Charity Stitching

I do not have an update on Saguaro Sunrise, or the Game is on this week since I did not stitch on them!

I have been working on some charity stitching. My community is having a silent auction and a concert to support the Navy Seal Foundation. They asked the clubs to provide an item or two for the auction.

I love doing charity stuff and had the time, so I made these to represent the Festival Stitchers Club.

I used a Charles Craft Maxton Velour Guest towel and a project called Hearts and Stars from a brochure from the American School of Needlework called It's a Grand Old Flag in cross stitch. By Linda Gillum. I deviated slightly from the design by using star buttons instead of stitching the stars. It saved me a little time since the deadline for turning in our auction items was getting close.

The next item is a design by Erica Michaels that I have had since 2001. It was a freebie off the Rainbow Gallery website that was printed in a local needlework shop's newsletter - that is how I know the year. 

It called for Rainbow Gallery threads (duh) but I needed to get this stitched on a deadline, so I raided my stash.  I used DMC floss 321 for red, 797 for blue, 444 for gold and B5200 for white. I also used blue mill hill beads in royal blue instead of stitches and two mill hill treasure stars. I kind of wished I had a third star, but my stash was not sufficient. It still looks good though.

The design also called for the U-S-A to be open and not stitched. I did not like how this looked. The fabric had too much of an open weave. So, I stitched the letters with Kreinik #4 braid in gold (#002). The open weave is also why I used beads; I did not want the thread between the stitches to show.

I finished it as a flat fold and in the photo below, you can see the backing fabric I used.

I hope they do well in the auction!

Happy Stitching!!

 

Happy St. Patick's Day

 

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

The rains fall soft on your fields,

And, until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

I made some leprechaun hat cards for my family and Irish American friends.

Also, don't forget:

Being at least 25% Scottish and only 5% Irish, I had to post that.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Game is On! Update 3

I am making pretty good progress! The top two rows are complete along with all the black squares in the upper half. It is starting to look like a checkerboard.

Below is a photo of my stitching set up in the dining room. I may have mentioned this piece is on 16"x16" stretcher bars and I can't stitch in my usual spot without clunking our dog in the head when I turn to the back of the project. She likes to lie along my leg when I sit in the recliner. She does the same with hubby, we call ourselves her people pillows.

This setup turns out to be a nice sunny area to stitch and lots of table space to lay my stuff out! We do not usually eat at this table, preferring the kitchen island, so it works out fine for this project.

Note my stitching buddy on the chair on the left. 

Happy Stitching!!!

Spring Training

Our church group purchased tickets for a Spring Training game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium (the Rangers home field). The tickets were purchased in January. 

Well.... the weather on game day in March SUCKED!!! It was cloudy, rainy, and a chilly 62 degrees F.  Surprise Stadium is our closest Spring Training Facility and it is a VERY nice place to be - in better weather!

 

The infield was covered when we arrived at our seats. 

Good to know!!!!                                    

Finally, they unveiled the infield!

Then they covered it back up!

The players warmed up anyway.

Rain was coming down pretty well causing some puddles.

It was too cold for my hubby, so after we ate (it was part of our ticket package) he sat in the elevator area while I watched the game. We had a bit of a stalemate. He wanted to go home, and I wanted to stay. But I did not want to stay if he was cold and he did not want to leave if I wanted to see the game. So, we compromised. He sat in the warm area and I watched 2.5 innings. 

I got to see some of my favorite players pitch and bat and then we left, in the rain.

Zack Gallen pitched.

Alek Thomas was up to bat first!

Next up was Jake McCarthy. In 2022, I purchased a mystery baseball for the DBacks charity and he was the signer! 

I also got to watch Christian Walker bat and play first, but sadly no photos.

I LOVE baseball!! What else can I say? I would love to see a game in each of the Cactus League Stadiums, but so far, I have seen three games, all at Surprise Stadium.

GO DBacks!!!

Saguaro Sunrise Update 3

 I made quite a bit of progress on the back as seen on the right side of the canvas. 

Someone emailed me about this project with a question and I can't find the email. I think I remember the question, so will answer it here. 

She said she had been a ghost for the class (basically ghosts take the class at home and do not need to show up to the actual workshop) and wanted to know if there had been any finishing instructions.

Well, I also ghosted the class, so can't say if she said anything during the actual class. But she did say in our instructions (page 12) that she does not usually finish her stuff and gave the name of her finisher. I did not see any finishing information in the emails she sent after the class either. 

Probably not much help, but that is all I have.

My little helper while I stitch!

Happy Stitching!!

The Game Is On! Update 2

 Here is my progress so far.

I set up a stitching area for this large piece (16"x16" stretcher bars) on my dining room table. We eat at our kitchen island, so not a big deal. I do however host Hand and Foot cards at my house every 6 weeks, so will have to move it next time if I don't get it done!

The black squares and the cream squares are each two different patterns. At first, I thought I might stitch all area ones, then move to two, etc. But yesterday I decided I might try to get the top set of squares, done first since it is a bit of a reach. I know I could turn it upside down, but I want to make sure the squares are all the same and for me, this is the best way to do it. 

If I need a change of pace, I can work on the frame areas, those are meant to have the frame rotated, so it will always be at the bottom.

I am still enjoying working on this one. I turn up the tunes on my phone and stitch away. I am not a big fan of a quiet room when stitching, so if hubby is not watching the TV (which I can hear in the dining room with these open-concept houses) I use my phone for music. 

Happy Stitching!!

SCF EXPO Results

I sold out of all my sets of playing card holders. I only made 4 sets so not too hard. Folks have been asking for them at the last two EXPOS and I finally made some. Here is one set (each set was a different color).

They require a round plastic canvas with a raised circle in the middle and about 4 yards of yarn. When I use a striped yarn, which I like the look of best, I use one solid length.

They take me about 45 minutes to make one circle and you need two per holder. This adds up to about 6 very tedious, monotonous and sometimes boring stitching. Which is why I waited to start them and only got 4 sets done.

Our next EXPO is Oct. 5, so I plan to try and space out the making of them, so I don't get tired of them. I did figure out a way to read while making them. My Kindle case has an easel back and I set it up on my desk and while I am pulling the VERY long length of thread through a hole I can read a few sentences! Works for me anyway.

Thanks for stopping by!