the winners. Again I want to thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and leaving comments. I try to read and respond to each and every one. I have enjoyed sharing what I am up to with you the last 11 years and I look forward to many more. Thank you ❤

Happy Stitching!

ginny

Stitch Progress and Day 5 Blogaversary Celebration
cross stitch · Give-away · Pillows · yarn

Stitch Progress and Day 5 Blogaversary Celebration

My Time Stitching11 Comments

Hello blogging friends. This post will be pretty short as I am pressed for time. But I did want to hop on with my Day #5 giveaway. First a peek at my Spring Basket progress.

Oh this is looking so sweet! I am almost finished with the rabbit on the right and then I will start the border. I just love this little stitch! Do you recognize the pillow in the background? I purchased all of the month’s pillows from the Pine Mountain series back in 2007 I believe. I talked about finishing the rest of the pillows in an old blog post. Well, they all were somehow tucked away in a bag that I recently found. I still have 6 or 7 pillows to finish. So now that I have found them again, I will have to work on getting them all finished. Of course April-August for sure have not been stitched. Fingers crossed I can get the April one finished for display sometime in April.

Now onto the giveaway. You know I love hand dyed yarn. This yarn is from a local to me dyer. She makes the most amazing self striping sock yarns! I have no idea how to knit socks, but it may be on my bucket list 😉 I thought this skein would make a very cool pair of socks. Or anything else you would want to make with it. It is “400 yards of self striping Goodness”. Put the code Sock Yarn in your comment if you would like a chance to win this. I will draw winners on March 31, 2023 along with the drawings for the last 4 days of giveaways.

That is all I have for today! I hope you are doing something fun like stitching.

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

Stitchy Haul and Stitchy Progress
cross stitch · Fabric · Floss · Hand Dyed Fabrics · New stash!

Stitchy Haul and Stitchy Progress

My Time Stitching15 Comments

Hello blogging friends! It is 6:39 and it is still daylight outside! The sun is still out there, the sky is blue and the clouds are big and puffy. This makes me happy!

A few weeks ago I shopped at my Local Needlework Shop for the last time. They are closing in just a couple of days and this makes me so sad. They have been my go to shop for all things stitchy for the last 28 years. They have been open for 32 years and have decided it is time to retire. I will miss them so much, but I wish them much happiness in their retirement. So I went and picked up my Nashville Market goodies and did some shopping.

I love all wonderful stitchy stuff I picked up, but shopping that day was bittersweet. Just look at all of those luscious threads! Like I need more. Um, yes I do! LOL I would have added more, but it was a little difficult getting to everything with so many people in there shopping at a discount. I am just happy I was able to get there and say goodbye to the girls. I will miss them. The shop was about 40 minutes from my house. Not sure how far the closest shop is now. Too far. There is always the internet, right?

I have made good progress on my Spring basket. It is looking so cute!

I am really enjoying working on this little project. I am leaning towards finishing this as a little pillow to display on a table or shelf.

Today is day 4 of my Giveaway. You know how much I love hand dyed fabric! I have 2 beautiful pieces of fabric that I will never stitch on because they are not 16ct.

This one is a 28ct Jazlyn solo from Silkweaver. It is 18 x 26 and in the photo it is folded in half. The green is lighter in person and the splotches are purple to brown. I am sure I purchased this for a mermaid if that helps with the coloring. If you would like a chance to win this fabric, please put the code word Jazlyn in your comment.

This fabric is also folded in half and is a 32ct Lugana solo from Silkweaver and is 16″ x 25″. If you would like the chance to win this fabric, please put the code word Lugana in your comment. I will draw winners on March 31, 2023 and announce them in a blog post that day.

That is what I have been up to. What are you crafting on?

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

Spring Basket Progress and Some New Things
cross stitch · Fabric · Floss · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Mirabilia · New stash! · patterns · Stitch A Long

Spring Basket Progress and Some New Things

My Time Stitching14 Comments

Hello my blogging friends! How is your Sunday going? Mine was spent doing laudry, a visit from my kids and some stitchy time. Here is my progress on Spring Basket:

The design is not as small as I thought it would be. I was thinking it would go quicker than it is, but it is going well. I love the colors and have been thinking about fabrics I would like for the back if I do turn this into a small pillow. I think pink with coral flowers. We’ll see. Again, this is Spring Basket by Crocette a Gogo’ and I am stitching on 16ct Aida in color Dirty Aida.

So watching flosstubes has made me want to go through my stash and revisit my older patterns and fabrics and see what I have and what kit needs what. I do have the Xstitch app on my phone and am petty religious about putting new things in there and moving things that I start into the start section with a start date. But some of my patterns from 15-20 years or more ago are not in there. So that has been an ongoing project for the last week or so. I have the free version of the app, so there isn’t a place to put just a pattern. So when I buy a pattern and put it in the app, I have to put it in the kitted category even if it isn’t kitted. Kind of weird. But it reminds me of what I have. Do you use the XStitch app? Do you have the version that you have to pay for and do you like it?

One of my flosstube friends, Kenny, from Kenny Stitches showed some wonderful things he has added to his stash. One thing that really caught my eye was a Luca-S kit. I had never heard of this company before and had to find this kit:

This is White Santa with Christmas Tree. I immediately fell in love with this beautiful kit. I love the colors and just had to have it. I actually found this one on Amazon, so I didn’t have to wait long for it to arrive. I also love that it comes with 16ct aida fabric. Bonus for me as I pretty much only stitch on 16ct aida. And it comes with all the threads.

So beautifully laid out, too. They are Anchor threads and I don’t remember if I have ever used Anchor threads before. If I have, it may have been very little. I do have some Anchor threads kitted up for a Mirabilia conversion but haven’t started that one. The threads feel really nice on the cards and I am sure they will be fine. I think this kit is very well put together and I can’t wait to stitch on this one. I also could not resist adding this kit to my order while looking for the Santa:

Sakura. This is so adorable! I love Cherry Blossoms and the little Pixie is just so cute. It, too, came with a piece of 16ct white Aida and all of the threads.

Such beautiful colors! Those pinks and corals and tans just jump right out to me . I can’t wait to stitch this one up some day, too. I am really impressed with these kits. I love that the floss is wound on the cards and the symbols are printed above each thread. And if you look at the card on the right, there is a little hole to the right of the symbol that you can punch out to hang your extra threads until you need them. So nice.

I have one other project that I kitted up this week. This one showed up on Facebook from Tiny Modernist and just couldn’t resist purchasing it.

Hello, there is a little mermaid there! So you see why I could not resist. I don’t think I have stitched a Tiny Modernist pattern before, but I know that I have a few in my stash. Since I am not doing any SAL’s right now and this one is only 3 months long and it is small, I just had to jump on it. So I did a little stash diving for threads and fabric.

I found this small piece of 16ct Aida Cascade from Fabrics By Stephanie and thought it would be perfect for an ocean themed project. It is perfectly sized, too, so I think it was meant to be 🙂 I decided I want to do them in the specialty threads, but there is a DMC conversion also. I think the threads go well with the fabric. The Sea Glass color may be a little iffy, but we’ll see when we get there. I already can’t wait for the first of April!

That is all I have to share today except for my giveaway #3.

Since Mirabilia is another one of my favorite designers, I couldn’t leave one of her patterns out of my give-away. I purchased 2 of this pattern, Blossom, last March. One for me and one for a give-away for last year’s blogaversary, but it got away from me. So I put it aside for this year. I started stitching this one last year and have been wanting to get back to her the last couple of months. When I go to pick up one of my WIP’s, she is the one I will grab. So use code word MIRABILIA in your comment if you would like a chance to win this pattern. I will draw a winner for this and my other 2 giveaways on March 31.

Happy Stitching!

Ginny