Tuesday, March 26, 2013

A Stitching Retreat!

Where have I been lately?  Not here, that's for sure.  After I completed all of my quilt squares I found myself with very little to stitch.  Which is a ridiculous statement if you've ever seen my stash of charts.  So I didn't stitch for a while, and instead chose to work on other projects and speed-read a couple of books.  But mainly I wanted to get a couple of new starts ready for our first Sisters In Stiches retreat!

Our very first retreat was held last weekend at James H. (Sloppy) Floyd State Park in Summerville, GA. We arrived on Friday afternoon in good spirits to find a couple of cute cabins that would be the site of our weekend stitching getaway.
Even though the day was gray (and the weather would stay that way for the rest of the weekend), no one seemed to care because we were here to stitch!  Although it would have been nice to have a little sun and warmth in order to enjoy a walk by the lake.  
The cabins were comfy and well stocked with kitchen supplies to help us to fix our meals.  We all signed up for a meal during our stay, and each one was delicious!  Not to mention the yummy snacky stuff everyone brought and wonderful desserts made by Peggy.
Peggy brought a basket of Easter treats
We also had a sweet little mascot for our retreat weekend.  Peggy's dog, Molly, was a well-behaved and welcome guest, and will be a part of our future retreats.
Oh yes!  We did stitch!  This post is already so photo-heavy so I will feature our stitching on a future post. 

All in all, our first retreat was an overwhelming success.  We commented several times during the weekend about how well organized and planned (thank you, Thea!) our weekend was.  How could we go wrong?  Lots of stitching, good food, plenty of conversation featuring interesting subjects, and good friends add up to a wonderful time.  We're already planning a fall retreat!
Sisters In Stitches (minus me). 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Something New In The Floss World

As stitchers, we all love new products that will make our stitching more enjoyable.  I was checking on what was new on Ebay one day (there's always something new there, right?), and I ran across Garibaldi's Over-Dyed 6 strand cotton floss.  What?  Floss that I didn't know about?  I placed a bid and pretty soon was the owner of a collection of lovely jewel-toned floss skeins. 
The colors are beautiful, nicely variegated, and the thread itself is soft and silky.  Then I put the new floss to the test.  I decided to stitch my last quilt square for the Sandy Hook project totally in Garibaldi Floss.  The red tones were perfect for the little heart freebie I wanted to stitch for this square.   In addition, I was stitching on some of the stiffest, scratchiest Aida cloth there is.  Talk about the ultimate test for a floss.
Turned out pretty well, didn't it?  See the subtle shading variations?  The thread was easy to work with, and I noticed that I didn't have as many thread knots or tangles as I did on my previous square.  Coverage was very good too (I used 2 strands).

The only drawback that I can see is that the floss isn't numbered or named, so it wouldn't be appropriate for a project where 2 or more skeins of the same color are needed.  But for small projects or a small area on a large project, Garibaldi floss would work very well.

Garibaldi's is a small company and doesn't have a website yet, but Shawn, the owner of the business and creator of this pretty floss, says that a website is a future goal for easy choosing and ordering floss.  Her floss is currently available on Ebay, where there are quite a few auctions for collections of different shades.  So go and get yourself some!  And while you're there check out their rayon floss too.  I am so bossy.

I'll be taking along some of the Garibaldi's floss on the Sisters In Stitches upcoming retreat.  And if my fellow Sisters are nice to me, they might just get some of their very own. 

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Scrabble Pendant Giveaway Winners, And Another Winner Too!

I'm happy to announce the winners of my Scrabble tile pendant giveaway!  They are:

Faith from Faithfully Stitching -- winner of the middle pendant, the blue floral.
and
Sarah Beth from Sarah Beth's Cross-Stitch Blog -- winner of the pendant on the right, the gold and lace.

Congratulations to you both!  I've e-mailed you and am waiting for your mailing info.  I hope you like the pendants!

Also, because the winner of my Grow Your Blog giveaway didn't contact me after several e-mails, I've used the random number generator to pick a new winner.  And that would be Angela from Stitching In The Zoo
Angela has won the springy pink and green beaded bracelet.  I've already e-mailed you, Angela, and am waiting for your info.  Congratulations!

This giveaway thing is pretty fun!  Look for more giveaways here at CraftyCat.  I'm thinking about some cross stitch charts that would love new homes!

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Triple Word Score - You Win!!

I've been wanting to try my hand at making some of these Scrabble tile pendants for a while now.  So I was looking through my craft junk supplies and found that I had almost everything needed to make them except for Diamond Glaze.  Off to the craft store I went only to find out that they didn't have the elusive Diamond Glaze, but the nice lady at the store recommended something called Triple Thick.  That sounded good, given that it had the word "diamond" on the label.  Then another product caught my eye - Mod Podge Dimensional Magic.  Something new?  I don't know, but the word "dimensional" made me think that it might be something like the Ice Resin that Sheila and I used to make pendants.

I arrived back at the craft room only to discover that I already had a product called Aleene's Paper Glaze.  I don't know how long I've had this, or what I used it for, but there's that word "dimensional" once again.  With three different products at hand, this turned out to be an experiment in Scrabble tile pendant creation, to see which I liked best.
Surprise!  I like all three of them!  Their finishes are all very glossy and ceramic-like. And the pendants are as cute as can be.  I'd recommend all three products.  Next, I'll be using the Mod Podge Dimensional Magic in a little metal pendant frame to see if it compares to Ice Resin. 
Let's call them (from left to right) A, B and C
I know that the photo doesn't show the shiny glossiness of these little pendants, but take my word for it, they are simply sparkly!

Here's where you come in:
                     It's Giveaway Time!!!
If you'd like a chance of winning one of these pendants, just become a follower of my blog (if you're not already), and then leave a comment on this post letting me know your first, second and third choices (A, B, or C)I'll draw 2 names on Saturday (each winner wins one pendant), March 9th in the afternoon.  Make sure I know how to get in touch with you.  The drawing is for the pendant only, no chain.  Good luck!