Camp Gottastitch, Alone in the Garden, PS Santas, Shingles Shot

Last weekend I attended Camp Gottastitch in beautiful Berlin, OH in the heart of Amish Country.  It was a treat to get to see the fall foliage in OH since we don't get that much of it here in SE Texas.

The retreat was great to get to stitch with friends and enjoy being fed.  lol!  The Amish cinnamon rolls the hotel provided us each morning were a special treat.  Yum!

I mostly worked on La D Da's Alone in the Garden which had been languishing in my stash unstitched for quite some time.  I was able to finish it on Friday which was almost sad because I enjoyed stitching it so much.  I used the called-for silks, a special treat, and used some dyed champagne fabric by Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.

My friend, Vonna, did a Fiber Talk with Gary Parr while we were there and several of us "appeared" with what we were stitching.  Fun!

Friday I decided to go find some Prairie Schooler Santas I'd stitched.  I'd forgotten about the round robin I did years ago with 5 other stitchers...and some others I had tucked away with them.  It was a pleasant surprise to find them!  My plan back then was to make the RR ones into a wall hanging...which I still should do.  Some of the little ones need some more stitching to finish those and would make great ornaments.

I think my next cross stitch project will be a Prairie Schooler Chistmas design similar in size to the fall piece I just stitched.


DH and I had our second "date" to finish getting our shingles shots series yesterday.  Both of us have sore arms, achy muscles, fatigue, and headaches.  We also both had a low grade fever overnight.  I keep telling myself that these symptoms are far more tolerable than actually getting shingles.  (Our sweet neighbor had shingles recently and even had some in her eye.  It was scary for a while because she lost some vision but she's doing much better now.)

Happy stitching!

My November...So Far

We started out the month by going to the UT/WVU game with a friend.  (She and friends/family have had a block of  tickets for 20 years and for the last few years has been offering us a game or two of tickets when someone in the group can't attend.  They're great tickets...on the 50 yard line and on rows 1 and 2 on the home side near the players' bench.)  We had a great time but the Longhorns lost by one point at the very end of the game.  (I ran into a couple of WVU fans the next day and we  talked about how that game was close throughout the whole game.)

Before the game we visited with our son and the following day we had brunch with both of our Austin sons before heading home.

The next day I boarded a flight to Ohio where I first visited my parents.  Did you know that you can fly with frozen soup and pizza?  One reason I love flying Southwest is that I can check 2 free bags.  I often fly with food (or books/clothes/toys for our granddaughter when we visit here and fly back with extra stuff on the way home).  While visiting my parents I roasted a chicken and veggies, made soup from the leftovers, made chili, and baked chocolate chip cookies with my Mom.  I left with them with a full freezer.

(My Dad loves DH's pizza!  The minute he heard that I brought some...and after they'd already eaten dinner...he insisted that we heat a couple of slices and they both ate pizza.)

Next, I met my friend at the airport after turning in my rental car and we drove up to Berlin, OH (in the heart of Ohio's Amish Country) for Camp Gottastitch.  It was a weekend filled with fun, friends, good food (I love the Amish-baked cinnamon rolls at the Berlin Grande Hotel where we stayed and the pie at  the Amish buffet restaurant next door.  As you might guess, I need to step up my walking after all that food!)

It was so much fun seeing old and new friends there.  My internet buddy (or as my husband calls my internet friends, "Axe Murderers") Vonna (aka The Twisted Stitcher) was there too.  I'd known her for several years online but this was the first time we met "in real life".  She is the real deal!  I also met another friend for the first time ever who lives in Central OH.  My new stitching buddy brought her framed "All Creatures Great and Small" for a show and tell.   OMG!  She stitched it over one on 40 count.  It's gorgeous!  I've had that one kitted up with the floss shortly after it was released and for some reason haven't gotten around to stitching it.  I think I'll try braving stitching it over one on 36 count bc I know I probably can't see the 40 count.

  We all plan to attend camp again next year and already I can't wait.

I'm still finishing up a model but, of course, couldn't work on it around all those stitchers.  I took several projects with me including Lucy Redd by Homespun Elegance.  I wasn't sure I could see well enough there to stitch on 36 count but it worked out great.  I stitched a good bit of the lettering.  I'd already started it with 2 strands but I tried a bit with one strand and like it better...so there will be some frogging of the 2 strand section so I can stitch it again with one strand.

Oh!  ...and I got to see snow (flurries with just a little accumulation in patches on the grass and on top of parked cars).  I was a lot more excited about it (living in Texas) that the Midwest ladies for some reason.

Next we move on to Thanksgiving.  I went for the "big shop" at the grocery store yesterday and have been scurrying around meal planning and getting some things in the house done.  Our 2 Austin sons will be here for Thanksgiving and we've all been "consulting" on the food plans.  (They've offered to help bake/cook.)

I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving and is able to spend some quality time with loved ones.

Happy stitching!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It's been such a busy year that the time is just flying by!  I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving already!

We're having a small family group this year (3 of us) but we're all getting together for Christmas, including our son who lived in Denmark for 3 years.  He moved back "home" (the continental US) last month.  After I finish writing this post, I have to get busy on making pies, cranberry sauce, etc.

Speaking of busy, we met a group of friends and went to Galveston for a Segway (historical) tour of the island.  It was my first time on a Segway and made me into a liar.  (I'd previously seen those things and said I'd never ever be caught on one.)  At the risk of sounding like a dork, it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.  Maybe because I was enjoying being with our friends?  Before we started, we had a short lesson in how to operate the Segways which included info about what happens when you hit top speed....all of 12.5 mph.  Of course, I had to try that out.  lol!

  Our tour guide was great!  He was very informative and obviously very interested in the subject matter.  One of the favorite stories he told was about a house where the original owner wanted himself, his wife, and his daughter interred in a special room in the house.  He was but the house was sold before the demise of his wife and daughter.  Unfortunately because of zoning restrictions, they couldn't make an opening big enough in the house to remove him for burial elsewhere...so whenever the house is sold, the owners have to disclose that the buyer is getting the house AND the original owner.

 The next day I flew "back home" to Ohio to visit with my parents and attend Camp Gottastitch with a friend.  I enjoyed the whole trip.  My parents and I went to all the hot spots of my small home town so it felt like I was a tourist.  I can't even remember the last time just I visited them and that was really nice too.  When I first walked into their house, it felt like that commercial where the grandchildren are visiting their grandparents who greet them with a handful of devices and saying "Welcome!  None of this stuff works!"  I updated their new phone/new SIM card (which turned out to be a comedy of errors because they got mixed up which was the old phone and which was the new phone) and their iPad.  Then I recharged everything for them.  The funny thing is that they hardly use either device.

If you only knew how technically illiterate I am, you'd be laughing at my being their tech guru.

I'm most homesick in the fall (down here in Gulf Coast, Texas we don't get the beautiful fall foliage...and this year it's been unseasonable warm here).  The drive from my parents' house to my friend's house and then the drive from her house to Amish country in OH (Berlin was where we stayed) was gorgeous!  I decided I must try to visit "home" in the fall more often so I can experience my kind of fall.  It even snowed while we were in Berlin!  (For some reason, I was a lot more excited to see snow than all the other women Midwesterners.)

Stitch camp was so much fun!  I was already acquainted with a few of the women who were there and made friends with many more crazy wonderful women.  There were 38 of us plus 4 owners and workers from Cross My Heart, the LNS that held the camp.  What a great and fun group!  We had a well-lit room where we stitched (and snacked) and there was a little mini "store" for more stash enhancement.  (They "had" me with some new Elizabeth's Designs.)  Lots of activities and prizes!  We walked down the hill from our hotel for dinner Saturday night and I thought I was going to burst after all that food. (Did I mention the cinnamon rolls at the hotel breakfast?  They were from a local Amish bakery and were to die for!)

I won a prize for coming the furthest to camp.  (Take THAT, Miss Chicago!  😃😃😃)

I took along an old wip of Bent Creek's Snowbuds (I've been trying to seriously work through my wip pile recently) and started a new sampler...Pink Sparrow by With Thy Needle and Thread.

This was my first time to be able to go to this camp and definitely won't be my last time.

Happy Thanksgiving and....

Happy Stitching!