Floss Friday #83

Welcome to this week’s edition of Floss Friday where I share my cross stitch projects. Before we get started I just wanted to share:

It’s been another busy week. Last weekend was a rollercoaster emotionally. I don’t know if you remember, but I went to Irvine, CA for California Hockey States for my grandson Shaun. The boys lost their first two games by one goal and were so heart broken. As playoffs can be, the unexpected happened. All six teams had lost at least one game on Friday so we were still in the running. I did the math and if we won by a large margin on Saturday morning we could make the semis. They did!!!! They even won the Semis!!!! Sunday morning found us playing in the 16UAA Championship game. It was tied for the first two periods 1-1. With 10 minutes left, the wheels fell off the bus. Shaun went to the penalty box and the other team scored. Another penalty and the other team was up 3-1. The boys were devastated but kept at it. We pulled our goalie and the other team scored 2 empty net goals. Despite the 5-1 final score, the game was super close and I am very proud of my grandson Shaun and his team. What an accomplishment to finish the season 2nd out of 30+ teams. Great job boys.

Starts & Finishes

I had a surprising finish and a much anticipated new start this week.

START: Green House (#3 of the new series Fabulous House) by Cottage Garden Samplings

I selected a grayish cloth that is 18 ct stone aida with the called for DMC for this series. I elected to start with the third in this fun series for two reasons. One: It is more spring like and Two: The stitching is not as dense as say the Santa’s House. I know that stitching houses will be dense but it still felt good to start with one with more open design.

I elected to start in the middle of the design with these roses. LOL! I just realized that I forgot to fill in the pink outline in the rose. Under the rose is a cute little door to the green house.

FINISH: Hummingbird Sampler by Heart in Hand

I have been looking forward to this stitch ever since I discovered the pattern last year. I love ❤️ hummingbirds. This little sampler while in Weeping Willow green from Classic ColorWorks on 16 ct Legacy aida is still just adorable. I still need to sew on the button that came with it and make it into a little decorative pillow. How much more spring can you get?

I was so enamored with this sampler, that I gave my self an hour to work on it every night I was home and wrapped it up last night!

WIP Updates

I had big plans to stitch on my hockey weekend away. LOL! Such a great positive attitude. But alas, when I wasn’t watching hockey, I was spending one on one time with my daughter Caitlin who flew in to watch Shaun at what could possibly be his last hockey game. She has not seen him since he spent the summer with her in 2022. He is now 16 and a young man. Caitlin and I did some eating, walking, and shopping. Isn’t that what all moms and daughters do together?

WIPGO Project: Fall Harvest – Quarterly Stitch by It’s Sew Emma (FQS)

This is the project I took with me on my trip but only stitched for a couple of hours on Friday. After driving home on Monday, I was able to get in about 4 hours on this project, yet it doesn’t seem like I have done much. #sigh. In actuality, I finished two of the three colors for the basket in this stitch. The basket and the tablecloth are the two largest items. They are both very dense with stitches. I just love this cloth.

My WIPGO goal is five nights on the project, so I still have three more nights to work on this one.

July Truckin Along by Stitching with the Housewives

I was able to finish up the borders in the bottom chart and even get a good start on the truck. I ran out of CCW Licorce Red and I couldn’t figure out how that happened as this was a kit. I got out my handy dandy excel inventory sheet and saw that I took a skein to use with Mr. August a while back. I pulled out the project and saw that I didn’t need that color for Mr. August anymore. I put the skein back where it is suppose to be. Lucky for me, the gnome just need a little bit because this whole truck will be red!

This is my last in the Truckin Along series that I started in 2020. I may be getting close to the an hour a night plan in April.

Let’s Talk Spring (large framed chart) by Hands on Design

I pulled this project out to work on for the next three months. It is the last chart in the booklet for me to finish. I really want to get it done so I had a goal to work on twice this month. This is the result of the first evening’s work.

I had to laugh at myself when I realized that I didn’t leave the “reflection” in the water drop. Of course, that meant I had to do some frogging to undo all four water drops and redo. Luckily it is a small space and I noticed before I cut my thread. This umbrella is so darn cute!

Upcoming Plans & Thoughts

I should be home for a couple of weeks before hitting the road again. My next stop will be Seattle to meet up with my brother Scott. While I considered staying with my daughter Caitlin, I opted to stay at my brother’s hotel to maximize my time with him. He is flying out here from New York for a software conference. I can’t wait to see him. It has been a while since we last hooked up.

I am still deep into my Immersion 2024 class and feeling good with following the 3 month plan (versus the live 2 month plan). I have already completed more of the course then I did last year which has me on a well deserved high. 😂 That has not left me much crafting time. My quilting time has suffered the most even though I did work in a few hours on Wednesday.

With doing class homework and such, my evening routine is starting much later. I have only been getting about 3 hours each night to work instead of 4 or 5, but that is totally fine. I am getting more walking during the day, because I take walks between lessons to break up the sitting around part. Here is what I have “planned” for this week (luckily I have a digital planner and drag and drop the stuff constantly LOL):

• Start and Finish Season 2 February Year of Celebration
• Finish up my last two nights on Snow Village before putting away until Winter
• Start on May Stackables which will give me a great opportunity to finish in May
• One last evening on Let’s Talk Spring
• At least one time on my WIPGO project Fall Harvest this week

I’m torn on what project I will do an hour every evening on this week. I like to do things that have a real possiblity of being finished and is close to being done. I guess it will be a surprise next week huh? I am thinking either July Truckin Along, Let’s Talk Spring, or Snow Village. Tough choice but all good choices.

It is beautiful here in San Jose. It has been in the 70s and definitely spring like switching between sunny and warm to cold and rainy. I loved all the flowers from my walks this week.

Well Chatty Cathy here signing off so I can head home. Have a great weekend everyone!

Peggy Stockwell back home in San Jose, California