Marching Along

 I am so punny!   LOL.   It has been another good month.  Daylight lasting longer and temps are edging up and I have been able to get my hands in the dirt!  I know yard work is not for everyone but it feeds my soul like stitching feeds so many of us.   I’ve ordered a bunch of bulbs from Breck’s for summer and fall flowers.     I am anxious to get them in the ground and FINISH up my work on the back 40.    I have been bringing home landscaping blocks and stones my son is removing from his yard to finish up my pathway.  

The first weekend of March I was treated to a mini get away at a friend Vicki’s home.  She is a two hour drive so naturally it was an overnight trip.   Her townhome was lovely and we all enjoyed seeing her stitching pieces as well as enjoyed the delicious food and stitching with friends.

My WIPGO goals for March were the best!   I have been lucky with manageable projects being called.   Being my first time doing WIPGO - I think?? - well at least in recent years.   This month, the assignment was to stitch and fully finish two Christmas ornaments and to work 15 days on my hexagon quilt.    I am finding how beneficial it is to be a monogamous stitcher!   Are changes coming to my habits?  

For my first ornament, I used an EGA pattern for this little wreath.   It was stitched  and finished, except for the ribbon trim and twisted cord hanger,  in a day!   My kind of instant gratification.

My second ornament was also just as easy although it took more than one day to stitch.   I am not quite finished but I have until Friday to do so.  This it from Lila's Studio.

As for my hexagon quilt I made even more progress than I had hoped for.   It just took about 18 days of working on it to get the quilt top finished.  As to when I  assemble the ‘quilt sandwich’ and get it going on my machine, well that's a different challenge.     Finishing this up in one month has left me with two blocks now open on my WIPGO board as I had working the Hexagon quilt on the board three times.

Beginning of the month, and end of the project.   It measures 4 foot by 6 foot.   I nice size to snuggle under while watching TV.

I fully finished all the pieces for the Violets & Verses To Emeline Shaker Sampler.

I did the hem stitched to finish off the sampler after I returned home from Tennessee.   

I stitched this up in not much more than a day when I was in Tennessee.  When I returned home, I fully  finished the July Birthstone Thimble box from Noteworthy Needle.

So here comes, by justifiable rational,  a promise quickly broken....    Earlier in the year I spent an afternoon updating my X-Stitch ap and much to my chagrin I found I had an embarrassing number of  FULLY KITTED projects.  I immediately vowed to ONLY stitch from stash.   Talking to fellow stitchers, so many of us are on the same page.  We all have that STABLE  (Stash Total Available Beyond Life Expectancy!)  supply of kits, floss and fabric.   But when in Tennessee, I finished the thimble box, I finished the stitching the Shaker Sampler, I stitched on my canvas piece until I was tired of it and found working on my Hexie quilt was not the easiest traveling piece.  And what to my wondering eyes did appear..... I found myself  in a small little cross stitch shop.   Am I the only one that feels you HAVE to buy something when you visit a new cross stitch store?    I think it was training from my mother.   She wasn’t a stitcher but always felt the need to buy a little trinket, etc. when visiting a little shop.  Oy!  I have already justified the purchase using the small-store-support-theory, using the memory of the trip excuse, blaming my guild because of the need to stitch a Plum Street this year and any other twisted reason so alas, I found a bag in my hand with a chart and fabric as I left the store.  I bought Goodbye Fall from Plum Street.   I DID use my X-Stitch ap to check what floss I already had - I should get a points for that.   Here is my progress.   

I am stitching this on 36-count parchment with the called for WDW and Crescent colors.   I using this as my Thursday morning stitched group project.     I count myself fully justified for the purchase but plan to return to my vow to stitch from stash for as long as I can!    Pretty good that I lasted 8 weeks into the year before I fell off.  Climbing back on the wagon.     I want to work on reducing my WIPs this year and also start working reducing the number of fully kitted projects I have.  It will likely be a several year process to make a dent.  Geez, imagine that, me, another list.  Shocking!

Starting in April,  my stitching will take a back seat to the yard.  The new WIPGO numbers have me starting a wool applique piece and to stitch and finish two bunny rabbit pillows.    I feel like even with being outside more, that I should be able to accomplish both.  

Thanks for stopping by.   I know commenting is not all that easy anymore.  I love reading them when they are posted.  I am checking all your posts and progress out as well but not always able to comment.   I got inventive and posted my comments on some bloggers instagram pages.  And sew it goes….. Keep on stitching…….

February Follies

We woke up to SNOW on February 1st.   It really doesn’t count because it was gone by noon.   I long for one nice snowfall.    But let me back up into the last weekend of January.   A friend and I spent three days at Salty Yarns in OCMD helping get the shop set up in their new location.  We wiped down cabinets, assembled shelving, set up the cheater glasses rack, stocked a couple of thread cabinets.  We were in awe of the size of the new store.   I am really anxious to visit it once Sara has everything in place.   They are up and doing business and are planning a Grand Re-Opening soon.  Salty Yarns has always been so generous to us with our retreats that it was a pleasure to give back.

In the beginning of the month we celebrated Reagan’s third birthday.   How time flies.   She is a trip and often referred to as Boss Baby!

For February WIPGO, I worked on Land That I Love from Teresa Kogut.    Thanks goodness for before and after pix.   Still a long way to go but I accomplished 15 days/my goals of stitching on this piece.   It is on my WIPGO board two more times this year.

Before February WIPGO

The ‘after’ February

WIPGO 

 I fell in love with this piece when I first saw in a few years ago.   I convinced my stitching circle to do it as a SAL.   I think there may have been 7 of us and guess what, five have it stitched and framed for well over a year.   Oy!     There is an Instragram page with an ongoing SAL divided into 12 monthly sections.   I spent the first day trying to see which monthly sections I had that were almost finished and set out to complete them.  I also have made this a Challenge piece for Western Reserve Guild for 2023.   

 My other WIPGO for the month was to start and finish this Shaker Pin Cushion as seen on the right.  EZ PZ.  This was stitched in a couple of afternoons and then put together on a third afternoon.  I decided to add in the strawberry and the scissors fob.  On the left beneath the strawberry, scissors fob and pin cushion, is the  finished Shaker Sampler.  It was my January WIPGO to start it and I was able to finish it in February.   Winner! Now all my Shakers pieces are completed!  I plan to do a hem stitch on the sampler, maybe this weekend.

My new WIPGO projects for March are to spend 15 days on my Hexagon Quilt and to sew and finish two Christmas ornaments.  Another easy stitching month for me.

Mid Month I went to the Franklin Institute with my son and his family and what were they using in the display showing how machines work......good old singer sewing machines. 

Wherever I go I just can't get away from stitching and sewing.

Raegan channelling her inner Kate Winslet we're guessing at the Disney Display at the Franklin Institute

At the end of February I was in Tennessee for 8 days.   A friend from our Thursday group moved to Tennessee years ago.   We still see her when she comes up for retreats or to visit family but  this time we went to see her.  She was a fantastic hostess except for the part that she didn't want to take us Chattanooga Airport for our flight home.   She is a member of the Knoxville EGA which we joined and we were able to attend their winter retreat with her.   It was a great visit and a great retreat at a Baptist Conference Center in Carson Springs, TN.    The facility, the our accommodations, our stitch room,  the people, the great projects, the meals and the fun were all beyond great.    

Sitting here you could hear the water babbling along in the nearby stream.  

Inside, little sitting areas with great light and comfy chairs to stitch in.

 Other than the rules on parking, there were no rules for the weekend.   Just the kind I like.   Park you car and never have to get into your car until it is over.   The Knoxville EGA stitchers were so nice and friendly.  The accommodations were great.   The meals were delicious.  I am sure I will be making this an annual visit.

We did have time for Diane to take us to Signal Mountain.   There was an awesome community at the top and it looks like a lovely place to live.   Diane knows I enjoy nature and breath-taking views.  Thank you for feeding my soul Diane!

And look at those Mountains in the distant.   Not hard to understand how they are called the Smokey Mountains.

Lake views near Diane's house

Thank you Diane for indulging me and my need to be outdoors and see all the beauty nature has to offer.  

I was able to start and finish the July Birthstone Thimble Box from Noteworthy Needle.  When in Tennessee we went to Cross Stitch and Crafts cross stitch store in Johnson City and they had this finished at the check out counter.   The shop owner, Sharon, took it apart and showed me how it was finished.  So simple that the September Birthstone Thimble Box jumped into Diane’s pile at check out.   I have the threads pulled and hope to fully finish this in the next couple of days.

I almost forget to share the progress I was able to make while in Tennessee on this EGA Petite Project called Overdyed Spools.  It is a lesson in manipulating the colors in varigated floss.  I’m not sure how much we are supposed to have completed by our next meeting but I think I completed the assignment!

That's it for stitching but I have another peeve to add to my ranting from last month about a pet peeves of opening child proof containers, namely cold medicine when you are not feeling 100%.  Here’s another pet peeve I discovered really irks me…..those invisible to the old naked eye symbols for recycling.   Hey, I am all about recycling.     It’s  an easy extra step that quickly becomes automatic.   It just baffles me when it is introduced in a nearby state and the residents all flip their wigs.  But back to the teeny tiny symbols on the bottom of the plastic containers.   My town only accepts #1’s and #2’s   So let me apologize to my public works department for sending the wrong numbers their way.   If you want 100% correct from me someone needs t make the symbols readable!  And that ends my rant for this day.