I Stitched May Away

June 1, 2023 My Time Stitching8 Comments

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

May 1, 2023 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

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

Back To Blossom

April 21, 2023 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

cross stitch · Fabric · Floss · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Mirabilia · New stash! · patterns · Stitch A Long

Spring Basket Progress and Some New Things

March 26, 2023 My Time Stitching15 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

cross stitch · Cross Stitch Patterns · Fabric · Heaven and Earth Designs · Mirabilia · Passione Ricamo · Passione Ricamo SAL

A Couple of Older Cross Stitch Projects and A New Start

March 26, 2022March 25, 2022 My Time Stitching15 Comments

Hello Blogging friends! When I finished stitching the Winter Snowfall project in February, I pulled out an older WIP.

I don’t remember when I started this project. It has to be 5-8 years ago. The pattern is Gossamer Princess Storykeep from Heaven and Earth Designs. This was a project I started for my husband. He mentions it every now and then, reminding me that I haven’t finished it, LOL So I thought I would pull it out and work on it. This is as far as I had gotten on it before having to put it in time out again.

This one is being stitched on 25ct Lugana in White over 1. I had made a mistake and found out how much of a pain it is to rip out on Lugana over 1. Ugh It is also hard to see the holes, so back into her bag and away she went. I hope to get it finished someday, but that time is not now. So I pulled out another WIP.

This is what the finished piece will look like. This design, by Passione Ricamo, was a Mystery Stitch-A-Long back in 2017. I think a couple of sections had come out when someone stole her design from her computer. She then halted the SAL and released the entire design to each person that had paid for it. Before sending out the PDF’s, she watermarked each person’s copy with their name and address. This is how it looked when I started the SAL.

And here is how she looked when I picked her up in early March.

I didn’t get to stitch much on her this time, but this is where I left off on her.

This is a beautiful piece and I am hoping to finish her this year. I am stitching her on 16ct Aida, a one of a kind piece dyed for me by Fantasy Dyed Fabrics, specifically for this project. It looks all gray in the photo, but there are hints of purple throughout. So the reason I put her away is because I just had to make a new start. Mirabilia comes out with a new design every month on the 15th. On February 15, Blossom was released and as soon as I saw her, I fell in love. She represents Spring, new beginnings and hope. With all that I was going through in the last few months, she was so appropriate and I knew I had to have her. Here is the quote about her;

To blossom is to burst forth with beauty and energy. It is a flurry of new life and electric beginnings. It is also a small flower that appears in the spring. This design is inspired by the hope and joy blossoms bring.
Nora Corbett

As soon as I saw her, I went through my stash to find the perfect fabric. It was a little difficult, but I found 2 that I thought might work. A friend ordered her for me and when she informed me that she was on the way, I pulled all of the threads and did a floss toss.