TGIFF: Burn My Sage x2!!

In September of 2018, my mom and I got the chance to go on a retreat with a great bunch of ladies from the Southern California Stitchers group. It was one of those things that was just meant to be.

Through our Flosstube channel, a fellow Flosstuber, Heather, suggested we check out the Facebook group. In doing so, we learned they have a yearly retreat and we were just in time to sign up for it. And not a moment too soon! After we got into the group, we learned that the retreat we filling up fast and we took one of the last spots.

Now this is just all backstory for the beautiful pieces I’m about to share with you. Because it was during this retreat that I pulled out a new-to-me pattern by The Witchy Stitcher, one that my mom had already started.

My mom’s working station and her Burn My Sage project.

And it was at this time that I laid down a challenge with my mom that, even though she was much further along that I was on the same pattern, that I would finish before her.

My beginning…

This lit a fire.

The rest of the group got in on the encouragement as my mom and I worked side by side on the same pattern so see who would finish first. While she had a good start, I worked pretty consistently on this one project and by the time we left for home I had made a huge dent.

And that didn’t stop when I got home. This became my number one stitching project but all the while, my mom felt the need to heat up her stitching so she could finish what she had already start.

Dori’s finish.

Nothing but a little healthy competition. In the end, we completed our projects within a day of each other. Mom finished first and I happily took second.

My finished project.

We both need to FFO our finished projects but for now we can celebrate the finishing of the stitching portion of our Burn My Sage patterns. We love how they each came out just a tad bit different and the pattern was easy to read and understand.

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What’s New, Hobbyists? Episode #97

It’s official! We can begin to celebrate the holidays!
And a hobbyists, we celebrate the holidays with new projects. Whether for gifts or for fun, we’re always up for a new adventure!

Show Notes
Crafty Gemini Tips for Sewing Clear Vinyl 
Calico Project Bag Tutorial
G and Sheri and their Wombmate Creations
Frances O’Roark Dowell and her Friendship Album 1933 Quilt Fiction 
Marie Boswick’s The Second Sister is going to be a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie
Piecemakers Craft Festival is happening December 1st in Costa Mesa, CA

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When Life Happens Episode #95

We’re back…. AGAIN! Yes it’s been a few months since we’ve recorded a podcast and we’ve missed chatting together about everything crafty. But life happens! And one thing we can do when life happens is to learn from it. This episode we update you on what’s been happening the last two months and then sharing how we’re scheduling our crafty time.

Check out Sarah from Stitchin’ Mommy. She was the fellow Flosstuber that gave us so many great suggestions about how to schedule our time to find balance between projects.

And don’t forget to check out our guest appearance on Stephanie Socha Design’s podcast Make and Decorate! You can find episode 5 on her website or on iTunes.

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Kitting Up!

Have you ever excitedly grabbed a new cross stitch chart, then quickly pulled out your (or so you thought!) extensive stash of fabric, floss and needles only to find that you were missing key elements that you needed to start your project right at that moment?

Argh!  Join the club!

Because I’ve had this happen one too many times, I’ve committed to kitting up my projects ahead of time.  What’s “kitting” you ask?  Wellll lemme tell you!  It works!  It’s saved me many a tear and tantrum lol!

Here’s how I go about kitting a project:  As soon as I get a new chart, I go to the aforementioned stash, and start shopping.  Hopefully, I have stitching fabric that will work well, and one that I enjoy stitching on, that also is a color compliment to the chart design.  What’s the point of buying fabric if I don’t use it, right?  Next, I grab my DMC floss, and begin to search for the chart’s list of colors, checking them off one by one.  Then (and here’s my favorite part!) I go to my hand and over dyed floss, and see of I can substitute them for any DMC I’m missing, or switch out the DMC I’ve pulled for more custom dyed colors.  I’ve also taken the time to print out conversion charts from Stitches ‘n Things for Weeks Dye Works, Classic Colorworks Threads and Gentle Art Sampler Threads to make things easier for me.

New haul! Now to start organizing and kitting them up!

Shopping for floss in my stash! Some of these skeins are over thirty years old lol!

Ahhhhhhh all the gorgeousmus stitching fabric options in my “collection”!

I made some project envelopes after following instructions from Vonna Pfeifer’s YouYube tutorial. Everything is present and accounted for, and in a safe place! I can start stitching on any one of these projects any time I want. 🙂

When I’m done with that part of the process, I make a list of anything I’m missing.  Whether I shop online, or run to Joanne for DMC or my local needlework shop We, Of The Needle for speciality items, it’s my goal to have EVERYTHING in place and in a project envelope for when I can sit down and stitch.  No more frustration!

I hope this helps!

Happy Stitching!

Dori 🙂

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Stitch It Up!

It’s been almost thirty years, and I can still hear it now….

The unique sound of dial-up on my new computer and those infamous words…YOU’VE GOT MAIL!

Our first foray into the realm of the Internet was through AOL.  The whole family would gather around, excitedly waiting for our Dell computer to connect….and voila! we were in uncharted, wonderful, scary waters.  Through that simple connection, I found a wealth of information relating to my then obsession, counted cross stitch.

I made a new friend, who guided me to chat rooms and message boards relating to all sorts of needlework.  She introduced me to a whole new level of stitched art, called “band samplers”.  Worked usually on linen over two threads, the band sampler consists of rows or “bands” of intricate stitches that often included beads, cotton, silk or perle cotton thread, and various other textures like braided metallic threads.

Photo Courtesy of Joanne Perry of Serendipitous Stitching

Fabulous, yes?

I was also encouraged to buy a reference book called “The Proper Stitch” by Darlene O’Steen.  Ms. O’Steen gives the long and rich history of samplermaking which she documents back to the 1500’s, as well as detailed instructions on each stitch. She concludes with two stunning sampler charts, The Proper Stitch Sampler and Our English Heritage Sampler. I have yet to choose which one I’m going to stitch….I need to practice the various stitches first!

Thanks to my friend Lori a.k.a. mrskvlca on Instagram, I now have a HUGE stash of linen, Lugana and Aida fabric, silk and cotton threads, and beads to choose from. Having a standing frame to work on also lends to the creative and authentic setting.

And finally, for your viewing pleasure, a video from YouTube that gives you an idea of what a band sampler is. This one is unique….the bands are normally stitched in horizontal rows. The rows on this video, are diagonal! Thus, this sampler is called a Twisted Band Sampler.    

Do you have any experience with this type of stitching?  I’d love to know!

Enjoy!

Dori

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Hobbies Up To Here Episode #49

Hey hobbyists and crafters! It’s Katie and Dori with an other episode of Hobbies Up To Here!!

Today we delve into stitching! Stitching can encompass so many things from making clothing, hand sewing quilts, and darning socks. But we focus on counted cross stitch, embroidery, and even touch a little on thread punching.

Dori shared an original piece of her’s done years ago when they had Home EC classes. Oh how jealous I am! I wish we still had the choice to take sewing classes in school!

This fine fellow was once a pillow but has since started to fall apart and is now free of it’s original purpose and ready to be mended.

We both had a history with counted cross stitch. It takes us WAY back into the late 80’s and 90’s when the internet was new and Round Robins were in.

This tool, so lovingly known as the needle minder (or as I call it The HotDog) was lurking in my closet to be rediscovered by my mom for her stitching needs.

Lavender and Lace Angel of Light

My mom is still working on her Angel of Light, similar to the one pictured above. It’s gorgeous and intricate and even in its state of undone, it’s just stunning.

All of my cross stitching projects are in various states of unfinished (are we surprised?) and range from barely started to 90% done.

This one is so close and it’s calling me to whip out my needle and thread to get those last back stitches and details done!

Definitely check out our Facebook live video where we share a whole slew of new fun things for me to dip my needle into. Everything from iron on transfers and a gorgeous free form mandala!

Thread punching is new to both of us and this book was based along to us from my Nonnie. This is a WHOLE world of stitching I’ve never seen before but we’re both fascinated by it and may add it to our list of things to learn.

For more info check out this YouTube playlist of Punching Embroidery Designs. Finding current videos on this process is a little tough but it’s worth a look!

Dori was gifted with a pattern to make a little handy bag for all her on-the-go beauty items or crafting needs. She whipped it together in NO time and it’s just adorable!

Great finish!!!

And now time for a few shout out!

• Dori has a HUGE thank you to all our readers and followers for the support offered and the kind words on her finished quilt. I’m telling ya, the pictures don’t do it justice!
• Thank you Leah for letting us know how to properly pronounce your name!
• Hello to the ladies who visited recently. You can find G and Sherri on Instagram and also thanks Michelle for the lovely visit with Dori. And a hardy howdy to Stephanie, too!
• Alida from Tweety Loves Quilting left a wonderful comment on our last podcast comments. We really appreciate the time and effort you took to share your thought with us. Thank you!

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