Ask Jo: Friendship Ball and More…

Every so often questions and comments come from readers that I think others would like to hear my response to.  That’s when I feature them on the blog.  This is one of those days.

Barabara wrote:
“Hi Jo!, Love your blog! The ball is called a Friendship Ball and is used to send little gifts to a friend and then the ball gets passed on. I had one and my friend and I passed it back and forth for years, sometime during Christmas or birthdays but other times it would arrive out of the blue with a little “thinking of you” gift inside. So special. Amazon has these and it will include a card explaining the tradition and a delightful little poem about the treasure of friendships. “A ball is a circle, No beginning, no end, It keeps us together, Like our circle of friends. The treasure inside for just you to see, Is the treasure of friendship, You have granted to me.” Written by Alda Ellis.”

I checked on Amazon…They did have them.  THIS is the link.  Below is a picture of the ball.

Oh my… I love the idea.  It is so sweet.  I wanted to make sure to share it with all of you as I’m guessing I’m not going to be the only who loved the idea.

Here is a reminder of what mine looked like…

The two are so similar it makes me believe that Barbara and a few others who suggested it was a friendship ball are right.

I made a guess that it was for potpourri, and some of you agreed…others of you guessed it was a yarn or string holder.  I think it could be used for any of those, but after looking at it and hearing about Friendship Balls, I really think that Barbara might be right.  Thanks to everyone who commented.  I love reading your opinions on items like this.

You might remember that I was thinking about putting my cross stitch piece from Maxine on this cabinet thinking it would lean on my vintage picnic basket…but then was worried that the vibration from my longarm might knock it off?
Well, Laurie wrote about this and said:
“I saw you were worried about your new cross stitch not staying up in your sewing room due to the vibrations of your longarm.

A tad bit of this on the back of your frame (or bottom if it’s sitting on its kickstand) works wonders! I use it to keep lamps where they should be, wall photos and art straight on walls that get the door slammed, and in my Rv to hold stuff down when traveling. Along with the nail, it should be all you need to safely hang your gifted cross stitch and have it stay put!”

I ended up ordering THESE.  Thanks so much for the idea, Laurie.  I had not thought of them.

Becky asked:
“Will there be info on starting the stitching on the linen on SAL? And counting when moving around the piece? I’d like to see the stand your new little stitch is sitting on?”

There will be info on starting the SAL.  Watch for that next week.

Here is the frame my new little stitch is on.  It’s so cute and I’m glad I bought it at the thrift store even before I knew what I would stitch for it.

It had a big chunky frame that is all wood.  I love all things wood so it’s perfect for me even though I had no idea what I would put in it.

It actually swivels.

This is a Blackbird Design piece.  I stitched it on 40 count linen that I tea-dyed.  I left off the border so it would fit in the frame.  I also changed the bird to the color whiskey which is a gold color.  I have had so many goldfinches at my house so thought that would be appropriate.

This is the other thrift store frame that I referenced that I want to stitch something for.  I believe I will just stitch a “K” for Kramer to put in it.  I have a second one and will stitch and “H” for Hanken and give it to Kelli.  She has an “H” collection.

I think they were only $1.50 each at the thrift store.  I think both frames because they are non-traditional add some interest to my sampler wall area.

Christina asked:
“Spotted the phrase Accept what was? Can you let us know who it is designed by etc please?”

I am guessing this is the one Christina was referring to.

I stitched this at a time in my life when I really needed to be reminded of the phrase.  I always remember that time and am so thankful that through my worries, things turned out WAY better than I ever expected.

This is a Lizzie Kate design.  You can find the chart HERE.  It looks like this…

I believe this was in a kit.  I would have stitched on the linen that was included with the called-for thread.  I put this in a thrift store frame as well.  It’s just a plastic frame but I still love it.

I also stitched the companion piece.  I attached mine to a basket.

I loved this chart.  It was so fun to stitch both of these.

There were many comments after Lori, our community quilter, finished this quilt from Gloria.  Many were wondering about the pattern.  You can read the post about the quilt finish HERE if you missed it.

I don’t know the exact pattern used but know Bonnie Hunter has a similar free pattern.  HERE is the link.  Many were so kind and shared the link.

I had a question come in asking if my Scrap Vortex quilt was heavy…Read about it HERE if you missed it.

YES.  It is heavier than most quilts because it there are so many seams in it.  Many of the pieces in this quilt ended up only being 1″ wide.  That means there is 1/2″ used in the seam making the quilt extra heavy.  That’s totally okay with me.  I love a weighted blanket.

I think that wraps up the questions and comments that came in.  Thanks so much for making the comment section a fun and extra bonus to the blog posts.  I love reading the comments as it makes me feel like I have more of a relationship with all of you.