Floss Friday -- Cross Stitch Update, Haul and Chart Organization

Happy Friday, Friends!

Patriotic stitching has my focus again, now that Valentine’s Day has passed.  Salute to Abigail is back on the frame and I am enjoying this stitch very much.

I believe that last time I shared my progress was back in December…yikes!

This is where I am as of today…

I am not happy with my white stitches. I've tried three different threads so far. I'll have to make a decision before adding anymore. I am a little behind but should catch up to my self-imposed monthly assignment this weekend. Then I am going to get back to the American Sampler. 

Haul

Mirabilia Cross-Stitch published two charts back in 2001 that caused quite a frenzy in the cross-stitch community. Queen of Freedom and Lady of the Flag were very popular and when the charts were retired, they could only be found on the after-market. Prices soared; some sellers had them listed on Ebay for hundreds of dollars. Yes, hundreds!

Queen of Freedom

Lady of the Flag

In honor of America's 250th anniversary, Mirabilia offered a limited release. Shops were only allowed 25 copies of each to sell. Some shops used a lottery system to determined which customers got one or both. Some shops sold them on a first-come, first-served basis.

I was fortunate enough to get both charts, along with the bead packs and fabric. The threads are DMC and easy to get so there was no need to make a special pack of those. My dealer cross-stitch store, as usual, is GaRon Stitchery.

I'll be stitching both charts on 30-count linen by The Primitive Hare. This is called Constitution. 

My fabric. This photo doesn't show true color :(

Image Source

Organization

I’ve mentioned before that my organizing / purging project is slow-going. However, I thought I would show you how I’ve organized my cross-stich charts.

One of my favorite things is a spreadsheet…are you surprised?!? I have one Excel workbook that contains a few different sheets. One sheet is an inventory of all the charts / books I own. I can sort by chart name, designer, season/category, the format (pdf or physical), whether it is kitted or not, and if it is a WiP, FO or FFO.

Another sheet lists all the charts I’ve started, the pertinent dates and which stage they are in currently…again, WiP, FO or FFO.

Then there is the table, by year, that keeps track of how many starts, WiPs, FOs and FFOs I have. This is the one I share in my year-end stats post.

The physical charts are kept in binders, filed alphabetically by designer. I use sheet protectors for single patterns.

These magazine holders for binders are for books that are too large to fit in a sheet protector.

I use my Brother P-touch to make labels for the binders.

The binders are kept in the printer cabinet in my craft area. The two binders on the right hold quilting and sewing patterns.

The electronic (pdf) charts are kept in folders by designer on the laptop.

A new quilt along starts today and I’ll share all about it on Monday.  In the meantime, enjoy the weekend ahead.

See you soon,

Floss Friday -- New Start, Crochet and Organizing

Hello and Happy Friday, Friends!

Valentine’s Day is two weeks away and I am hoping to sneak in one more small Valentine cross-stitch project.

Valentine Alphabet by Primrose Cottage

I have the smallest start on a piece of pinkish even weave.

The flosses are Classic Colorworks, Colour & Cotton and DMC.

Also, this week I added sixteen rows to my crocheted granny square.

This was my start that I shared in a previous post.

Here it is as of this morning.

There has not been a lot of stitching this week as I am neck (not knee) deep into organizing my craft and hobby supplies.

So far, I have inventoried my knitting/crocheting yarns and kitted projects. Then I moved to cross-stitch.

I have updated the spreadsheet I use to keep track of my physical charts. I know what is filed in a binder, in a WIP box or a KIT box. I’ve noted whether I have finished or fully finished the chart as well. Next up will be to add the PDF charts to the list.

I organized the cross-stitch fabric by count and type (aida, even weave, lugana or linen) and the floss is also organized.

There is a stack of items that will be donated or placed on a freebie table at a future stitching retreat.

Cross-stitch organization is going to take a while, then I will move to quilting, sewing and paper crafts.

My hubby already knows rearranging furniture is in his future😉

Maybe I’ll share more progress photos along the way.

This weekend is our county’s Ice Fest. The big event takes place tonight downtown. They are calling it an Ice Block Party. The weather forecast is calling for more snow. At least the ice sculptures won’t melt. You can see some photos from a previous Ice Fest here. We didn’t attend last year because it was raining.

I have a busy workday ahead but I’m going to get another cup of tea and visit my favorite blogs first.  Hope you have wonderful day and weekend ahead.

See you soon,

 

Just a Bunch of Numbers

I was preparing my December and 2024 year-end cross stitch stats and thought it would be interesting (for me anyway) to look back to when I first started this hobby. The purpose of this post is more for my records but maybe some of you are as much of a nerd as I am when it comes to keeping track of miscellaneous data 😊.

Before I get too far, let me tell you about December. I completed 5,651 stitches on 3 projects. Most of those were for the Witching Hour stitch-along. I haven’t stitched on it since last week’s update.

I finished Cocoa Quilt by Primrose Cottage. It is stitched on 32 count linen by R&R Reproductions in the color Vintage Homespun. The threads are my own conversion using Aurifloss and Colour & Cotton.

Then I had a tiny start on Fa la la la la by The Scarlett House. This is the chart that came in the GaRon Christmas mystery box. I am stitching this one on 40 count linen by Fox and Rabbit in the color Bake Clay. I’m using the called-for threads.

During 2024, I completed 84,474 stitches.

Below is a count of my cross-stitch hobby from the beginning.

This key will explain the columns on the table:

Starts = obviously, the number of projects started in that year.

FFO = projects fully finished (framed, pillow, flat fold, etc.).

FO = stitching is completed but the project has not been fully finished.

WiP = Work in Progress, stitching is not completed.

Read the chart like this example:

Of the 14 starts in 2019, 6 of those are FFOs, 7 are FOs and there is still 1 WiP left.

 

Year	Starts	FFOs	FOs	WiPs
2018	1	0	1	0
2019*	14	7	6	1
2020**	30	13	8	9
2021	36	23	8	5
2022***	24	14	4	6
2023	15	10	2	3
2024	34	20	10	4
Found project****	1			1
Totals	155	87	39	29

*2019 = Not included in the numbers above, one project requires a restart.

**2020 = Not included in the numbers above, one project is being abandoned.

***2022 = Not included in the numbers above, one project requires a restart.

**** = I track my projects in a book and in reviewing the details for this post, I realized I have one project that was not listed. I’m not sure when I started it, but it is still a WiP.

I hope this makes sense to you. I had to add the italicized notes so I will remember what this means in the future.

I need to spend some time planning how and when to finish the remaining FOs and what to do about the WiPs. Are there some that I will not stitch? My tastes have changed since we’ve moved and I’ve also “outgrown” some projects.

There are many projects that are either partially or fully kitted but not started…we won’t even get into those.

At some point, I will list and prioritize my quilts. There aren’t nearly as many of those projects.

If you read to the end, thank you! I’m off to get hot tea, this exercise made my brain hurt 😊

Sawtooth Stars – Gene’s Way

Hey Y’all!

I’m excited to be back at the sewing machine and excited that I’m getting reacquainted with some older projects.

When my Mama helped me organize my craft room recently, I found a box labeled “Gene’s Flying Stars.” I shared about this project a long time ago so I’m essentially going to start over.

My friend Gene Black has a way of making the Sawtooth Star block using flying geese. He calls this block Flying Stars.  And since I’m making them, I call them Gene’s Flying Stars. He taught me through his YouTube video how to make them, so he gets ALL the credit.  Check it out here.

The box was filled with fabric precut to make several blocks.

Gene suggests chain piecing, but I wanted to make a test block first. I needed to check my machine settings, which foot I used, etc.

Well, I’m glad I did because the first block was a failure.

I adjusted the machine settings and changed the foot I was using. It worked because the next block came out much better.

I took a photo of the machine settings for future reference.

Then I prepped the remaining fabric for chain piecing.

Now you know what I’m doing tonight. I have an idea what I’m going to make with these blocks but need to do a little math first.

What are your plans for the weekend? Anything creative?

Whatever it is, I hope it is enjoyable.

FNwF, Slow Sunday Stitching, Sew Along Updates and Cross Stitch

Hello, Friends!

Here we are in February. It seems to me that the days are flying by.

Here is a quick update on this past week’s sewing and stitching.

 

I completed Lori Holt’s Scrappiness Is Happiness block #14 which is named Spare Squares Block.  It was super easy and all of the pieces were leftover bits from previous blocks, hence the name.

I then finished the Sewcialites 2 Block #14 named Enchant. This was another easy block, which was a nice break after last week’s challenge. It was designed by April Rosenthal of Prairie Grass Patterns.

As a reminder, I am stitching the 9” blocks using Cinnamon & Cream fabrics by Fig Tree & Co.

 

I took an inventory of my cross stitch projects and a status of each…maybe I’ll share those numbers with you soon, but let’s just say it was very humbling! I’ve put a little plan in place to try to finish up all the cross stitch projects I’ve started.  My idea is to have one focus piece which gets the majority of my stitching time and then a WIP/UFO which I will stitch on about one hour each day.

I took the opportunity to work on my oldest WIP Friday night when Cheryll hosted Friday Night with Friends.  I spent the evening Zoom stitching with friends and working on Irony by Hands on Design.

I forgot to take a before photo but I can tell you that I had only stitched from the top down to the words ‘opposite of.’

Then Sunday I Zoom stitched with another group and made some really good progress on my focus piece which is the Red Bird Sampler by With Thy Needle & Thread. 

This was my Slow Sunday Stitching piece so I’m linking up with Kathy’s Quilts.

It sure feels good to have a plan in place for all of my crafting. I feel I am more productive when I set goals and plan my time.

 

Did you have any time to be creative this weekend? Tell me what you got up to.

 

Have a great week!