August Stats, Two Big Finishes and Sampler September

Hello Friends!

I hope you had a nice Labor Day weekend, and this short week has been good to you.

I completed 9,120 cross stitches on six different projects during August.

I had three finishes: Honey Bee Quilt, Sweet Friendships and Crows & Sunflowers. Clicking the name will take you back to the post where I shared those.

I made progress on one WIP during August: Olga’s Autumn Stocking

And I started two small projects that I will share later.

There was an event last Saturday that I participated in, and I’ve been preparing for it all summer.

Lake Junaluska’s Friends of the Lake 5K

Now, I know a 5K is not a big deal for most. It was for me. I ran one other 5K and that was eleven years ago.

This was the lake’s annual fundraiser to help maintain the beautiful property and various recreational activities.

I had a decent finish, fourth in my category, and look forward to the next race.

Another big finish recently is…

Olga’s Autumn Stocking by Plum Street Samplers

I used the designer’s called for threads but stitched it on 36 count linen, Winter Brew by R&R Reproductions. 

This was my selected stocking for the #RonnySockItToMeSAL hosted by Ronny Hovatter from GaRon Stitchery. I started on December 2, 2023, and finished September 4, 2024.

I had intended to just complete three hundred stitches per week, per the SAL. But I was stitching with a group of friends on Zoom last Sunday, and once I got to the chevron pumpkin, they encouraged me to power through and finish.

There are people that will fully finish cross stitch projects for you, but I think I will attempt to do this myself.

Next plans for the scroll rod are Ann Harper 1839.

There is a thing (?) called Sampler September in the cross-stich community. You select a sampler to start. Some may finish theirs…it won’t be me. First, she is a big girl. The stitch count is 297w x 413h and I’m attempting to stitch is on 40 count linen, Dust Bunny by Fox and Rabbit. Fox and Rabbit are also the designers of the chart.

Not much stitching or sewing will be happening in the next week because we are having company. My daughter, her boyfriend and our grand dog will be visiting from Florida. They hoped to arrive this Saturday, but Matthew received a jury summons. He will call Sunday evening to see if he has to report. Fingers crossed that he does not so they can get here on Monday.

Oh, and hubby and I celebrated our 31^st wedding anniversary. We combined efforts for a delicious dessert.

I made Lemon Butter cake to accompany his homemade peach ice cream.

So, that was my August wrap-up and my immediate September plans. I also have a cross-stitch retreat in Montgomery, AL this month, which I am excited for!

Until next time…have a great weekend!

Cross Stitch, Thrifty Finds and A Sweet Treat

Hello and Happy Friday!

After being almost 3,000 stitches behind on the stitch along for Olga’s Stocking, I’m actually ahead this week. As a reminder, this is what it will look like when finished…

Here I am now…I'm working from the top down

I could just power through and get it done but there are other fall projects and some quilting calling for my attention.

I had a small start and finish last week. Melisa, Pinker N Punkin’Quilting, so generously shares her designs on her blog for FREE! With her talent, she could easily sell her cross stitch charts.

I stitched Crows and Sunflowers, one of her small ‘stamps’ and finished it into a pillow.

I made it to match her Sunflower Sampler, which I stitched and finished last year.

These will be displayed on the Hoosier cabinet soon.

My hubby and my mom have joined me the last couple of weekends running around the county, hitting all the antique and thrift stores. 

Here are a few of my treasures:

Small counter jars

These will hold candy during Christmas

An apple cookie jar for the Hoosier cabinet, and a frog

I’ll use the frog to hold scissors in my stitchy spot

A rusty, crusty grater, shaker boxes and a cotton mill spool

The grater will be used for finishing cross stitch, but for now it is on the bottom shelf of the Hoosier with some greenery stuffed in it.

The spool holds the giant tomato I told you I got at StitchCon.

The last thing I have to share this week is that our local apple orchard opened on August 1^st for the season. 

We’ve been enjoying their turnovers, donuts and fritters but I made my own apple crisp. This was made with their honey crisp apples, and it was delicious.

I’m looking forward to this three-day weekend. I have an ‘event’ Saturday morning which I’ll tell you about in a couple of days. I’ll also share my August stitching stats then.

What are your plans for the weekend? I hope it is a great one for you!

 

F.N.S.I., Finishes, Bee Display 2024 and Slow Sunday Stitching

A good Sunday to you, friends!

I got on a roll with finishing this weekend and it all began during Wendy’s Friday Night Sew In hosted at Sugarlane Designs.

First was Sweet Friendships by The Proper Stitcher.

Then I found a frame in my stash that I thought would work nicely for Liberty House by Brenda Gervais.

Lastly, I finally got around to finishing Uncle Sam by Threadwork Primitives.

Earlier in the week I had finished the last two bee pieces for this year.

Honey Bee Quilt by Primrose Cottage.

Honey Berry by Erica Michaels.

They were added to the bee display.  This is it for this year but I look forward to adding more next year.

Today is Slow Sunday Stitching over at Kathy's Quilts so I will be working on Olga’s Autumn Stocking.

I’ll share my progress in my next post and will also show you the few items I picked up while thrifting and antiquing a couple of weeks ago.

Enjoy your day!

See you soon…

 

F.N.S.I. and A Start to Finish

Happy Friday Friends!

I am happy to report that my dislocated/relocated finger is going to physical therapy twice a week and so far…so good. I’m still enjoying cross stitching but am at a stand still with quilting right now. It isn’t comfortable to use the rotary cutter for long periods of time. I am getting there.

 

I’m sharing a new cross stitch pattern that I started on National Friendship Day to join in on the hashtag #SweetFriendshipsSAL hosted by my friend @fancystitcher on Instagram. 

We started Sweet Friendships on August 4^th and I put the last stitch in last night, Thursday, August 15^th.

Chart:       Sweet Friendships designed by The Proper Stitcher

Fabric:      32 count linen, Friendship Greene by Fabrics by Stephanie

Threads:  My own conversion. I’m happy to email this to anyone who is interested.

Stitched:  2 threads of floss over 2 linen threads

The fabric is a really pretty green.

I haven't figured out how to get an accurate photo...yet.

I will be working on fully finishing this piece while joining Wendy

at Sugarlane Designs for Friday Night Sew In.

Visit Wendy over the weekend to see what everyone got up to.

In the meantime, I hope you have a great weekend.

See you soon!

 

July Stats and FNwF

Hello Friends, Far and near!

I hope you are having a wonderful day.

July was a productive month for me…but I am never satisfied with what I’ve done, as I always want to do so much more.

I stitched 7,464 stitches on 5 different projects during the month.

I finished stitching:

Uncle Sam

Honey Bee Basket

Honey Berry

and Liberty House

I was close to a finish on Liberty House when I shared it last week, and the last stitch went in on July 30^th.

I had two fully finishes during July:

Patriotic Quaker 1776 (stitched in June)

Grandma Winnie’s Basket (stitched in May)

And thanks to Cheryll at Gone Stitching for hosting Friday Night with Friends, I fully finished Honey Bee Basket this week.

I’m not exactly pleased with the bow yet, so it isn’t attached.

 

Hubby is taking me thrifting and antiquing this weekend. I hope to find some nice frames for finishing. Wish us luck!

Have a great day!