Floss Friday #97

Welcome to this week’s edition of all things cross stitchy. I spent the last three days attending a virtual conference on my latest hobby of surface pattern design. It was fun but would have been more fun in person. Got some great new ideas and some encouragement that I am headed in the right direction. This surface pattern design journey reminds me of my quilting or cross stitch journey. So much information, so much enthusiasm, a so little courage to go for it. 😂

Moving on to what I worked on this week. I ended up taking last night off but I still worked on a number of projects this past week. Let’s check it out.

Starts & Finishes

I had planned on finishing a couple of projects this week but I didn’t have as much free time in the evenings as normal. I spent more time walking and cooking then I have in the past. I am not sure if that is good or bad….just is.

FINISH: Snowman Collector – The Clown by Cottage Garden Samplings

It felt so good to finally finish my second chart in this series. In all honesty, this was a fairly easy stitch. Unlike The Needleworker, The Clown had easy to target sections that help it move forward fairly quickly. After I took this picture, I started adding the new silk white overall border and began the tedious process of removing the variegated border I started with. I really like how the white silky stitches are turning up. Can’t wait to share the look with you.

I stitched on 18ct vintage country mocha with called for CCW, WDW, and DMC floss.

START: Let’s Talk Summer Pillow by Hands on Design

Couldn’t resist starting the final chart in the Let’t Talk Summer series. I just love this banner. It is so colorful and playful. That little string of yellow sweeping down will eventually be a firefly.

I am stitching on 16 ct black aida with called for DMC floss.

WIP Updates

Even though I didn’t stitch every night last week or even for as much time as normal, I am feeling good about the progress I did make.

2024 SJ Temperature Library by Kristi’s Corner

I finished up June 13th thru 18th books this week for my June shelf. We are showing alot of warm days/books here with even some hot days. Of course hot in San Jose is only 92 or higher. Our climate is very mild overall. I have a different color every two degrees for some nice variance.

August Calendar Crates by Stitching with the Housewives

I made some nice progress on the house. There was a moment when I was thinking I was done with the house before I realized I needed to fill in the roof. LOL!! So I had started on the quilt next to the house and then went back to the house. Looking good so far.

June Year of Celebration Season 2 by Hands on Design

I usually finish these small charts in a couple of days. For some reason this one is just dragging on. I worked for at least an hour on it three times last week and it is still not done. It doesn’t seem particularly hard, just stitching slow I guess. It will get done. I realized I miscounted on the row of bird houses on the bottom row. They are one stitch taller. C’est la vie.

Blooming Tiny Town by Heart in Hand

I was pleasantly surprised how far I was on this chart. I haven’t really focused on it although now I am kind of wishing I had so I could have started the Patriotic one during July. Oh well. I just love the floss that Cecila picked for this town.

WIPGO Project: Snowballs For Sale by Lori Holt

Can I just say that it is so boring to just stitch white for day after day. On the one hand, filling in the snowman takes no thought. On the other hand, filling it the white takes no thought. I have nothing else to share.

July WIPGO Projects

Project 6: Let’s Talk Summer Pillow by Hands on Design

Originally Project 6 was Let’s Talk Spring, but I finished the last chart for that series in May. With starting the pillow chart (above) last week, I decided to substitute it for the Spring one. I am excited about knocking out a third season and am hoping that I will finish or at least work on this project five times during the month of July.

Project 23: Pop of Summer by Bent Creek

I am excited about starting this new series “Pop of” from Bent Creek. I decided to start with Summer since it was the one that caught my attention because of the hummingbird. It is a complete kit with fabric and floss. It should be so much fun. The chart doesn’t look to big and I am thinking I can finish the whole thing during July.

Upcoming Plans & Thoughts

While I had less active projects this month to work on with just 14, I think I expected too much from myself. (The eternal optomist). I had planned to start and finish 6 different projects. With only 3 days left in June, I realize that 4 starts will have to do and maybe I won’t be doing a second time on my Fruit of Plenty and Blooming Tiny Town. I would like to focus getting a lot of time in on my last time of my June WIPGO projects and stitch some on the last two active WIPs. So.. Here is the plan for this next week:

• One more evening on Green House from Fabulous House series in June
• One more evening on Snowballs for Sale in June
• In June, December Snapshots alongside
• January Month to Month
• Start July off finishing June in 2024 Temperature Library
• Pop of Summer
• Let’s Talk Summer
• Start Snowman Collector: The Shepherd
• Finish June Year of Celebration

On Tuesday, July 2nd, I will be heading out to Washington for at least a week helping my daughter with her move from Seattle to Vancouver. While the first 3 days will be a lot of driving up and down the coast, I will get to settle down to babysit her cats while they coordinate with the movers and all on the big day of July 6th.

While I am babysitting, I figure I will get some quality time to english paper piece and cross stitch. I suggested bringing my sewing machine. I got an eye roll 🙄 from my daughter so I guess not this trip. 😂

That’s it for this week. I hope you enjoyed my current projects. Thank you for stopping by. I shared pics of my helpers hard at work during my virtual conference. They were very dedicated to “helping”.

Happy Friday! Enjoy this beautiful summer day.

Peggy Stockwell in San Jose, California