Autumn is Here

Hi, stitching friends!

How is September already almost over? The days are getting shorter. Hubby is falling asleep on the couch at 8:30 p.m. because it's so dark outside, but I do like the temperatures. I wore a long-sleeve shirt to an appointment yesterday and I was glad I did. It's that time of year when A/C is still cranked up inside even though outside it's only 72 degrees.

Bittersweet September

Have you ever stitched something you love, only to hate the finish? Aggravating, isn't it? You put so much work into something only to end up hiding it in a closet. That was the case for me with Bittersweet September by Blackbird Designs.

I stitched it last year. I loved the stitch and the autumn colors and the wonky way the "W" is bigger than all the other letters. (Why? Why not?) But when I put it in a thrift-store frame I had painted brown, it just looked blaaaahhh. So I put it away in the armoire for a year. I didn't know what to do to make it look better.

Franken Frames to the rescue! With a recent order, I made sure to get something for this sweet stitch. I love this frame. I think the walnut goes really well with the colors in the stitch, and I love the beaded edge.

Macintosh Mill

Macintosh Mill was a Dimensions kit based on a painting by Charles Wysocki. I stitched this years ago, so long ago I don't even remember when. At the time, I wasn't doing any framing myself, and framing can be expensive. It seemed like there was always something more important to spend the money on. So I folded it up and put it back in the package with the kit and forgot about it.

Fast forward 10 years (or more!). I was purging my old cross stitch magazines when I found the kit and the completed stitch folded up inside. I ironed it and again thought about having it framed. Not in the budget. I put it in a plastic storage bin with other completed stitches and forgot about it again.

Fast forward a year, and here I am framing things myself! And here you have it... Macintosh Mill, framed and ready for fall.

The horse and buggy, and the children and their dog (or goat?)...

Rocking on the porch....

The pumpkin patch and pumpkin pies...

Hay in the loft...

Apple picking...

The water wheel...

Sheep in the field...

Late summer turning into autumn, a bountiful harvest, my favorite time of year....

Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow Reveal

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll remember that last year my big project was Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings. I started in January and finished at the end of August. I've shown each block as I completed it but never the whole thing.

The plan was to have it framed and ready for the blog in October last year, but there was a major mix-up at the framer and I didn't end up getting the fully finished project back until after Thanksgiving! They had it for about three months (can you imagine?). Apparently there was some misunderstanding between the framer and the supplier with the moulding I chose and it sat on a cargo ship in a dock somewhere all that time. The framer felt so terrible about the whole situation that she framed it in a plain black frame so I could at least have it on the wall for Halloween. When the correct frame came in, she reframed it, but I didn't want to show you a Halloween stitch just before Christmas.

I am so happy with the final result. I think the frame looks like creepy vines, and it picks up the shapes in the tree limbs and roots, the pumpkin vines and the swamp. The photograph doesn't show it well, but it's a really pretty dark gold with black undertones. The second photo shows more of a closeup of the frame next to the pumpkin square.

I hope you are staying well and continuing to do everything you can to keep yourself and the ones you love healthy. You are too important! Until next time... happy stitching!

Scanxiety and a BAP finish

Hi, stitching friends!

Oh.... where to begin?

At the end of June, I had routine scans for my metastatic breast cancer. Just checking in, making sure treatment is working. No big deal (hopefully). I felt fine, so I had no cause to worry. But I worry anyway.

It's called "scanxiety" (scans + anxiety = scanxiety).

After two years of good news, this one hit me like a punch in the gut. Some new "spots" showed up in my spine, but the tricky thing with bone mets is that we can't tell from scans whether they are active tumors or scar tissue (from dead tumors). My doctor said it could also be something called "treatment flareup," where tissue surrounding a dying tumor becomes inflamed.

So, new tumor growth = bad. That means my treatment is no longer working. But, treatment flareup = good. That means treatment is working.

The only way to tell is to wait, see how I feel until my next appointment, and repeat scans to see if the spots are bigger.

Fun!

Enter a Vacation and Whole30

For the longest time, I just didn't know what to say. So I didn't say anything. I've been absent from my blog and from many of yours, and for that I am so sorry. Thank you to my friends who have sent me beautiful cards and emails checking in on me. I love you for it.

At the beginning of August, I decided to make a drastic change to my diet. Did I want to lose weight? Uh... yeah. (Who doesn't relish the thought of clothes fitting better?) But my main motivation was to do everything I could to affect the outcome of my situation. If changing the way I eat can extend my life at all, it's worth giving up some goodies.

I really don't think I can cure a disease with no cure by eating better, but if I can feel better and possibly increase the number of my "good" days, then heck yeah!

Whole30 (www.whole30.com) is very similar to the Paleo diet. Lots and lots of vegetables, a little fruit, protein and healthy fats. No dairy, grains, legumes or unhealthy fats. It was a shock at first trying to get used to it, but now that my Whole30 has ended and the "training wheels" are off, I have very few cravings for sugar and junk food. My son keeps trying to get me to celebrate completing the Whole30 by going out for cookies and ice cream, and I just don't want them.

And...my clothes are fitting a lot better.

I see my doctor again next week, and I can honestly say I feel so much better in terms of everyday well-being, and I still don't have any pain where these new spots showed up in scans. I'm looking forward to seeing what my labs say about my health.

A BAP Finish

What is a BAP? My friend Arlene at Nanaland shared the phrase with me, and it stands for "Big Ass Project"! Don't you love it?

I finally finished Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow! Woot woot! I started it the third week of January 2019, and finished just after midnight on August 29, 2019. My goal was to have it done by the end of August so the framer would have time to frame it in time for October. I'm taking it there after the long weekend is over and I know it's going to cost a fortune, but it's worth it. I'm not tackling this one myself.

Last time I wrote, I was about half done with block 9. Here it is, all finished.

I love the long-stitched wraps of the mummy.

The green diamond pattern in the background stitched up very quickly, even though it may look like a lot of work.

Here is block 10. Lots of scary eyes and swampy creatures!

Rawrrr...... Scary alligator, or swamp monster. Poor frog!

Block 11 completed. I love the designers' creativity, how the steam from the locomotive becomes ghosts.

This way to the Hollow......

And finally, block 12 completed.

That was a LOT of DMC 829. I ran out twice! The skeleton teeth are stitched over one.

The BIG Reveal

....is coming later. I want to show you the whole thing after it's framed. Sorry, friends, but you're going to have to wait.

Now that it's finished, I feel so free to work on anything I want. I have a lot of work to do on the SAL with Mary and RJ at Stitching Friends Forever, and I want to stitch some Christmas ornaments. But you know what's calling my name? The Shores of Hawk Run Hollow. Call me crazy.

Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow Giveaway

To celebrate finishing Halloween at HRH, I'd like to offer the chart to one of you. It was so much fun to stitch, and I would love to see it go to someone who wants to stitch it and who might also pass it along to a friend afterwards. To save on postage, I would like to limit the chance to win to a USA-based stitcher.

If you would like to win the chart, please be a sidebar follower and leave a comment answering this question: What was your favorite Halloween costume or memory?

Thanks for reading! I have more in the works to show you, but I'll save those projects for another time. Thinking of all of you, especially those of you in the south facing Hurricane Dorian. Be safe.

June...Going, Going.....

Hi, stitching friends!

When I think that it's almost July 4, I think, "What? Seriously?" I've been reading about and admiring your patriotic stitching, and I think about starting some of my own. But then I realize... the Fourth of July is like... two weeks away?! Ummm... maybe I'll get on to my patriotic stitching next year. I got an email that my Colour & Cotton Stars & Stripes Mini Mystery Box has been shipped, so I'm super excited about its impending arrival, but it's a big, fat goose egg on the patriotic-stitching front here.

I have working on about eight different projects lately, using a decision-roulette app on my iPad to help me decide what to stitch on each day. But for now, here's what I have ready to show you.

Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow

I finished block 8 of Halloween at HRH a few weeks ago:

Don't you love it? The colors are so bright, and I love the realistic look of the straight-stitched straw in the scarecrow. He obviously isn't very scary to those crows landing all over him, but I think he's pretty scary.

I have to tell you, this project is pretty cool-looking in the product photo, but it's one of those rare projects that just POP in person. It has been delightfully fun to stitch.

I do have a love/hate relationship with some of the solid-color areas. On the negative side, stitching a large area in one solid DMC color can be dreadfully boring, but on the positive side, if you're watching TV when you stitch (as I do), you don't have to concentrate so hard when stitching these areas.

Now I'm working on block 9, and it seems like I've been on block 9 foreeeeeverrrrr. I took a brief vacation from Halloween at HRH to work on other things, and getting back to it has been hard. I'm almost done, though, and definitely still on track to finish block 9 by the end of June.

Do you love my new needle minder? Creepy! It's from Mad for Minders on Etsy:

Perfect for Halloween stitching. I love Dracula's fangs...

...and I love Frankenstein's monster's mustache. I'm not sure if it is supposed to be a mustache, but it looks like one to me.

Reminds me of a vintage photo, like this poor man's head became Frankenstein's monster's head.

Summer Schoolhouse SAL Update

I've been plugging away on the Summer Schoolhouse Stitch-a-long I've been doing with RJ and Mary of Stitching Friends Forever.

I finished part 2.1, titled "Pretty Miss Polly," in 16.5 hours:

And here is part 2.2, "Little Master Tommy," all finished up:

I think the colors are divine. The bees' wings are hard to see, even in person. They're almost the same color as the fabric.

After tracking 10 hours of stitching time on part 2.2, I decided that I REALLY don't like tracking time. Several of you have mentioned that you don't like doing stitch-a-longs because of either tracking time or feeling like you can't keep up. OK, so I agree! When I have the timer going, I'm super self-conscious about how much I'm getting done and whether or not I'm ahead of or behind RJ and Mary. So, I decided to heck with keeping track of time! I'm putting in what time I have, when I have it.

I think the important thing is knowing that my friends across the country are working on the same thing I am. I know we are at wildly different places in our stitching right now, and that's OK. I'll finish when I finish.

I have started part 3, but I haven't gotten very far yet. Just the windows and part of the door:

Since there is going to be an American flag on the left side of the house when I finish it, I will say, yeah, I'm working on some patriotic stitching, too!

Be well, dear friends, and thanks for stopping by. I read and enjoy every comment, so thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to say hello!

A Peek Into My Drawers (Or... How I Organize My Stash)

Hi, stitching friends!

Today, I want to give you a little peek into my drawers! OK, OK, get your mind out of the gutter. Not those drawers.

Over the past few months, I have come across YouTube videos and blog posts talking about how to organize all of our crap errr... treasured stash. I thought I would add my voice.

I am not an expert, but my system works for me. I have one bedroom that I use for an office/craft room, but you could use some of these storage methods even if all you have is part of a closet.

I have a large armoire that we used to have in the living room to house our old TV. When we ditched the old TV for a flat screen, I thought about giving the armoire away. But I imagined all the storage possibilities and moved it into the craft room.

In the above photo, on the left (looking inside the armoire), I have all sorts of storage bins I've collected over the years. They house everything from patterns to linen and fabric to buttons and embellishments. Ignore the miscellaneous junk I haven't organized yet.

On the top shelf on the left, you can see I have patterns stored in some 12x12 scrapbook bins. The orange bin holds patterns I have not stitched yet, and the purple bin below it holds the patterns I have stitched.

The photo on the right shows a bookshelf I have propped up against the armoire. It houses books, magazines, boxes of miscellaneous supplies and small, seasonal pieces.

I put printouts of freebies and charts I have downloaded from the internet in page protectors. These go into a binder with tab dividers for subjects such as Christmas, Halloween, autumn, patriotic, etc.

I mounted a shelf with hooks to the top of the armoire, and you can see my fancy flosses (overdyed threads) hanging from the hooks.

I put my overdyed threads in snack-size zipper bags, punch a hole in the corner and put a label in another corner where I write the brand and color. I put the bags on 3" jump rings and organize them by brand. For brands such as The Gentle Art or Weeks Dye Works, I organize the flosses alphabetically. For Colour & Cotton flosses, I organize them by color (because I'm usually using Colour & Cotton flosses as substitutions and I look for the floss by its color, not its name.)

When I work on a project, I pull the colors I need from the larger jump rings and put them on a small, 1-1/2" jump ring (see above photo). When I'm done with the project, I put them back where they belong.

I keep my DMC flosses wound on bobbins in four plastic bins. I also keep my Kreinik threads here. When I was in college and falling in love with cross stitch, a local department store had DMC on sale for 25 cents a skein, so I splurged and bought every color. My boyfriend (who is now my husband!) sat with me for hours, winding the floss onto those bobbins. I sort them numerically.

When I work on a project, I pull out the flosses I need and store them in a small, portable floss box. I also keep my scissors, needle threader and extra needles here. I dedicate one section for thread clippings. When I am done, I put the flosses back where they belong.

I've found that the most important step is the last one - put things back where they belong! If my desk gets piled high with new stash or things I didn't put away, I just cannot think straight. I feel stressed. When I put things where they belong, I feel inspired.

Because I like to have several projects going at once, I like to organize them in zippered bags. I found these on Amazon (click here for the link). They're more durable than a Ziploc bag, come in lots of colors and cost less than a dollar each. The size I linked here fits up to an 8x8 Q-snap, but the company sells larger bags on Amazon as well.

How do you organize your stash?

Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow Update

This weekend, I put the finishing touches on blocks six and seven of Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow. Just five more blocks to go! Woot woot!

I am NOT a fan of spiders, but I have to admit, the spiders in this gorgeous project are just so creepy and perfect. Once in a while I catch one of them in my peripheral vision and I jump a little bit.

Summer Schoolhouse SAL Update

I'm working hard to stay on track with RJ and Mary over at Stitching Friends Forever on our Summer Schoolhouse SAL. We stitch one hour each day... in theory. Sometimes I get caught up in another project and I procrastinate, but I manage to get caught up. This weekend, I found myself six hours behind! Eek. But I got caught up.

Here is pattern number one (A-B-C-D-E-F-G), all finished up. It took me 44 hours and 23 minutes!

This is my first SAL and until now I had never tracked time while stitching. I can't say I love tracking time, but it is interesting to find out just how long it takes to get something done!

Pattern number two (H-I-J-K) is quite a bit smaller than pattern one, so it is going much faster. I'm 14 hours in and I'm close to finishing! Don't you just love the colors in this series? I have to say, out of the hundreds of projects I've stitched over the years, this series is in my top five favorites. RJ and Mary have excellent taste in choosing patterns.

Until next time, dear friends. Thanks for stopping by. Wishing you sunshine and lots of time to stitch.

Whatchaupto?

Hi, stitching friends!

Whatchaupto? (Translation: What are you up to?) I closed my Facebook account about a year ago, and since then, my blog has become my only "social networking" medium for keeping in touch with my family and friends. (Hi, Mom!)

Here's what I've been up to the last month:

1. Halloweening...

Continuing work on Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow, and I'm on track to finish by my September 1 deadline. Square five is so colorful, and with the nautical theme, I think it's my favorite. It took a long time to stitch because except for the strip at the top, it's fully covered in stitches. I was relieved to finally finish it, but it was so much fun. I thought about changing the color of the mermaid's skin to be more flesh-colored and less white, but then I thought, no, when I'm underwater, I look pretty bleached out, too!

Square six is half of a two-square spread in the middle of the design. It was hard for me to stop at that hard line on the right and not go pull out the pattern for square seven. I don't like leaving things unfinished!

2. Tracking Time...

I've put in 31 hours on the Summer Schoolhouse SAL with RJ and Mary from Stitching Friends Forever. (For my non-stitching readers, SAL stands for "Stitch-Along.") This is my first SAL, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm using the called-for fabric and threads, stitching over one on 28-count mushroom lugana. Do you like over-one stitching? Sometimes when I start I groan a little bit, but then I get into it and stop complaining! You can read more about the SAL and see photos of RJ's and Mary's progress at their blog linked here: Stitching Friends Forever.

This is the first time I've ever tracked hours on a project. It's mind-blowing to consider how many hours go into a project, isn't it?

3. Gifting...

Many of you have experienced firsthand the generosity of our friend Robin in Virginia. When Robin heard that I wasn't going to do the SAL with RJ and Mary because the patterns were cost-prohibitive at the time, she sent me the entire series. I'm still simply over the moon and in awe of her kindness. I asked what I could do in return, and she suggested that I make an ornament for her wrought-iron ornament tree. So, I made this little guy for her....

The pattern is called "All Dolled Up" by Little House Needleworks. I stitched him while we were on vacation in Oregon in December last year and finished him just for Robin. The "coal" eyes and buttons are matte black beads. I stitched the ornament on 28-count coffee/tea-dyed linen. The ornament is laced onto foam core, which is mounted on a fabric-covered backing. Handmade cording, a fabric bow and a fun "2019" charm finish it off.

I used the called-for threads, except I substituted coffee-dyed white thread for the white in the snowman. (To do this, take a skein of DMC white and drop a little bit of strongly brewed coffee on the thread here and there - a little goes a long way. Let the thread dry and voilah - a rustic white thread.)

4. Reconnecting...

April has been a great month so far. I've reconnected with a friend from high school I haven't seen in almost a year (or more?!). I spent a weekend with my husband and friends at their cabin in Crouch, Idaho. I spent Easter weekend with my mom, and we celebrated my niece's 19th birthday. My niece has grown into such a lovely person. She is a freshman at Boise State studying chemistry, and it was awesome to be able to help her celebrate.

5. Gardening...

I started a garden. We have a large (24' x 36') garden spot in the backyard, but I'm just not up to anything that big this year. My husband dug up a 3' x 3' spot for me, and we pulled out a 2' x 4' raised bed we used several years ago. I planted onions, carrots, kale, lettuce, beets and ONE cherry tomato plant. I LOVE growing a garden - from the planning (see the diagram to the right - I am a total planning nerd when it comes to the garden), to the day when the first little sprouts peek through the soil, to the harvesting and especially the eating....

This year's garden is scaled waaaay back from years past, but the last garden we grew was such a disaster that I needed some time to get over it. (We brought home some organic tomato plants, and it turned out they were all diseased. One by one, every plant in my garden died.) We usually have great success, so fingers crossed this will be a good year. We are only planting one tomato plant - we are still a little wary from last time.

6. Dreaming...

And, hmmm.... what else? Oh, yeah! Shawn and I booked our next trip to the Oregon coast for December. Don't you find that the anticipation of a vacation is almost as good as the vacation itself? So for the next eight months we will be dreaming of the beach....

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope your spring is bringing you fragrant flowers, hopes in bloom, warm weather and lots of time to stitch.