Flosstube update #67

 Hello bloggers,

I'm here on this rainy Friday afternoon to share with you what I've been up to since we last spoke.  Now that I am fully vaccinated I have ventured out a few times (still wearing my mask). I went to the Woodlawn Needlework Exhibition and I met face to face with two of the lovely ladies that had ribbon winning entries at Woodlawn. They are Deb from stitches_of_heritage on Instagram and Miasia from stitching_in_color on Instagram. I've also had a couple of lunches in restaurants with the hubby.

 I will be flying to Cincinnati next Thursday for STITCH-CON! Mask and gloves on and a package of sanitizing wipes.  My flosstube started off with what I like to call the "Magic Q-Snap" loosely based on the magic mirror from the old Romper Room shows. (Probably way before your time) Anyway I give a shout-out to all of my previous video commenters, just a little extra thank you.

 I shared my WIPGO pieces for April, May and Junes. Here are the ones from April: A Woman Named Ella by Brittany Church and Ebony Short

There are a lot of stitches in the front of this dress and the sleeves, but it was well worth it. The other piece for April was: Repeat the Sounding Joy by Kathy Barrack

There is a lot of black in this design and to keep from having a straight line when I finish each section I stagger the ends of each line. 

 The first May design was:Christmas Dreams by Joan Elliott

         

There were stars to be stitched around Santa, but I was to lazy to stitch them and I decided to use buttons. I then couldn't decide which ones, so I used them both. There is also silver beads.  My second piece for May WIPGO was: Tribal Beauties by Jeanette Crews Designs

Tribal Beauties was stitched on 30ct Week Dye Work- Coco linen.

 My first June WIPGO piece, you've seen finished and it's Henna Cat from Soda Stitch.

There is so much sparkle in this piece, it's stitched on Fairyland Opalescent Lugana from Silkweavers.

 My second June pieces for WIPGO is: African Angel by Barbara Baatz

I am currently working on this one so no after picture yet, (will save that for next time).  

I have a few other new starts, finishes and wips to share:

Ethnic Woman - WIP

Turn Your Face Toward the Sun - needs beads

May Day - finish

Girls Night Out - finish

I've been a little busy these past few weeks, wouldn't you say?

To see the gift and haul section go to my flosstube channel the link is in the sidebar. 

As I said above I will be going to STITCH-CON and I have made some plans as to what I will be taking to "work" on. There may be too much talking to stitch, but I have plans... I will be taking the "Comparatively Small Ship of Life" and maybe an Etsy chart "I Put A Spell On You" and "A Haunting We Will Go" from Keslyn's. I'll show my progress next time.  There was also one announcement I made: I now have 2000 subscribers on my YouTube channel and you can subscribe and like me there or follow me on Instagram.  

Well now you know what I've been up to and it's time to go make some more wonderful little xxs.

Stay safe, healthy and keep stitching!

Haul Heavy

 This post is a little late but better than never. I posted a new video on flosstube (Youtube) and almost let writing this post for it get away from me.  First, I want to say thank you to everyone who left a comment on my last post.  If you have any questions about anything I post, please leave it in the comments and I will answer as soon as possible.  The first thing I shared in Haul Heavy Flosstube #66 was my two WIPGO projects for the month of March. The numbers called for March were 10 and 24.

 My #10 was a free design from Owl Forest Embroidery called "Emerald City" it is their take on the "Wizard of Oz" and I stitched it on a 32 count Jobelan called "Hurricane" from Under the Sea Fabrics. The floss is all DMC. As you will see in the photo I changed the skin tones to reflect me a little more and I am very happy with the way it turned out. My goal for this one was to finish the stitching, goal accomplished!

My #24 was Fairy Delight Biscornu from Joan Elliott Design, it is stitched on 14 count Aida that I got with the chart as a gift. The floss is all DMC. I changed the skin tone on the fairies. The goal for this piece was to add beads and assemble the biscornu. Goal was accomplished! I think it is fabulous. 

I also started a new design called "The Comparatively Small Red Ship of Life" from Ink Circles, it is stitched on 32 count evenweave called "Ruth" from Fortnight Fabrics. The floss is silk from Almond MnMs on Instagram and the colors are "Wine" and "Frosty Slate". This is only my second time stitching a design with silk, it is so easy to stitch with, it glides through the fabric. This design was started as part of a SAL (stitch-a-long) hosted by a fellow flosstuber by the name of Abi Bellastitch as a tribute to Asian Americans that have been attacked and mistreated in this country during this pandemic. The SAL is #Stitch Asia and it could be any Asian related design, by an Asian designer, using fabric or floss dyed by an Asian dyer, etc. I love this design and the silk but after about two weeks I had to move on to something else, for the rest of the month.

 So I decided to work on and finished another one of my wips that could also qualify for #Stitch Asia and it was "Henna Cat" from Soda Stitch. I stitched this on 28 count Opalescent Lugana from Silkweavers, the color is Fairyland. It is stitched with all DMC flosses. This is also a WIPGO piece and I will get credit on my WIPGO board when it's number is called. 

At the end of March the April number were called for WIPGO, #3 and #21. My number 3 is "Repeat the Sounding Joy" by Kathy Barrick, my goal was to add 1000 stitches. I think I made it.

My number 21 is "A Lady Named Ella" it is a collaboration between a fashion designer Ebony Short and a cross stitch designer Brittany Church. The goal is to add 1000 stitches to her also but I haven't done those yet.

In the meantime I have not been sitting idly by doing nothing, I joined another SAL with another flosstuber  "Stitching In Sequins" who is also the owner of  1884 Stitchery (an online cross stitch store). The SAL is #Arelata April and I selected this design from1884 to stitch.It is called "Ego Sum" from Arleleta Studio and I am stitching it on 22 count Hardanger fabric, the color is "Off-White" with all DMC flosses.

As I was strolling through Instram one day I saw a design that instantly caught my eye and I had to have it. It was on an Esty store called Cross Stitch Obsessions. The name of the design was "Ethnic Dancer" not only did I purchase that one but the other "Ethnic Dancer" too, but it didn't stop there was another chart that screamed at me so she came home also. It is the new one I started and it's called simply "Ethnic Woman". I won't show the progress now, that will be in the next post.

In between all of that stuff I discovered and made what is called a "No Sew Ornament" with a foam ball, some little rectangles of fabric and a lot of pins. Check out the tutorial on Youtube channel "OrnamentGirl". 

I know this post is named Haul Heavy, it matches my flosstube video and if you really want to see haul you can check it all out on my flosstube channel "Minnie Gray-All XXs".

A little personal update- I have received both Covid vaccinations and plan to attend Stitch Con in June.

Now you know what I've done in March and early April, it's time to make some more of those wonderful little xxs. 

 

Black History 365

As promised I have another post for you, I posted a new flosstube video on YouTube and you can go check it out at Minnie Gray - AllXXs If you don't "do" YouTube here's what going on over there.  First up was an episode of "Magic Q-Snap" where I give a special shot out to my video commenters, if you watch the video and leave me a comment I'll surprise you. I shared pictures of my wips from my WIPGO board that were called for the month of February. They were #4 and #20:

#4 

The Sun & Moon - Before

After

#20  

MLK Memorial -Before

After

The  goals for these two wips were to stitch 1000 stitches on each.  I think I made it and then some.

For the beginning of Black History Month I participated in a SAL #Black History 365 SAL and for that I stitched what is being called a SAF (Start and Finish) in one sitting.  

Former President Barack Obama

My other wips and new starts for February are:

Scissors & Bobbins - Jardin Prive'

 Suffrage Act - LHN

2020 Pandemic Sampler SAL - Sarcygurl (IG)

Harriet Tubman - The Primitive Hare

The new numbers for March WIPGO have been called and they are #10 and #24:

#10

Emerald City - Owl Forest Embroidery

The goal for this is to finish the stitching, wish me luck, I may have set that goal too high.

#24

Fairy Delight Biscornu - Joan Elliott Designs

The goal for this is to attach all of the beads and assemble the biscornu. I've made one before so I think this will be pretty easy. But still wish me luck on this one too.

Well now you know what I've been up to and it's time to go make some more wonderful little xxs.

Some WIPGO Goals

 Starting January 1st. 2021 I started a long term project and I am totally loving it. It is "2020 Pandemic Sampler", this is a freebie presented by a very generous young lady named Christie Steffensen, she is sarcygurl on Instagram. I am not a real sampler girl but this one and her story as to why she designed it really touched me and I had to stitch it. Mine is stitched on 32 ct. Lugana "Dark Cobblestone" from Stoney Creek.

This is where I am so far, I have no intentions of finishing this anytime soon. As I said, it's a looong term project.

Also in January I began working on my WIPGO Board. (WIPGO is a wip challenge on Facebook hosted by Jesse Marie Does Stuff). I had three goals for January - Finish Patriotic Lady, shown in my last post. Design by Rachael Moore from Sengi Designs.

DONE

The next two were to stitch 1000 stitches on each - "Just Me" 

As you can see I accomplished that goal and then some. There are four pages to this design, commissioned by my niece, I finished the second page which came to 2253 stitches. Once I got started I didn't want to stop. And finally -  "Fireside Sampler" from Silver Creek Samplers.

The letters stitch up very quickly but that border is a fidgety so it was only 1000 stitches for sure. Between working on wips, I switched to sewing and assembled two dolls that are going to some beautiful little girls. One is VP Harris and the other is SCOTUS Sotomayor.

Funny story, at the time I ordered these two dolls, I had no idea that Kamala Harris would pick Sonia Sotomayor to administer her oath of office. I love these dolls and they were so easy to assemble.  The designer has her own small business - Madebymix.etsy.com . Please check her out.

Another wip I started last month on the first day of Kwanzaa is "Harriet Tubman" designed by The Primitive Hare, it is a SAL I am participating in, on a Facebook group.

This is where I am on her so far and I will continue working on her during Black History Month (February) in addition to my new start of Barack Obama.

I don't remember where exactly I got this design from or who it's by, sorry. I will be starting a new design in honor of Martin Luther King Day (January 18th) it is  "Justice" a part of the series "Words to Live By" from Beth Twist at Heartstring Samplery.

Well now you know what I've been up to and my plans, it's time to go and make some wonderful little xxs.

 

 

A Wrap-Up of 2020 Stitching

 By my count I had 36 finishes in 2020, they're posted in a tab above or come watch my wrap-up YouTube video at Minnie Gray - All XXs (link is to the right).  

To see more of my day to day progress of my stitching follow me on Facebook- Minnie Gray and minniegray5806 on Instagram.

I am participating in a stitching challenge on Facebook, it's called WIPGO. There is a board set up like Bingo and this challenge is hosted by a fellow flosstuber - "Jessie Does Stuff". You assign your choice of WIPs and goals to the blocks on the board in any order and number them 1-12, free space, 14-25. The host will call two numbers per month or a third if the free space is called, the challenge is to accomplish your preset goal during the year 2021. Last year each goal had to be reached by the end of the month the number was called. (That's how I will be playing this year too it's more of a challenge for me).

In my flosstube video #61 I showed all of my 2020 WIPs you can check them out there. The numbers called for January's WIPGO are 6,13(free space) and 18, since I filled in my free space with a wip I'll have 3 goals for the month and they are a finish on:

1. Patriotic Lady designed by Rachael Moore and you can purchase this design at www.etsy.com/shop/senistitch/ 

2. Just Me is  a chart my niece had created for me one year as a birthday gift. It's from a picture of me! This design will get 1000 stitches.

3. Fireside Sampler is designed by Diane Grick from Silver Creek Samplers (www.downbysilvercreek.blogspot.com) this design will also get 1000 stitches.  They may get more but I like to set realistic goals.

I also have a few new starts that I hope to be able to work on in 2021- "Moonshine" another from Silver Creek Samplers

Natural Beauty 2 from Filanthrope Broderies

And last but not least Harriet Tubman from The Primitive Hare

So now your know what I've been up to in my absence from blogging and what I will be doing in the future.  I hope to return with more updates soon.  Thank you all for stopping by to visit and I you will be patient with me as I get back into the swing of things. Now to makes some more little xxs.