Baskets. So many baskets.

Finally put up shelving in my office, I've only been in this house for a bit over 5 years and owned the shelves for 3. Some things just end up taking a back seat to everything else. 

 

I took up basket making a few years ago and several in this photo have been made my me, not all, but several. I have not been super busy being creative this year, the weight of the world has been getting to me but here's a few from the last couple of years. I took a class at my local arts center and found it super fun so I joined the NC Basket Guild and have been going to their annual conventions. The 2025 one is next weekend and I'm looking forward to the three classes I signed up for!

One of my own designs, I did it in a second color way with a few changes and entered it in the NC state fair, got a blue ribbon! I did not expect it to do so well. 

This was a class I took at the convention in 2024, a Nantucket basket class, I got second for it. 

I didn't enter this one, but I really love it: 

It's my favorite colors. I have it holding a bunch of knitting yarns in my office right now. It's quite large. I found a few mistakes in the pattern which is why I did not end up entering it into the state fair. I bet it would look stunning in a solid color instead of the space dyed I used. The rim took me months, it was a huge pain in the butt but it turned out so good looking. It was worth the time. One of my friends is keen to come over and make some baskets when the weather is nicer and we can do it outside on my deck. I'm hoping to connect more with other crafters this summer. Doing all my hobbies alone isn't as fun as I remember it being when I worked in an office. 

My second basket ever was this lovely cat head basket I made from a kit I got at Earth Guild in Asheville in 2022: 

 

It's currently under my nightstand holding my greyhound's outfits and some misc other bits and bobs. It was supposed to have a handle but something happened and I lost those pieces. I'd love to make it again with the experience I have gained since then. My shaping would hopefully be even better now. 

Hope everyone is having a good 2025 so far. 

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Once a year update - winter

 Looks like I never updated again. Sometimes I miss blogging. I recently deleted the social media apps from my phone but still want to see what fun things others' are up too. There's still blogs out there it just seems a bit harder to find nowadays with the socials as options. I've been looking around discord which seems to have replace forums too. I'll find my people. Maybe I need to start prioritizing going to guild meetings again! 

Here's some crafty updates. 

Pulled a 8/2 tencel scarf off the loom for my mom's Christmas present. Yes, it's February. Better late than never. :)

Still wet and hanging to dry. 

Also measured out a warp for my next set of towels:

This is just half of the 480 threads, it's two different shades of gray. I'm using a kit from Jane Stafford for huck towels. I have a huck book as well, so I'm going to try to do a bunch of different ones. I accidentally used the charcoal for the warp when I was supposed to use the other grays, but I think I'll make some napkins with that instead. And yes, I ordered more charcoal so I could use it here too. 

I also finished this temari a few months ago. I think it turned out really well. I'm not sure about everyone else, but I cycle through hobbies a lot. 

Speaking of that, I learned to knit and crochet last year. Finished a sweater in January and a scarf in October. And a hat.

I think we sometimes forget that these hobbies take time. And that's the appeal of them, but in a world filled with instant gratification it's hard to remember good things take time. 

Farewell for now, but hopefully it's not an entire year until I post again.

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Temari #14

 I haven't updated this blog in over 6 years, but I was thinking it could be a nice place to keep some of my temari records or some weaving records. I do keep a pretty extensive OneNote notebook with all of my projects and I do keep a lot on instagram as well, but I kind of miss blogs. Or at least long format posts. 

Here's a temari I stitched during a stitch along. It's called "Striped Obi" and it's from Barbara Suess's book, Japanese Temari. It's roughly 29cm in circumference, stitched using a variety of perle cotton 5. It's number 14 that I've stitched since June 2023. 

 

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Quilting

Hi my cross stitch friends!


I've been MIA for a really long time now, mostly because my cross stitch progress has been pitiful. Really, it's because I have started quilting. I bought another domain so I could do my quilt things in a blog type form as well, but then I never got around to it.

I thought it might be nice to share some of my more recent projects here anyway. Maybe it'll be a xStitchHaven - Cross Stitch and Quilting Blog. :)

My King Size Swoon Quilt

It took me 11 months from start to finish, but totally worth it. I kept getting board and I really hate doing borders and sashing. It looks fantastic on my bed, so it was worth it.

I recently finished 3 baby quilts:

Mesa Valley Pattern

Mesa Valley with Tula Pink fabric, this was in a SewSampler box (the colored prints & pattern). I love how this turned out and part of me didn't want to give it away!

Fancy Foxes - Elizabeth Hartman

This one used Rhoda Ruth Fabrics

Chuckles - Elizabeth Hartman

An Elizabeth Hartman pattern again, using Reef fabrics, this was also in a Sew Sampler box.

I also made two Christmas quilts I just couldn't part with:

I made this pattern up using 2 packages of charm squares in Juniper Berry by Basic Grey. I really love all their Christmas collections and have already preordered their 2018 one.

This was using "Jolly Bars" (5"x10" precuts) in Merry Berry fabric. I love love love this. It's my favorite of the two. I could not part with it though it's original purpose was a Christmas present.

My favorite is how I quilted it, spirals in a gold thread called "Vegas Gold". Swoon. Drool. LOVE. 

I started quilting when I moved to North Carolina just over 2.5 years ago. It's very addicting, just like cross stitch it, but I find (with the exceptions of course) that I finish projects so much faster. It's a more expensive hobby but the results are so much sooner. I've been dragged into the community full force! 

I took a picture framing course last spring and managed to frame about 15 things. 5 or so were cross stitch pieces that had been hanging out in my "finished" drawer. I'll have to dig up some pictures. Since then, I've finished 4 more things to frame. :D 

Also, this past fall, I took a photography class. I've been putting that to use in my finished quilts photos. I'm really loving how everything is turning out and how everything is so connected. :) 

Anything new up with you lovely readers? Am I the only one who moves form hobby to hobby?

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Mayyyyynia?

Hi all! I'm back with my monthly update. I think monthly updates are working much better for me now. I tried to get it in around the 15th, but this month has been a bit crazy (aren't they all?)

Anyways, it's May[nia] and I decided to start 2 new projects! Go me! :)

First is Little House Needleworks' Gingerbread(wo)man. If you've been here for... 2 years, you'll know I made this for my husband in 2014 with plans to make one for myself as well. I'm finally getting around to starting mine! Here's my progress:

I think it's coming along nicely. I really only work on it when I don't feel like doing something that requires my Lowery. We're going back to Pittsburgh for a week soon so I'll probably bring that with me.

My first start (gingerbreadman was actually the second one, I just talked about it first) was my first MIRA! YAY!

It's Roses of Provence. I love love love the colors. My only complaint is there's a lot of color changes. I think I might learn to park for this lady... thoughts? Is she worth it? Should I keep up with my cross country stitching of her? I'm torn on it. (don't forget you can click the picture and zoom in) It's on a very light version of Rose Petals from Crafty Kitten (It was an opps I got on her facebook page several years ago).

I did find this cute little thread holder at Walmart:

It only holds her floss right now. Adorable! Do you see the 7 skeins of white for her dress?!?!

I worked a bit on my Plum Pudding:

Funny story (not really) when I took it out to work on it there was a GIANT SPIDER on it. Even though I keep it "safe" in a pillow case when I'm not working on it. SOOOOO I decided I needed a better storage thing for it, so I whipped this guy up:

It's lined in flannel (because that's all I had that was large enough). It fits my 17x17 qsnap which was the point. Hopefully no more spiders on my work. UGH. *shudders*

I barely worked on Passport:

I did added some stitches and backstitching to this freebie:

I think I might have shown this before, but it's my "current" WIPs basket. I have more that I don't consider to be UFOs but aren't "current" WIPs either.

Annnnd last but not least, y'all might remember the stitch along back in 2014 for the Frosted Pumpkin's Halloween Town? Well, I hated part 3 with the bakery so I just lost all interest. I finally recharted the bakery into a house and am making some progress:

I love the color changes (like my teal & purple houses). Do you see the cat I added?!?! I think I'm going to give him some eyes, maybe some whiskers too! I'm still figuring out the house... and there was a witch charted, but I kinda don't want to stitch her either, so it's still a work in progress ... charting as I go along!


OOOOOOOOh and I have an FFO! I know my friend doesn't read my blog so I feel like I can show this even though I haven't given it to her yet (excuse the glare at the framing shop):

I'm so pleased with how it turned out! And it was super reasonably priced. I'm kinda in love with it. I'll totally be taking more projects to this framing shop. I think they did an excellent job.

I bought some stash, butttttt what I bought is for my mom and I'm fairly sure she does read my blog, so I'm not going to spoil it! Goal is a September finish (her birthday is in Sept) but I want to finish one WIP (a decently sized one... like Halloween Town) before I work on that so it could get pushed to Christmas... not totally sure yet. I feel like I need to find some "manly" patterns and make something for my dad... any suggestions!?

How's everyone's May been? Productive I hope!

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Spring updates!

Hi all! Today is a gray and rainy day, but yesterday the sun was shining so I managed to take some decent pictures!

I guess I've been busy since my last update (the pictures tell me so) but I don't feel like I've had much stitching time. We've just been so busy! My husband is away for work this week, so last night I made dinner, did my nails, watched Mr Selfridge & stitched. Not all at the same time clearly, but I did get some more progress on Plum Pudding then you'll see below. Not a ton, but I finished another motif.

First up is The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Pumpkin Passport:

and slightly closer:

It's cute, but I get bored working on it. I did see someone on Facebook omit some of the busy-ness and I liked that a whole lot more, so I might do the same thing.

I can't remember how far I was on the Peacock last time, but I think I filled in a bit more of the flower since last time:

It's a Dimensions Gold kit, so there are tons of blended threads and fractional stitches. It's going to look amazing when it's done.

I also started a freebie by Durene Jones (you can find it here). I was in a spring mood, I was hoping to finish by Easter but that didn't happen.

It's super cute and Durene has so many cute free patterns. She releases new ones every Friday on her facebook. I'm stitching it over 2 on 28 ct fabric that I had in my stash. It's a pale blue.

Last but not least, Glendon Place's Plum Pudding:

My goal for this past weekend was to finish the dark purple petals in the center, which I did manage to do! It's on 28 ct antique white fabric with the called for dinky dye threads.

Now I'm going around in a circle and trying it that way. I think I should start in the middle of a pattern instead of the top left, it's more gratifying to me to see it take shape that way.

I ordered Feburary's Fabric of the Month from Crafty Kitten for my Cherries Jubilee pattern and it came this past week!!

I didn't do a floss toss (I forgot) but one of my favorite things about Crafty Kitten is that she'll do custom sizes. This is a 20 x 20" cashel linen. I think it'll look awesome.

I also received a RAK from a friend in CO (no blog though).

I love cats AND she noted that I could probably finish it in one evening which is perfect for my attention span! Oh how she knows me well. It even came with fabric and the trim!

How's everyone's spring starting? Getting lots of stitching or is it slowing down with the warmer weather?

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March Update

First off, Happy St Patrick's Day! I'm not Irish (or maybe I am for just today?) but I do have a table cloth that's got clovers on it, so I totally count that as holiday decor!

I haven't gotten much stitching done recently honestly. We've been busy making friends and going to the gym. Tonight we're headed out to a Meetup.com event for board games. It's being held at a local cider place. Maybe we'll make some friends there.

I finished the R I was working on for a friends wedding. I've just charted their last name for below, I'm not sure how I want to represent the date yet though.. write out the month or just use numbers? Thought?

I started the Dimensions Peacock kit (sorry it's sideways):

I switched out the fabric for a sky crystal linen that was a gift a Christmas or two ago:

I won't have to do all the background now! Which also means I'll have a ton of teal/blue thread left.

I also pulled out my Glendon Place Tiramisu pattern for a few nights:

It prompted me to order some fabric form CraftyKitten for the Cherries Jubilee pattern too (Tiramisu is also on a CraftyKitten piece, Plum Pudding is not) ... I still haven't finished one but I'm already planning on the third one to start. I make a mistake and it ticks me off so I stop stitching on them. Mostly because I have to fix the mistake in these patterns since they are so symmetrical.

Side note, I hate scroll frames. They just don't have enough tension in my opinion, but I did do some digging and trying different things and determined the best way for me to get tension was to do an S type roll, where it's over the top on the top and goes under on the bottom. I found the tension much better that way. Does anyone else have any suggestions for tension?! I have two of these frames that I never use because of the tension...

I also bought a magnifier/light! So here's a picture of my stitchy spot:

You can see my Lowery frame and my new light. It's great, I tried 3 other magnifiers before I bit the bullet and ordered this one. It's not the most attractive thing ever, but it allowed me to work on my Ink Circles Damask Square pattern so much more easily!

I also made those pillows this past month! They even have zippers. They go well with our sofa's blue velvet pillows that we had bought at Tuesday Mornings to go with the carpet we are now using in our living room. New place meant we had to rearrange our carpets to fit different spaces, our blue one is our largest and no longer fits in any of the bedrooms. I'm planning to make two more pillow covers at some point. I still need to buy two more pillows.

I worked on my Damask Square yesterday, it's on 40 ct crystal silkweavers fabric with Peacock Weeks Dye Works floss (1 over 2):

I've decided I love stitching with just one strand of thread, there's no worries about laying the threads right, they don't get tangled! It's so much easier with the magnifier though. I'm still young, but I'd like to be able to still see 40 years from now thanks! I also pulled out a hoop to use last night for this and I remembered why I hate hoops, those marks! It was only in the hoop for like an hour but left a nice ring... I'm going to have to find more random pieces of my q-snaps for this... I bought a 14in one but it's really just way too big. I should have bought another 9x9 instead.

How's everyone elses' stitching been going!? Is everyone ready for Spring? I sure am!

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Stitchy Project Bag!

Hi ya'll! Probably didn't expect to see me back so soon. :)  I have a couple things to show you (instead of my usual 0 progress).

First off is some stitchy progress:

Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery - Pumpkin Passport

Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery - Pumpkin Passport

I made a few changes to the pattern, nothing too serious though. I changed the girls hair to some Weeks Dye Works cocoa (I think) to match my own a bit better, I'm also a fan of purple so the shirt needed to be updated. I also think I'm going to make the bridge gray instead of the "sand-ish" color that is charted and maybe use con krenik in the Eiffel Tower.

I'm still behind, but that's okay it's not a contest and I have alllll year. :)

Also, I made that navy Q-Snap cover! It was my first one, my mom made the cream-ish ones for me, but I needed a weird size for the Pumpkin Passport project. I think it turned out super well, I'm going to have to make more of them! 

I have a friend getting married the first weekend of June so I'm stitching their initial:

I'll add their last name and date too at the bottom I think. I love how it's turning out. This is the second time I've used this alphabet and I still think I need to make one for myself.... One of these days.

I saw these cute project bags on a Facebook group and they were selling for $45! I like to spend money on stitchy things, but that was a little steep so I decided to try my hand at making one. While it's not perfect, I actually like my version better than the example I was working from (my zipper is hidden, quilted the front in a diamond pattern and added a binding all the way around are just a few of the things that I added).

I'm super excited about how it turned out. You can see that there's a pocket for your scissors (I added interfacing so it would hold up to throwing your scissors in there) along with the pattern and floss. The other side is for my q-snaps. It's currently holding an 6x9 frame. I have a couple changes I'd like to make for my next attempt (including buying a rotary cutter so I can cut in a straight line...). I'm definitely going to make another one and I'm debating making a tutorial as well. I'm by no means an expert but it was really not very difficult, and it only took two evenings (or prob a Saturday afternoon). Would you be interested in a tutorial?

Thoughts? Would you spend $45 for a stitchy project bag or would you rather make it yourself?!

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