Stitched in 2025 and finished yesterday. This mini sampler book was designed by Linda Stolz of Erica Michaels; finishing instructions from Lady Dot. This class was offered to shops at Nashville Market a few years ago and then the full kit was available to shops that took the class. The pattern (without supplies) is now available to all.
Wish my photography skills were better!
For several years, I have been creating nametags for myself for various retreats. Most of these pictured were stitched to align with the Needlework Guild of Minnesota retreat theme. This year’s retreat is coming up soon and the theme is, “We the People…Stitch!”
My nametag this year is a slightly modified version of a complimentary chart from Snowflower Diaries. My nametag is ready!
Note that the nametag in the first photo with the bear on it was stitched by my PIC; all the others were stitched by me.
Today is going to be a beautiful day! Our temperatures have returned to normal and there’s even a bit of a breeze outside!
I’m keeping up with my progress on Mary Beale’s Days of Advent. Rather than stitching it as a sampler, we are hoping to create a book. (Full explanation on my April 23 post.) There are six of us working on this project. Yesterday, I completed the fifth block. I’ve got 20 more blocks to go. As the saying goes though, slow and steady wins the race, right?
Here’s block #5 - Elisha (I still need to refresh my memory of this bible story!)
Here are the first four blocks that I stitched:
And here’s the entire piece so far:
Keep in mind, we started in the middle and are working to the end. When finished, we’ll go back to the middle and work the first half in reverse order. Looks like my toes snuck into that photo - oops!
Well, I need to get moving. My new little grandson (almost 6 weeks old) is coming to visit so his mom can go get a haircut. He’s such a little sweetheart.
Have a great day!
Just returned from Allentown, PA where my PICs and I spent the weekend with about 100 other stitchers at a retreat hosted by Theresa Venette, aka Kitten Stitcher. We had such a great time!
Each “neighborhood” (table) had a name. We resided at “Pincushion Parkway”. Some of the other neighborhood names included “Sampler Street”, “Smyrna Crossing” and “Embroidery Estates”. These creative names added an element of fun and played into the weekend’s theme - “community”. Theresa, aka the HOA supervisor, periodically announced several HOA violations in the communities. But with every violation came a door prize!
My tablemates, with Theresa:
Theresa designed a beautiful sampler for us titled “A Beautiful Day”. Makes me think of Mr. Rogers… “it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood….”
The best part of the weekend was meeting long time friends, as well as new friends. I wish I had remembered to take pictures! Sometimes I get so caught up in the moment, that I forget to do things like that.
Back to reality now, but I will enjoy thinking about this weekend for a long time to come!
Now that I am retired, I have more time to stitch. I try to stitch 3 - 4 hours every evening and if I’m lucky enough to have a guild meeting or some other stitchy meet up during the day, I might add another 4 hours to that. I am working through WIPs and other projects in my stash. I don’t do WIPGO or any other kind of program to determine what I will stitch on; I work on whatever is calling my name. That works best for me.
Here’s some of what I worked on in June:
1) Band #4 - My Favourite Things from Betsy Morgan. This is a project offered by the Willow Tree Sampler Guild in Texas. Each month we complete one band. I think it is quite pretty!
2) Abigail Colby from Primitive Traditions. This pattern is OOP. This will be the top (cover) of a Nantucket basket; I have 7 or 8 more pieces to stitch - the smalls that will go inside the basket. I started this at least a year or more ago and have been working on and off on it. In June, I finished the last medallion located at approximately 10 o’clock. Picture doesn’t do it justice - 36 ct Vintage Luna from Lakeside with Belle Soie silks.
3) Spring Parade Sewing Basket from Stacy Nash. Sweet. This was one of her market releases this year. As soon as I can find the right sized box, I will get this one fully finished.
4) One Hundred Hearts from Samplers Not Forgotten. This was a Silver Needle kit a few years ago. I think I swapped the 32ct linen for 36ct which made the over one words a bit more challenging. The hearts should have been over one too, but I modified them and stitched them over two!
5) Gingerbread Man from Stacy Nash - this was her Jingle Ball class last December. It’s supposed to be a needlebook. My kit included enough linen to stitch the little guy twice. I personalized them and am going to make them into ornaments.
Some of my stitching friends and I have been gathering to focus on finishing our unfinished fully stitched items. I think we met twice in May and twice in June. The first meet-up wasn’t as productive for me, but I figured out how to make the time as fruitful as possible and as a result, the last three gatherings have been great! Let me share my finishes with you.
1) MH 1860 from Needlework Press - found the perfect frame on one of my recent visits to Welcome Stitchery. Stretched and pinned it and voila! Isn’t it sweet?
2) Needle keep from Lauren Sauer - this should have been finished a long time ago. I picked up the design probably 10 years ago on one of our trips to Indy. Stitched it right away, but never finished it. As you can see, I need to find a #22 needle!
3) Sweet little needle book from The Primitive Hare. We met her at Welcome Stitchery a couple years ago. The pattern was in a small booklet of her designs. The linen is from Picture This Plus, but I don’t have the color name. The thread is from GAST - Old Purple Paint.
4) E. Savio from Rovaris - this was a Facebook offer a few years ago. The design was all kitted up and it came with the spool. (The spool is beautiful.) I have another kit like this one in my stash waiting to be stitched!
I have one more finish to share, but I am still tinkering with it a little bit. I’ll share that photo next time.
Looking forward to our July finishing day as I still have more things to finish!
We traveled to Blue Earth this weekend, not just to see the Jolly Green Giant but to attend the Welcome Stitchery Retreat! The featured designer was Annie from Annie Beez!
The line to get in the retreat started building early. Anticipation!
As we entered the venue, we were serenaded with piano music. Such a fun and festive way to get the retreat started!
The retreat piece was fabulous. Check out the checkerboard roof on the house! And the spools for chimneys! I’ve started stitching the little pincushion.
Of course, the best part of any retreat is the friends you spend time with. Old friends and new friends.
Many thanks to Justine at Welcome Stitchery, our fabulous hostess, and her wonderful team at Welcome Stitchery! Thank you to Annie and Kay for making the trip to Minnesota.
It was a great weekend!
