cross stitch · Cross Stitch Patterns · Fabric · Floss · Hand Dyed Fabrics · knitted cowl · Knitting · Mermaids · Mystery Stitch A Long · Pillows · Stitch A Long · Tiny Modernist

I Stitched May Away


Hello my blogging friends! Happy June! Let’s hope it doesn’t go by as quickly as May did. Sadly, I only had one post in May. I was sick for about 2 weeks shortly after my last post. And then getting back to normal took a bit. Nothing serious, but it was my first time getting sick in 5 years and I guess my immune system was sluggish. Hubby was sick first with a sinus infection, and maybe shared with me? We had also made the decision to go without masks, so maybe we picked up something while out and about one day. Anyway, I am feeling much better now and thought I would hop on to the blog and share what I have stitched on during the month of May.

First, I did finish the Anchored Waves Cowl by Stephanie Shiman using a beautiful Wonderland Yarn Blossom cake.

Just look at that fade!!! Wonderland Yarns really do have the most awesome yarns that fade so perfect. It really turned out beautifully.

I look forward to wearing this one in the fall and winter. I don’t have anything else on my needles except for my Airplane scarf, which is my travel project. I didn’t get a picture of it for this post. I have been wanting to make some summer tops for myself. I picked a crochet top from Berroco. So cute. But you know how my crocheting goes. If I don’t have pictures and specific instructions, it’s pretty much not going to happen. I couldn’t get gauge and my sides were not straight on my swatch. So, I decided to purchase a book with some summer tops from Berroco, using the yarn I had bought called Isola. The one I wanted to make does not have written instructions. Maybe they all only have charts, so I nixed that one, too. So for now, no knitting. On to cross stitch.

I stitched on the Ocean Pearl SAL from Tiny Modernist Cross Stitching.

The reason I decided to do this SAL is the Mermaid, of course. She is so cute. And on the right side of the treasure chest, the pattern has a pirate there. I wasn’t sure if he would be an important part of the rest of the design, but I decided not to stitch him. Instead, I added another mermaid 🙂

So cute!! I really enjoyed stitching on this one while I was not feeling well. I am using all of the called for Fancy Flosses and stitching her on 16ct Aida Cascade from Fabrics by Stephanie. I received part 3 and started stitching on it last night. This is how far I have gotten.

The snow globe is full of ocean life and I know I will love stitching on it over the next few weeks.

I also stitched on Blossom and I am still loving all of her beautiful colors.

Even with all of the color changes, it has been a wonderful piece to stitch.

I just started stitching the next page, from the middle towards the top. So I guess I am about half way finished. I had to take her outside to see if I could capture her brilliant colors. For the details on this one: She is Blossom from Mirabilia. Fabric is 16ct Aida Busy Izzy from Fabrics by Stephanie. I have put her aside to stitch on the Ocean Pearl piece and a few smaller pieces. I look forward to getting back to her later this month.

A few days ago I pulled out my June pillow kit.

The threads in these kits just come rolled up as shown in the picture above. Since there is only a few colors, I decided to make my own Floss Drops to put the flosses on.

I die cut the tags. Pulled out some stamps and stamped a few summer images. I used some different sized circle punches to hang the flosses on and to add them to a floss ring. It gave me a chance to use my beautiful floss ring I purchased from @themermaidsdaughter6 on Instagram. I love the look of Floss Drops. I love seeing all of the flosses hanging all together. But I will admit, I am not a fan. Seems like a lot of work to me. It’s not to say that I will never use them again for a small project. But I am happy being a bobbin girl. Anyway, I finished the pillow yesterday, in perfect time for displaying in June. Kit is from Pine Mountain Designs. These pillows are from 2007, so I don’t think they are available anymore.

I am so happy to have another monthly pillow off of my project to do list. Only 4 more to go!

So that is all of my stitching for May. I am hoping for a couple of finishes in June, but we shall see how it goes. I have been spending my stitching time watching Flosstubes. I have a few favorites that I love to watch and one of them is Nichol Sophr LLC. She is a quilter, cross stitcher and card maker and I don’t know what else she does, but everything she creates is beautiful. I don’t necessarily stitch what she does, but I love watching her and seeing her projects. I am not a quilter, but I want to buy all the fabrics and make project bags (I probably won’t, but I really want to, LOL) She has wonderful tutorials on her channel and her card making videos are wonderful. Yesterday she started a Patriotic SAL and I decided I need some Patriotic pieces to decorate my house. You can find all of the details on her Facebook page group. If you want to participate and be in her drawings each week, you have to stitch on a Cherry Hill Stitchery Patriotic piece. Or you can stitch on whatever you want and hang out each Wednesday on her Flosstube Live. I haven’t had time to gather things for it in time for the start yesterday, but I did purchase a PDF from Cherry Hill Stitchery last night and pulled some fabric and floss from my stash this morning.

I will be stitching Stars and Stripes. The fabric I chose is 16ct Aida Everything Else from Mystic Fabrics and all of the flosses are DMC. So, yeah, another new start, LOL It’s ok. It’s a small 😉

So that is what I have been up to. How did your May go?

Happy Stitching!

ginny

cross stitch · knitted cowl · Knitting · Mirabilia · Pillows · Tiny Modernist · yarn

When It Rains, I Stitch


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

cross stitch · Fabric · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Mirabilia · Tiny Modernist · Uncategorized

Back To Blossom


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

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

Busy Crafting and Purging


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

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


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