My stash from September’s Needlework Galleria

Here are some photos of the stash that I brought home with me from the Needlework Galleria that was held in St. Charles, MO in September.  See anything you like???

Edgar Scissorbird was being sold at the Lindy Stitches shop.  He is handcrafted in Indiana from Ash and Cherry wood.  He helps keep my scissors handy.

 An empty bag that says Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Company.  Hmmmm....it did contain some dark chocolate malted milk balls (my fave!) and a truffle.  

 A cute tea ball ornament kit from Heartstring Samplery

 A really cute pattern from Luminous Fiber Arts.  Buggies wanted to help model this pattern since it has a bird theme.  Buggies loves birds.

 Assorted colors of mini PomPom trim and a pretty piece of 36 count linen from Dames of the Needle/From the Cauldron

A really cute project bag from the Heartstring Samplery shop. (Beth’s mother made this one. ❤️)

And lots of pretties from Heartstring Samplery

 A frog zipper pull for my project bag. (bit of trivia.....I’m terrified of real frogs but have a small collection of not-so-real ones)

A pretty pair of scissors from the Heartstring Samplery shop.

Stickers & postcards from Heartstring Samplery......just what this snail mail nerd needs. 

 And lastly, a freebie pattern and stitch info Sticker Plates from Lindy Stitches

I think I brought home a nice haul.  I sure don’t want my stash to get depleted. (Insert lots of canned laughter here.) 😂😂😂😂😂😂

I have been weeding through my stash.  I’ve listed several patterns that I’m getting rid of on the Patterns For Sale page.  Take a look to see if there is anything you need.  Prices do include postage and if you want several things,  I’ll combine postage to save you some 💲💲💲.  Don’t like the prices, then make me an offer.  Just leave a comment on the Sale page if you are interested in anything.

I also FFO’d a couple of things today but am going to save that for another post.

Needlework Galleria + A Giveaway

On Thursday I’ll be heading to the Needlework Galleria being held in St. Charles, MO.  It is more of a “working” trip than a “shopping for stitch stash” trip.  My friend, Beth Twist of Heartstring Samplery, is an Exhibitor at Galleria so I will be helping her.  I may be able to work in a little bit of shopping. 😋  It has been several years since I last attended Needlework Galleria so I’m looking forward to the trip.

Guess what I finally found???  The “lost” Little House Needleworks pattern that I had planned to give away last week.  I knew that it would eventually show up if I kept looking for it; and it did!

I won this pattern in a giveaway that Vickie at A Stitcher’s Story had earlier this year.  I got it stitched quick so I could display it for the 4th of July.  Here is my finish.

If you would like to win this pattern, you need to be a blog follower and leave a comment telling me if you have ever attended Needlework Galleria.  I will do a random draw next Sunday, Sept 22 to pick a winner.  

If you are going to Needlework Galleria this week, be sure to drop by the Heartstring Samplery room to tell me “hi” and to see all the pretties that Beth will be selling.

Now where did I put that pattern.....

I had planned to giveaway another pattern today........if only I could figure out what I did with it! 🤪🤪🤪

Stay tuned.  I’ll post about the giveaway as soon as I locate the pattern. #itsgottabeheresomewhere

Winter chart winner

I had 4 comments to my last post but 2 of the 4 did not wish to add to their stash.  😮😮😮😮😮 What?😮😮😮😮😮 I need their willpower.

So, I let random.org tell me if Meg (#1) or Southpaw Stitcher (#2) was the winner.  Here is the results.....

Congrats to Southpaw Stitcher.  I will be emailing you shortly.

Keep an eye out for another giveaway later this week.  I have a Little House Needleworks chart to give away.  I was the winning recipient of it from a blog giveaway earlier this year.  It was a fairly quick stitch so I am ready to pass the chart on to someone else.  More details in a few days.

A quick post, a quick finish, and a giveaway!

I have finally figured out that if I want to keep current on this blog I am just going to have to do quick posts instead of a lengthy missive!  So, here goes.

I have had this Trail Creek Farm freebie pattern for years.  I’ve been weeding through my patterns and getting rid of those that I know I will never stitch.  When I came across this pattern, I decided that it looked like a really quick stitch so I threw it on top of my “to stitch” pile.  I started it yesterday using 32 count French Lace linen and the called for GAST threads.

I finished stitching this afternoon.  I knew that I had NO intentions of trying to make the star-shaped pillow as shown on the pattern.  I looked for a small square frame in my frame stash but didn’t have anything small enough.  Then the lightbulb came on! 💡 I remembered that I had bought a small tin ornament frame years ago at a stitch retreat.  Perfect!!!

Now for the giveaway.  If you are interested in the Trail Creek Farm Winter pattern, leave me a comment telling me what your favorite season of the year is.  You also need to be a follower of my blog.  I will let the Random Number Generator pick a winner on Sunday, September 8.......which just happens to be my mom’s 94th birthday! 😊😊

Patterns for Sale

I’ve listed some patterns for sale (see Patterns for Sale page).  Leave comment if you see a pattern you are interested in.

Stitch Maynia 2019

Are you a stitcher?  If so you are probably aware of the big hoopla that started today......Stitch Maynia 2019.  Never heard of Stitch Maynia?  There are so many different takes on Stitch Maynia (and I have my own) that I will just tell you to Google it if you want to know more about it.

Some stitchers are starting a new project every day during the month of May.  I've seen where some stitchers are scaling that number back by about half.  I decided that I would start 1 new project this month for Stitch Maynia 2019.  I also have a few other Stitch Maynia goals.  Here they are:

#1 - Start one new project.  The pattern that I picked is May Pocket Calendar Cover by The Drawn Thread.  I do not plan on making it into a pocket calendar cover once it has been stitched.  I will either frame it or make it into a pillow.  It calls for Needlepoint, Inc. Silk thread but I am using DMC. It also calls for 32-count "Water Lily" Wichelt-Permin Linen.  I had Water Lily in my fabric stash but it was 28-count so that is what I am using.

#2 - Finish these two pieces into pincushions.

Isn't this cute?  I stitched this several years ago and have no clue who the designer is or the name of the design.  It is stitched on linen

This is a Primitive Hare design.  Another piece that was stitched years ago and just laying in a drawer waiting for the finishing fairy to arrive.  This pattern may have been a "freebie"....not sure.  As you can see in the bottom photo, I will need to add a piece of scrap homespun or flannel fabric in bottom left corner.  

#3 - Frame this piece.  I think the designer is The Goode Huswife.  I stitched it 1-2 years ago.  Yellow overdyed sampler thread on a denim linen.  I have a frame; however, I want to paint it as I do not like the stain that is currently on the frame.  I will be framing this myself instead of hiring it out.

#4 - Work on these WIPs

I started this Plum Street Samplers design several months ago.  My Stitch Maynia goal for this piece is to complete the stitching.  I don't have a lot left to do.

I started stitching the border of Heartstring Samplery's His Eye is On the Sparrow at least 3 years ago and I don't think I even put one stitch in during 2018.  As you can see I have almost 3/4 of the border done.  My Stitch Maynia goal is to finish the border. I think I can reach that goal and maybe even stitch a few of the flower motifs that fill out the border.  Keep your fingers crossed that I have not done any miscounting and that my border will match up.   If you are not familiar with this design (shame, shame) let me just give you the stitch count.....435x363.  Yes, it is huge! And the 28 count "Wren" Picture This Plus linen piece is huge.  I stitch in hand so having a large piece of fabric makes for slow stitching.  At least it does for me.

Another Heartstring Samplery WIP that I have been working on for awhile is the Spring Flame Pincushion.  Until recently it had sat in my WIP pile without getting any attention.  A month or so ago I decided to bring it back into my stitching rotation so I have been making progress.  Both sides of the pincushion have stitching on them.  My Stitch Maynia goal for this design is to complete one side.

This design has a small amount of stitching left to be done.  The stitching on this piece was done by an elderly friend of mine who passed away several years ago.  I "inherited" lots of her stitching stash, including this piece.  My Stitch Maynia goal is to complete the stitching and finish it into a small pillow or possibly a framed piece.

While going thru my WIP pile, I came across this ornament that I started 3-4 years ago.  The design was in the 2015 Just Cross-Stitch Annual Ornament Issue.  My Stitch Maynia goal is to complete the stitching and make a hanging ornament similar to what is shown in the photo.

I started this Little House Needleworks Winter ABC's pattern last year.  I have made some progress but have not worked on it for several months.  My Stitch Maynia goal?  I would love to finish it; however, I don't think that will happen with the other projects I'm working on.  So my goal is to stitch through the letter 'S'nowman.  Hopefully I can get the design stitched and finished in time to display it for Christmas 2019!

#5 - Finish this small piece into a hanging pillow.  I think this is a Lizzie Kate design.  I stitched it awhile ago.  If I work on finishing this in the next day or two, I can display it for most of the month of May!

Whew!  Looks like I got a lot to work on.  I probably won't do any further blog posts until early June when I post the results of my Stitch Maynia goals.  

 Do you have any Stitch Maynia 2019 plans?

2019 Nashville Needlework Market

Since 2015 I have attended the Nashville Needlework Market as Beth Twist's (AKA Heartstring Samplery) assistant.  Beth is one of the nicest people to work for and I enjoy spending a few days with her each year while she is in town for Market.

Beth always brings "goodies" for me (another post for another day).  In addition, she also lets me have any Heartstring Samplery patterns that I want.  Here are the patterns that I picked out this year.

(clockwise from top left):  C is for Coffee, Coffee Drinker's Confession, Festive Little Fobs Harvest Edition, Coffee Edition, Stitching Edition, The Stitching Life, and The Cat Sampler.  Where do I begin?  Which pattern is screaming, "Stitch me first!"?


Another perk of being Beth's assistant is that I get to do some shopping at Market.  This year I tried to maintain control as I HAVE SO MUCH STASH!!!!!!!  Here's what I came home with...…..

Fox Few (Plum Street Samplers) and Stitching Bird (Heart In Hand)

A really cute needle minder from Stitch Dots with Heartstring's 'Coffee Drinker's Confession' printed on it.

Two pair of scissors (you can't have too many) and a pack of John James Size 26 Tapestry Petites (you can't have too many).  

I took some photos of Beth's room at Market to show you all of the *cute* stuff that she designs.....just in case you've been living in a cave for awhile and haven't seen any of her stuff.  

End of February WIP update.....a few days late

My last post listed 4 neglected WIPs that I was going to get back into actively stitching again. However, I decided that the smart thing to do was to focus on only one of the WIPs.   Especially since I have 2 or 3 current WIPs that I am also working on (more about those in another post).  So the neglected WIP that has been put into active stitching status is Spring Flame Pin Cushion by Heartstring Samplery.

I started this project in 2015!  Here is a photo of the progress that I had made on it as of January 2018 when I laid it aside and didn’t pick it up again until last month.

So let’s take a look at my progress during the past month.  Not great, but I have been stitching on a couple of other current things also. The color looks more vibrant in this photo.....thanks to my new iPad.

What about the other three neglected WIPs?  Two of them, La-D-Da and The Hearts Content, will get put into my active stitching pile after I finish the Spring Flame Pin Cushion. 

After much thought, I have decided to abandon the Prairie Grove Peddler Honey Bee candle mat.  It has become one of those projects that I liked at one time but now I really don’t care about finishing it.  I decided that I have too many WIPs and even more in my "to-stitch stash" to spend time working on something that I no longer want to stitch.  I struggled with that decision.  I don’t like abandoning projects (or books!) but sometimes that is the best thing to do.  What about you?  Have you ever abandoned a stitching project?

I’ll post a progress report on the Spring Flame Pin Cushion at the end of March.  I also want to do a post on the 2019 Wholesale Needlework Market that was held in Nashville last weekend. (Can we say “more stash”?)   And I need to do a post on the current projects I’m working on.  So many blog posts to do, so little time.  See ya later.

Where did 2018 go? And how about those 2018 stitching goals?

I was going to come out of blog-land hibernation by doing a series of posts on all the WIPs that I have laying around.  Some of those projects are laying around close by in the event I want to pick them up and do a few stitches, others are hiding away and haven’t had a stitch made on them in years.    Anyhoo,  I spent a few moments last night photographing those “close by” WIPs with full intentions of doing a “WIPs, Part One” post today.

I haven’t had many blog posts in the last year or so but thought I remembered doing a WIPs update.  When I looked back at prior posts, I quickly found the one that I was recalling, however, it turned out to be this “2018 stitching projects” post instead of a WIPs post.  Imagine my horror 😦😧😮😲 when I saw that four of the WIPs mentioned in that post, with corresponding photos, had not been TOUCHED at all during 2018.

I guess there is no reason to post the photos of these WIPs that I took last night since they look the same as the photos in my January 2018 post.  As I said “😦😧😮😲”!

Here are the WIPs from the 2018 post that were neglected for the past year:
La-D-Da - “You & Me”
Heartstring Samplery - “Spring Flame Pincushion”
Prairie Grove Peddler - “Little Candle Mats: Honey Bees”
The Heart’s Content - “Coverlet Series: Splendor IV”

Shame, shame, shame on me!  It’s not like I stopped stitching since I did finish a few of the WIPs shown in the January 2018 post......and even started (and finished!) new projects.

Hmmmmmm, what am I going to do about it?  I resolve to work on these four WIPs on a weekly basis.  And I resolve to post an update on these WIPs at the end of February.

Enough of this blogging,  I have some stitching to do!  See you in a couple of weeks!