All Caught Up

I totally forgot about doing yesterday's Day 6 of the Why Not Stitching Academy stitchalong until this afternoon.

This is the Wheatear stitch - a combination of a fly stitch and a beaded chain stitch,

It looks complicated but it really isn't. It called for 4 strands of the floss but to get a needle thin enough to go through the beads, I just used a #28 needle and two strands doubled. I also anchored the bead a few threads away from where I came up at the point of the chain stitch. It lay flatter that way.

Then I used 4 strands again for the final buttonhole stitch. It's bit wonky but perfection is not something I strive for, especially on a 'learning piece' like this.

Tomorrow will be the finishing video. I'm still not sure I'll turn it into a pincushion.

I washed all my bedding today: duvet, cover, pillowcases, pillow cover, fitted sheet, mattress pad, and hung them all out to dry in the sunshine. It's going to smell so good when I climb into bed tonight.

Registration for music camp opens tomorrow evening at 8pm. Jen1 and I have been texting back and forth about class selections, dorm information, stuff to pack, etc. I have picked out the classes I want to take. One of them is very low enrolment - only room for 10 - so I hope if I sign up as soon as registration opens, I'll get it as my first choice. None of the other classes have size limits. I'm REALLY bummed out Vocal Jazz isn't offered this year. I'll probably sign up for a madrigal class or a small woodwind ensemble instead as well as Choir for All, the ukulele singalong, and Concert Band.

Finally Framed

I finished this sampler in 2019, hauled it out for a Rhodes stitch program with my guild last November, and ordered a custom frame for it last month. The frame arrived in short order but the backing piece (foamcore) and matte (plexi)glass arrived a couple of weeks later after I sent an email wondering where it was.

I finally put it all together yesterday. 'Stars' by Drawn Thread.

I love Drawn Thread patterns with the cute motifs and interesting specialty stitches. In this case there were several sizes of stars, the leviathan stitch, and backstitching. There was also an alternate text. I chose the less religious one. 

I have done one other Drawn Thread sampler - 'Pastorale' - which I also really enjoyed stitching. It was completed and framed in 2017. (ignore glare - this is not matte-finish glass)

Not that I need any more samplers for my walls but I've had this pattern for quite a while and am intrigued by all the different motifs and specialty stitches. It's 'The Common Thread' by Jeannette Douglas Designs. 

The called-for threads are all silks so I would substitute DMC equivalents.

Pumpkin Biscornu

I finally finished putting together this project - Kim Beamish's 'Pumpkin Biscornu' from October 2022 'Just Cross Stitch Magazine'. I sewed an orange button on the bottom.

I stacked a bunch of buttons from my stash for the stem on the top.

All stuffed, it's much smaller than I thought it would be; only 7cm (2 5/8") in diameter.

I'm also caught up with the daily Why Not Stitching stitchalong- from the top: sheaf stitch, beaded chain stitch, tacked herringbone stitch, beaded fly stitch, and herringbone ladder. The black markings were made with a Frixion pen so will iron out when all the stitching is done.  I could make it up as a pincushion but it could also be the front of a zipper bag or a needlebook.

The fabric is 46ct linen - challenging for cross-stitching but great for embroidery.

Scarborough Needlearts Guild Stash Sale

Joanne, Judy, our driver, MaryK and I ventured to the Scarborough Needlearts Guild's stash sale this morning. It was surprisingly easy to get to St Mark's Church; 401 to Kingston Rd (Hwy2), right on Lawrence and right at the third light. It only took about 30 minutes from when we departed.

There was a massive amount of items: kits, patterns, threads, beads, accessories, partially completed kits, etc. etc. I filled a bag with items that I thought I would use and made a donation of $25 to the guild.

I didn't buy this but was intrigued by the simple pattern stitched onto gingham; almost sashiko-esque. It was actually a day planner cover. The label had nothing to do with the day planner - not sure why it was in there.

Here is what I came away with:

14ct and 16ct Aida cloth and a tube of 28ct black Monaco. Aida is great when stitching things with all-over coverage. When I did my pumpkin pincushion (which I'll highlight in my next post), I didn't have enough white Aida to do the project.

Thread snips (I tested them for sharpness), some corsage pins (inspired by Bev's decorative pins), and two spools of variegated Sulky Petites thread.

A large piece of red linen. Will have to test to see what count it is.

A Stacy Nash sampler pattern. Too big for a triangular scissor case and not oriented in the way I prefer but the sampler pattern is nice.

Some 30ct linen, 2 skeins of GAST Weathered Barn, and a skein of GAST School House Red thread.

Rosewood Manor Medallions. I don't have anything in mind for this but I could use the motifs for several different projects.

This little knotwork pattern could be enlarged for a punch needle project. Not sure I'd do it as knotwork; all those French knotssssss.....

Partially finished Papillon Creations project. The top was done but there are other motifs and the threads were included.

There were a couple of projects in each of these magazines that intrigued me.

And I'm most excited about acquiring this definitive Schwalm embroidery book from a class Barbara Kershaw did in 2009. 

I remember one of my knitting friends working on it all those years ago. I had no idea at the time what Schwalm even was. Then several years ago I started my own little whitework project and I still have two squares to fill in. I'm positive I'll find at least two designs to complete my project. I may even add another row or column to it. 

I am very pleased with my new acquisitions. 

I had planned to stitch all afternoon but the weather today was spectacular and the forecast for the next few days not so. 

I made myself go outside and clean up the garden beds somewhat, filling one yard waste bag. I pulled some dandelions and cut down some stalks I had left in the late fall. The echinacea seed heads had been picked clean by the birds. I have a lot of rogue oregano that had to be pulled out and my taller Joe Pye weed stalks needed to be removed. 

Arrangements have been made for my tooth extraction and implant which will take place next week. I decided to not be stoic and only go with a local anaesthetic and instead have opted for conscious sedation. I won't be knocked out; just 'floating' and won't remember the procedure afterwards. A very kind friend will be chauffeuring me to and from the appointment.

Three Bears

I met my long-time friend, Paulette, for lunch today. We met over 25 years ago while playing in the same community concert band. She played the flute, and I the oboe. We have kept in touch via Facebook all this time and get together for a gabfest once or twice a year.

Since she's known me through many of my ups and downs, I consider her a special friend - one who really merited one of my amazing little knitted bears. This is my second-newest one and as yet he has no name.

But he's dang cute, and little like Paulette. She gets the honour of naming him, too, as I hadn't already assigned one to him.

My crafty friend and travel buddy, Poppy, asked me to make one for her, a girl,  with a sweater in her favourite colour - watermelon. She even gave me some watermelon-coloured yarn as, believe it or not, I didn't have any already in my stash. She gets to name her, too.

I delivered it today so she could take her to Vancouver this weekend.

She seems to have settled in as indicated by Poppy's latest text.

With Poppy away for a week next week, I thought Sparky could use some company so Everett went to live with him, too.

Everett, too, has settled in nicely in East Oshawa. In fact, he looks pretty cool just hanging out. Hopefully Sparky won't get too lonely with Poppy away next week. I'm pretty sure Everett will be good company for him.

I know these three bears will live happily ever after. 

Stitch North Spring 2026

Poppy, Barb, and I arrived at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Brampton last Thursday night at 6, registered, and unloaded the car. Then we headed to Pos Bueno Mexican Restaurant downtown for supper. Seeing as it was my birthday, the management gave me celebratory churros for dessert. Yum!

Friday morning, Barb and Poppy were close to the front of the line to get into the ballroom and secured spots for us. We were joined by Katie and Clare - both from Toronto. They got a great table beside a wall where we could lean our bags, and with an electrical outlet nearby; handy for charging lamps between bouts of stitching.

There were about 32 tables with 7 chairs at each. Most chairs were filled, although we did have an empty (defective) chair at our table - so only 6 of us.

I started two projects:

Hello from Liz Mathews’ ‘Merry Christmas Quaker Star’ from last year’s Jingle Ball. I’m doing it with the called-for DMC floss, 1 over 1 on 28ct Monaco from my stash.

I hauled out this long-abandoned sea turtle project,

and suffered my first casualty. Fortunately, one of the vendors,  ‘Gammas Treasures’ supplied bandaids to our retreat goodie bag.

I also had one finish - the Pumpkin Biscornu. I’ll sew it together and stuff it when I get back home.

As I wrote this on Friday, I was scarfing down popcorn up in our room, preparing to go back downstairs for ‘Make Your Own Sub’ for supper.

Door prize tickets were drawn at 8pm (didn't win anything) and the ballroom stayed open for stitching until 11pm. 

We stitched 'til about 9:30.

Days later...

Saturday we continued stitching. We had lunch each day at Wendy's/Tim's across the parking lot and went for dinner at Boston Pizza just down the road on Saturday night.

This was as far as I got on my 'birthday start'. 

My new stitchy friend, Amanda, showed me more features I could use on my Markup R-XP software - making it easier to stitch from black and white charts.

With my newfound knowledge, I was able to get a lot of stitching done on my Jan Hicks 'Love Birds'. Once home, I was quite obsessed with working on it some more.

Of course, Ernest was my supervisor.

Another project I finished was adding the 'bling' to my 'Smitten' project. I just need to figure out how I want to finish it. For scale, Ernest is 5 1/2" tall.

I participated in the smalls exchange. I had duplicates of the hummingbird biscornu and scissor case. Our table was the last one called. My donation and one other was left. This is what I received - a very cute, tiny, colourful flatfold. We stitched until 10pm.

Barb wasn't there when we took the group photo on Sunday before our departure; she was loading the car with her stuff. From left to right: Poppy, Clare, me, Katie, and Amanda.

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend. Getting there and home via the $$$ 407 $$$ was a delight.

On Monday morning, I surveyed the stitchers and MaryK was keen to attend Stitch North in the fall and has consented to be my roomie. Last night I signed up for the retreat and booked our room. She was going to sign up today.

It's always fun spending time with enthusiastic stitchers. There were lots of vendors but I didn't buy much and nothing for myself. My current stash is vast so I'm hard pressed to expand it unless I have a use for any stitching item I would create.

Next up will be our stitch day this Saturday - the first Saturday of May. That's also the first day of the 'Victorian Embroidery Sampler' by Why Not Knitting Academy which I'll try to keep up with every day for a week. Videos of the live stream will be available for 30 days.

I've got it all kitted up and ready to go. 

Pumpkin Pincushion

While rummaging around in a pile on my desk, I found another abandoned project - a partially done Blackwork Pincushion that I started (then abandoned) back in 2022. Kim Beamish's design was in the October 2022 issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine.

The partially completed  piece was stapled to a printed copy of the chart. I'm doing it on 14ct Aida because it's full coverage. This makes it very easy to stitch as one doesn't need to be quite so careful counting threads than if it were on an evenweave or linen.

I was missing one of the colours - DMC Variations 4124 and ventured to Michaels after stitching yesterday to pick it up. It's a variegated orange thread. 

Michaels didn't have it so I bought 4130 instead.

Well that didn't work at all. Instead, I decided to stitch with one strand each of the lighter and darker pumpkin colours in the pattern. That worked out much better. Then I added the blackwork.

There are two charts for this pattern - one for the top and one for the bottom. Initially I was going to use quilting fabric for the bottom but didn't find anything appropriate in my stash so have decided to stitch the bottom after all - basically the same.

Then came the hunt for more 14ct Aida fabric...

I seem to have given most of it away or stashed it someplace that I've forgotten about. The only white 14ct Aida I have is some Fiddler's Lite that I must have bought back in the Mesozoic Era for only $4.86 (plus tax, I'm sure).

Just out of curiosity, I did a search for what it costs today on the open market.

Yikes!

Since it's all-over coverage, it doesn't matter that it's a different colour fabric - as long as the fabric count is the same. 

Thursday's going to be a BIG DAY. The girlies are taking me out for brunch for my birthday, then I'm heading up to Quilter's Cupboard to take advantage of my 20% birthday discount. I have my eye on the wool felt appliqué kit - Fine Feathered Friends.

Not that I need any more fabric or projects (cough), but there may be something else that appeals to me.

Then I'll scurry home and get packed up to head to Brampton for the first weekend of the Stitch North Retreat with Barb and Poppy that begins the next day. 

There will be lots of vendors there selling hand-dyed fabrics, stitching supplies, project bags and stitching mats, needle minders, patterns, etc. Who knows what I'll be tempted to buy there?

But before all that festivity, tomorrow I'll be visiting my dentist to see about a broken tooth. The lingual cusp of one of my premolars cracked last week and is only held in place buy suction and the gum. I'm hoping it can be patched up so I can again chew on the left side of my mouth.  More work will need to be done on it, in fact I'm scheduled for a root canal on that tooth mid-May.