Here's What I am Currently Working On

   Hello Fellow Stitchers :) Hope ya'll have been stitching away!

   Finally I have gotten all caught up (for the most part) of what all I have accomplished since this past August. Now I can share what I am currently working on :)

   First I wanted to chat about how my stitching style has changed. I use to love and I mean love starting something new all the time - or was it out of boredom that came quickly when I was stitching on that current project LOL!! I think personally it was a combination of both. I have noticed though in the last year and a half my stitching style has changed dramatically. Now I almost exclusively stitch on 1 project at a time. Currently though I have been stitching on this Lavender and Lace since finishing the Welcome Mat I showed you in the last post. I was getting really tired of it and needed a change and the Christmas Cheer was really calling me, so I did start it up this past Saturday. I could have it done in a week's time if I was exclusively stitching it, but I am using it as my in between when I need to take a break from the L&L project. There is the little mini ornaments kit that I shared several posts back, but I consider each little stocking or mitten as a little start and finish, and I can get one of those done in an evening. I haven't started another since finishing the last one. To finish my thoughts on this, I have found that this year so far, is my most finishes yet in my 20 years of stitching! I do tend to be a pretty fast stitcher (most days) and hence The Flying Needle name of the blog ;) so if I concentrate on 1 project at a time I seem to get more finishes. Now FFO'ing is a whole 'nother story but I will talk about that in another post.

   Here she is - Lavender and Lace's Angel of Grace. She is my first ever L&L and I couldn't be more happy to work on her. I worked on her today which would be Day 12 (not pictured here) and I got alot more done on her. Now that I am caught up I will keep it updated here on the blog. I didn't post everyday that I worked on her but Day 1 thru Day 11 with a few days in between to show my progress as I went. If you want to see all the days you can check out my Instagram @stayinginstitches

   I set a lofty personal goal of having her complete for 2016, but with the holidays, and our cruise 3 weeks away I may have to rethink that goal!!

   Here is my "take a break from the big project" start that I started this past Saturday. This one was really calling to me and had been in my stash for a really long while now. I think it really called to me cause of Christmas being so close around the corner. Speaking of which we are planning on getting our Christmas put up promptly after Thanksgiving due to the cruise. Also when we went last year on a cruise 2 days after Thanksgiving it was such a festive time on the boat. They had a special evening of lighting the Christmas tree and blowing "snowflakes", so I am very much looking forward to this one!!

   Well it's late and time for bed. It seems I usually like doing my blog posts of a night. I guess I like my collective thoughts at the end of the day. I hope everyone is getting prepared for Thanksgiving (if you celebrate or recognize it). I've got to get the turkey tomorrow or Friday and some of the fixin's. If I remember I will snap a pic of my plate to show ya'll what all I fix. I tend to have the same menu every year and also at Christmas and Easter dinner, and these special times the kids always looks forward to those meals. 

   Take care and talk real soon. Have a great stitchy time :)

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Birthday Last Thursday and Chatter...

   Hello Everyone :) Hope all is well with you. 

   Last Thursday (11/10) was my birthday. I had a pretty good day. I stitched some but not as much as I wanted to cause things to do with the ones I love. Me and my son went to breakfast, and then I came home and stitched. On the way to breakfast though we found a dog on the side of the road, and she was about to get hit by a car any minute and she was nothing but skin and bones and had a handful of ticks on her. I couldn't stand the thought of that poor baby suffering anymore than she had, so on our way to breakfast we stopped and put her in my car and I brought her to my house gave her water and food. I have a big fenced in backyard so we left her to eat and rest while we grabbed breakfast. I already have 4 dogs and I knew I couldn't keep her - she was a beagle - so when I got back home I called around and found an animal care center that would take her. That way she could also get vet care that she needed, a warm place to sleep, plenty of food and water, and a new loving family. So I took her there that afternoon. Shortly after I got back it was about time to go out for my birthday dinner. I chose Walbugers. Had a nice evening out, came home, and booked another cruise for April and we are going to book a 13 day cruise sometime over the weekend. We are set to leave in about 27 days for a 9 day cruise - yes, we love cruising!! So all in all it was a good birthday - now if we could just hit the pause button for at least several hundred years so I can get my stash all stitched up..LOL!!! 

   Onto stitching now :) Here is another finish back on October 18th. Here it was Halloween and I'm stitching Summer - LOL!! It was still nice warm weather here at the time. This was a DUCJC2015 start. I managed to get alot of those finished this year. I didn't participate this year, but with alot of 2015's finished I may start this coming year's DUCJC2017!

Country Cottage Needleworks - "Ladybugs and Bumblebees"

Up next was another Summer finish that I completed October 27th. I love this one and it was an  older Dimensions kit that I had in my stash and acquired some years ago (I just happen to be looking on walmart.com and saw this kit for sale at a great price!). It was a quick stitch for me and I finished it in 8 days! 

                 Dimensions Kit - Welcome Mat #6978   

Here is just a tiny bit of stash that I get in the mail most months  ;) I manage to snag these for a really good price. I love Mill Hill Kits <3 I've been trying to resist starting one of these.

   I don't have anymore finishes at the moment to share, so up next I will post about what I am currently working on - well, I am working on 2 projects now cause I couldn't resist one I started Saturday. 

   I haven't stitched any yesterday or today. Yesterday I was busy cleaning up some around the house and getting some papers straight that needed my attention, and then today I was gone almost all day taking care of errands. The next few days I am going to stitch, stitch, stitch!! On Friday afternoon though I may have to take my son's girlfriend to meet him halfway in Wilmington, NC as they are going to the Marine Ball.

   I hope everyone is well and stitching away :)

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Floss Tube #7 Update

   Hello Everyone :) There is a new/old Floss Tube video up! New as in it is a new never posted before video. Old cause it was filmed back in August and then I forgot I filmed it!! 


   I plan on filming a new Floss Tube update very soon.


   ~ Happy Stitching ~








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Morning Praise Finish

   Hello Everyone :) Hope ya'll are having a good day - or evening/night wherever you are in the world. It's been a really warm day here in coastal South Carolina!

   Here is the post that I said I wanted to share all by itself. This was a Dimensions kit called Morning Praise. It was a real labor of love as this had alot of half stitches, color changes, but also what made it challenging was just a ton of browns and greens in those color families - that also at times proved to be trying. It was like not another color of brown in a different shade - LOL! But I carried on and was hugely rewarded for my efforts on this one, as I love, love, love it!!! I also hated the aida fabric as it was really stiff, but it soften some as I worked with it, and after I washed it after stitching to remove the grid lines it was great. So for future reference I could always wash stiff adia before hand to soften it up. There was alot of backstitching but I didn't mind it and it really brought the piece to life. I will share some of the photos I took along the way of progress.

   I have several more finishes I have accomplished and what I am currently working on to post about over the next couple of days. I find that posting often is really quite enjoyable to me more than before. I have noticed some of my stitching habits has changed over the last year or so that I will get into in another post - I don't want to make the posts to long while playing "catch-up" :)

   On another note, I found a video I recorded on my phone back from Aug. 1st and I watched it yesterday cause I had forgotten about recording it. I plan on uploading it even though it is a few months old in the next few days. I am thinking about editing out some things or I may not - lol. We will see. I will make a post when that is up.
  
   I hope everyone is stitching away :)

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Some More Chatter and Finishes

   I've been stitching away on my newest project - I will reveal it soon ;) I want to work up to my other finishes in order before getting to this one, but I feel like it's worth the wait -  lol.

   I stayed up wayyyy to late last night, or should I say this morning. I didn't go to bed until 2 am. I stitched til a little before midnight, and then the hubby turned the TV remote over and I watched some of my Sunday night shows that was DVR'ed. I watch The Walking Dead and the season finale of The Strain. The Strain was really good, and The Walking Dead was much better on the nerves than last week's episode. I do love to watch (listen to, while occasionally glancing up) when stitching. Jeremy Wade's River Monsters or Hoarder's. I don't know why but I like to watch them from the DVR recordings. Then other times I like the house quite. I am curious as to what you all like to watch, listen to, or silence while stitching?

   Also me and my son went to a new restaurant that opened up over the weekend in the area. The Walhburgers opened up at Broadway At The Beach in Myrtle Beach this past weekend. My son's ate there on Sat., and came home telling me how good it was, so me and Cody went there and it was very good. 

   Back to the stitching that I have been doing over the last several months... 

   This one as you can see from the photo I finished on Aug. 19th. I stitched it up in 8 days. I love it so much. It was a Marjolein Bastin design. Still need to wash it and frame it - if that is what I am going to do with it... I am so bad at finishing things into FFO's :/ 

   

    The next two are from the 25 Christmas ornaments kit from the kit that I showed from my last post. They won't all get done this year, or finished for that matter this year, but hopefully next year :)

   I still have 3 more finishes to share and my current project, but I feel like the next one should have a post all on it's own - and not to mention that I need to iron it from washing it the week before. It was a labor of love <3

   So hopefully I will be back again tomorrow with that post. Also onto YouTube I have a "How To" filmed and waiting to do a little editing since the first of Aug. but I have yet to get it uploaded. I am wanting to get back to making Floss Tube videos, and hope to have an update one filmed this week.

Hope everyone is stitching away :) 

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It's Been Awhile - Life Happens Plus a Hurricane!

   Well it's been since the first of August that I have made a blog post (or a YouTube video for that matter). Life has happened - as it does for all of us - and Hurricane Matthew hit us pretty good, but not as bad as some were, even in our area.

   I have been stitching quite a bit and have some finishes. I may not get to all of them in this post, as I want to get back to stitching tonight...lol :) Three days ago I started a new project that I had been wanting to start for a long while.

The middle of August it was time to worry with back to school for my girls. Then on my son's 21st birthday on the way to his birthday dinner with all of us, he was in a car accident and totaled his girlfriends car he was driving (no drinking and driving was invlolved!). Then in Sept. and Oct. I was taking my one daughter to alot of doctor appt.'s and a medical test. Then Hurricane Matthew hit us here in SC pretty darn good! We live about 25 miles from the coast. We lost some trees - a pretty big chunk off my really big Bradford Pear tree right in front of my porch, and the power went out, but we luckily had a generator. Alot of people living near the ocean and then the ones close to the rivers lost alot. So the damage we had was small compared to what some families lost - everything!

Here is a few pics from the damage to my big tree damage, and hubby doing clean-up.

   Onto stitching news - I started working on this kit of  25 small Christmas ornaments. I stitch one when I need a break from my bigger projects, and I can get one done in several hours.

   Here is some cute needleminders I got for a good deal as the person was selling off some needleminders in stock that she was no longer going to offer :) Lucky me!!

    I have quite a few more finishes including a couple more of the Christmas ornies, but I am going to end this blog post here. I will try and get another post up in the next few days to share more :)

I hope everyone is doing well and that life is good for ya'll!

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Hello Everyone :)

How are you doing? I hope everyone is well and stitching away!!

I have been stitching away myself. I have made some good progress on my Dimensions Morning Praise kit. I wished so bad that I had switched out the aida for a 28 ct evenweave. I'm just not enjoying aida that comes in the kits really anymore. This piece in this kit though is really stiff. It has softened up some since I have been stitching on it. I am loving the design, and I will love the finish piece when it's all said and done - lol! Here's my progess on it:

I did finish up my Mill Hill Frosty Presents. I just love this little guy! I think the fringe on the scarf is really neat. It's called a fringe stitch, so when you clip the loops the fringe won't pull out. I need to FFO him. I bought some felt last week at AC Moore to back him with. Will post a pic when I get him finished up. 

Since finishing this small M.H. kit, I need to find another small out of my WIPS to work on in between Morning Praise. Sometimes when working on a large project I need a break to work on something small. I am thinking about picking back up these little stocking ornaments. Will post a pic of what I choose.

I recorded some more on Monday for this coming week's FlossTube on YouTube. I plan on adding more to that video. I wanted to record today, but the weather is very icky, gray, and rainy today. On top of it, I am sensitive to weather changes and this rain has given me a pretty bad headache!

I hope everyone is stitching to their hearts content and that the 'ole frog stays in the pond :)

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FlossTube #6 It's Me, Really & Wips and Updates

Hello Everyone :)


Hope all is well in your stitchy world!


I uploaded a new YouTube FlossTube #6 video. Please go check it out! I didn't really want to be in front of the camera for my first 5 videos, as I don't like it, but I decided to give it a go. It's so much easier cause I have both hands free, and it feels more natural when I am talking to you all.


Everyone has been so sweet with their comments on there. I just love this community of stitchers!


Hope you all are stitching away and that the frog stays in the pond!


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Making Progress on WIPS!!

Hello Everyone :)

How are you all doing? I hope well and stitching away and getting all the things you want done!

First off I want to tell you about my Sunday night. I was sitting in my stitchy spot stitching away and my 16 yr old daughter calls all upset and crying and I knew when the phone rang something was wrong cause she doesn't like to text or call when driving (which is a very good thing!). She was on her way home from work and was at a stop sign and was rear ended. The guy who rear ended her pulled off into the parking lot where she did and told her not to call her parents or the police and wanted her to follow him to a not so good area. I heard him in the background while she was talking to me saying "no, no". I told her if her drove off to try and get his license plate number and pay attention for a description of him and the car. Sure enough he left the scene, and we arrived there and we were waiting on the police. They faulted him 100% and are currently looking for him. What in the world is wrong with people today? And this was a middle aged man! My daughter thinks by the way he was acting and talking he was on something! But as a mother I am scared to pieces over how he wanted her to follow him into a bad part of town! Why did he want her to do that?? I have taught her to lock her doors as soon as she enters her car, and she only rolled the window down a couple of inches. Needless to say she was physically okay but really shaken up. She has only had her license for about a month now and to have this happen. Anyhow, I am just thankful she is ok!

Now onto some stitchy news :) ......

I managed to get alot accomplished on my Morning Praise from Dimensions. It has been nothing but varying shades of greens and browns though, so I have to put it down after so long cause I get tired of working with just those colors ;) I have gotten the area around the beehive just about done with in regards to the stitching. Just need to stitch out the bees and I am moving own down to the butterflies and flowers - yes some color!! I've made more progress than shown here, but I haven't taken any pics yet. I will soon and update in a post soon.

In between stitching the Morning Praise piece I have worked on the Mill Hill Kit Frosty Presents. It was nice to get alot done on this as a break piece. I should get it finished by today or tomorrow hopefully. I bought some felt the other day at AC Moore to back it with. This will be the first time using felt to back a Mill Hill piece, as I usually use brown craft paper. I saw a fellow Floss Tuber use felt, and liked the look of it better.

Today I have had a pretty good day so far, except going for bloodwork! Uggh, I hate needles, and they had to stick me twice. I am so hard to stick. Then I met the hubs and my son out for lunch as they got done with what they were doing early. Came home and been getting a few things done, like preparing a NEW FlossTube video for YouTube. That should be up tomorrow as I like to upload them overnight while I am sleeping :) I will make a blog post once it's up with the video.

Well, I hope everyone is stitching their hearts content and that the frog stays in the pond!!

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FlossTube #5 Finishes and Small Haul

Hello Everyone :)


Overnight I uploaded a new FlossTube video, so please go check it out if you like. Feel free to subscribe, like, comment, and share it!


You get a more in depth look at things I am working on and things that I may forget to mention here.


Hope everyone is stitching their hearts away, and you are keeping the frog in the pond - LOL!!


Have a good day stitchy friends :)

Getting Back Into the Groove of It!!

                                      Hello Everyone :) 

How are you doing and what have you been stitching? I hope the frog has stayed away and no one has lost their stitchy bug.

Unfortunately, I did lose my stitchy bug shortly after my last post, hence the quietness that followed on here :(   Good News though, it has returned - YaY!!

I don't know where it went, but I am just glad it has returned. Have any of ya'll ever lost yours? Why did you lose yours? Over the years I have went through spurts where it has been gone. Sometimes years at a time. This time luckily it was for a few months. I think it was the current project I was working on, and the reason being that the fabric I was working with I wasn't happy with. Last Wednesday it came back, and I was able to make some good progress on some smalls!

This was a new start and finish that got me back in the groove. I had it finished in 2 days - well the stitching is finished as I still have to FFO it. FFO = Fully Finished Object :)

Up next I picked up another small and got to work on it! It was a little Christmas train that I had started a while back. Since I was just getting the bug back I didn't want to push it with anything to big to work on. I had one little line of the green started (less than what shows in the first pic, as I forgot to take a pic before starting and then remembered), and managed to finish this one in a day and a half!

Next up was a piece that the stitching was complete, but what I wanted to do to it was not! I wanted to add some additional blingy bling to it in some freehand beading. I had picked up some glass beads from Michael's and had an idea of what I wanted to do. The bigger square beads I ended up not using as they were a bit too big for this piece, but I did use the other 2 beads and some clear seed beads. The 2 charms came with the kit. I love how this has turned out - it really sparkles more in person! I also have a Starfish that I need to stitch - hasn't even been opened yet - that matches this one. 

Here is the companion piece that goes with this one. Sorry the pic isn't the best, as I just took it and it's night time here ;)

I went yesterday and got materials to make the Scallop piece into a cube, and I got enough materials to do the same for the Starfish. I went to the quilt store and picked out an awesome fabric for this. It's really just a blender, but what in my opinion makes it awesome is that I was able to get a really good matching fabric, and there was ONLY a yard left on the bolt! These colors are those really hard to find just right peachy colors. Then I went to Michael's, AC Moore, and then Walmart to finish out rounding up the needed supplies. I am planning on doing a YouTube tutorial on how to do a cube for the Scallop. I will post that video to this blog when it is up.

Now who's ready to get their mouth watering??? LOL!!! I just wanted to share with you all the delicious lunch I had yesterday while out, and if you are in the Myrtle Beach/Conway, SC area you should definitely check this place out. I have only went there for lunch, as their lunch deals are awesome. I have seen their supper menu (called dinner to some :) ) and in my opinion it's a little pricey in the $15-$30 price range for a dinner plate. But as I said they have several lunch specials that are great prices. So here is what I got for $8 (plus tax):

It's called their World Famous Lunch. You get a salad, huge slice of cheese pizza, and half a sub! Really good Italian place. For those that visit the area the info is Rotelli's Pizza and Pasta 201 Unit #109, Graduate Rd, Conway, SC 29526. No affiliation, just good food ;)

Then me and my daughter made this delicious homemade Peanut Butter Pie! Needless to say it didn't last 24 hrs even! We did add chopped Reese Cups to the top of it even though the recipe didn't call for it, and made our own graham cracker crust :)

I hope everyone has enjoyed my blog post, and having a great good 'ole stitchy time!

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Some Finishes and Chatter

Hello Fellow Stitchers & Bloggers :) 

Hope everyone is well and stitching til their hearts content!

I posted a little earlier a YouTube video if anyone would like to check that out. Also feel free to follow me on Instagram at: stayinginstitches

I love seeing everyone else's works in progress, stash, hauls, and finishes too, so if you follow me I will follow back!

Here is my latest finish - I completed the stitching on 4/2 and added the 3 buttons on 4/3. It's by Shepherd's Bush called Sweet Liberty :

Here is a finish from March 16 that I am in LOVE with! It's by Janlynn called Hummingbirds. This was actually started on Jan. 1, 2015 as part if the DUCJC2015 Challenge. I cannot wait to get it framed and displayed. I am so proud of this one :)

Here is a finish from the end of 2015. It was also part of the DUCJC2015 and was started on Jan.23, 2015. It was just a quick little stitch but I really enjoyed it. It came with the frame so maybe I can get it FFO really soon!

Here is another one I finished at the end of 2015. Also, another DUCJC2015 started on Jan. 27, 2015. This was a project that I worked on quite a bit while I was waiting on my daughter for her basketball practice this past winter. As you can see I need to trim it out and finish it up. This even came with a musical chip that plays Jingle Bells!

I was looking back on my blog, and it seems that I have quite a few completed from the DUCJC2015 Challenge. I would say at least about half probably. I was going to do the 2016 challenge, but as it neared I thought of all the WIPS and UFOS I already had, and I really just wanted to concentrate on getting some of those done. I think by the end of the year I will be ready to go for the 2017 challenge! 

Here is a picture of my sweet Lily. I adopted her about a month ago from the local animal shelter. She is about 2 yrs old and we were best friends from day one! She is such a sweetheart and I like to say she loves love. She will lay on me and let me pet her all day long if I would. She is my shadow!

I hope everyone is stitching and is doing well. Talk to you all later!