Progress, gnashing teeth over beads again! The drama never ends.

So here I am for the third week in a row broadcasting all my stitchy deeds for the week.  Could a new habit be formed?  Nah-h-h, I won't cop to that quite yet.

So last week I shared my bead storage and today I am sharing pictures.  Here is what the cabinet looks like:

It is a pretty heavy cabinet which sits on the floor.  When you open the drawer you will see the front of the packages with the bead number.  The white round labels have the beginning bead number and ending bead number that are occupied in that drawer.

When you pull the drawer out and turn it around the round pink labels on the back of the package have the beads color name.  It helps out in selecting possible colors without having to pull each package out.  It works for me!

So the lace row is completed, cross stitches and eyelets.  It looks very pretty.

 Here is a closer look at it.

Even closer view.

I have removed the fabric from the hoop and placed it on some Q-Snaps and continued with the gridding before I start with the vertical rows on the stocking.  I am reassessing my choice of bead color for the Heirloom Red Plum beads.  After consulting with other Nannites on the Facebook page "Just Nan Junkies", I was told there are NO bugle beads in the embellishment package.  The difference is the shape of the seed beads versus the SJ beads.  Seed beads are more rounded like a ball and the Red Plum beads are more flat on the sides not as rounded, as if one just cut off a small piece of the bugle bead.  So I ordered more bead colors at SJ Designs.  Perhaps I will see them by the end of the week.  

My E-Bay win Just Nan's "Christmas Peace" came in the mail which was nice but I was sore.  The postman bent it like a taco to put in my mail box!  The seller did not put a piece of cardboard in the package to prevent this.  Perhaps it might have added to the weight and cost her more to mail?  However she didn't even write on the envelope not to bend or fold which would have cost NOTHING!  The leaflet is not damaged in a way that would prevent me from stitching it but it definitely has a rocker shape.  I am not happy with the seller at all!

I intend to get my gridding done by next weekend  so I can have the weekend to unwind floss and enjoy the ebb and flow of my stitching.  May your week be blessed as mine always are.  Ta-Ta!

Roses for St. Nicholas Progress and an exciting auction win!

Nellie bar the door, I think there is something the matter with me!  I have posted something a week apart rather then years or months!

We had a funky week weather wise.  Old man winter just doesn't understand we are sick of him!  Yesterday and today it was in the 60° range and earlier in the week it is very "frosty" as my Caribbean Prince calls it when he comes in from walking our dogs.  My lillies of the valley have tiny buds.  I do love how they smell and they are so delicate to the eye.

Yesterday on E-Bay I won a prize that I have been seeking for several months, Christmas Peace, an older Just Nan design.  I got it for a fairly reasonable price with the embellishment pak and free shipping.  I don't ever recall seeing this for sale in the shops.  However I fell in love when I saw a finish on the Facebook group "Just Nan Junkies"!  It is stunning.



Don't you agree?  I think at this point I have every Nan design I want.  I can really get down and stitch.

So here is a progress picture of my Roses for St. Nicholas stocking!

I stitched a good 4 hours with my bestie Leslie, via Skype.  I continued stitching pre and post nap also!  All the lace has been stitched to the left of the green tassel.  I also started the bit of lace to the right of the tassel, of which there isn't a great deal.  Next to be stitched will be the eyelets in the center of many of those holes in the lace.  They will make this row very delicate and pretty.

I had a moment or two when I was stitching the crosses that abutted the tassel and they weren't lined up like they should have.  I was so disgusted as I have made every effort with the gridding to place every stitch correctly.  Well I discovered a missed stitch just a few stitches back and it was all remedied.  I can just lose my cool in a second so I am glad this didn't end up in the corner covered in German Shepherd fur and cobwebs. 

I got all my Mill Hill beads reorganized again in my wooden cabinet I purchased years ago at Hobby Lobby.  The Mill Hill packaging fits perfectly in the drawers.  I took little pink labels and wrote the color name on it and adhered it to the package on the back.  They are organized by number but sometimes I am looking for the color names rather then numbers.  I can pull the drawers out and turn it around to quickly get the colors.

So that is it from the stitching capital of Missouri, here in my Happy Room.  Perhaps I will stun all again with another update, wouldn't that be unprecedented?!  God Bless and happy stitching!

Nannies, nannies and more nannies

It has been a while since I last posted.  No excuses just stating the obvious!  Spring has arrived and I am ever grateful.  My beautiful lilacs are blooming as well as my redbuds, dogwood and daffodils and paperwhites.  My peonies in the front yard are about 4 foot tall with flower buds. The peonies in the back are against the house are half that size, they don't get the full sun.  Hubby has already mowed the yard twice!

I want to plant some herbs and keep them in the sun room.  I have been busy working and stocking a pantry.  I want to get about a 3-6 month supply of basic food stuffs put back.  The craziness of the world, that I knew was there, has reared it's ugly head and made me realize I was dragging my feet.

My life has changed little in the past 2 months, still working and coming home each day.  Hubby works at the same place I am, we are contractors with the government.  I don't feel comfortable going any further with what I do.  As hubby has playfully suggested to the nosy, "if I told you I would have to kill you!"

So since this is a cross stitch blog, let's get to it. All my stash has gone down to the basement EXCEPT my beloved Just Nan designs.  I have bought a few older designs on E-Bay and Etsy, filling in my collection with designs which I wanted or have been recently seduced into wanting via the enabling process.  You know the drill....right?

So at the end of January I purchased an older pattern of Just Nan, "Heartfelt".  It doesn't have a copyright date that I can find but her design number is JN157.  It has 3-2"x 2" designs, "Forever Friends", "Happy Birthday" and "Love".  I wanted to stitch the "Forever Friends" for my best friend Leslie who lives somewhere in the wilds of the United Kingdom.  (I know exactly where she lives but for her own protection I will not divulge it.)

I stitched this on a light blue 28 count Zweigart linen that I had in my stash.  I changed the word "Friends" to "Besties" which I charted myself. I used all DMC floss and fortunately the blue sequin beads came with the chart.  It was finished on February 22, 2022. I love, love love how it turned out.  I had bought 2-2"x 2" frames at Hobby Lobby for 40% off however the design was a wee bit too big to properly show off the needlework.  So I went up and bought the 3"x 3" frame you see and I didn't really love it but it was the best I could find.  I washed, pressed and laced the design on foam core board.  I had to remove the glass from the frame to get it to properly close at the back.  I ADORE this.  It is filled with lots of love! You can also see on the side of the roses at the bottom of the heart I stitched over one a L in blue and an S in maroon.  It was a personal touch to the piece to add our initials.  I am still filling a small box with items and will soon enough go to the post office to wing it's way to the bestest bestie a stitchy girl can have.

 So this is what I am currently working on.  Roses For St. Nicholas is an older design from 1995.  I love the Victorian style of it and I have had the pattern forever.  Unfortunately I did not purchase the bead pack with this design and I have struggled trying to match beads.  I believe Nan used more then Mill Hill beads, I know she did use some SJ Designs beads.  The 2 mm bugle beads have flummoxed me totally.  6 mm beads are way too big, I did find some 3 mm bugle beads in a sampler package of 10 colors for $10.00.  I found a nice big piece of 28 count opalescent raw linen in my stash!  SCORE!!!!

I gridded with red perle cotton down the right hand side of the stocking with a tick to the left every 10 squares.  On January 18, 2020 I started it and this is how far I got by January 22.  You will see a purple Sulky Sliver metallic grid lines.  The rose you see came completely out and was restitched.  That is when I gridded with the Sulky.


This is the progress by February 22, 2020.  I had stitched "Forever Friends" between the last two pictures.


This progress photo shows the cuff completely stitched and I have started on the lace in the cuff of the stocking as of April 4th, 2020. At this point I had tried to put the bugle bead squares between the stitched cabbage roses and well it didn't work.  My counting was off because the cabbage roses weren't exactly alike as they should have been.  I wasn't about to tear all those stitches out so it took some pondering.

So here we are today April 12, 2020.  I tired of the lace and moved to the green tassel on the right.  I finished that today and added the gold beads at the throat of the tassel. The beads are sitting side to side with the holes at the top and bottom.  I am very picky about the position of my beads.  Position makes a world of difference in how the light reflects off of them.


Here you see I pondered well on the bead situation between the cabbage roses.  The red plum beads were called for as bugle beads, which I could not find a suitable substitution.  I am using Mill Hill Glass Seed Beads 02012.  The gold bugle beads are supposed to be round seed beads,  I am using 3mm Japanese Bugle Beads that I purchased thru CB Beads on Etsy.  Here is a link to the sampler pack I purchased: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/118526423/3mm-japanese-bugle-beads
I really love the colors I received and am sure I will use them over and over again.

Also on the above picture you will see I backstitched a square to help me properly place the next square of beads between the roses.  I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner but the important thing is that I finally did think of it.

So far I have thoroughly enjoyed my stitching.  Getting the stash out of my Happy Room really helped me get out of that paralyzing place I was in.  Working on a variety of stitches in one piece is enjoyable and exciting to me and Nan's pieces fill that bill to the tee.

Most of my stitching is done on the weekends and I will make no promises but I will try to post updates a bit more promptly.  God Bless all and may all your stitching be just perfect!

Be Scary from start to finish

So I am not sure where this all began, the madness of blogging, however I am not very reliable!  Here we are  7 months from the last post and it is a new year.  I stitch every Sunday morning with my best friend Leslie via Skype.  She lives across the Atlantic Ocean and I cannot tell you where for her safety.  But she did move to her current home from Edinburgh Scotland.  We yak and stitch for 2 to 5 hours every week.  She is my sounding board, my cheer leader, my sister from a different mother.

So on October 5th. 2019 I posted this to Facebook: 

This is the needlework project I am working on this weekend. Be Scary from Just Nan. I stitched this maybe 15 years ago or more and it disappeared. I have no idea what happened to it. Even the chart disappeared. So I found the chart on eBay for a fair price and here I go again. This time around I am stitching it on a one of a kind colored Silkweaver's 28 count evenweave in a cornflower blue color with DMC floss. There are Mill Hill beads in Antique Silver, which may or may not be the same which came in the original embellishment package. I love Just Nan designs. I am thinking about also starting one of her Christmas stockings too! We shall see. Orin's at church and I am watching Glenn Beck as I stitch. I am making an old fashioned tuna casserole for dinner....yummy! Have a Blessed Saturday!

This was the picture that accompanied that post:

November 5th: I am really enjoying stitching Just Nan's "Be Scary". I stitched it long ago but have no idea where it went to. I am stitching very slowly but really having a wonderful time stitching it. I am well half way done but the witches are quite fiddly and seem to take forever. I did purchase the year SAL from Sugar Stitches on Etsy and just received the first design November 1st. I want to start on it but won't until I finish up Be Scary. I love the color pallet on the first installment and hope the rest are the same colors.

November 12th: So here we are at the beginning of another work week. It was a lovely 3 day weekend for Orin and I. We had snow yesterday, maybe an inch or two, that is still on the ground and it is very cold this morning. My bestest bestie and I Skyed 4 hours on Saturday morning, we had scads to talk about as we stitched. Sunday evening Orin and I joined the family celebration, Mom turned 83! It was nice to see Ginger and Jason, Jeff and Lillian. Here is my progress on Be Scary. You can see that we have twins and soon we will have witches three. Have a blessed week all.

November 17th: The weekend is almost over once again. We had a lovely weekend here. This is a progress picture of Be Scary. Yes I finished the triplets! I thought I would never get those girls done. My ghosties are so cute with their eyes and mouths ready to scare us all. So I have one row left to complete this sampler and it is a row of Daddy Long Leg spiders and maybe 7 beads. I hope to have this done at the latest next Saturday so I can start my Sugar Stitches Christmas SAL. I want to start it while I visit via Skype with my bestest bestie, Leslie. We spent about 4½ hours this morning solving world problems, stitching, discussing books we were reading and the absolute highlight was a live concert from Orin Lynch singing off key Stevie Wonder. Life doesn't get much better than that. God Bless all of you and enjoy the week.

November 24th: I have a wonderfully spooky finish. I finished the last band of Just Nan's Be Scary on Saturday morning at 2:30 in the morning. The spiders looked very easy and I thought (arrogantly) I would throw them on quickly. Well the hairy monsters legs are interlaced and you can't fudge on them because they would look wonky with one misplaced stitch. I had to stitch a baseline to make sure all the legs hit the same bottom row of holes. Hairy One went in slowly and then the rest were quit easy. I am thinking I might finish it as a stand up but not too sure. Halloween fabric will have to wait until next year, however pondering is one of my strong suites. I can't pick a favorite band, I think they all are special in their own way. I thank you for letting me share my stitching journey with you.

Memorial Day Stitching

I can't think of a more appropriate stitching project for our Memorial Day weekend.  I started on this with my Bestie, Leslie Jackson, on November 17, 2018.  I am using all the called for floss with one substitution with the beads.  It is being stitched on the Declaration of Independence written by my Uncle Thomas Jefferson, yes I am descended from greatness!  I am related to the Adams also, they are cousins, John, Samuel and John Quincy. Henry Adams, their grandfather is my 13th great grandfather thru his son Peter.  I am so proud of my heritage.  Anyway here is a picture of my beginning on May 26th.

Here is a picture of my ending on May 26th, 2019. On the left I began filling in more of the flag and top left I began her elbow in over one.  The red gridding thread is the center of the whole project, horizontal and vertical.  I have extended the flag a bit over the horizontal line.  

Progress is slow but I am not in this for speed but for joy and peace in my life.  Stitching is my mantra!  God Bless you and God Bless America!

Spring bling stitching

Yes indeed, I have been stitching.  I am enjoying some lovely small Spring projects, let me share them with you.

We had a very long, cold, snowy winter like many people in the Midwest.  It has been many years since we had seen such a winter.  I was chomping at the bit for Spring and wanting to feel the warmth of the sun on my face.  Our spring has come but has been wet and damp with a few really lovely days.  Not many truly good sunroom stitching days have been seen.

I have 3 spring designs completed.  The top design on yellow fabric is a Lizzie Kate kit design called "Easter".  I did not stitch it on the supplied Aida, I stitched it on a 28 count linen called "Lemonaide" which was from a now defunct company called "The Dye is Cast".  It is close to the DMC color 445.  I used a combination of DMC floss and "The Dye is Cast" hand dyed floss.  I loved the orange carrot color I used it in the next design I stitched.  The picture below doesn't accurately reflect the yellow fabric.  It is really a cheerful and warm yellow.  I wish Brenda was still hand dying her fabric line.

The next finish was an old free design from "Mosey 'n Me", called "Surprise".  Everytime I would peruse my free designs I would think, "I need to stitch this some day!"  Well some day came and I am in love with the results.

The fabric is a 28 count Quaker linen from the Silkweaver Signature Series.  It was a limited edition color and is an aqua color similar to DMC floss color 3811.  It is a very spring like color.  The design has no color choices but tells you to pick your own.  I chose the carrot color from the defunct "The Dye is Cast" that I used in the above Lizzie Kate design.  The tea rose colored heart and the green carrot leaves and the rabbit, his nose and ears were also hand dyed fibers from the defunct Dye is Cast.  The back stitching is DMC, a dark brown color.  I used black beads for his eyes.  I have to say the backstitching makes this design come to life.

This last finish has to be my favorite.  It is also a free design from Mosey 'n Me! The fabric is a 28 count linen again from Silkweavers Signature Linen in the color called Plum. It is similar to DMC floss number 554.  I used the same floss colors from the defunct "The Dye Is Cast" for this bunny head as I used in "Surprise".  I used DMC 310/black for the back stitching.  This design only had the nose and mouth graphed for back stitching but I felt that it definitely needed some defining to bring out the cute face.  I tried to emulate the style of Mosey 'n Me backstitching that was used in the graph of "Suprise" and wow!!!! I was so pleased with the results.  Again I used black beads for the eyes.  The neck bow was graphed and I stitched it however in a stroke of serendipity I had purchased these sweet little girl bow hair clips.  Carefully I removed the bow from the clip and tacked it on over the stitched bow.  This just brings out the charm of this small little design.  It really doesn't get much cuter then this design!  I am proud of myself!

I have started a free design from "Alita" designs called "Chick and Flower".  I am stitching it on a 32ct Belfast linen in a robin egg blue color which DMC has no accurate color of.  The picture of the blue fabric in the hoop needs some green to it.  It is a wonderful bright and cheery color.  I am using the called for DMC colors but there isn't a really discernable difference in the yellows as the graph picture shows.  I think I may use a darker yellow or orange to back stitch the wing.  I started this on 4/29/2019 but have stitched in fits on the weekends.  

So that is the stitching happenings here in my Happy Room.  I hope all your stitching is lovely and joyful.  Break out your experimental nature and embrace some creativity, you just may surprise yourself!  I did! 

What do 15¢ and YouTube have in common?

I bet you are wondering what 15¢ has to do with a stitching blog, well let me tell you.

As many of you know I had a You Tube channel called "Sunroom Stitcher" in the Floss Tube community and I enjoyed sharing what was going on in my neck of the woods.  I made many friends and was inspired all the time and showed it in a way that had me spending lots of money each month on stash.  However I noticed it was a trend not only with me but with others also.  I honestly do not believe mine was ever intended to part of a contest.  However with others it was.

Then one day a troll reported me to You Tube and my account was terminated.  Without an investigation into my heinous behavior (pun intended), all my videos were gone.  To this day I cannot figure out what about my stitching was in violation of the community guidelines.  I didn't dwell on it too long.

 This account has been terminated due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube's policy against spam, deceptive practices, and misleading content or other Terms of Service violations.

I began looking at the floss tube videos in a different light and saw the sameness of most of them.  You know the ones, the ones where most of the video is dedicated to what stash was bought.  There are also the ones whose homes are so "decorated" with stuff you can't focus on anything else.  Yes Easter, threw up all over their home, then Valentine's Day threw up all over their home, then July 4th threw up all over their home, then Halloween threw up all over the inside of their home and spilled out into the yard.

I was also appalled by the behavior of these stitchers who suddenly likened themselves celebrities, drinking at retreats, begging for money for their honeymoon and verbally attacking people in wheelchairs.  No longer did I want to be associated with any of them. I wanted to stop my madness and really enjoy what I had.

I rarely watch videos anymore, very rarely.  There are some lovely Floss Tubers who I catch from time to time such as Kitty Stitcher/EDS Warrior, Vonna Pfeiffer and A Stitch Too Far, Carolyn Mazzeo (no longer making videos) and Mrs Milky Bar Kid.  I know there are a couple others that I failed to mention.

I today am enjoying my stitching and buying little to no stash which is fabulous.  I stitch with what I have and occasionally purchase a skein of floss.  I still look for freebie  designs but have actually stitched free designs I have had for 20+ years.  I am loving saving money to have my roof fixed, my husband's dental work done and I look forward to buying a new pair of eye glasses.

15¢ does matter, it matters here and there and it adds up to bigger savings.  15¢ just doesn't stay 15¢ either, it becomes 30¢ and then a dollar and on and on until I am trying to keep up with the Janes and Josies on Floss Tube.  I blame myself for being part of it but I am done with it all!  Please read Mary Hunt's article below, it may open you up to a more promising future and enjoying what you have at this very moment.

Share Tweet Pin Forward HOME | PERSPECTIVE | HOME & FAMILY | TIPS | DEAR MARY | FOOD & RECIPES | CONTACT Why 15 Cents Matters By Mary Hunt on 06/26/17 I used to think that small amounts of money didn’t matter. What difference could $5 here or $10 there make when we were more than $100,000 in debt (not counting the house and cars)? So what if I increased our debt by such a small amount—it wouldn’t really matter because we already owed so much. I used the same argument for not paying anything more than the minimum monthly payments on our credit cards because that too would make no difference. Boy, did I have a lot to learn. The truth is that we five-and-10-dollared ourselves to death. It was the little things that added up to create a huge monster. Thinking that the little things didn’t matter freed us to think $2, $5 or $20 didn’t matter … then $50 didn’t matter, and on and on it went. Ironically, it was the little things that turned us around, too. Sending an extra $2, $5 or $20 every month to rapidly repay the debt we were targeting helped us find a way to make the payment $22, then $35 and soon a $100 payment became standard. I’ve had people look at me like I was a little weird when I suggested they should not use a first-class stamp on a postcard. I mean, does 15 cents really matter? I think it does, not so much for the dime and nickel, but for the attitude. You see, if you casually throw 15 cents away when it comes to a postage stamp, it’s much easier to begin thinking slightly larger sums don’t matter, either. And soon you’ll be on your way to thinking $20 is not a big deal. Then you’ll be headed for trouble. Yes, my friends, 15 cents does matter. If you understand that, then $1.50 matters and $15 will matter even more, and on and on right up to $15,000. Some wise person once said, “Watch the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves.” I have proven that to be true and I hope you can, too. Here are three easy ways to stash cash: Coins. Don’t spend them. Save them, instead. Every evening, empty your pockets, purse and wallet of all coins. Even if the bill comes to $4.05, hand the clerk a $5 bill and stash the difference. When you accumulate $25 or so, roll, wrap and send them off to your savings account. Windfalls. No matter how small, make it a habit to bank all coupon savings, rebate checks, refunds and other “found money.” Save an extra 10 percent. Stash 10 percent of your pocket money, grocery money and any other “walk around” funds you control in your secret savings spot. Chances are you won’t even miss it. But soon you’ll discover that $2 here and $4 there really adds up. This column Why 15 Cents Matters is today's post at Mary Hunt's Everyday Cheapskate blog, where you can add your comment!   Recent posts on Everyday Cheapskate: Great Recipes Know No Season Ask Me Anything: Oven Door, Window Air Conditioners, Hardwood Floor Cleaner Keep Your Cool in the Heat of Summer Stop Whining!