Make sure to read to the bottom of the post. I have some fun news…
I know, these opening pictures don’t make it look like this is a cross-stitch update. It is though.
Check out my tin of thread. It was a treat from Kayla. She was so sweet and went to the JoAnn’s in Dubuque and I was finally able to get Anchor floss on spools.
If you remember, I had wanted to stitch A Savior’s Praise. That is this piece.
It called for Anchor floss. I could have ordered the floss online in skeins but I wanted to try it on spools. It’s only available on spools from JoAnn’s but none of the JoAnn’s I’ve been to has it. Everyone told me that is only available in the large JoAnn’s. I had gone to three and none had it.
Then one day Kayla was talking to me on the phone while she was driving to Dubuque, Iowa. I asked her if she would stop and see if her JoAnn’s had the thread. She was happy to stop. I texted her my list of threads. A few days later they arrived in the mail. She sent them all in this cute-cute vintage tin.
Look how perfectly the spools all fit. The big black spool was too tall. It fits perfectly laying on it’s side. It’s all so cute.
That has made me want to start on this project but I’m holding off for a bit yet. I want my Floral Motif Sampler finished before I seriously think about anything else.
Check what came in my mail…Hmm. I didn’t order anything. Do see it’s from The Stitchery Nook? Hmm.
I opened it up and inside…a gift certificate from a blog reader. Oh my. I was all teary eyed again. All of you have been so sweet to me. I’ll be using the gift certificate towards framing.
Speaking of framing…
Just minutes before I had to turn my phone off last Friday as I was admitted to the hospital, The Stitchery Nook called and said my Anniversaries of the Heart was finished and I could pick it up.
I was out of isolation as of yesterday for adults so I went over and picked up my framed piece. YAHOO!! I love it and will show that off to you in another post.
I can’t wait to show the piece off to all of you! I’m so excited for this!!
Something else I’m excited about.
I was talking to Lori, the volunteer quilt finisher, and we were talking about magnifiers for cross stitching. She asked what I recommended and I told her I really don’t use a magnifier. I use my glasses from Zenni. I have a prescription on top and 3.5 readers on the bottom.
I told her that many floss tubers were saying they use 4.0 readers. Well…that was interesting to me as I thought I could use a stronger reader than the 3.5 but Zenni doesn’t allow anything stronger.
I looked 4.0 readers up on Amazon. They had them for $13 for 5 pairs. Hmm. That was worth the risk to me so I bought some. HERE is the link.
The glasses came and they are so cute!!
Check out the cute bows.
So I thought I would give them a try…and I love them. I have to wear them like this (over my regular glasses) but I don’t mind a bit. I can see better.
Seriously…a game changer. If you are worried about not seeing your stitching or wanting a magnifier, I totally recommend giving these a try. For $13 it’s worth the risk to try.
Now onto my stitching…Here is where I was last week…
I didn’t get to stitch on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday so Sunday when I got home, I had some stitching to make up for. They didn’t allow me to take my stitching with when I was in the hospital.
Remember I’m trying to stitch one flower a day? Well, that left me at Sunday needing to stitch four flowers.
Being I knew I was going to The Stitchery Nook, I decided that if I got the border stitched on this, I could get it measured and a frame could be ordered. From now on, I think that’s going to be my plan. Stitch borders, take it to be measured, and then finish stitching it so that once I’m finished with it, I can take it back and that frame will likely be ready by then. Liz said that some moldings for frames have been taking a couple of months to arrive.
I was happily stitching along and then something looked wrong.
Darn. See the “X” next to the hoop.
I had to rip it all out. Thank heavens I caught it early.
I got it around the corner and that was really all I needed.
For flower stitching, my goal was to get to the halfway point. I think the yellow flower in the center bottom is the middle. Everything above that got stitched…
and everything to the right.
I just love this big red flower.
Aren’t these colors fabulous??
I’m really happy with this and love how it’s coming along. This is my ending picture…
My goal is to work on the upper right-hand corner. My overall goal is to have this finished by Valentine’s Day. I know that it’s doable.
Now for the exciting news. I worked on some plans with the gals at The Stitchery Nook. We decided on a chart to stitch for a stitch along. The designer is a local gal…Waxing Moon Designs.
Here is the chart…We’ll stitch the piece on the bottom left that says “Blessed”. It’s a fall-themed piece that we’ll have plenty of time to stitch to have it ready for fall.
Liz was going to work on getting the kits ready and on their website. I’ll let you know when they are available. It will be available it different sizes of linens as well as 14 count Aida. If you are new to stitching, we’ll do everything we can to help make this a successful project for you. If you are an Aida stitcher and want to move to linen, we’ll do what we can to help with that too. This is TOTALLY a beginner project and we all will tap into our patience to help everyone along. Judy at Patchwork Times volunteered to play along so the two of us and the gals at the Stitchery Nook all are on board to help you through the process of learning…and if you’re a pro, you can stitch along at your own pace. I’ll do a tutorial or video to help you see how I finish my pillow too.
We’ll try to start on March 1st…Watch for more details. I’ll let you all know when the website is live and you can order.
Another exciting thing…
A retreat is on. It will be from July 21-24th. (EDIT: STOP THE PRESSES. WE JUST REALIZED THE NICER HOTEL IN TOWN IS COMPLETELY BOOKED. WE’RE GOING TO CHECK FOR ANOTHER DAY!!)
IT’S OFFICIAL. THE DATES ARE JULY 28-31ST. The hotel is available then. More details to come. There will be space for about 40. 15 can stay at the retreat center and the rest will have to find hotels in the area or if you live in the area, you are welcome to drive. We have a few more details to iron out before we can open it for registration. I just wanted you all to have the dates so you can see if that would work for you. This will be open to anyone…new stitchers, old stitchers, learning stitchers.
I do want to note that I don’t know anyone who is coming…I’ll be there by myself with no “friend”, so don’t be afraid to come on your own too.
So…that’s the cross stitch news from my house. I’ll share more news as I know it…and I’ll share those newly framed cross stitch pieces with you over the next few days.
I figured the retreat facilities will be hard to get into for the retreat so I thought I would reserve a hotel room. So I already checked availability at the Americ Inn and unfortunately Sat the 24th is fully booked. Thursday and Friday are open…ugh…. I would be by myself so Super 8 motels are definitely not my thing and of course they have the retreat dates available. Just thought I would let you know.
Karen. I have a call in to Liz. We might change the date. We’d really like that hotel available.
Karen. Thanks for noticing this. We thought we had called everyone on our list but apparently missed the hotel. UGH. We change the retreat dates to July 28-31st.
This is the first article I read from you. Are you working on linen? I am working on a heaven and earth design called the nativity on even weave. I use the magnify glasses that I got at Walmart in the as seen on TV section. They have lights on them so when I need more light I can see. How do I follow you?
There is a subscribe button on the right hand column. I am working on linen. I stitch on 40 count primarily.
Are the glasses you bought like readers? could I use them to read w? or just magnifiers for close work?
The glasses are readers. You could use them to read if the prescription works for you but for some, these would be too strong. I do suggest going up a strength for cross stitching and for many, that means moving to 4.0
Thanks. I’m wearing 1.75 right now, and hav a lot of eye strain, reading, quilting, sewing. I was wondering how High I should go. Don’t really want to order on Amazon w/o knowing.
Just ordered the readers for my cross-stitch and will share with my stitching friends. I was using 2.5 so excited to see how the 4.0 works. Thanks so much! P.S. You must be a good sales woman; they are up to $16 on Amazon :-)
Exciting news! I wish I could be there for the retreat but we’ll be in PA visiting my brother. However, I really want to join in on the stitch a long and can’t wait to join in!
Your flower-a-day is coming along beautifully! The colors ae so pretty!
Hope you are feeling better!
Love and prayers
I’ve been curious about Anchor floss and had no idea it came on spools. That makes me want to use it for some reason. The flowers are beautiful and I can’t wait to see your framed piece! And yes, yes, yes to the SAL. It’s a nice little piece and if you’re willing to do a finishing tutorial all the better! No way I’d ever be able to retreat anywhere besides my sewing room at this stage of life though, lol. Blessings
The colors in your flowers are just beautiful. This piece is going to be such a meaningful reminder of your cancer journey. Cross stitching on linen has always scared me so your stitch along is when I’m going to give it a try. I will watch the blog for the kits to go on sale. Can’t make the retreat, we will be vacationing with our kids.
I am excited to start !!!! I keep thinking I would join in with the fat quarter shop and I look at the pattern and what’s needed and don’t because I see what cloth their kits have and have no clue about counts in the fabric. If I’d be starting with something impossible and just be discouraged and another ufo and waste of money.
We really hope to do a few videos and walk people through the process of cross stitching.
Hi Jo,
I enjoy following your posts from Canada! Would I be able to be a part of your stitchery retreat without attending? Would I be able to order the “Blessed” project?
Thanks
Delphine
The stitching project and the retreat are two different things. I am sure the gals would mail you the “Blessed” project. Everything for that will be online through my blog and I talked Judy at Patchwork Times to join in too.
What a lovely thoughtful gift from Kayla.
Jo, your pieces are all wonderful.
I don’t know much about glasses, my bifocal prescription is 2.75, so would 4.0 for stitching be strong enough? I looked at Walmart the other day when I was there and the strongest they had there was 3.5.
I love those kits! Can’t wait!
I’m so excited about both the stitch along and the retreat! I hope you can get the hotel issue resolved, I agree with the other poster that traveling alone I would like to avoid the Super 8. I am one who cross stitched years ago only on Aida. You have inspired me since you started to get back into it! I’ve been wanting to try something simple on linen so this SAL should be perfect. Could you share again the linen that you like that is a good choice for a first attempt at linen? Thanks for all the pointers you give!
We thought we had called everyone on our list but apparently missed the hotel. UGH. We change the retreat dates to July 28-31st.
Hi Jo
Of course I own the “Floral Motif Sampler”. I don’t have it kitted yet….but I wondered what threads you used? Yours is beautiful! Sorry if you already mentioned your linen & thread.
I can’t come for your full retreat, but would love to pop in for a day. Would that be an option. I would pay.
Enjoy this SNOW day, I’ll be in my sewing room!
Connie..that would be great to pop in for a day!! I’d love to see you. I am stitching mine on Picture this Plus Vellum. I love that linen…40 count. I am stitching with called for threads but GAST Wood Trail and Dark Chocolate are impossible to find so am using DMC. I also subbed in WDW Chablis for the white as mine didn’t show on the linen.
Jo what town is the retreat held and which hotel?
The retreat will be in Osage Iowa. The Stitchery Nook is the cross stitch shop there. They are a retreat center above. There’s room for 15 to sleep there…everyone else would need to find a hotel. There are a couple in town…and the town is safe. The Americinn is the nicer hotel.
Your stitching is beautiful! You will have finished in no time. Looking forward to seeing your finished projects. I’m debating about the stitch along.
Oh Jo, you made me laugh with your glasses over glasses. I used to quilt with a friend who did that. She was totally amusing and you looked so cute. I hope you are feeling better.
I am stitching the Floral Motif Sampler along with you…although you keep getting ahead of me…lol! I love the sampler too…the colors are wonderful! So glad that you are home again and that part of the journey is behind you. I hope you are getting your mojo back. Thank you for your blog friendship and best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Oh boy Jo! I’m excited – I think I may actually be able to do the retreat! Eeeee! I’m going to check out those readers too. Your Floral Motif Sampler is coming along nicely!
I finally succumbed and called The Stitchery Nook. Now this beautiful floral motif sampler has been kitted and is on its way. I look forward to starting it right away, my first cross stitch in decades! So excited!
This is all exciting news and that Kayla is one sweet daughter. So thoughtful.
I’m excited about the stitch along and hoping to be able to make it to the retreat,
Your stitching is gorgeous! I, too, am planning to stitch “A Saviors Praise.” I did not realize it called formAn nor thread. Got some homework to do!
JoAnn’s is the only place to get the Anchor thread on spools. Other places have skeins.
I think michaels has anchor spools now.
Jo, I have a counted cross stitch project on linen, begun but not finished, as it is a series. It will require some modifications. If you will email me about specifics, I will happily donate it and mail it. Can send pictures.
Feel free to send my some pictures. I already have my stitching line up made but I can see if a blog reader might be interested.
I’ve also found the Anchor spools at Michael’s.
You are making good progress on your flowers sampler! I’ve tried several magnification options over the years and a few years ago found what is my perfect solution. I tried wearing readers over my glasses but I felt like they pinched my nose shut and I couldn’t breathe. LOL! I use Magni-Clips that can be found on Amazon and elsewhere. They come in multiple strengths. They’re pretty much the same concept as the readers over your glasses as you can still see through the top of your regular glasses to watch TV, read your chart, etc. Plus, they flip up and out of the way if you have to get up to do something else. I’m probably on my 4th pair as I periodically need stronger ones.
Oh my such a lot of lovely news here! Funny when I saw the picture of you with your glasses over your other glasses that is how my elder sister wears here as well. Thank you for sharing about the 4.00 readers. That just may be helpful for me to use in my diamond painting on the keychain and suncatcher kits I have. Jumping backward a bit the tin of floss spools is very cute indeed. The progress you’ve made on your floral sampler is astounding to me. Uffda on the mistake made but you caught it early on so that’s a plus there. I’m excited for the SAL! I’ll be jumping into the linen pond for the first time with the project. Glad to hear you seem to be feeling better, Jo.
YAHOO. I hope you love linen as much as I do!!