Hello Autumn! All around catch up and updates!

Lots of things happening, and just a bit of stitching! It's been quite a couple of months. I can't believe it's been that long. I've had a birthday, which was really wonderful, a beach vacation, and a major dental surgery. Still dealing with the latter, since it was just one week ago, but it's going just fine so far. I survived. Just a bit of an update on my Sisters of the Broom. 

Now for the kicker. I am doing this on 16 ct. aida, which is really pretty! I like it so much. But I'm using one strand of floss and I'm not grooving on my stitches. Of course. So I'm toying with the idea of switching it up to linen and using two strands. How crazy am I here? I know it's probably almost 50% done, but I want to be happy with it. And I'm stressing over it. I'm going to lay off of it for a while and see how I feel in a week or so I think. 

The vacation. It was wonderful! Here was the view from our house right on the beach. 

Getting away with the kids was just what I needed. I wish I could capture that feeling all year long. My sweet little grand dog, Franklin, even slept with me one night! That is a pretty big deal because his pawrents were just down the hall and he didn't want to go to bed with them! He stayed until about 4:45am when he had to go out and I'm so glad I went, because I hadn't seen the stars that magnificent in a long while. It was amazing.

The weather was perfection for the entire seven days. Lots of mini-golfing and lots of shopping and eating and enjoying the weather and the beach.

As I said to someone recently, I know what I would do with my lottery winnings. 

I made this kitty for my mom for her birthday. Turned out so adorable! You can find the pattern HERE.

Every time I make one of these little things, it's like saying hello to a new tiny friend, lol. They are just so much fun.

Well, that's it from me for now. I'll decide what to do with Sisters of the Broom soon. I hope everyone is having a fabulous start to their Autumn season so far. I am going to try and do a few things I haven't done the past couple of years. And cook some things I haven't tried yet.  

See you soon!

Sisters of the Broom progress!

Making progress on my late summer stitch, Sisters of the Broom. I am really enjoying it! This is my first time stitching a Quaker type design, but I like it so far! Of course, I'm always up for anything witchy or fall themed. 

I like the colors I substituted, but I'll need to find a flesh color for the sisters because the gold isn't going to cut it. Shouldn't be a problem though! 

This past week was a bit scary in the weather department. We had several tornado warnings on Thursday and a neighborhood about 1.5 miles from us was definitely hit by a tornado. They had tons of trees down and about 30 homes were heavily damaged. When the storms left it took a big bulk of the humidity which was wonderful, and I'm hoping we're all done with the 100+ degree weather.

I got the most amazing cloud photo as one of the storms were leaving one day.

There's absolutely NO filter on that pic! It was just incredibly beautiful to see.

Don't know about you guys, but as always this time of year, I am looking so forward to the cooler days and nights that are coming soon. As much as I enjoy the changing of all the seasons, I relish the Autumn time so much.

I hope everyone is well and getting lots of stitchy projects done. I'll be back soon with more to share on my current stitch!

Sisters of the Broom progress

Made some nice progress I think. I had the bird almost done, but I really hated the DMC floss I was using on that. It was shreddy and fuzzy and so was one of the other colors, so I went to JoAnn's and substituted them with ones I liked better from Anchor.

I've struggled with planting and raising moonflowers here at this house. They either go in too late, wrong spot, or not at all. This year again, they got planted too late. We should have a bumper crop of beautiful white blooms every night, but we're lucky to see one a week. Here is the first one of the season, and I think we only had one other one. Makes me a bit sad.

That's about all I have! Nothing exciting for me to report lately. I've been healing up nicely from having a tooth out. I sure hope all goes well like that next month when I have my other ones done! I have a feeling that is going to be a pretty rough time, but we'll see.

Hard to believe we are in the first week of August. I sure hope everyone is staying cool out there, and getting lots of stitching done, or whatever it is you like to do! I'll be back soon with a finished bird and more progress on Sisters of the Broom. Take care of yourselves!

 

New Start! Notforgotten Farm Sisters of the Broom!

What a week it's been, right? But I'm just going to talk about cross stitch!

I started a new project! Notforgotten Farm's Sisters of the Broom. It's only got four DMC colors, and so far, I'm using just what is called for. I'm stitching it on PTP 16 ct. Ale, using one strand of floss. This is such a nice color. And a nice fabric as well. 

I am actually excited to be stitching on this, for the first time in a long time. This will be my first cross stitch in nearly about 35 years without any of my own dog's hair in it. That is crazy, lol. I'm positive that all my pieces I've EVER done had a stray dog hair. Regardless, I am excited to stitch, and that is a plus right now!

My son and I went to see a Samurai Warrior Armor exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts yesterday. What a wonderful exhibit, and I would recommend it to anyone! We had a such a great day. Museum, lunch at a favorite place, the bookstore....and traffic. Oh my lord the traffic. But it didn't stop us from having a fantastic time.

Truly amazing exhibit and displays! Well, I think that's all I have for now. I made myself a goal to stitch every single day for the next week and we'll see where I'm at. One day at a time, one stitch at a time. That's how it gets done.

I hope everyone is getting some stitching done and staying cool. We're a bit cooler this week, thank goodness. Getting a tooth pulled and not looking forward to that, but I still want to put in some stitches that day. Wish me luck. It's been a long long time since I had to have that done. In September I'm going in to some totally foreign dental territory-implants. I'm scared!

Have a great week, and I'll be back soon with an update on Sisters of the Broom!

BBD Update aka Slowpoke Check-In!

Oh boy am I not getting much stitching done lately. Here is some progress though.

Work has been unpredictable, and we have had a family member in and out of the hospital quite frequently so my thoughts are elsewhere sometimes. Stitching just hasn't been in the forefront of activities the past couple months. Life is like that sometimes!

My mom and I went to pick up some things from the framer and Flag Folk was worth the wait! The other is Cricket Collection and I think it was called Do You Hear What I Hear, but I'll check on that to be sure and update if need be.

During a recent drive, my husband and I were delighted to see the goats out with their new babies! Baby goats are so cute.

The weather has been up and down but mostly just gorgeous and mild. I am loving it and trying to enjoy it as I can. Hopefully you are too! 

I need to make a goal of getting back to a weekly update. I don't know where April went! So I will be back in a week or less with another update. Have a great stitch week, and until next time,

 

Anniversary and Fancey Blackett Conversion takes shape!

I've changed up the pinwheels on Fancey Blackett's Brooms to quaker symbols! I thought it would look pretty and I'm loving the results! What do you think?

 I don't know if I'll fill in those two left side symbols with anything. Still trying to decide! Fun design to work on.

My mom and I traveled to In Stitches yesterday to pick up my Giving Sisters by Notforgotten Farm. They do a spectacular job on everything. I have never been disappointed with their framing. They are meticulous! Framing is so very expensive, so when you get something back you want it perfect!

Please forgive the glare. It's impossible to get a photo without it! Just look at how perfectly straight those borders are! I'm not confident enough to pin linen, or lace it, even though I want to learn. But WOW, was I super happy with those borders, lol. Such a beautiful job, and a beautiful design!

I hope to work my way down to Fancey's cauldron this week, if work allows. It's been brutal! But I always have my stitching on my desk and my Ott lamp is always on, in case I finish up and have a few minutes to put some stitches in. It truly does help my outlook on things.

We celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary on the 8th! As my mom likes to say, "that's nothing to sneeze at!". We went to our favorite restaurant for dinner that we go to once a year, and had an really nice time. The weather was just gorgeous!

Time to plan out Thanksgiving dinner for just us and the kiddos. Sadly things will be different this year, but no way I'm taking chances with our parents. I just cannot. But, some turkey and cookies will probably be headed their way when it's all done!

Stay well and safe, and I'll be back soon with a Fancey update! Until then,

Know Thyself Update and Stash

This has been a fun project so far. It's not my usual type of project, but it's so pretty and interesting.

It is stitching up pretty quick. Work was a bit busier this week so not much stitching time, but I did get some in.

On Saturday, I drove up to In Stitches and dropped off my Notforgotten Farm's The Giving Sisters for framing. It might take up to 8 weeks, but I'm excited to get it back. I need to get to the point of being able to pin or lace linen. I'm pretty comfortable doing aida, but not linen. I've never been disappointed with their framing though. 

 

Traffic on I95 south was horrific, so I decided to take Rt.1 and gee, wouldn't ya know, it took me right to Carlos O'Kelly's!

 

 

The only thing missing was my mom sitting across from me. When I go pick up my framing, I'll make her go!

A bit of recently acquired stash now. I'm sure I won't live long enough to stitch all the stuff I have, but I'm going to try. I really am.

I have always loved Mosey 'n Me. The passing of Frank Bialec, Judy's husband, has made me even more nostalgic for their work. A good many, if not all, their Santa's look just like Frank. What a good soul he was. So talented in many ways, and putting positive things out there into the universe. He will be missed.

Hopefully everyone is doing well. I've been feeling pretty low these days. Wish I could spring up out of this mental slump. I don't like it. So I'm just going to keep stitching away. It helps so much!

One day this past week, I saw this out my front door. I'll take it for what it's worth!

Enjoy your week! Chin up and we can make it through. Until next time,

Flag Folk is FINISHED!

OMG, ya'll. It's done! I want to list a couple substitutions I made on this. I used all recommended flosses with the exception of the reds/orange in the flags and flower, and the blue in the flags and skirt. I used DMC 926 in place of WDW Dolphin, and DMC 3777 in place of WDW Terra Cotta. I took this pic in a lighter room than I usually do, so it's coming off a few shades lighter for the fabric.

Whew. I should have worked this weekend, but I just had to finish this and get it under my belt. It feels SO GOOD! I really adore Lori Brechlin's designs. They are so fun and have so many great little elements to them. I hope she never stops designing cross stitch! I need to try some of her embroideries too.

Don't know what I'll pick up next. I have so many things kitted and ready to go. Sometime soon, I'll show how I organize my charts and floss, etc. Don't know if anyone would be interested, but I'll put it out there anyways. None of it is particularly innovative, lol. But it works for me.

Here is just some random pretty pics that happened over the past two weeks. I have been trying to be consistent with walking and I find that driving up to the battlefield park helps me do that. This little deer wasn't spooked by me sharing space with her at all!

Don't ask me what I'm gonna do with all these baby hats, but yeah, I finished another one. The yarn just made it too cute.

How are you guys doing? I really want to know. I am having a pretty hard time about now. Life has been upended it seems. Yes, things are opening, but the numbers in this country are the worst they have been during this entire nightmare. Sure, we can go out. But I find myself asking "is it worth it?". Somehow, I thought that things opening up would make me feel better, but going into stores, or eating somewhere now comes with existential fear that wasn't present before. UGH! Anyways, that's where I am.

I'll be back soon, after I'm done picking out a new project to stitch. Hopefully you will all have a wonderful, healthy week and get lots of stitching done. It's going to be hotsy totsy here this week, so I might not be walking as much as I did this past week. Stay cool!

Until next time,