F.N.S.I. and A Little Patriotic

This year is flying! Hard to believe we are halfway through 2024 already. I had high hopes back in January of completing some quilts and stitching on older WIPs. Instead, I just keep getting distracted with other things. I am enjoying myself though, like last Friday.

 

Wendy at Sugarlane Designs hosted Friday Night Sew In. I was happy to participate and selected this project to work on.

I Would Rather Bee Stitching
by Primrose Cottage Stitches

 

This is the second bee finish this month. I shared the first one here.

Both will be made into pillows. They will be small because I stitched them with 1 strand of floss over 1 fabric thread, which is 25 count lugana.

 

Many thanks to Wendy for hosting. I joined her Facebook group and shared my progress there. Everyone was so encouraging.

 

I’ve started (late, I know) to bring out patriotic décor. I purchased this Longaberger basket earlier this month while antiquing in Ohio. I had intended to put the Keeper of the Pins pillows in it but that didn’t work out.

So, I placed one of my Blackbird Designs pillows in it.

And I’m working on the Hoosier cabinet. I need to stitch a piece to go on the top shelf. See? This means another new start…geesh!

As always, thank you for your visit. Hope you have a great week!

StitchCon 2024 Weekend A Recap

Happy Friday, Friends!

As promised in yesterday’s post, I’m sharing a quick recap of my trip to Cincinnati last weekend.  Warning: This post is photo heavy.

 

StitchCon is a cross stitch retreat that brings Flosstubers and Fans together. It is hosted by Keepsakes, a store in Sharonville, OH and is held at the Sharonville Convention Center. There are two weekends for the retreat but you can only attend one of them. There are 300 stitchers in attendance at each weekend. You would think it would be crowded but the venue is large and easily accommodates everyone. 

Registration begins at 10:00 am on Thursday morning but people begin lining up at 7:00. My group was in line by 7:30 am so were  fairly close to the front. I didn’t get a photo of the whole line because it extended out of the convention center and into the lobby of the adjoining hotel.

After checking in and getting our table, my friends and I went to the store to do a little shopping before everyone else could get there. 

The store is in an old house. I didn't take any photos of the inside this year but I can tell you that it is covered floor to ceiling with stitched models. The place is amazing.

They always have some fun things to see on the front porch.

There are freebie items (charts, fabric, etc.)
in the boxes just outside the door.

We had to take the obligatory photos next to the sign.

My friends Andrea (L) and Becky (R)

Flosstuber Carolyn of CZook Stitch joined us

Back at the convention center... Keepsakes always has a theme for StitchCon. This year it was Gardening and they had a cute shed scene setup for photographs.

We certainly didn't pass up the opportunity...

We took a photo with our table mates as well...

We have friends from Florida that are always fun to hang out with. Our tables were next to each other.

I met several flosstubers that I watch but didn't get photos with everyone.

Liz from Elizabeth Ann Can Stitch

Tara from Sully Stitches

We had "happy hour" each evening with
Chrissy of Finally A Farm Girl and
Annie The Proper Stitcher

Unfortunately, I didn't get photos of the brag table nor the Annex store. I'll try to do better next time.

You can see the gifts I gave everyone in yesterday's post. Here are some of the gifts I received, dumped on the table...

Andrea, Becky and I planned to start a project together while at the retreat.  We did that last year and it was a lot of fun. I never showed you the framed finish of last year's cross stitch, so here it is.

Sunshine and Blooms by Teresa Kogut

This year we chose a chart by Bent Creek. It is Liberty The House from their Let Freedom Ring series. I had the tiniest of starts... can you see it? LOL

Remember Liberty House that I outlined the house to fill in while at StitchCon? 

Well, I got almost half of the house stitched when the FROG made an appearance to let me know I was off a row and my windows were not going to line up. I only managed to finish the roof and three rows of the front.

Not a lot of stitching actually happened due to socializing and trips to antique stores, but we had a great time.

I do not have any trips planned until mid-September so I hope to do some organizing of the craft space and get back to sewing. Not this weekend though, as I will be doing my best to celebrate Father's Day with my husband.

I hope you enjoy your weekend and Happy Father's Day to all the Dads!

May Stats, New Starts and StitchCon Prep

Happy Thursday, Friends! 

I’ve been trying to update the blog for a few weeks now. I’m going to say better delayed than never.

 

May was somewhat productive with stitching. I managed 5,642 Xs on seven different projects. There were several days that I didn’t stitch because I was busy with household projects and getting ready for another trip. I’ll tell you about the trip in just a bit.

 

I recently started two new projects. Both are stitch alongs (SAL).

 

The first is Liberty House by With Thy Needle and Thread (Brenda Gervais). This SAL is coordinated by Christine at Hollis Hands Create, #hollissummerholidaysal. We begin a patriotic chart (our choice) on Memorial Day with the hopes of finishing it by Labor Day.  She has hosted this on Instagram for a few years, but this is my first time joining.

Liberty House is stitched on 36 count linen, Alabaster by XJudesign, using the called-for floss. I'm stitching with two strands of floss over two linen threads.

 

This is where I got to before my trip. I wanted to get the house outlined so I could fill it in on my trip.

 

The next SAL I joined is hosted by Christi – Javagirl Stitches and Ana Roat - @anaroat1 on Instagram. This one is easy. We stitch bee charts on Tuesdays from May 21^st until July 2^nd. We post our progress on IG and they will have prize drawings at the end of the SAL.

My first chart was A Bee C by Primrose Cottage Stitches. It is stitched on 25 count Lugana, Cloud by Lori Holt, using the called-for DMC floss. 

I finished it fairly quickly.

And then I started I Would Rather Bee Stitching, also by Primrose Cottage Stitches. I’m using the same fabric and floss as the other bee chart. I'm stitching these two bee charts with one strand of floss over one fabric thread. They will be tiny finishes.

I didn’t get very far before I had to start prepping for my trip.

My trip was to Cincinnati, OH for StitchCon. This is the second year in a row I’ve attended this cross stitch retreat.  It is hosted by Keepsakes in Sharonville, OH.

 

I made gifts for my tablemates, Flosstubers and other attendees.

I purchased pure, clean beeswax from a keeper in town and made small waxers for everyone. Wax can be used to tame floss or help some of the metallic threads go through the fabric easily. 

 

My tablemates received a waxer along with a travel pair of scissors adorned with small fobs, which I also made.

I made larger fobs for some of the Flosstubers and other friends I met.

Remember I was supposed to be doing “fill in” on Liberty House during this trip? I'll show you progress tomorrow when I share more about Stitchcon. I hope you'll join me then.

Enjoy your day!