Hi everyone, it's Jessica, the Schoolhouse Stitcher. Welcome to my Flosstube channel. It's been a little while.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever holiday you celebrate.
Or if you don't celebrate anything, then I just hope you had a great month.
I'll be honest. It's been--I've been struggling
recently.
2017 has been a pretty tough year. I've been--I
deal with anxiety and depression,
so those have really been building up over the past year and
I've just felt really overwhelmed.
And
so one of the things that
has kept me from doing a Flosstube video as regularly as I'd like is
that feeling of just--
not too much to do,
but
it's just one more thing, you know?
Especially Flosstube, because of its nature. You're putting yourself out there in front of the world and
it's not just you
sharing your thoughts with other people. It's other people sharing their thoughts with you.
Which is usually good, and then sometimes it takes the form of,
"You should do this, you should do that, you're doing this wrong, why don't you consider this," and
healthy Jessica says, "Okay, I'm gonna take that in the best--in the spirit in which is probably intended."
Unhealthy Jessica,
not so much. It just becomes one thing like, "Oh, you can't do that right; you're doing another thing wrong," and it's...
Yeah. Anyway.
So that's why my videos have been kind of sporadic.
But fortunately I have
been feeling much better lately. I feel
more like myself. Much more comfortable, much more at ease and
positive.
Feel so comfortable in fact that I
busted out the
Bulleit 10-year for my video.
I don't think I've ever actually drank on camera before. My very first video, I had--my very first video,
I had a cup--or a glass of bourbon beneath my setup, just in case I needed it.
But I didn't do that.
So yeah, I feel like I'm back and ready to make videos and ready to show a little bit more of myself too.
Not so much of
"Jessica the Schoolhouse Stitcher" but
"Jessica the person," and
sometimes that's tough and sometimes it's not always happy and fun and exciting, and
we'll roll with it. We'll do it.
But fortunately my
struggles over the past couple months have not kept me from stitching, as
you will soon see, because I have a pile of stuff to show you. So let's jump right in.
So the last time that we--or that I spoke, and you listened and commented,
I was working on the Summer Schoolhouse series by With Thy Needle & Thread, and I had--
I think I had just finished part three and was waiting to receive part four. Well, I did receive part four, and I finished that.
This is stitched on 28-count mushroom Lugana with the called-for overdyed threads, stitched one over one.
That is part
four, and then part four also came with a couple bonuses. It came with a horn book,
Miss Polly's Horn Book,
which I finished next.
I'll be honest. I did not like doing these letters.
And I did--normally I don't carry my thread on the back
for letters; I end it with each one, because I don't--I never--I never carry
across more than one stitch. But these.
Ending that many threads one over one is a no. So I--I carried on the back. It's fine.
You're not gonna be able to tell. It's gonna be pressed up against a horn book,
because I did buy the finishing pack.
All right, and the last part of that series--I got the whole thing complete--
this is the strawberry that goes with that part. Let me see
if I have something to--I'm sitting beside my Christmas tree. Obviously. No kidding, what else is this.
But yeah, the downside is that there's more stuff behind me that you can kind of see through the--see through the fabric.
So I'm really looking forward to finishing those. I have not yet got--I haven't gotten behind my sewing machine in a while lately,
but I have a big list of projects I need to tackle, and that is
probably the second thing on my list.
Yeah, oh.
I just saw this and that reminded me. My Christmas tree.
Michelle Garrett.
Yes, it is a Darth Vader snowflake. I also have a Stormtrooper on the other side of the tree.
They have these--I had it backward.
they have these templates online that you can
print out, and you see here, it shows you like the fold lines and the cut lines.
But they have them for so many Star Wars characters.
All the
Rebels and the villains and the
the ships, so you can do a
TIE fighter, X-wing, Y-wing.
I think they have a Millennium Falcon.
I could be wrong. They have a lot. They have dozens of them.
I've only done these two because they are pretty finicky when you get into the tiny little details,
and you're trying to cut it with an X-Acto blade.
But I wanted to take a second and show that because I thought that was really cool.
And I know we have a lot of Star Wars fans out there, and I thought you'd enjoy it,
especially with The Last Jedi
being in theaters.
All right, so after I've finished the
Summer Schoolhouse series, I was kind of on a finishing kick.
I finished so many things like right in a row--bam, bam, bam--
and I wanted to finish more. So I went looking for things that were pretty close to being done.
And the first thing I pulled out was this.
This is a freebie.
Advent candles by--
I'm not sure how to pronounce it. Palkó-lap. P-a-l-k-o-l-a-p,
I think is how it's spelled. I'll put the link in the description box below.
But this was a free chart,
just simple little candles. I had stitched
just this one candle here, so I just stitched the other candle and finished up around it. I think this is stitched on
32-count
white Belfast by Zweigart
with--
the color is called Plum Paisley, and I think that is the Gentle Art.
Could be
Classic Colorworks. I'll put that below. I have the thread; it's just sitting in a box.
So I finished that the same day that I finished the little strawberry, and
then I still wanted finishes, so I went digging around and I found this freebie that--from La-D-Da that I had started
back in February for Freebie February, called Bless Your Heart, and
I had stitched the heart, so I just needed to stitch the words and the boxes around it.
And this is stitched on 40-count Vintage Country Mocha by Zweigart
with my own choice of
floss. I used some leftover kit floss that I had from the Dyeing to Stitch Blackbird Designs--
I think it's called Summer Garden.
It's the thread keep that's kind of a beehive shape and has pink flowers and such. And I used leftover threads from that to stitch
this, because the original chart was like
gray and blue, and
living in the South and being born in the South, gray and blue just doesn't say "Bless your heart" to me.
This is "Bless your heart" to me.
I don't know. I always picture people saying "Bless your heart" as being like,
kind of, you know, soft, pink,
fluffy, but with an edge.
Because that's how you do it down here.
All right, and after I did that,
I wanted another finish, and I also had this chart in my stash that--in my finish parade I showed you Lizzie Kate's Joy to the World,
which I had stitched on the 30-count linen that came in the kit--I think it's like the Northern Cross linen--
with DMC, and it came with a little
mini design, like a pinkeep design. I had not yet stitched that one, so I pulled it out and
I stitched it.
The button came with the kit.
Again, I used the DMC colors for this. I actually prefer the DMC
colors on this
to the called-for colors.
The called-for colors,
this red--
this is like a Bluecoat Red, I think, in the chart. Weeks Dye Works Bluecoat Red. Yeah.
Here it's just a nice--
you know, it's a nice
kind of red with a
tiny bit of like a
rust undertone.
On the chart, it's more
pink.
I don't like pink,
so I'm very happy with the way this turned out. If you saw my
Instagram post
I artistically arranged it, just like...
I'm calling that an FFO.
Not really, but for right now, that's what we're getting. Just finished projects in a tree, no finishing required.
After that, I--
or at some point after that.
These are roughly in order. They're not totally in order, because I don't remember the way--the order I stitched them,
and I didn't write it down. It's in my phone,
which is what is right here.
But one of the next things I stitched, I do a Christmas ornament for my niece every year.
She is three,
so this is actually her fourth ornament.
She was born
right before--a little bit before Christmas.
But she is really into giraffes this year,
so I stitched her a giraffe.
Now obviously this is after Christmas, and I haven't yet given this to her. You can see where I pulled out the lines--
the thread for the cutting guide, and I have all the finishing materials.
I just haven't sat down at my sewing machine to actually finish it. That's something I'm gonna do over
New Year's--this coming weekend, New Year's weekend.
She's three, she doesn't--she gets so many presents,
she doesn't notice that--if she doesn't get this yet, so I got a little time. It's fine,.
But yeah, my previous ornaments for her have been Little House Needleworks, so this is a bit of a departure.
This is Prairie Schooler, by the way, from
one of the Two by Two
leaflets. I can't remember if it's one or two.
But this is just stitched on a scrap of 32-count something
with DMC.
And I'll finish that up this weekend and get that to her next time I see her.
All right, few other finishes.
Last time I was working on this Mill Hill Santa ornament.
And I did not get--
I did not get the
bags for these, the cover photos that tell which one they are. And they're all called like Twinkle Claus or something, or
Charmed Santa Faces, so I cannot remember the
actual name, but I'll put that in the description box as well.
So this is the first one I finished. This is the one I was working on last time.
I finished it up, did his little beard loops,
cut him out, put him together.
Made a--I always make hangers out of the leftover beads, so whatever the
one, two, three colors--whatever the colors I
have the most of, I'll make a hanger out of that.
I love him. He's my favorite. I just really love the colorway on him.
His beard is a cream color instead of white, and I really like that. I think it makes him look a little more
vintage.
So then because we were still gonna be traveling--you know, driving in a car for Christmas and such, I had to get another
car project.
Because as I mentioned I found out I can stitch on perforated paper in the car without getting carsick.
Success!
So I pulled out another one of those kits, and I finished him.
I finished this guy on Christmas Eve. I think
I posted a picture to Instagram and then realized I forgot to put his beard--or his moustache on, so I did that for him.
Again, one of the Charmed Santa Faces; again, I made a hanger out of leftover beads.
I love him.
And then fortunately I was pretty close to finishing that one
when we left here
over--for Christmas.
So I packed another one in my bag, just in case I finished him, because I didn't want to have nothing to do
on the drive home, or you know, no cross-stitching at all with me while I was visiting family
So I packed another kit, and I finished him up on
the day after Christmas. I started him Christmas Eve, finished all the stitching on Christmas Day, and finished all the beading the day after Christmas.
Here is his hanger with red, white, and gold beads.
All three of these are from kits that I found for $2 at the thrift store, and I have four more.
My hands aren't big enough.
There we go.
And
you can really see in this one how much creamier he is, and how these are--these are stark white and that's a
Cream-colored thread and bead. And I actually--I prefer the look of that. But I like these guys too.
Those are all my finishes.
How many was that? Three, four, five, six,
seven, eight, nine. Nine finishes. I was busting them out this last month, y'all.
I think I've had--
I think
this guy put me at 31 finishes for the year. Oh, I forgot this. 10.
I think this guy put me at 31 finishes for the year,
which beats last year's record of
like 24 or something.
So I'm super pleased with that progress.
And this seems like as good a time as any to mention this.
Joy to the World. If you would like to stitch this and the main pattern,
I have the chart here for a
giveaway.
I decided to pass this on. I meant to film this before Christmas, but
whatever, you can stitch it for next year. It's cool.
So you'll receive just the chart in this one.
I already used the fabric and the bead, obviously, and it did not come with threads.
So just the chart. You supply your own fabric, your own threads. You can easily
leave this little thing out or just substitute a different button or a different bead,
whatever you like for that.
So if you are interested in stitching this,
not gonna ask for anything fancy. Just
be a subscriber,
be 18 or older or have your parents permission,
the usual, and just put in the comments "I would like to stitch Joy to the World."
Just like that.
"I would like to stitch Joy to the World."
Just put it in the comments below, and I will draw a winner in--
let's see, I meant to look at a calendar before I did this.
I will draw a winner in two weeks, and I'll put the--that date here on the bottom.
So that you'll know--that will be the date when the giveaway closes; that's the last day I'll accept entries.
I'll do the drawing immediately afterward, so
anyone who has entered by that date,
or who has said "I would like to stitch Joy to the World" by that date,
will be entered in the drawing, and I will send it out to you as a thank-you for making this a very wonderful
first
six months or so of Flosstube.
A wonderful stitching 2017, despite my issues, you know, personal challenges that I--that I spoke about.
But just to thank you for those of you who have come over to watch me and participated even when I've
been not so great about commenting back,
and have come back to watch and subscribe and have been very kind and welcoming.
So if you would like to stitch that, "I would like to stitch Joy to the World," and I'll--
it'll end in two weeks. I'll put that date right here, and then I'll draw after that and announce the winner in my next video.
Let's see what should we turn to next. So because I've had so many finishes, I
haven't actually--I don't have that many WIPs to show. Because most of the things I've been actively stitching on over the past month,
I finished.
But I did get into a groove on
Houses--or, Village of Hawk Run Hollow.
I've been stitching on this block for what seems like forever now, and I finished--since you saw me last
I finished the grass here. I haven't done this part because I'm gonna customize it with a different church name.
But I've done that part. I've done the roof,
this hill, and the tree trunk.
Started on the door and the windows.
Finished up the white and
finished the--
did the top cross on half the border,
so the border is complete now.
I was rolling right along on this one and
was really excited because I thought, "I could totally finish this over New Year's weekend.
I don't have anything else going on; I could get this done. I could get this block done."
My Needlework System 4 floor stand
just
stopped letting me flip my work. I think like one of the screws, as you flip it,
it actually tightens--depending on which way you flip it, it actually tightens a screw that holds the rod steady.
So I have to look in there and figure out how to untighten it, and I
don't like going in my husband's tool chest because it's one of these giant tool chests
and he has a billion different screwdrivers and wrenches, whatever else is in there, and
no, I couldn't--couldn't deal with that. So I
put that aside, because I like to stitch two-handed on that with my stand. It's really bulky for me to stitch with it
in hand. I just don't like that. It's big.
I prefer doing it on my stand so I can just kind of zip along two-handed.
So I was really annoyed at that, and whenever I get annoyed, I have an annoyance tax
of a new start or purchase. In this case, it was a new start.
This is Station--Stacy Nash Primitives' Wooly's Pinkeep, and
I stitched this for an exchange last year.
It's just three colors. It's stitched one over two on 32-count charcoal Belfast by Zweigart,
which gives it a really open look. But I just thought it was time to stitch it for me,
so I can then get it out of my stash.
So this is my little bit of progress on that.
This is a really fast stitch. I think when I stitched it for the exchange it took me
maybe two or three days to stitch it, and that was during the week in the evenings.
So I don't think it'll take me very long at all.
I'm looking forward to getting that done, because I still have all the backing
materials and the trim and stuff that I used for the exchange piece, so I figured I'd make myself one just like it, and
then I can
move that out of my stash. Which, I actually like doing that.
Sometimes I'll go through my stash and pick out the things that are
like this, that I know I can finish in two or three days, and then
I can turn around and sell the chart and get it out of my stash.
So I'll go through and I'll pick like, you know, three or four different projects that are really fast to do or
like the Lizzie Kate one, where I knew that once I finished that I could give away the chart or get rid of the chart and
it would be out of my stash.
I don't know, there's something about that. It just feels like, you know, checking off a to-do list or something.
Like yes, I did that thing and now I can--it can move on!
I know it's it's kind of a weird thing, but
that's me.
Okay, the only other thing I worked on this month.
The day after Christmas, after I finished that Santa, I was really feeling the Christmas stuff.
So I went looking through my Christmas WIPs and I pulled out
O Star of Wonder by Carol Emmer? Yeah.
That's what that will look like finished.
This is from Just CrossStitch November/December 2010. That's what that looks like.
And I finished that guy's shoulder. Whoo! Very Christmassy looking, isn't it?
I'm really glad to be done with this yellow and gold.
Basically I did--I've done this part.
So I'm really looking forward to getting down here into these reds and blues.
The green here.
I think that'll be the
best part of this to stitch. I'm even
kind of looking forward to the border, just because that'll be
larger--larger sections of one color.
This is decently large sections of one color, but you do have to--you have to skip a bit. You have to count very carefully.
But this is fun to work on.
I just--I really like the colors. Even in this,
even though yellow is not my favorite color to stitch with, I still like the way it looks a lot.
Let's see. I'm gonna do an abbreviated haul.
This is not necessarily all the stuff I got, but...
I'm gonna start with my Christmas presents.
I got a few things for Christmas--not a ton, but a few
that are stitching-related. First of all,
my husband
gave me a fat half of 40-count vintage country mocha.
I had asked for this because I thought I was gonna do a couple Halloween designs on this, like I did with the
Primitive Needle's Halloween Revelry. I'm not so sure this is actually gonna work for that. This is lighter--
the mottling is--like just the overall color is much lighter and less gold
than the last piece I got, so I'm not sure.
It might be a little too light for the Halloween designs that I want to stitch on it, but--
But that's okay. I have so much else I can stitch on this,
it's ridiculous. I will find a use for it. I already have like three projects in mind for backups.
He also gave me--which I'm not gonna show--but he gave me some threads and some beads to kit up a
few of the projects I'm looking at starting in 2018.
That was really sweet.
Then from my parents,
I got the Sampler & Antique Needlework Collection. The complete one, 1991 to 2015.
I already had
two of the DVDs. I think I had--
or no, I think I had one of the DVDs, maybe
2001 to
2010 or something like that, and then I had a subscription from
2012 to 15, so I had those in
PDF form as well.
But this gives me all of them for less than the price of what the
1991 to 2000
DVD would have cost and now I can sell the other one that I don't need.
They also gave me The Scarlett House, Penny Pumpkin.
And the threads.
It's worth noting that--
this looks blue, right?
This is Woodsmoke from Lakeside Linen.
That's not a blue fabric.
Mmm-mm.
This is kind of a--it looks blue grey, but Woodsmoke is definitely not that color at all.
It's more of a
browner color, I believe. Which I've seen it stitched on Woodsmoke, and it looks lovely. I have not yet decided
what I'm gonna stitch this on, but I know I have some 40-count fabric in my stash. I also saw someone who
instead of doing
the motifs--the pennies--
Instead of doing those
consistently, like all of these are pomegranate, all these are gold, pomegranate, gold, pomegranate, gold.
They did them all in random colors, like you would--
like a real penny rug would be, and it looked beautiful. I love that idea, and I'm definitely gonna steal that,
because it looked awesome.
And
my final stitching-related Christmas present from my brother and sister-in-law. They bought me the Nativity
Trilogy--Mill Hill.
So I already had the wise men, which I bought for myself, and they bought me the angel.
Make sure you can get the name in there.
And Benjamin.
Sorry, this one's actually called Gloria.
Benjamin. And Luke.
I really love the colors in these and the--
these and the wisemen trilogy.
I just think they look--I think they look very nice. There is a Mary, Joseph, and
baby Jesus
trilogy. I don't have that one yet. For some reason, that one, the colors are not as vibrant. They're very--
they're more subdued, more pastel. I'm still gonna get it because,
nativity trilogy.
That's kind of a very important part!
But yeah, I just I think it's kind of weird how different in style it is from the from the rest of the ornaments.
Maybe somebody different designed it. I have no idea.
But I was really pleased to get those because I rarely--I usually only get stitchy presents from my husband.
It's hard to convince other people to buy stitchy stuff for me, so I was very happy that they did that.
Probably one of the reasons they did is because I was very careful to pick out things that were available on Amazon or Ebay and
send them a link, like "Here's an example of a place where you could find this!"
Yeah.
These next ones are also gifts--not Christmas, but RAKs.
I may have mentioned before that I go to--or this past season, I tailgated--or I went to the Clemson football games.
Home games.
And another stitcher on Instagram--she's karenshandiwork on Instagram--
it turns out she tailgates in the same lot that my family does.
So we happened to walk by her one day, and she's like--I hear, "Jessica!"
"Karen!"
But we also went--I met her at the--or
sat at her table at the Stitching at the Beach retreat, and she showed us her finish of
Summer House Stitche Workes' Fragments in Time series. One of them; they have three. I think this is the first one they did.
But I can't remember the year.
2014. The 2014 Fragments in Time series.
She showed me--she showed us her finish of that and it was beautiful. I loved it, and she's like, "Well, I'll loan you the charts."
So the next football game
that we were both at,
she
loaned me the charts. So this will be a 2018 start. I haven't decided what colors I'm gonna use yet. But that's One.
And
I got them out of order. Oh no!
Maybe they're not actually in order.
Here it is. Okay.
Two.
All right, that was G-H.
And Three.
And Four.
And Five.
Six.
Seven.
And Eight.
And she did this as a row four across and two high, with a border around it that
Summer House Stitche Workes provides. Like this.
And I think she used Victorian Motto
threads.
But her finish was gorgeous. If you don't follow karenshandiwork on Instagram, you really should because Karen does beautiful work.
She has great taste.
And she was also so kind to bring me--
she said she was going through her stash and she found that she had a duplicate of this one. Autumn Blessings by Carriage House Samplings.
And we all know I'm a sucker for pennies.
This is just a little nice--like a wheat motif, and this just says "Autumn Blessings."
But thank you so much, Karen.
That was so kind of you, and I'm definitely gonna stitch the Fragments in Time in 2018 so I can get that back to you.
And
then
one day I came home and checked the mail and pulled out a package that was addressed to me. And I'm thinking,
"I didn't order anything."
Well, it was my friend Caroline
sending me this.
The Beehive Christmas Ornament by Theron Traditions.
She said this was a class kit, and she knew that she was never gonna stitch it,
so
she sent it to me. And I love it. Oh my gosh, y'all.
Love so much. It comes with all of the finishing materials, including the foam core.
Everything that you need. Pearl cotton. There's a bee charm in here somewhere because I pulled it out and looked at it because it was so stinkin' cute.
It has the fabric. It has everything I need. And it looks like it's gonna be a really quick stitch.
So I cannot wait to get to that one. Thank you so much, Caroline; this just--this absolutely made my day
to find that in the mailbox. I was so excited.
So the rest of the stuff I'm going to show you, I'm just gonna stick to out-of-print charts and--
out-of-prints, clubs, and
two stores that I went to.
Try to make it quick
so I can talk about 2018 plans and not have an hour-and-a-half video that I have to do subtitling on.
Incidentally, I
want to say thank you to a
Georgia stitcher named Mandy. I don't--I don't think Mandy and I have met. Mandy,
please correct me if I'm wrong and if we have met
at a stitching outing. I don't think we've met. But
Mandy posts in a couple of the groups that I belong to,
and
she's deaf, so she also made a video on her personal Facebook page
where she spoke in sign language during the entire video.
There no words--there are no spoken words. There's just
sign language.
And she provided a transcript for it, and her--the whole message of the video was encouraging people to be more inclusive in,
or more, you know, considerate of the deaf community in
their videos, whether that's providing a transcript or
subtitles,
so that they can participate as well.
So
that is definitely what kept me going during the 90-minute
video that I had to subtitle, was remembering that video. So thank you so much, Mandy, for--
even if you don't know it--encouraging me to stick with it and seeing that, yes,
there is a purpose to this and there is a reason
to do this.
The only thing I kind of know in sign language is spelling my name.
And I--sorry, that way. And I'm not very good at that.
But yes, I wanted to give a shout-out to Mandy, who does not make Flosstube videos as far as I'm aware,
But thank you for encouraging me to stick with it.
All right. Haul.
These are in no particular order. They're just the things I wanted to show. So one of the things I picked up on Stash Unload
was this Chartmakers design that I've never seen before called Deerfield.
I just thought that was super cute. I love that deer.
And
The same seller was also selling for a greatly reduced price
Carriage House Samplings' Enchanted, which you can stitch on neutral or dark fabric.
So I got two deer. Love that.
I was inspired by Emily at eclecticpossessions to pick up Quaker Seasons of Friendship by Crown & Thistle.
This one's not super easy to find.
If you are looking for it, I have seen a copy--
I saw a copy several months ago at The Needler in Lexington, South Carolina, and I also saw two copies at
Cross-Stitch Peddler in Decatur, Alabama, I think.
This is, as Emily calls it, the lobster Quaker.
Because it's spring, summer, fall, winter, and summer has a lobster.
As you do.
I also happened on someone who was selling Primitive Needle charts for not terrible prices.
$20 or less, which I am willing to pay for a Primitive Needle--or some Primitive Needles, because
those are--those are just--they're never gonna be reprinted.
So I'll buy it.
I picked up Kindred Spirits, which I love.
Yes, I finally got it. I don't know if you remember my first video;
I bought the kit on eBay, the seller accidentally
mailed it to someone else, and the someone else never got in touch with her and never returned the kit.
Mmm. Yeah, if you got that kit, I remember.
I remember.
But I finally got the chart.
I got Yule Sampler.
And this one she accidentally sent me, but told me to go ahead and and keep it, which was very kind of her.
Yule Game Board. That's a super cute bird.
I picked up two Prairie Moons from Stitches N Things. I happened to be looking in their
Classic--
Stitches N Things Classics
section, where everything is half off basically, and
I always type in just like "Prairie," "Primitive," things like that. See what comes up. Well,
I typed in "Prairie" and these two came up, and
they were half off. So they were like
$3.50-ish.
Poindexter Pumpkin.
He reminds me of David S. Pumpkins.
And Prudence Pumpkin,
which I love. I had--I think I've seen Poindexter once. I had never seen Prudence.
But I was really pleased to grab those, especially for such a good deal.
All right.
Now.
The find that broke the internet for like a day.
I was getting ready for work, and I checked my phone--you know, I just had the eBay app up,
killing time, waiting on my toast to pop or something, and was scrolling through and
saw, just listed,
Goode Huswife Book of Spells,
$10, $3 shipping.
So I took a screenshot. Now, I've been--I've been burned on eBay stuff before,
so I wanted to be really, really sure that it was the real deal before I sent my money and the listing said,
you know, " Yes, it's me,
it's Anne, it's The Goode Huswife. I decided to reprint my charts because of the insane prices some of them are going for.
I'm gonna start with Book of Spells." So I sent a text to
Emily and Diana of itiskisment_stitches. I said, "Do you think this is for real?" Diana's like,
"Let me message her through her Etsy store."
And got confirmation that it's legit. So I
picked up Book of Spells,
Goode Huswife, for $10. You can find this in
The Goode Huswife's new Etsy store, where she has this and she has Ida Mae Crow and Ira Ray Crow.
This is $10. The crows are $9 each. And I believe that she will be releasing more of her designs
in the future. If you are curious about the quality of this. This is just your standard chart pack.
The--
this is printed on a good,
heavier stock of paper.
And
then the chart itself, which obviously I'm not going to show you,
is printed on a
big sheet of paper--11 by 17, folded in half.
And this is actually--
like--
this is not like Prairie Schooler reprint quality paper, you know. This is more like--
slightly heavier than
that.
You know, still printer paper, but not as--it doesn't feel like tissue, basically.
People were freaking out over these. I can understand--
you don't know if it's legit. I didn't know if it was legit at first until Diana messaged her.
But
within a span of 24 hours, it was like,
"Hey, there's this thing." "I don't think it's legit." "I do think it's legit." "I have confirmation that it's legit."
"Oh, it is legit. Well the quality is probably gonna be terrible."
"Well, they don't ship here." "Well, they don't do this."
Breathe.
Breathe.
It's been out for 24 hours.
Calming breaths.
The quality is like any other chart pack.
It's fine.
It's gonna be okay. Now that she's moved over to Etsy instead of eBay, she does ship internationally.
It's much easier to do that through Etsy.
Everything is legit. Everything is fine. Breathe. And don't mess up my Goode Huswife reprints.
That was my main thing. After that first 24 hours, I was like, oh God,
If she gets so many complaints about this that she's just like, "You know what? Not worth it. I'm not gonna do it."
I'm gonna be taking names. I've waited a long time to get my Goode Huswife charts, people. Don't mess it up. I'll get you.
All right, I also took a little side trip to
Cross-Stitch Peddler in Decatur, Alabama,
because I'd never been there before and I
had a
Saturday free and I just thought, "You know what, I don't have anything else going on. I could really use a pick-me-up.
i'm gonna drive out there. See what she has."
So I picked up a few things.
I picked up
Carriage House Samplings' Matter's Choice, because everyone and their brother and sister is stitching this, and
I have always loved it. Obviously I would stitch the big design. I love that most.
I mean, it has bees. The other one does not have bees.
I think that's a pretty solid argument in favor of stitching the bigger one.
I picked up
the 1999 Christmas Sampler.
This is just a
single sheet.
I had a friend who stitched this and it was beautiful and I loved it.
So when I saw it on the shelf, I said, "That's mine, please, thank you."
I got The Cricket Collection,
Two Familiars,
which is this awesome crow that says "Nevermore" and this cat.
Ah!
I loved it. I want to do it just like this. Make it into a stand-up, put a bow around its neck.
Sit it on the counter.
Awesome.
Love it.
I never see that one online outside of eBay. And another one
I never see online outside of eBay is Cricket Collection's In the Garden.
I'm pretty sure I haven't already bought this. I feel like deja vu, but I don't think I bought this one.
If I did, I'll give it away. Whatever.
I bought it for this. I love this. The beehive with the flowers. It's beautiful.
Finally, her Prairie Moons have been mostly picked over thanks to my first video and
Jen's Stitching Niche and Diana.
All of us have mentioned, all of us have called and got stuff,
have influenced other people to call and buy stuff, so Prairie Moon is pretty much--pretty much picked, but I did pick up
Mr. BonesJangle.
Because I thought he was cute and a quick stitch.
If you are still looking for Prairie Moons, I'm trying to remember what she has.
I can't remember.
Sorry. She doesn't have any of the big ones. Like you're not gonna find Red and the Black, Red and the Black II,
Thine Is the Trick and the Treat, Mine Is the Trick and the Treat--you're not gonna find those.
She--like I said, she just has--I think it was like Pineapple Welcome, and there's like Old Glory Scissor Fob, and
Some of the--some of the smaller--
smaller designs that maybe aren't like the A-list of Prairie Moon.
I've been super happy with what I've found there so far though.
Then after that one--there are four stores in Alabama and
most of them closed at 3 o'clock on Saturdays.
Sad,
since it's like a three-hour drive for me.
But I found one that didn't close until 5, so I went over there after I hit up Cross-Stitch Peddler. This was
Patches and Stitches.
Patches and Stitches.
So while I was there I picked up a few things from their clearance bin.
I got Cinnamon Heart Needleworks' Autumnal Pumpkins, which I bought solely for this one.
Because it has pumpkins and a beehive for
$2.50. Win.
I got Ewe and Eye and Friends' Christmas Basket.
This was the only one they had of this one. I think they had more of the Autumnal Pumpkins.
And Ewe and Eye and Friends' Brown Bunny.
I think--
Natasha, Stitcharella, did you do this one?
Someone did this one, and it was really freaking cute, and everyone freaked out about it.
They did have one more of these for
$4.
I picked up Grand Old Flag, which is a Blackbird Designs by Maggie
Bonanomi.
This was the only one they had of this.
I got The Prairie Schooler, Weather Wise. Only one they had of this.
Which I've wanted to do ever since I saw someone who did this one for the eclipse, because Sun and Moon.
Cute.
And I think Evergreen Needle did this one, but she made it really spooky,
which is awesome.
And the last thing I picked up there was Mirabilia, Damask Roses. Again, the only one they had of this one.
It was a nice little store. it was--
they have a different system there where they have binders, and you flip through the binder
and you find the one that you like and you
write down the shop number--it has a shop number on it, you write down that number,
and then you go and give your list of numbers to
the employee, and she goes into the back, where they have file cabinets,
and she goes through and pulls out your charts. If it's the only one in the--that
they have in the store, then they'll say on the binder, you know, "Only one. Please take this one." Well these were the only ones
of those.
They do not have--like if you're looking for Lady of the Flag, any of that, they don't have that.
This was really the only out-of-print Mira I saw.
They do have
one that--I don't think it's been reprinted yet. They had Country Season by Prairie Schooler.
If you are looking for Blackbird Designs' A Stitcher's Journey or
Hedgerow Birds Project Bag, they did have that. This is again Patches and Stitches in Alabama.
What else did they have. Like I said, they had the Brown Bunny by Ewe and Eye and Friends.
They had one of those in their clearance bin.
One Goode Huswife. It was like that Full Moon,
I think, the one that's white on black fabric and has the house and the moon. They had that one.
They had a few Merrily Beams
charts--M.A. Beams.
Not like the
Liberty sampler,
but just a few of--a few of her other charts.
So it was--it was a nice little store. It was a--
if there's something a little older that you're looking for, you might want to give them a shot.
They might have it in stock. Like I said, not a Goode Huswife, Primitive Needle,
Prairie Moon--you're not gonna find those.
And those two Blackbird Designs charts I mentioned are really the only ones I saw that were--oh! I lied. I think they had a
couple of the--
from the series that had the
mystery sampler
in it. So like the Two Hands, like the green glove with a frilly cuff thing.
They might have had a couple from that series.
Not the more popular ones from that series, but a couple.
But if you're looking for more obscure designers, or, you know, older designers, then that might be worth a shot.
Last thing I got from the store is--
I kept debating over this. I didn't buy it and didn't buy it and didn't buy it and
finally I caved, because Sassy Jack's Stitchery had more in stock.
I got the Uffindell Sisters. I mainly bought it for this one. For Ann. I love this.
I love the patchwork basket. I love the striped baskets up here. I love these flowers.
This. I love the colors. Everything about this. I love it. I have fabric on order.
I'm probably gonna stitch it in DMC because let's be real, that's just how I roll.
Yeah, I'm looking forward to doing that one. And then here's Isabelle. Which, I have not rolled out doing Isabelle's sampler.
We'll think about it. I like Ann's the best though.
Okay, couple of club things, and then quickly 2018 plans. So I joined the Colour and Cotton fabric club.
I was inspired.
And the very first one came. I can't remember the name of this. Is it Hot Cocoa? It's a 40-count one, and it's
this beautiful
kind of red brown.
That is super accurate to color. And I love it. Love it.
I think I'm gonna email her and ask her to change my subscription from the 32 to 40 to
just 40 only, because that's what I prefer stitching on.
And you can fit a bit of a bigger chart on a smaller piece of fabric.
And then--oh,
but I was really, really pleased. Her fabric club, for this size--
this is a--this is 13 by 17? 13 x 18? Something like that?
For this size, is $14 a month and that includes shipping.
I thought that was very reasonable.
I do want to note, if you are particularly sensitive to scents, when I got this, it did smell like
fabric softener or something. I'm guessing however she sets the dye has some kind of scent involved. But
all I did--
unfold it and
draped it over my--
a chair in my living room for a day, and
I smell nothing.
It's fine.
So don't be alarmed if you are sensitive to scents and you get your--that may be something to consider.
If you get your fabric and you're like, "I can't use this; it smells like fabric softener."
Just, like I said, I draped it over my chair, and it went away in a day, and now it's fine.
And I don't smell anything and I have a super sensitive nose when it comes to
to
perfumey scents like that. Okay, the last club kit I got--or the second club thing I got was
from the Ladies Prim Society, Dyeing to Stitch. Rosehips and Ivy by Blackbird Designs.
I love this so much, and I haven't started yet because I was so focused on finishing--
finishing my other projects, but I've got to do this one. It's amazing.
It's beautiful. And as usual, it comes with everything you need.
Threads, fabric.
No finishing fabric because you just use the--
I think you just use linen.
But
that is that.
Okay, quickly, quickly because I'm at an hour and I'm not doing another 90-minute video. I can't do it, y'all. Can't do it.
Plans for
2018.
These are
tentative plans.
I don't want to get stuck into feeling like I have to do something. The only thing I feel like I
have to do and that I really want to do is
finish six blocks on this, so this one and five more.
But
2018. So I've been getting a lot of out-of-print charts.
I don't want them to just sit in my stash. I want to stitch them. I want to loan them out
to some of my
Georgia stitcher friends and my fellow Flosstubers
who I've become friendly with.
I don't want them to just sit here and take up space and never be used, because they're beautiful and they should be stitched.
So 2018 is gonna be the Year of OOPs. I cannot remember who called them--
who thought it was "oops."
O-O-P, for "out-of-print." She's like, "Why does everything say oops? Are these mistake charts? I don't get it."
And then she saw "out-of-print," she's like, "Ohhhhh.
Got it."
But 2018 is going to be my Year of OOPs. So I went through and picked out one chart from
all of the out-of-print designers--or most of the out-of-print designers that I have--that I have charts for.
And
some of these are going to be bigger projects and some are things that will stitch up fairly quickly.
I try to do a mix. I also try to prioritize any projects that I promised to loan to someone else,
so you won't be waiting forever.
First up, I have a couple of Blackbird Designs charts.
This one I was super lucky to find online. Oh, this is another haul!
Easter Parade, Blackbird Designs. I was super lucky and randomly found this online at a store I had never shopped at before.
Half Moon Stitchery.
They don't have anymore, I'm sorry, but they might have other stuff you're looking for, so go check them out.
The shipping was kind of pricey,
so I just ordered this one thing, because that's one thing I've learned:
I do not want to order an out-of-print chart and then some in-print charts
and then be slammed with a really high shipping price
when this ends up out of stock. Like, I'm not gonna pay that high shipping for
charts that are in print that I can get anywhere. So I just buy the out-of-print chart, period, that's all I get,
done. And it has to be the one I really want, because then I'm okay with paying like $7 for shipping.
But I got Easter Parade and
the one I want to focus on for Year of OOPs is the bunny.
I want to stitch that too, but the bunny.
And Half Moon Stitchery had really good customer service. They sent me a
skein of Berry Cobbler, which is one of the called-for colors in this chart, and
wrote a nice personal note that said, "We hope you really enjoy stitching this. Here's a skein to get you started."
So shipping was a bit steep, but the customer service--
excellent.
All right, so that's--that's possible chart number one.
Turn number two is Blackbird Designs' Blackbird's Winter Delivery.
Have I showed this here? I don't know if I've showed this one either.
But this is a recent eBay purchase for a very reasonable price, and I want to do this one. It also comes with this design.
And I was thinking
of that. My Colour in Cotton subscription. I'll think about it. It might work.
Possible chart number three. Theron Traditions' The Industrious Bee Sampler.
The colors, the composition, the sentiment. Everything about this, I love, love, love, love.
I'm even looking forward to trying the Queen stitches, which I've never done before.
Next out-of-print designer, Sheepish Designs.
Bee Keeper.
Fifty-First Exemplary.
I thought this looked like it would be a really quick stitch, because it's just--it's just the same stitch
over and over, the buttonhole stitch, for the front and the back. And then on one side you do a little--
a little opening and some embroidery and a
bee charm. =So I thought I could stitch that one up fairly quickly.
In the Primitive Needle category, we have Halloween Garden.
Which Michelle at Cozy Egg, I believe, just finished this, and it's beautiful.
The Prairie Moon category has two contenders. First of all, this is one I'll definitely be working on. This is Faces of Eve.
I told McKenna she could borrow this after I'm done, so that'll motivate me to finish it in 2018.
And second contender is
Garden of Skulls. This is one of the designs I had bought that
Vintage Country Mocha for--or asked for Vintage Country Mocha for, but I think it's too--
the fabric is too light. I think I want something that's a little more gold
so that it'll complement the dark color here. Yeah.
And this is going to Sim Swank after I stitch it.
I also have Mirabilia's Sleeping Beauty. I have fabric for this. I think it's 32-count Picture This Plus
Arctic. I have the beads. I have threads. I have the chart.
All I gotta do is start it. And that was a fat half of fabric and was not cheap, so I'm starting it.
I'm not wasting that much money.
For Midsummer Night's Designs, I have Heaven Above.
With all the tiny little motifs.
I think I am gonna stitch the whole thing.
I still have to
make a final decision, but I'm kind of leaning toward stitching the whole thing instead of just
the top.
From Dimples Designs, or Terrance Nolan, Jeweled Scarab.
I thought about starting one of the bees, because I--you would think I would start one of the bees.
But for some reason this one was really calling to me.
So I'll stitch it first.
Also, if you're looking for some of the DImples Designs--not the Wee Beasties, unfortunately, so not this, but
some of the flowers.
If you're looking for Shall We Dance, the one with the fairy and the butterfly--or a bird, whatever it is.
Hummingbird. Fairy and hummingbird.
There was one that is a--
some kind of very colorful duck with a funny name.
Snickerdoodle, I think.
Something like that.
They have a Santa
holding toys.
When I was at Cross-Stitch Peddler in Decatur, Alabama,
I saw all these and more, so if you're looking for a Dimples Design floral--
a flower design, the Shall We Dance--they had two copies of that--
one of the Christmas Santas, the one that has just Asian characters.
Kanji? I'm not sure
what language.
Probably Japanese. But if you're looking for one of those,
then she had--she had several of those available. So,
looking for Dimples Designs, Cross-Stitch Peddler, Decatur, Alabama.
Give her a call. She might have what you're looking for.
Okay, next in line. Chartmakers' Bee True.
I thought that looked like a really fast stitch and
that gets in--maybe that's why I decided on the scarab, because I think I've already shown you like two or three with bees.
From Brightneedle, Elizabethan Garden Sampler.
Which
Lorrie of Mischievous Stitches, in one of her early videos she showed this one framed,
and I immediately fell in love with it and
went on a massive internet hunt until I found it in an online
store and bought the last copy they had. Which is why it's a little
shop-worn.
And finally, from Birds of a Feather, I have Red Reindeer.
Another--should be a reasonably quick stitch.
So those are my tentative plans. I want to try to get--my, you know, goal is to start
one a month
at least and
try to finish as many of the little ones as I can so that I can then
loan those out to some of my friends, because
share the wealth.
But yeah, like I said these are tentative. It is subject to change.
But my hope is that
2018 will be Year of OOPs and I can start tackling
some of these out-of-print charts that have been building up in my stash and
so that other people
can enjoy them too, and so that I can enjoy them as they were meant to be enjoyed, which is in this format,
not this format.
All right, that is everything I have for you today. I kept it under an hour and a half. I'm so happy.
I hope all of you have a wonderful New Year's. I think New Year's Day is one of my favorites, just because there's so much possibility.
You know,
all of your plans and all of your goals seem completely within reach. Oh!
That's not all I have for you today. Speaking of goals within reach reminded me.
Flosstube Fit Club.
If you're not in it,
go join.
Diana--itiskisment_stitches--started Flosstube Fit Club so that we can work on being a--
just a healthier us, whether that means, you
know, physically, mentally, emotionally healthier.
Whatever being healthy means to you.
We can work toward that in 2018. For instance, my goal--one--I committed to
making a small change before 2018 of
getting up at
6 o'clock in the morning, which I know sounds like an ungodly hour for many of you.
But I just found that if I get up at that time, I'm more likely to go to bed at a reasonable hour.
I'm more tired, so I sleep better.
I don't wake up as much during the night.
I'm more likely to exercise in the morning because I have enough time to drink my coffee and eat my breakfast and
exercise and shower before I go to work.
And then just generally, you know, I get so much more done.
Even if it's raining or I can't exercise, I do laundry or I do dishes.
I pick up around the house.
I feel much better about myself when I get up early in the morning and
can get the things--fit in the parts of my routine that I enjoy.
So I started to do that. That's gonna be one thing that I really focus on in 2018 is
just that one simple step of getting up early, because it can change
so much else about my life. Just getting up early means
I am more likely to exercise, so I don't have to commit to "I'm gonna exercise X days a week."
It's just, if I get up early everyday, I
gradually
just kind naturally start building that into my routine.
Making an appointment for a haircut,
because I have not had a haircut since I started making Flosstube videos because my stylist left the salon and
it's really--making another appointment is something that brings me a lot of anxiety, so I haven't done that.
Well, I'm gonna do that in January. I'm gonna make a hair--make an appointment to get my hair cut, because I don't like it
being down to my shoulders. I like it up here.
It looks less messy.
But just, you know if you're a part of the stitching community, and you want 2018 to be a focus on a
healthier,
more positive
year, so not
"Oh, I'm so fat," or "I can't believe I did that," but just saying, "Yes,
okay, this is a thing that happened."
I ate an entire box of Raisinets yesterday.
That is a thing that happened.
And it is what it is, and we're gonna move on from it, and I'm just gonna
make better choices about
my
after-dinner snacks today.
I'm not gonna beat myself up about that,
because you can't do everything perfectly, and you're gonna slip up here and there, and
just, yeah, you gotta roll with it sometimes.
And don't be too hard on yourself.
So if you're interested in that,
join us. You can look at0--it's on Facebook under Flosstube Fit Club. You can go see Diana's latest video for more information.
And I hope I'll see you around there. So like I said, I hope everyone has a great new year.
I hope your first couple weeks in January,
your new starts and everything that you have planned for the year,
I hope it comes to fruition for you, because y'all are really awesome people and
you're worth it. So have a great one. Bye.
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