It’s another dreary day here. Seems like it’s been gray and cloudy all week – or mostly all week. I’m hoping my latest frame delivery gets here before any raining starts. Tracking says its on a truck out for delivery now. I’m anxious to see what one of them looks like in person. It’s a frame I have looked at for multiple projects but it’s a bit pricier than most frames I order so always picked other frames for the larger pieces I had been considering it for. To me it has a vintage look/feel so hopefully will be a perfect pair up for the little Prairie Schooler Let It Snow stitch.
Progress on the Little Quaker Sampler – that clearly I couldn’t count correctly on last night. That octagon shape should be all done and filled in and then some but I was having issues. When I finished the word Christmas and put the bell above it, I realized my letter “Y” in merry was one stitch over too far so the bell would have extended beyond the side edge so ripped out the Y and redid it. So that’s how wide across the bottom the total piece is.
As I was stitching on that I was thinking about what I wanted to stitch on next – a bigger project since I will fit smaller, seasonal ones in between when I feel like switching things up. I really want to get started on the Lincoln Sampler. I was planning to wait until November 4 (the Lincoln’s wedding anniversary date) as my date to start it and still (at least at the moment) plan to hold off on starting it until then tho I’m contemplating moving my start date out to February for a Lincoln birthday start date since I may want to work on some holiday (Thanksgiving/Christmas) projects that are a bit larger before then. In any event, I wound the floss and put them on floss tags so the Lincoln Sampler is all ready to start.
This is all the floss for my Lincoln Sampler – the photo is a little washed out and even tho its a gloomy day I just couldn’t get a really true color (that gold on the right which looks like pale yellow is really a pretty gold – Classic Colorworks Queen Bee – which will be Mrs. Lincoln’s dress). It’s all DMC except for the brown, gold, blue and red on the far right – those are over dyeds that I plan to substitute in for certain colors that cover large areas because I want the shading so those areas don’t look so static. Like the dark brown is for Lincoln’s suit. I may substitute a few other over dyeds as I stitch on it. The fabric I’ll use is hand dyed Olde Parchment 20 count by Vintage Needle Arts, which will make the stitched area of this design 17-1/2″ x 18-5/8″.
And all the DMC I put on the floss tags for the second box of floss tags I had made with the Berry Bird design I stitched, which look like this.
The other project, which I plan to start winding the floss and putting on floss tags so I can start on it likely later today is for Silent night sampler (the one at the top of the image below) once I look thru the Aida stash to find a piece to use.
And if I’m really ambitious and haven’t lost interest in winding floss and putting it on floss tags, I may do the floss for The First Thanksgiving – and other large project which I really want to start. I have a basket of floss in baggies which I had ordered in the not too distant past that needs to be put away but I had baggies where I ordered all the floss (or all that was available) for the two projects shown here and First Thanksgiving so I don’t want those to get separated and used for other projects and when I’m ready to start on a project, I don’t want to have to stop and wind floss.
So on to laundry, finding some lunch maybe, and a few other chores so I can get to the fun stuff today.
Justquiltin with Denise Russart 
I love those soft colors for the Silent Night Sampler and the new floss tags you had made are darling! Until I saw that you and Judy kitted up your patterns with floss, it had never occurred to me to do that. I’ve been getting the pattern, looking to see what I already had and then ordering what I needed if it wasn’t DMC which I can get locally. And I was only ordering the floss for what I thought I would work on next. I think I need to get a little more organized, order floss, and start kitting them up as it would be so much easier to start on projects.
Actually I don’t normally kit them up when I get the chart. I knew when I ordered the charts that I wanted to start each of the three projects I’m working on getting floss on floss tags for in the not too distant future. I will be likely starting two of them this week and the third beginning of next month. In the case of these three charts I’m kitting, they all use mostly DMC. I do not have a big stash of DMC – remember I only started cross stitching again last December after not stitching for 18 years or so and had gotten rid of all the old x-stitch stuff – so knew I likely only had very few of he DMC. Due to Covid I haven’t been in any store since oh, beginning of March 2020 maybe, so need to plan ahead on those floss orders to get them before I want to start stitching and try to get all of them from one source can be a bit tricky with supply issues.
I too started up again this summer after I think 25 years. Fortunately I still had my floss. I almost threw them out many times but for some reason I didn’t. Probably because I’m such a packrat! I was glad I still had them when I took it back up. I do try to estimate how much I’ll need of a color in case I need to get a new skein. Several times I noticed the color isn’t quite the same…which of course isn’t surprising…lol…so then I end up replacing the whole color.
Ok, since you are putting your floss on floss tags what do you mean by ‘winding floss’? When I think of winding floss I think of winding it on a floss bobbin.
Well somehow you need to get it from the little loop that DMC comes in to single sections cut the length you want to use – 18″ or however long you want it. So I pull the end of the DMC that will let it unwind without tangling (the end with the number on the labell) and wind it around a wood stick shuttle (from my weaving supplies which will give me the exact length I want, and then cut it so you get individual sections to put on floss ring. If you go to this link on etsy https://www.etsy.com/listing/1068121735/floss-winder-3-sizes-to-choose-from-9-12?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_-craft_supplies_and_tools-domestic_low&utm_custom1=_k_b7ec021ccf3a1f6b0dce637fadfe124c_k_&utm_content=bing_412372913_1301822064972454_81363942714372_pla-4584963494665635:aud-805670566:pla-4584963494665635_c__1068121735&utm_custom2=412372913&msclkid=b7ec021ccf3a1f6b0dce637fadfe124c and look at the photos on the right side it shows how floss is wound around it and then cut to get length. No affiliation with this Etsy shop – they were just one of the ones that sells sticks for this purpose (tho I like my weaving shuttle better because it actually has a groove you wind into) but this is where I found a visual image of what I do.
Thanks I had no idea. All this time I just cut what I need when I need it. But then I am not as fast a stitcher as you are.
Well there’s no right or wrong way to do it – whatever works for you – and it has nothing to do with how quickly or slowly one stitches. I just hate having to cut a length, then separate out the one or two strands I need and if using a floss tag/drop you can quickly and easily pull out a strand with your needle tip without any tangling as demonstrated here
ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiqK1YdZ37M
I love that! So much quicker and I don’t have to find a place to put the 4 or 5 strands of that single length somewhere which inevitably get lost or knocked on the floor or tangled.