Month: February 2026

The nice steady slow beat where I can breathe and experience satisfaction in my handiwork. I hate to call it escape. Maybe “living” captures the time spent moving colorful silks and cotton through fabric with a needle.

I’m hoping some of my enjoyment will flow into the universe, and you’ll catch the vibe. (See the start of this series, and some of my beautiful stitching this past couple of weeks, in my previous post, and feel free to share your creative outlets.)

Not one fictional word written in two weeks… Wait, what?! But it’s true, and I’m doing okay. Hmmm… My pod people are quiet in my head. Maybe they needed a vacation, too.

So, instead of books and writing, I’m sharing my craft projects, old, and yes! New! I’ve caught the bug again after watching “Flosstube” videos with all the wonderful designs being shown off. I have tons of stash to dive into, but naturally I’m missing certain colors, which leads to retail therapy… Yes! Another benefit of embracing this surprising whiplash turn in my daily life. Somehow, writing doesn’t spark the same need to buy as other crafts do… but that’s a blog for another day.

Retail Therapy

A tiny sample of favorite shops: 123Stitch.com for DMC and Weeks Dye Works floss, Etsy (so much cross stitching!) for patterns and specialty floss, and other items like these gorgeous project bags. My favorite goth pattern designer is The Witchy Stitcher for the eerie and quirky. My favorite fabrics come from BeStitchMe.com

The most exciting part of this birthday month adventure has been kitting up for new starts. Check out these designs I purchased after watching too many enablers on FlossTube. (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.) I’ve made significant starts in “Greenhouse of Oddities,” “Cats and Cocoa,” and “I Like Cross Stitch.” I even started an old pattern from my stash, “Single Step” by Stichrovia.

My progress… on the first three above.

Rescuing Old Stitchworks Languishing in a Box

I recycled hallway picture frames, and now I get to enjoy these.

I’ve touched over a dozen old WIPs (works in progress) in February, including restarting three – all those old problems that made me hide them away and forget about them. I totally got inspired to patiently frog out stitches or toss out the disliked fabric or fabric I measured incorrectly, and show them some love. The first of my three restarts was in my previous post, but I’ll add it here as well.

And this beloved project, Keiko Sato Sampler by Twin Peak Primitives, started in November 2020, is also on fabric a bit too small, but I love the color with the stamped leaves, and decided to make it work. So, I stitched all night on the berry out to the black border, and part of the crane to see how close I would be to the edge of the fabric. Less than an inch! But I’ll make it.

Another Finish!

Check out this gorgeous reproduction sampler, stitched in 1857 by Jane Marshall, a 10-year-old Australian girl. I pulled out the band I was working on (her name) because the color just wasn’t working, and then I couldn’t stop stitching. The silk floss came from my stash, featuring a gorgeous variegated silk called Fairy Quilt Crossing. The pattern was free from Hands Across the Sea Samplers in support of the Aussie fires in January 2020. Many designers contributed patterns, and I stitched three, two I finished in 2020.

A Little Stash Organization