Stitch from Stash 2014 Update!

Hi folks, as you can see, I have fallen behind on my updates. The holidays have kept me very busy as well as a few hospitalizations of family members and other stuff that happens in Life! We are all together so that is a good thing. In November, I did not spend any money for stitchy stuff. I did start on Christmas presents for other stitchers but none for me.

In December, I did do some shopping for myself at Herrschener's on-line. See pic below. I love the Mill Hill beaded ornaments. They are perfect for a lighted tree as the light sparkles off of the beads and it makes for a lovely display.

The pins below I ordered from somewhere but can't recall where. They were on sale for about $8.00 dollars, they retail for about $13.00.

SNF -  So far this year for SFS:

Dec - $42.38
Nov - $0
Oct $0
Sept $16
Aug $20
July $ 7
June $17.25
May $0
April $9
March $4
February $0
Jan $0

I have saved hundreds of dollars on this challenge and hope to do the same next year, but more importantly for me, I have started all my projects from stuff in my stash.I want to thank Mel at Epic Stitching for hosting this. She has worked very hard on this and deserves a big congratulations and hug for all of her efforts. Count me in for next year Mel!

Wishing all a Merry Christmas and Prosperous and Healthy New Year!

Victorian Sampler Shoppe giveaways

Greetings to all, Nancy continues to have her world famous give-aways. She also makes pretty neat sewing necessaires of which I have purchased and of course, dyes her wonderful skeins, chenille and ric-rac (also own a few). Keep in mind that she offers these give-aways quite often so I do recommend that you follow her but also help support small businesses this holiday season by purchasing from her Shoppe.

Here's a link to todays give-away. http://victorianmottosamplershoppe.blogspot.com/2014/11/25-days-of-christmas-linen-aida-or.html.

Be sure to check her site out every day during this season!

Best regards,

Christina in hot and muggy Miami

Give Away at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe -woohoo!

HI folks, just wanted to let you all know that Irene at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having another give-away of her fabulous stuff. This time you get to choose your prize. Check out this LINK to be taken directly to her site. Good luck!

Stitch From Stash October 2014

Greetings to all!

Well, I have been a serious funk for over 6 weeks now. I have done absolutely no stitching for the last two. However, I did manage to not spend a single sent for October and its unlikely that I will spend anything for the rest of the year. I had decided in late September to work on my stash of prefinished items. I have afghans, bibs, napkins, place mats, bookmarks, coasters, aprons, little totes, sachets, towels and others I can't think of right now. I decided to start stitching on a tea towel and use a pattern from the book pictured below.

I have had this book for YEARs and have never made anything in it, but I have always admired a flower border in it and so have decided to stitch it up. This is an awesome book and I recommend it as part of any well stocked stitching library.

SNF -  So far this year for SFS:

Oct $0
Sept $16
Aug $20
July $ 7
June $17.25
May $0
April $9
March $4
February $0
Jan $0
I want to thank Mel for the opportunity to win protectors for my Q snaps. I received my "gift" on Friday and it was perfect! Thank you Mel. I would send a note to the sender but the postage covers the address and I couldn't get it off without destroying the packaging. The sender also threw in a few skeins of silk and Rainbow sparkly thread! Thank you!

On a separate note, I just saw an advertisement in JCS magazine saying that Sulky has added another 80 colors to their Sulky Petite range of threads....tres kewl! I love these threads..when it comes to neat and tidy finishes, they can't be beat! See my earlier post to read my review of these threads, here.

That's it folks! Hope everyone is preparing for the long winter ahead and for those in the southern hemisphere, yay summer!

Hugs,

Christina

Rolling Stone - Political commentary

Hi there, you all know I don't really get into politics but I couldn't resist letting you all know about an article in the October issue (issue 1219) of Rolling Stone on the Koch Industries political machine. I highly recommend reading it if for no other reason than to get another perspective on what is going on politically in the US. I know its a one-sided article but the arrogance, complete disregard for human life and the very successful "purchase" of  favor and power in Washington DC is something every American should know about. Fascinating and alarming, apparently with no way to stop this machine.

Christina

Stitch from Stash Update

Hello stitchy friends,

I know I owe you a few pics so here they go.  Below are pics of the Prairie Schooler ornies. I haven't decided how to finish these and maybe I won't. Those of you that know me probably have already identified a trend of mine...I don't finish smalls or ornies!

 I used the Sulky Petites for these except for the brown in the design - that was DMC. you might be able to zoom in, I couldn't, and see the coverage of the Petites is pretty much the same as the DmC 2 strands. Hmmm..I just notice the bird is missing a toe!

 I did do some enahncement to my patterns collection but still within m $25 limit. The above was "on sale" at the Hobb Lobb for $7.17.  I like these minis because other ornaments are just getting too big for my tree. I need little ones now to fill in the gaps. I am going to finish these simpl with felt background.

I also ordered these old Just Cross Stitch magazines from someone that was getting rid of her stash.  Magazines...also a weakness of mine. I got these for $3 a piece and there were actually three but I can't find the other one, lol!

So I spent about $16.00 this month on Stash enhancements....but at least didn't bu any more fabric or floss!

Breakdown so far this year:
Jan $0
February $0
March $4
April $9y
May $0
June $17.25
July $ 7
Aug $20

SFS 2014 - August Update

Greetings stitching friends, well, storm season as come again in Florida, and it seems we are due for a busy season (which doesn't end until November). Hope we are all spared a big one, but especially the islands - they always seem to be right smack in the path of most storms.

Here is my SFS (kindly sponsored by Mel from "Epic Stitching") update: This month I spent $20 on Sulky Petites 12wt thread. 

Breakdown so far this year:
Jan $0
February $0
March $4
April $9
May $0
June $17.25
July $ 7

Sulky is a cotton thread that is as thick as 2 strands of cotton floss.  I am using it on 30 ct fabric with good coverage, but on 32 ct it would provide better coverage. I hope to have some pics soon comparing them side by side. I got these on sale at Joann's Fabrics on-line. 

Pros:                                                          

• Work with one strand vs 2 strands floss          
• Less twisting.                                              
• Can work with longer lengths  (yay!)                       
• Easier to thread through needle 
• More yards - 50 yards of Sulky vs 48 yards of floss (8 yards x 6 strands) 
• Tops of the spools pop up for easy storage of the thread ends (like the Kreinik spools)
• Comes in Petites (50 yds) for hand work and regular (300 yds) for machines

Cons

• On spools
• Limited color collection
• Expensive ($ 0.45 for skein of floss vs. $1.65+ for Sulky)
• Limited fabrics you can use, i.e., Sulky is probably best used on 30 to 32 ct fabric, might be too thick for 36. Probably very nice for surface work other than cross stitch. 

 In total, the company offers 66 solid colors and 14 variegated in the Petites - certainly enough colors to work the simple designs that are popular today...but not enough colors for the more complex designs. Lucky for me, I have quite a few simple designs that I had in mind when I decided to purchase these. I found my Prairie Schooler Garden Beasties and am now working on the blue bird.

I like these threads. Knotting is still an issue because of the thread being wrapped around a spool, but a good yank on the thread seems to lessen the knotting.

Here is a pic of Garden Beasties:

I might work on the grasshopper next. I haven't any warm-toned threads ...I don't want to mix regular floss with the Sulky's but I suppose I could...no rules, right?

I took lots of pics with my phone of my current projects but can't seem to find the pics to upload them. I just love technology!

I can't wait for the slightly cooler temps of S.F Autumn but won't see those till late October = ( but I guess I can enjoy the beach and pool longer than those a bit more North!

Keep stitching and discovering new stitchy stuff!

Christina

Stitching From Stash 2014 Update

Well hello there! Hope everyone's been having a great summer. Me, not so much, work is starting to take its toll and I am really tired of heavy handed government oversight in health care. Scary part is that they are not overseeing the providers and the issues that they should but are running around chasing ghosts in the machine...have no idea what I am talking about? Good, cause if I explained myself you might just hurt yourself.

All rightie then on to the my update. I have no pics cause work has been grueling and have had company over the week end...you'll just have to take my word for it that I finished Sharon Pope's The Pedigree of Honey. It turned out lovely with the little bee charms all around the skep. I have started a Christmas themed design from one of the magazines, don't recall which one right now, but it has a tall pine tree with red hearts as decorations and it says something to the effect of "May the warmth and cheer of Christmas grant you peace" or something like that. I had a lovely hand-dyed Molina from Silkweaver's that I bought last year and it was perfect for it.

I did purchase three old magazines from Shelley, a buddy from a yahoo group, that was de-stashing. I love the magazines as I get much pleasure from reading them and flipping thru them for years to come. I also purchased a tiny little needlepoint kit from her that I have already started.

So for July, I spent $5.00! yahoo!

Past expenditures as follows:

Jan $0
February $0
March $4
April $9
May $0
June $17.25

That's it folks. Hopefully, my life will settle down a bit, maybe when school starts next month?

Happy stitching to all!

Hugs, 
Christina

SFS 2014 Update for June

Hello folks, time for another update on Stitch From Stash.

First pics on what I worked on for June. Directly below is an ornament that I started stitching on in late May and just whipped together using stuff from stash. I had left-over fuzzy thread and I used it for the lamb and bunny here. These charts came with Mill Hill Beaded Pin kits from way back in the 90's. I was flipping thru my stash and ran into the charts and voila! a new little ornie! Tres chere

Below is Pedigree of Honey by Sharon Pope. I started this in May and it will soon be finished, hopefully before June 30th! I did purchase 4 honey bee charms to put around the bee skep. In case you are wondering, yes, the urn on the right is darker than the one on the left. I had wrapped the floss around the wrong skein and didn't pic up the color difference. C'est la vie, I am not frogging it out.

Below are 4 magazines that I ordered from Needleworkers' Delight/Silkweaver in June. They were having a sale but I forgot to add the code so they sent me an extra magazine. I just loved these mags, they are from around 2008 and are filled with motifs and home projects. They have inspired me to start working on some towels I have and an afghan that would look great covered in Christmas motifs. 

I am still working on the Petal Pin Cushion...I need more light and time so its been hard to finish, but I have not lost hope that I will!

So, to calculate my expenses for June it would be $5.25 for the bee charms and $12.00 for the magazines for a total expenditure of $17.25.

Here is the break down to date:

Jan $0
February $0
March $4
April $9
May $0
June $17.25

Well that's it, and  hoping everyone is enjoying their summer. Prayers go out to all those working thru a loss or thru illness.

Hugs, Christina

Stitching from Stash 2014 Update for May

Hello fellow stitchers,

Hope everyone is starting to feel a bit of Spring in the air.

I've got a finish related to SFS 2014 challenge. I just finished Major Tree by AAN Designs. Pics below. I've enjoyed this very much.

My May SFS project is Sharon Pope's sampler "The Pedigree of Honey". I started this over the week end and have completed the bee skep and the right-hand vase. I haven't a pic of my work but below is a pic of the sampler. I am hoping to finish this within a month. I might start something for Christmas afterwards...am not sure.

I am also still working on the Petal pin-cushion from JCS but the construction directions have errors so it has not been fun.

So far here is what I have done for the SFS challenge:

Jan - spent 0

Feb spent 0

March spent $4

April spent $9

May spent 0

Not bad at all. How am I doing so well? Other than my other tips that I posted previously, I have not visited any shops in months. As you might know, I travel thru Florida and SC quite a bit and would routinely drop into Local shops and spend a few bucks. I stopped doing that for this challenge and even though I was sorely tempted to drop into "A Stitch In Time" in Jacksonville, I just didn't. Almost ran into the Hobby Lobby in Daytona but I resisted...my mind is stronger than my...mind. HAhaaahaaa.

OK, well, that's it for now and wishing everyone happy stitching moments!

Christina

Stitching from Stash and Pin Cushion SAL and other stuff

Hello all (I like to pretend that there are more than three people on the planet reading my blog), hope you are all surviving the coming of spring. For those of you that are dealing with flooding and those that are still seeing snow, my prayers are for your safety and strength to see you through this.

As always, I will start with my stitching stuff and leave the boring journaling to later on.

JCS Petal Pin Cushion 
The picture below is not very good, its what happens when you are taking pics of a yellow fabric in a yellow house with a yellow light. Nothing I did with the camera could correct this. OK, so the question is do I finish the bottom of the pincushion with the colorful fabric or the matching yellow?

SFS 2014
I am having such a blast with this. This is my April submission. This month I am working on the pin cushion as my stitch from stash project. I am also still working on Major Tree. I did spend $ 9 on a yard of 36 ct linen at Joann Fabrics...I know. It never occurred to me to buy suiting linen for my stitching. Someone suggested this and I just remembered it and so I went with my 50% off coupon and voila, a whole yard of linen! Who knew? Does anyone know of any drawbacks to stitching with this stuff? I did notice that the crosses aren't square.

So far, during this challenge:

Jan- spent 0
Feb - spent 0
March - spent $4
April - spent $9

I do have a tip to share about how I stay well within my limit: I still do visit the web sites and read their newsletters, and then I fill up the on-line carts with all the stuff that I want and then, then...I hit the delete button and make it all go away. Crazy, I know, but I get that rush of picking stuff out and thinking about it but without the cost.

Another tip is that I have stuff already kitted and ready to go, so no real reason to shop for anything.

Anyway, that's it for now. Hope to have pics of Major Tree (in daylight) soon.

Boring Journaling Stuff
My kids are taking their FCATs this week. They are stressing about it but I told them that they had done the work that all they could do now is take the test and hope for the best. I try to think back on what I went thru for testing but I was a nerd at school and studied all of the time. Testing didn't stress me out - I knew the material. I was an honor student due to incredible study skills. Problem now is you can't just memorize stuff anymore, and of course, the education is different. Kids are sat in front of a computer reading "articles" that might be 3 paragraphs long, and then spit out answers on a computer. Very odd. I do agree that institutions are investing in the "dumbing down" of America. I am watching it before my very eyes, seemingly powerless to stop it. I augment the "education" with other activities - use of a microscope, cataloging specimens and talking about science and the cosmos. Competitive edge? There isn't one apparently, unless you are in the upper economic class. My girls are cute though, so maybe that will get them through life, for a while anyway.



Christina

STitch From Stash 2014 Update

I know! Another update but there aren't any rules really....Anyway here is a pic of current progress on Major Tree.

Stitch From Stash 2014 - Below are my supplies for the petal pincushion featured in JCS magazine, May/June issue 2014. This is my Stitch from Stash Project for March.  For March, I spent $1.99 for the fabric and $1.99 for the buttons. I had found some buttons from my stash but I liked these better. 

I spent nothing in January and February and this month I spent $ 4. Yahoo! 

I am using 32 count yellow linen from Wichelt. The green and pink floss are DMC Variations, the brown floss is DMC Linen and the ric rac is form my stash as well as the green ribbon. I think this is going to turn out quite pretty. A bit different from the one in the magazine but still nice. Oh, I almost forgot, I have two bunny buttons that I bought somewhere last year and I thought one of them would look really cute on the inside of the pincushion.  I can't wait to start this, but am waiting until a fellow stitcher will be able to stitch along with me. 

Well that's it for now. Hope everyone is having fun stitching. 

Until the next time...adios!

Christina 

Work in progress Update

Hello stitching friends, here is a short update with a pic of my progress to date on Major Tree by AAN. So far, so good. I do have a counting error towards the bottom of the tree, can't find it, but I know its there. This means continuing to work up and then right and then down, so I can accommodate one less row towards the bottom. I'm an expert in accommodating errors, you see!

Well, its March and I hope to finish this by the end of the month. It would be cool indeed to finish a project every month or so! I will be starting that lovely little pin cushion on the cover of JCS magazine. I have the supplies except for the matching fabric for the bottom...soon, soon.

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well and for those of you still in the thrall of winter, hang in there, Spring will be here soon.

Keep safe,
Hugs, Christina

Another stitchy update and SFS2014

Hello folks, well, it seems that Jack Frost decided to take a vacation in the "South". Snow in SC accompanied with sleet, and frozen roads, power outages. Quite a mess! Hope everyone being impacted stays nice and warm and safe.

OK,here are the pics as promised.

Nora Corbet's Sunflower Fairy, whole. =)

Nice pics of the beading...sort of.

Major Tree by Alessandra Adelaide. Very colorful orange tree with round decorations and birds. This is stitching up quite quickly but I haven't stitched on it in a few days. I am really enjoying this stitch. Below is pic of what it will look like.

The Major Tree is my project for Stitch From Stash 2014 for the month of February. I had kitted this up last year. I have most of the DMC colors and quite a bit of fabric. I've put this on a 28 count white evenweave. The pattern calls for 25 count but I've never even seen that count of fabric. For February I spent nothing on stash ...so far so good. I spent nothing in January, as well. I am doing really good!

I almost put this on 22 count Aida but I didn't want to fuss with that tiny of a count...but the 28 count makes this a pretty big project...hard to frame by myself. 

Major Tree by Alessandra Adelaide.

And below is are pics of my progress on the Mill Hill scissor pocket. I like working with beads but can't do it at night which is when I mostly stitch. Hope to finish it this coming weekend. This also came from my Stash. At this rate, I won't have any stash left come Christmas! Yay!

Well, that's it for now folks! 

Happy stitching to all! 

Hugs,

Christina

Stitching update and SFS2014 for February

Hello fellow stitchers, I have completed Sunflower Fariy using Vickie Clayton's HDF. Am really surprised it turned out as well as it did. I was stitching this for my SFS2014 January Challenge. Pic below: I would have more pics but I somehow managed to delete 250 pics from my husbands phone while trying to make room for more pics of my stitching...and yes, I am in the dog house. Praying and hoping that a friend of mine that works in IT can recover some of the files.

The I also substituted with beads that I had on hand which worked out perfectly. I added yellow beads around the hem because the pattern only called for the orange ones but it seemed off balance. I didn't have the Kreinik I need either but I think the colors I used on her wings worked out perfectly. Wish I could show you more but like I said, I lost everything and just don't have the heart to try for another pic. (Spent the whole night crying last night due to this.)

Above is my project from my Stitch from Stash Challenge. Its a Scissor Pocket from Mill Hill. Easy enough to stitch but it's adorned with a beaded fringe and the necklace part is also all beaded and suspect that this will take uninterrupted to time to finish. Let's see how this works. 

SFS 2014 Month of February:

Mill Hill Plum Opal Sampler Scissor pocke. I have had this kit for years, maybe like 6 years!  (if I finish this quickly, I will work on Adelaide Alessandra's Major Tree - more later if and when I actually start it. =)

$ spent: 0 so far, will update if I have spent anything else.

Anyway, that's it for me.  Hope everyone is staying warm and healthy this winter season...oh, and safe too!

Hugs,

Christina

Stitch from Stash 2014

Hello my fellow stitchers, I have joined the Stitch from Stash 2014 Challenge graciously hosted by Mel from Epic Stitching blog. The challenge is to spend no more than $25 a month on stitching related items and to work from one's stash of goodies. She will also be awarding prizes to some of  those that meet the challenge criteria. Click on the link above to see the other wonderful stitchers that are participating (and their blogs, too.) Below are pics of my first stitch from stash project started during the first week of January. I had this kitted up and ready to go so it was easy to start. This chart can be found in the Cross Stitch and Needlework magazine September 2009  issue . The chart is by Nora Corbet.

This the pic from the magazine. Mine will look very different as I am substituting everying.

Here's what mine looks like so far. I am substituting with HDF silks. The original pattern called for Valdani threads. These come in a three-ply ball and you stitch with one ply.

Close up of HDF Fibers. I purchased these when I used to be wealthy. Vickie Clayton offers a program where you are sent a few fibers on a monthly basis. I got about 75% of the variegated regular silk floss. This was a great investment. As you can see, over the year or so, she was trying out different ways of packeging the threads.  My favorite way was just the simple tag with one hole cut out to put the floss thru, noted on the upper left corner. The spools tend to roll away and can't be put on ring.

Another shot of progress with floss. I had to frog the entire stem on the right. Oh, well.

Anyway, that's my Stash from Stitch 2014 Challenge project so far. I won't even start thinking about the next one until I am done with this one.

Hope all the other participants are enjoying their projects.

Happy Stitching from Christina.