This month's discussion topic is:
"If you have been to retreats, what are your must-bring items and supplies?"
I have attended three two-day paper crafting "retreats" (Simon Says Create in Columbus Ohio), one two-day scrapbooking crop (with a local crafting friends, even though I don't scrapbook!), and three two-day quilt retreats (put on by the guild of which I am webmaster, even though I truly do not quilt) in the past two decades. All within a two hour driving distance of my home. Since Covid, however, I have not been to any live retreats and, after experiencing numerous virtual events on facebook and you-tube in the past two years, I feel I am not likely to attend a live retreat again. Virtual retreats are MUCH more convenient, allow working at my own pace from my own crafting space, and allow me full access to my extensive crafting stash!
But not a single "stitching" retreat! Why? well, several reasons, many of which are also true of most major live paper crafting retreats:
I have always taken a traveling project with me to stitch on in the down-time in a hotel room, whether it be a visit to far-away friends, one of the above non-stitching retreats, or one of my husband's gardening events (for example, there will be one of these long-distance visits and two of the gardening conventions this coming summer). This traveling project is usually needlepoint (hotel rooms are notorious for bad lighting but I can see the holes of a needlepoint canvas even in a badly lit hotel room!) and my must-bring items and supplies are the canvas, the floss, small scissors, needles and the pattern, all in a bag devoted to this project.
~~~~~WIPs~~~~~
1. A long term WIP, almost a UFO: Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" sampler. Started back in February of 2014! It is currently about 60% complete. No progress since the last check-in.
2. Traveling Needlepoint: Not having travelled since the pandemic, I have not been motivated to stitch on "Butterfly on Scroll" by Dimensions since February 2020. This may change in February since the first of two daylily conventions occurs February 17 - 19 in Springfield, IL and I will have three days of hotel time to kill while my husband is attending seminars and field trips.
3. A WIP in progress - "Hope & Strength" by Glendon Pace. Purchased in 2020 and started in March, 2021, the stitching is finally complete. It awaits the attachment of 1988 beads! The total number of beads means I haven't taken this piece out of it's project bag all month long...
4. A Lakeside Needlecraft SAL, "Kogin", designed by Elizabeth Almond. I began in February 2022, after four installments had been issued. The entire pattern is now in hand. I had issues - and the frog was a frequent visitor. It has been put away until I can deal with my obvious inablility to follow a pattern here!
~~~~~Completions!~~~~~
Well, not exactly a completion but... ready to finish/finish:
A Mystery SAL - "Christmas Banner" by Stitchonomy. Started in mid-December 2022. It awaits the attachment of a charm and a bell , some beads, and some speciality thread stitching before hemming and attaching to a bell-pull hanger (sorry for the poor focus...):
But not a single "stitching" retreat! Why? well, several reasons, many of which are also true of most major live paper crafting retreats:
- First, there have been no stitching retreats held anywhere near where I live, so the time needed to get to and from the retreat adds on a day of airline travel on either side of the two-or-three day event.
- Second, the cost of airfare, car rental and sometimes hotel on top of the cost of the actual retreat, is a major issue.
- Third, I have found, over the years, that I don't stitch in the presence of others. I just can't focus on the stitching! So a stitching retreat would become more of a "bitching" retreat, and I couldn't see the point!
- and finally, fourth, I have yet to find a stitching retreat where the projects featured or the instructors offered interest me.
I have always taken a traveling project with me to stitch on in the down-time in a hotel room, whether it be a visit to far-away friends, one of the above non-stitching retreats, or one of my husband's gardening events (for example, there will be one of these long-distance visits and two of the gardening conventions this coming summer). This traveling project is usually needlepoint (hotel rooms are notorious for bad lighting but I can see the holes of a needlepoint canvas even in a badly lit hotel room!) and my must-bring items and supplies are the canvas, the floss, small scissors, needles and the pattern, all in a bag devoted to this project.
~~~~~WIPs~~~~~
1. A long term WIP, almost a UFO: Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" sampler. Started back in February of 2014! It is currently about 60% complete. No progress since the last check-in.
2. Traveling Needlepoint: Not having travelled since the pandemic, I have not been motivated to stitch on "Butterfly on Scroll" by Dimensions since February 2020. This may change in February since the first of two daylily conventions occurs February 17 - 19 in Springfield, IL and I will have three days of hotel time to kill while my husband is attending seminars and field trips.
3. A WIP in progress - "Hope & Strength" by Glendon Pace. Purchased in 2020 and started in March, 2021, the stitching is finally complete. It awaits the attachment of 1988 beads! The total number of beads means I haven't taken this piece out of it's project bag all month long...
4. A Lakeside Needlecraft SAL, "Kogin", designed by Elizabeth Almond. I began in February 2022, after four installments had been issued. The entire pattern is now in hand. I had issues - and the frog was a frequent visitor. It has been put away until I can deal with my obvious inablility to follow a pattern here!
~~~~~Completions!~~~~~
Well, not exactly a completion but... ready to finish/finish:
A Mystery SAL - "Christmas Banner" by Stitchonomy. Started in mid-December 2022. It awaits the attachment of a charm and a bell , some beads, and some speciality thread stitching before hemming and attaching to a bell-pull hanger (sorry for the poor focus...):
I have four other similar banners by Stitchonomy, also awaiting hemming, some trim and attachment to bell-pull hangers and I hope to finish/finish them at the same time as the above piece.
~~~~~Current SALs~~~~~
There is only one SAL in progress at the moment: a temperature chart for the year 2023, designed by Fox & Rabbit. I am stitching o pale green 32 ct Gobelin and have adjusted the called-for DMC floss colors to account for our colder winters (Fox & Rabbit didn't have any below-freezing colors assigned!). Even with a major visit by the frog (I had stitched the date eleven stitche off-center! AAACK!), I am pretty much keeping up with the days (the picture below shows temperatures through January 20). I'm stitching the day's low on the left side of the hearts and the high on the right side. All temperatures are based on the recorded highs and lows for near-by Bowling Green, Ohio:
~~~~~Current SALs~~~~~
There is only one SAL in progress at the moment: a temperature chart for the year 2023, designed by Fox & Rabbit. I am stitching o pale green 32 ct Gobelin and have adjusted the called-for DMC floss colors to account for our colder winters (Fox & Rabbit didn't have any below-freezing colors assigned!). Even with a major visit by the frog (I had stitched the date eleven stitche off-center! AAACK!), I am pretty much keeping up with the days (the picture below shows temperatures through January 20). I'm stitching the day's low on the left side of the hearts and the high on the right side. All temperatures are based on the recorded highs and lows for near-by Bowling Green, Ohio:
I have another SAL in line: the Fox & Rabbit Mystery SAL for 2023, called "Royal Gardens". I have fabric (more pale grey 32-ct Jobelin) and some floss (Threaadworx) in hand and more floss on order but have stalled by another visit from the frog - I had stitched two-strands-worth of the first motif she I realized I had miscalculated the starting point (I HATE counting on 32 count and had hoped to use a ruler but, on 32 ct, one bock of ten stitches is NOT one inch, so I was off by a country mile and had to rip out everything I had done and count my way up from center...
~~~~~
As for other projects in the queue, whether or not they actually get started in 2023 is in question. They include
But I'm thinking, instead of starting something else new, why not make a start on finishing works in progress before they truly become UFOs? Here's hoping I can get my mojo juiced up to at least work on "Save the Stitches"...
~~~~~
As for other projects in the queue, whether or not they actually get started in 2023 is in question. They include
- a cooperative venture between Nancy Wahler ("Faithwurks") and Sue Hillis Designs called "A Stitcher's Shadowbox and Smalls" (as per usual, I ordered two by mistake! Oh well---) and I have the kit(s) in hand.
- two SALs by Cliffside Stitches. One is a variation on medieval Egyptian blackwork and the other is a set of cross-stitched tiles based on variety of motifs that are reminiscent of traditional folk designs from around the world. I have not started either although I have ordered the floss for the blackwork piece and am collecting the weekly installments
- a blackwork SAL by Clare Bradshaw of The Steady Thread - weekly installments of two versions. I have collected the installments but have not decided on which version, if any I would stitch.
But I'm thinking, instead of starting something else new, why not make a start on finishing works in progress before they truly become UFOs? Here's hoping I can get my mojo juiced up to at least work on "Save the Stitches"...
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