Floss Friday -- Cross Stitch Update and Alaska

Happy Friday, Friends!

It has been a while since I’ve posted and visited my favorite blogs. I guess you could say I really checked out during vacation and was just living in the moment. It was fantastic.

Hubby and I took a 7-night cruise to Alaska. We flew to Seattle on June 7^th, boarded the ship on the 8^th and flew home on a red-eye flight the 15^th – 16^th. We are more exhausted from this trip than we were when we returned from Italy last September.

There was a cross-stitch retreat two of the days during the cruise. I had won the registration at a retreat last summer, which worked perfectly for our Alaska plans. The event was hosted by Anabella’s Needleworks and the featured designer was Stitching with the Housewives (SWTH). Priscilla and Chelsea are the mother-daughter team behind SWTH. Chelsea had a baby May 1^st and was unable to attend but Priscilla was there with us.

Priscilla and Chelsea designed a chart exclusively for the retreat attendees and provided finishing instructions. 

Anabella’s kitted the chart with fabric and floss. It became my focus stitching for the last week, and I’ve even fully finished it.

Chart: Stitch with Me

Fabric: 28 count white Monaco

Floss: Called-for Classic Colorworks

Stitch Count: 98 x 70

Finished Size: ~7” x 5”

I'll share retreat gifts and giveaways in a separate post.

When I wasn't stitching, Hubby and I were hiking, biking, glacier viewing, whale watching and eating…eating…eating!

I took way too many photos to post but here are a few from our trip.

Seattle was the only cloudy day we had the entire trip.

Yes, I bought fabric. More about that later...

A humpback whale waving...

We enjoyed Alaska so much that we booked a Land to Sea trip for next year.

The laundry is done and I am catching up at work. I’m also working to catch up on Melisa’s Summer Stamp Sampler.

Pinker N Punkin' Quilting and Stitching

I’ll be working on Sewcialites and Fat Quarters by the Dozen quilt blocks tonight. Can’t get too far behind on those.

Forgive me if I haven’t visited your blog for a while. I’ll get there, I promise.

In the meantime, enjoy your weekend.

My next post will be Monday, June 22nd...a quilty update.

See you soon.

 

Floss Friday – Vacation and Cross Stitch Progress

Hello and Happy Friday!!

It is good to be home. We took a 10-day cruise through New England and Canada. It was absolutely beautiful, we couldn’t have asked for better weather.

The ship departed Baltimore, cruised down the Chesapeake to the Atlantic. 

                                            

The Star Spangled Banner Flag House

Where Mary Young Pickergills sewed the Star

Spangled Banner in 1813, which flew over

Fort McHenry

We made stops in Boston, Massachusetts…

We toured Fenway Park, which included

Visitors Dugout, Press Box, and a rooftop garden

St. John and St. Martins, New Brunswick…

A Farmer's Market in St. John

You can get all of your shopping done in this one building.

This lady was making mittens out of recycled sweaters

St. Martins provided our first of many lobster rolls

And delicious seafood chowder

                                            

We walked along the beach to get a look at caves

that have been naturally formed from the Bay of Fundy tides

I'll have to share more about Bay of Fundy in a future post

Sydney, Nova Scotia…

World's largest violin to signify Sydney's

Scottish heritage

Halifax and Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

We visited the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic

They had an amazing Titanic exhibit...not enough space here

to share all of the photos I took.

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

The best lobster roll of the trip!!

BeaverTails! A soft pastry filled with anything

your heart desires. We kept it simple with chocolate.

We wouldn’t mind returning to Nova Scotia for a longer visit.

I started a new cross-stitch project on the drive to Baltimore and finished it on the drive home.

Hello Autumn is a free chart from Primrose Cottage Stitches. Well, it’s free if you subscribe to their newsletter. I fully finished it this week by simply placing it in a frame.

This is stitched on 28-count linen in the color Parchment by Zweigart. I used most of the called-for colors but replaced Caterpillar with Blackbird. Both flosses are Classic Colorworks.

While I was in the finishing mood, I took “Give Thanks” out of the under-the-bed-box and mounted it on sticky board. I then pulled a scrap piece of Lori Holt fabric to make a background. I want to layer the pieces on a wooden pumpkin and top it off with a bow and covered button. I’ve decided it needs some trim and I currently do not have anything that will work.  Mom and I are planning to trip to Hobby Lobby this weekend, so I hope to find something there.

Give Thanks is designed by Annie, The Proper Stitcher. I used 40-count linen in the color Chocolate Milk from Fabrics by Stephanie. I completed the stitching on October 18, 2024.

Since being home, I caught up on American Sampler by Crocette a gogo’. I’m working on October’s assignment now.

The weather is nice and cool here. We had our first pot of chili and buttermilk cornbread of the season for dinner last night.

I’m looking forward to walking around the lake and seeing the pretty fall colors in the trees. I’m also curious to see if these guys are there again this year…

My plan for this evening is to start the binding process on BloomTopia.

What are your plans for the coming days? I hope it is something you enjoy.

I TRIED...Linking up with Alycia for Finished (or Not!) Friday For some reason it wouldn't work for me :(

See you soon,