Friday, November 5, 2021

Merry Christmas to Me!

 Since I've been divorced for over 15 years and don't have a partner purchasing gifts for me, each year I purchase a Christmas gift for myself in the $75-100 price range. As soon as I got a sneak peek of this gorgeous autumnal design from Beth Seal of Summer House Stitche Workes a few weeks ago and the Pacific Northwest Stitch Summit (PNWSS) retreat, I knew this was going to be my gift to myself this year. The design is called Emily's Bliss after poet/author Emily Brontë who authored the sentiment in her poem Fall, leaves, fall.

If you would like to see a quick video clip of this beautiful design finished as a drum (finishing supplies provided with the kit), you can see it here on Beth's Instagram account. This design is ONLY available as a kit through the Homespun Needlework (Cross Stitch and Samplers) group on Facebook. Beth designed it exclusively for them and it is being kitted up and sold through Acorns & Threads in Portland, Oregon. Today was finally the day the kits were made available to pre-order through the Facebook group. I ordered the linen option (32 count Natural Light Linen from Wichelt) with these absolutely silks from Gloriana Threads.

Since this is a gift to myself, I am not counting it against my stitch from stash budget. One of my exceptions is gifts and there are only two occasions per year (my birthday and Christmas) when I purchase stitchy gifts for myself, so I choose not to count those purchases.

Now comes the most difficult part. Since this was a pre-order, I have to be patient and wait for it to actually ship to me! LOL

Monday, November 1, 2021

Monthly Recap: October 2021

I feel like I had a very productive month in October. I attended the virtual Pacific Northwest Stitchers Summit (see my recap here), had a few new starts, and four cross stitch finishes. In addition to that, I had a diamond painting finish as well. Here's how things went for me in October. 

Stitching Recap:

Number of Days Stitched: 24

Projects Worked: 7

  • The Stargazer - Mirabilia
  • All the Trimmings - Fat Quarter Shop
  • Garden Party - Satsuma Street
  • Two Birds in One Tree - Modern Folk Embroidery
  • Friendship Sampler - Threadwork Primitivies
  • Haunted House Sampler - Twin Peak Primitives
  • Fall Gnomes (Diamond Painting)

New Starts: 3

  • Seeds of Friendship: The Ball - Summer House Stitche Workes
  • Haunted House Sampler - Twin Peak Primitives
  • Quaker Garden - Blackbird Designs

Finishes: 5 (four cross stitch and one diamond painting)


Stitch from Stash Recap:


Balance Sheet:

Starting Balance - 1 Oct 2021$ 12.86-
Monthly Allowance - Sept$ 25.00
Finish Credits$ 78.00
Purchases$ 74.68-
Current Balance - 31 Oct 2021$ 15.46


Finish Credits Earned This Month:


Purchases This Month:


That's my recap for the month of October 2021. I hope you've all enjoyed following along with my progress in these monthly update