Floss Friday -- September Stats, A New Start and A Few Plans

Happy Friday, Friends!!

September's stitch count is a bit higher than August's. I put 2,140 stitches in three projects.

Wilding Hill Manor by Little Robin Designs...
                                            
Red Letter Sampler by Threadwork Primitives...
                              
And last, which is also a new start, Merry Bouquet by Shakespeare's Peddler...
                                            
This is one of the kits I purchased at the Stitching in the Wild retreat early September. My friend Andrea and I are stitching this together.
                            
My fabric is 36 count linen Tin Roof by Weeks Dye Works, and I'm using the called-for Classic Colorworks floss.

Christmas stitching wasn't originally in my plan for October. Recently that changed when I won a chart from Priscilla and Chelsea's flosstube, Stitching with the Housewives. This is Pinkie Santa...
                                            
This will be a good project to work on at my next stitching retreat. Anabella's is hosting a retreat during our town's apple festival mid-October. The featured designer is Priscilla. I know, I know, I just saw her on the Alaskan cruise retreat. But when someone big comes to our little town...well, I have to go!

Not much, if any, stitching will happen this weekend. It is back to the sewing machine for me. I'm determined to make progress on quilt wips. Speaking of quilts, I have something exciting to share on Monday. Well, it is exciting for me anyway.

What are you working on this weekend? I hope it is something fun!

Enjoy and I'll see you Monday!

Floss Friday -- Retreat and Cross Stitch Progress

Happy Friday!

Stitching in the Wild 2026 is in the books. It was a great time stitching and laughing with friends that I only see at this retreat. As I expected, there aren't a lot of photos to share but here are a few highlights.

I made these small zippered bags filled with treats for my tablemates and a few other friends.
                                            
I received some nice gifts but didn't think to take photos until after everything had been put away.

The retreat attendees got candy and a little green duck from me. We played a game where I hid many of these ducks around the hotel common areas and in the stitching room. The person who found the most won a gift certificate to the retreat store. It was a lot of fun and several folks asked if I was going to do it again next year.

The charity raffle raised $4,079 dollars for St. Jude, Shriner's and Wounded Warriors.  I had donated two items for the raffle. Here are the winners.

My haul from the retreat...

36 count linen in my favorite colors from Fabrics by Stephanie

Pins for pillow finishes from Puntini Puntini
                                            

Lori Holt reading glasses, Romy's Creations floss and pins, needles
                                               
Goodness and Light chart by The Proper Stitcher
                                            

The Goodness and Light kit (fabric, floss, velveteen and ribbon for finishing)
                                          
Merry Bouquet chart by Shakespeare's Peddler 
                                                
Floss, fabric and the finishing board for Merry Bouquet
                                            
And last but not least, Give Thanks Sampler Pillow by Mani di Donna
                                                
What did I stitch while there? Well, it wasn't Wilding Hill Manor as I had planned. I brough out Red Letter Sampler instead.
                                                
Here is where I left off when I last stitched on it.
                                                 
Here is where I got to during the retreat.
                                                

There isn't much left to do so I will make this a focus piece over the next week or so.

I noticed when I returned from the retreat that my Blogger Reading List had not updated since September 9th. So, I am slowly making my way around to everyone. I'll apologize in advance for all the comments you will get from me. Do not feel obligated to respond to each one.

My daughter, her boyfriend, and our grand fur-baby will arrive on Saturday and be here for a week. There are a lot of things planned but I'll also be stitching and catching up on Sewcialites 3...maybe another flimsy?

Enjoy the weekend ahead and I'll see you soon.

Floss Friday - Cross Stitch Update, Turkeys, Basil, Peaches and A Fail

Hello, dear friends!

Here we are at the end of another week. This one was quick. I didn't cross stitch at all this week...which is unusual. The little bit of stitching I have to share is from last Thursday.  After we arrived in Ft. Walton Beach for my aunt's funeral, I needed to relax. I put 130 stitches in Wilding Hill Manor after checking in the hotel.

I finished one of the trees and started on the cat's tail.
                                            
We've had visitors almost every day.
                                              
The turkeys enjoy eating underneath the bird feeders.
                                                

                                                
I've encountered the swans a few times while on my walk around the lake as well. It is rare for me to see them out of the water. They stay to themselves.
                                                
I also had to harvest the basil as it was getting so big, even though we've been using it a few times a week.  I froze two ice trays worth.
                                              

                                              

                                                        
And still have this much left. There is already new growth forming.
                                                        
We are still able to get fresh South Carolina peaches so hubby made ice cream. I need to get a photo. And there is still enough for me to make a cobbler. 

We will be away again this weekend so I hope to get more peaches next week to freeze.

Some of you may remember Miss Lou's Pound Cake. Well, I attempted one this week and was shocked when it failed.
                                            
I've made this cake many times and this was the first time it came out like this. I know it was level in the oven. Hubby is going to check the calibration of the oven to see if the temperature is off. The only other thing I did different was I used a different brand flour. By the way, it still tastes delicious.

That has been my week. We are off to Philadelphia for a few days. It's been a few years since we've been and I want to see all those special places like Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, etc. during our country's 250th birthday. And since it's baseball season, we can't go to Philly without attending at least one game.

Before that though, I will be sewing the last block of the Sewcialites 3 quilt-along. From what I can tell, it is going to be another time consuming one.

Not sure when my next quilty update will post. It could be Saturday or next Wednesday. Either way, I hope to see you then.

Floss Friday - Cross Stitch Progress and July Stats

Happy Floss Friday, Friends!

Here we are at the end of July. I'm typing this on Thursday evening, July 30th. I'm quite certain I will not be cross stitching on Friday so I am sharing my cross stitch stats for the month now.

I completed 4,783 stitches on four projects.

American Sampler by Crocette a Gogo', a WIP. Nothing new here this week.
                               
Peace on Earth by Shepherd's Bush, a new start. I finished the flowers in the top left corner this week.
                                
Meek & Humble by Teresa Kogut, a start and finish. This is one at the framers.
                                
Wilding Hill Manor by Little Robin Designs.
                                                

                                        
This one got the most love this week. That moon is huge, and it was making me a littly batty (sorry!).

All in all, it was a good month for cross-stitch.

Our local nursery finally got in some decent basil plants. We've been without them all summer. It's nice to have them growing just off the kitchen.
                                                
First up was hubby's homemade pasta sauce. I didn't think to take a photo.

I will need to take a little blogging break soon. My Mom's older sister has been placed in hospice care. We are anticipating a road trip to Ft. Walton Beach any day now.

Until then, I'm getting things ready to be away from home. I'm also working on the table runners I mentioned in Monday's post. If all goes well, there will be a post on Monday, August 3rd with a quilty update.

Thank you to my friends who return each time I post and leave the nicest comments. You all make my day!

Enjoy your weekend and I'll see you soon.

Floss Friday -- Cross Stitch Finish, Progress and A Cookie Recipe

Happy Floss Friday, Friends.

Before getting to cross-stitch progress, I will link the recipe for the sour cream cookie I shared in  Monday's post. I've been making this cookie for a few years, when we lived in Florida, and now that we live in North Carolina. I will say that the difference in elevation has changed the cookie a bit. It is still delicious though.

Visit Preppy Kitchen here for the recipe.

The new start I posted last Friday is now a finish. Meek & Humble by Teresa Kogut.
                                                    

                                          

I have an appointment to take this and one other piece to the framers this afternoon. It will be a gift for someone.

After finishing Meek & Humble, I put a few more stitches in Peace on Earth.
                                               

This will certainly be a long-term project, much like American Sampler. I still haven't gotten back to that one since you saw it last.
                               
Tonight is the beginning of a sewing weekend. Sewcialites 3, block 22 and assembling the center of Fat Quarters by the Dozen is on the agenda.

What are your plans for the next few days? Whatever it is, I hope it is enjoyable.

See you soon,

Floss Friday -- Cross-Stitch Progress

Happy Floss Friday, Dear Friends!

I mentioned in last Friday's post that I had another new cross-stitch start.

Meek & Humble by Teresa Kogut.

I'm stitching this on 40-count linen, Vanilla Latte from Fabrics by Stephanie. The silk floss is Cranberry from Gloriana. The thread goes through 40 count like melted butter. I love it!

I haven't had much time to stitch this week so I'm sad to say that is all I have to share in the way of cross-stitch.

We are forecast to have more hot weather this weekend, with afternoon rain. We need the rain so I will not complain. It will be a good time to stay indoors and sew. The finishing instructions for Fat Quarters by the Dozen was released on Wednesday. I'm hoping I have enough fabric for the sashing and borders. If so, that will be my project.

I hope you come back on Monday to see if I had any success.  In the meantime, enjoy the weekend ahead!

I'll see you soon,

Floss Friday -- Cross-Stitch Progress and A New Start

Happy Floss Friday, Friends!

The weekend is here and I couldn't be more for it. My head has been spinning all week with things I want to do in my craft room and both inside and outside the house. I really don't know what has gotten into me. So, as usual, I started a list. I do that when I need to get my thoughts organized, and in hopes of keeping myself from going off on a tangent. Does this ever happen to you?

Before getting into what's ahead, I'll show you what I've gotten up to with cross stitch this week.

I made progress on American Sampler by Crocette a Gogo. This is where I was when you saw it last.
                                
This is where I am now.
                                
I added more trees and worked the border around the upper right corner.

In last Friday's post, I mentioned I have three new starts planned for July. This is the first one...
                                          
Peace on Earth by Shakespeare's Peddler. I have a small start.

The true color of the fabric is not showing here and you really can't see the white stitches. Maybe I'll get better photos as I go along. And why is linen so hard to photograph?!? I'm stitching this on 36 count linen from Fabrics by Stephanie, in the color Friendship Greene. As I've mentioned before, Stephanie's linen is my favorite and I've used Friendship Greene in a few other other projects.

I have one other small start which I will share with you later.

Hubby and I are going to Ikea in Charlotte on Saturday. I am going to get some shelving units for the craft room / office. We are starting to work through the list I mentioned at the beginning of this post.  There will also be some sewing so, please come back on Monday, July 13th for a quilting update.

Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you soon!

Floss Friday -- May and June Cross-Stitch Stats

Happy Friday, Friends!

As I was preparing my June stats update I realized that I had not posted May's. So here they are...

Stitch count for May is 4,423 on five different projects.

My Works In Progress (WIPs) during May were Summer Stamp Sampler
                                               
Salute to Abigail
                                               
I had one Finished Object (FO), but not fully finished, Patriotic Pears                                     
There were two new Starts with Happy Day

And Red Letter Sampler

June's stitch count is 5,168 on three different projects.

My WIP for June was American Sampler
                                 
I had one FO with Salute to Abigail

I had one Fully Finished Object (FFO) with Summer Stamp Sampler
                                            
There was one Start And Finish (SAF) with Stitch with Me
                                            
That's a wrap for the last two months. So far, I have three new starts planned for July. These will be stitch alongs with friends and the Fat Quarter Shop. I'll also continue to work on American Sampler. Melisa at Pinker n Punkin' Quilting & Stitching is stitching patriotic all year, and that is my plan as well. 

Speaking of patriotic, I hope all of my USA neighbors have a safe and fun Independence Day celebrating our country's 250th birthday!

I'll be back Monday, July 6th with a quilty update.

See you soon,