Flosstube #71 - late but here.

[@justsewsherrie]

Aw Sarah I’m honestly so touched by your and Sally’s new start in my honour and that it’s a modern folk embroidery just like my birthday one 😍

[@sewmesarah]

Our pleasure Sherrie! 1974 was a champion year for stitchers!

[@SarahsStitchySpot]

You have been delightful company this Friday afternoon. Your stitching is so lovely and you are doing well with your birthday starts. Sending love and hugs.

[@sewmesarah]

Love and hugs gratefully accepted 😁

[@karenchristmas7670]

I wish you and your family a very blessed Easter and a wonderful time spent with family.

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Karen. I hope you have some special time too.

[@scrappychickcyndi]

I always love so much listening to your lovely voice in your episodes! I too think the ceramics turned out beautifully, and as you said it's a learning process. 😊 Still loving that Studies in color, very cool!

[@sewmesarah]

Aw thank you Cyndi. The colour study that Ros put together for her SAL has been great. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone put so much work into a Sal and it’s a lot of fun.

[@stitchinwiththetwins421]

Lovely spending some time with you! I adored your pottery pieces, I thought you did a beautiful job! Hope you and your family have a blessed Easter! 💕

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Tiffany. I hope you and hubby and the girls will have a great Easter too.

[@anaussieinakiwiworld9355]

Thank you for spending time with us Sarah, you are so informative and always have new Sal's for us to find and join. Look forward to starting a few of the projects with you. Take care and happy stitching 🌷🌷 from Judy in New Zealand

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Judy. It will be fun to have you stitch along on something.

[@anaussieinakiwiworld9355]

@@sewmesarah will grab something out ready!

[@pamlacey136]

I really like your ceramic pieces, they are so pretty. Thanks for sharing your beautiful stitching too.

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Pam. I’m getting used to them now.

[@diannekosboth2700]

I agree about Jacob’s designs. They fit my brain also. And he is so pleasant to listen to.

[@sewmesarah]

I love to listen to Jacob too, Dianne. We just need him to post videos more often!

[@flossysewsandgrows]

Lovely to see you my fab funfor50 friend. I really like your clay peices and for a first go I think you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You have already made lots of progress with both the Jacob projects - both looking really good! Xxx

[@sewmesarah]

I wasn’t meaning to be hard on myself about the clay pieces. I think I was just processing out loud 😜 I just love a Jacob stitch!

[@bioboystitcher7320]

I love your ceramic pieces, it is super fun to try something new, Have a lovely Easter. 🐣

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you. It was great fun and the ladies at the Clay Project workshop were great.

[@KathysQuiltsandStitching]

I adore "All Things Grow With Love"! I am stitching along too and just slightly behind you. I have the words stitched and am working on the 3rd and 4th birds. So many gorgeous new projects to start with you in April 😉

[@sewmesarah]

All Things Grow with Love just makes me smile every time I lift it Kathy. I’m so pleased that you are enjoying it too.

[@elizabethaston4434]

Another lovely video, always enjoy seeing all your progress 😊❤

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you so much Elizabeth.

[@joyd5000]

Loved seeing your stitching and pottery!

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Joy!

[@OMGImIrish]

Actually, Sarah, I like the green pottery piece you made. I think it is lovely.

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you very much. I’m very attached to them both now that they’ve had time to become part of the decor.

[@RenewingStitches]

So lovely to catch up with you this evening, so calming : ) Such great stitching all around! I'm working on A Stitcher's Prayer from one of the magazines...well, I've gotten some stitching in. I looked up a lot! Looking forward to stitching the umbrella freebie with you!

[@sewmesarah]

Oops, sorry to distract you from your stitches! 😉 Your Stitcher’s Prayer piece will be beautiful. I hope it’s nice to work on. I’ve been away a few days this week so I need to catch up on your flosstube when I get home again.

[@peggymartinez5350]

Very pretty ceramic pieces. You did a great job. Your advent calendar is progressing nicely and is lovely. I am going to try to purchase a couple of the patterns which you are going to be starting in April. I found them on 123. Enjoyed your video. Thank you for sharing your time with us.😊

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you so much for planning some starts along with me next month. I really hope you have fun with them!

[@jeanmansfield1138]

I think the ceramic pieces have turned out well and especially like the shapes. We always take flowers to church on Easter Sunday, decorate the cross then stand it outside for passers by to enjoy - after we've sung a hymn around it. It always looks beautiful with spring flowers. I know how disappointing a variegated thread can work out when stitched but at least you like the design. Happy Easter to you and your family especially if Andrew can join you but distance and fares add up for short times don't they?! I hope that school options for Charlotte are good in your area. Time to quilt will happen and your project will come together eventually and be lovely. 😊

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Jean. Your floral cross sounds lovely. I don’t think Andrew will make it back this Easter. He’s been a bit vague on plans and can be a last minute Harry when deciding to come home. If he does come back it won’t be for Easter weekend though. I will miss him, of course but the visits are getting shorter and less frequent which I guess is to be expected as he starts to make his own way. Have a blessed Easter, Jean.

[@aimeeadams7163]

Lovely to get to stitch along with you as I take a wee lunch break. I like your pottery pieces but I do have empathy with the trying it for a day workshops that end up not quite what you thought when you spent time and money on it. Precious pieces regardless though. You are flying through your 50 starts and I like your Jacobs pieces. Hope you have a wonderful and blessed Easter holiday!

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Aimee. The workshop was really great and I would highly recommend it. I just need to learn to go light with the paint and trust that enough is enough for me. Hope you have a lovely Easter too.

[@stitchythings]

Thank you for your company this Easter Sunday. 🐰🐣🐑 In about an hour the kids are coming home so it will be board game time than but I did manage to get a little stitching done while watching your video. I think I'll join your for the Red Riding Hood pattern. Only I will be stitching on Alice in Wonderland by Jardin Privé. Have a lovely Easter! 🌷

[@sewmesarah]

I hope you had a lovely Easter Sunday with your family Joanita. So happy to have you join us for the Jardin Prive snowglobe stitch. Of course, you should stitch Alice!

[@lisaboban]

Your videos always make me smile! Thank you for pointing out that pattern by Jacob. May Easter bring light and peace to you and those you love.

[@flossabilities]

By Sarah fab flosstube!! I have to say you have enabled mama and she has bought the peacock pattern and has started it in a sulky thread called peacock if that helps! Your progress is fab on all wips and l loved your clay finishes! 🧵💗

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Lauren. It’s lovely to hear that your mum is stitching the peacocks in a more successful colour 😉 I was determined not to restart it, but now I’m wavering. It’s just so very dark.

[@susanlamatrice6938]

I enjoy seeing your advent calendar! It seems like my projects all inch along, so it’s comforting to see your progress. Slow & steady!

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Susan. The advent calendar is now literally inching along! 🤣

[@lucylou8833]

Happy Easter great video

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Lucy.

[@jeancairns1825]

Sarah, I love your ceramic pieces; for a first attempt they look great and I hope that you feel able to display them proudly somewhere; they’d look good with your Everything grows with love SAL! What a shame the thread for the peacock piece has not turned out as you’d hoped. I noticed from the screen that the blue/green colour was coming through stronger on the skein than on the fabric. Tbh, I thought that I could see the colour on the skein more clearly against the white of your backing board than against the white fabric. Maybe the fabric has a tint of blue that is throwing the colour of the thread? It looks beautiful even so. Just started What Remains yesterday in honour of my mum’s anniversary - inspired by you - and in honour of your 50th. Happy stitching. 🙂

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Jean. I have the porcelain pieces on the mantel and they look great with other things around absorbing their colour a little, the variegated floss difference is still a mystery. I see no variegation at all as it’s stitching up. 🤷🏻‍♀️I hope you really enjoy What Remains. It is a beautiful design made even more special by the ones we stitch it in memory of. Happy Easter Jean.

[@RosClarkeCraft]

Your ceramic pieces are absolutely beautiful.

[@RosClarkeCraft]

Wasn’t there a prompt abot something with birds?

[@RosClarkeCraft]

I checked the list: it’s definitely monochromatic with tonal variegated floss, even if the variegation is too subtle to see!

[@RosClarkeCraft]

I will start the umbrella one on April 15th with you!

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Ros. It was such a fun workshop.

[@Dippys_stitches69]

I think your pottery looks fab 🥰 I would be really proud of them 🥰 great video as usual, hope you start to love your peacocks more xx

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you. I am enjoying the pottery pieces much more now that they are on display. I just needed to adjust to the colours😊

[@sew_stitch_sewnat9548]

Happy Easter. I need to pull the kits for stitch some happy but it all will be from stash. I’ve started 15 things and finished 2 😮, I think I might be unintentionally joining yours and Sally’s 50 starts at this rate 😂 as I have more planned starts and want to start more things. I saw a grumpy owl by MFE that I now want to start but have 2 other MFE’s on the wish list but they are much bigger. I am trying not to start big things at the moment. Looking forward to some kit stitching next month also and getting progress on my WIPs. Thank you for sharing I had a nice cup of ☕️ and some stitching 🪡 x

[@sewmesarah]

Oh that wee grumpy owl is so brilliant, I hope you do stitch it. Startitis really is a thing, isn’t it? I kitted Stitch Some Happy from stash too. It’s an easy one to choose similar colours for or swap colours entirely.

[@Mamgus_attic]

Hi Sarah glad you are all ok. ❤

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you. Yes, all good just busy.

[@annemarie6962]

Great to see you tonight Sarah. Of course you can do it, I have absolutely no doubt about it. I, for one, am loving all your projects. Nice to see all the Jacob goodness tonight. I know exactly what you mean when stitching his patterns. I'm loving the 2024 SAL at the minute. We're having lots of appointments & waiting for results for Jon at the minute. I bring knitting, just a quick scarf, with me for the waiting rooms, as in healthcare, nothing is ever on time 🤔🤔🤔 But when we're at home it's stitching on Jacobs pieces that calms my brain & hours go by happily. I'm also using up all my random balls of supermarket DK wool in a knitted blanket which will be forever know as The Subtitle Blanket as I only knit on it while watching European crime dramas. I haven't started my Jacob sleeper piece as yet. I have the Irish Sampler to begin, hopefully soon. Hope you have a lovely, blessed Easter with your family & friends. Take care, best wishes from 🇮🇪

[@sewmesarah]

Thanks for cheerleading Anne Marie! I have the Irish Sampler in my stash. It’s lovely, I just don’t think this is its year for me 😜 Keep up your knitting and stitching for calm. I know it can help divert your attention from worry. Your progress on this year’s SAL piece is amazing!

[@treetopstitcher]

hi sarah! i wanted to commiserate with you on your threads not looking the way you hoped. i stitched my I Am No Bird in Vampish, a purpleish black from roxy floss co. i was hoping for more purple, but it's very black. alas! i appreciate that Jean Farish stitches her own models. she says it's so that if a color she picked during the design process doesn't look the way she envisioned it, she can keep at it. Hope you and your family have a blessed Easter! terri

[@sewmesarah]

Isn’t it hard to get our brains past our expectations some times? I’m sure your piece really looks beautiful and to anyone else there won’t be any issue but maybe to you, you’ll always be looking wistfully for the purple glints you hoped for. That’s really interesting about Jean Farish doing her own model stitching. Quite a good policy. Does she publish designs under her name or under a company name?

[@treetopstitcher]

@@sewmesarah Sarah, Jean Farish has a youtube channel and an etsy shop. she publishes under her own name. she is the go-to person for all things cross stitch. she has lots of great how-to videos.

[@heatherhenning4688]

I’m stitching A Tisket A Tasket by RoseWood Manor with the called for flosses and one is Weeks Dye Works color Fathom and it is supposed to be a teal/navy variegated. It’s showing very navy and not getting the same coverage as the other shades with the linen I chose, which is a cool light gray. It’s been that way with red flosses too lately as well. I know a lot of people talk about coverage with white floss and I found to use Anchor white which seems to help. We’ll adjust as we go and find what works. I’m currently working on a piece by Plum Street Sampler. It’s surprising how far into stitching a pattern we get and then have to learn what works well although that must be how we become more experienced stitchers I was looking back at some of my first projects and comparing.

[@sewmesarah]

I agree that sometimes there are coverage issues with one particular colour rather than a brand as a whole. Even with dmc. I have a yellow dmc in the Celebration of colour SAL piece that gives much more coverage than other colours, so much so I’ve had to stitch that colour with just one strand while the other colours all have 2! Adapt and overcome, should be our stitching motto 😉

[@stitchyrach6252]

Good to catch up with you today. Sorry to hear that you're a little disappointed with how the peacocks are turning out. They look great though. Ros did one of her colour videos about how colour looked different when you had lots of it together in the skein and when it's stitched. I guess you may have been a victim of that. Funny old business colour isn't it. Have a lovely Easter x

[@sewmesarah]

Hi Rachel! Ros’s videos have been fantastic, haven’t they? And yes, there’s definitely some trick going on with this thread. I keep taking out the skein and comparing it to the stitch in the hope I can make one look like the other but that magic just isn’t happening! Hope you have a lovely Easter with your family, Rachel.

[@phyllisbrandon6636]

I love the ceramic pieces. Especially the pink and green one. They look very organic and natural. Question: what bags are you using for your overflow dmc? Mine is stuffed in a single bag and a mess!

[@sewmesarah]

For now, the overflow dmc is in A5 plastic snap envelopes I got from Amazon. It’s just a temporary solution but they work fine.

[@CarolRogers50]

♥️🙏👍🧵🪡✨💗🙏

[@loftymakes]

With your Jacob peacock stitch, are you stitching 2 threads? If so I only found out recently you shouldn't use the loop method because it reduces the variegation you see when you stitch? Or perhaps it is just the pattern itself, less block stitching?

[@sewmesarah]

Yes, it’s two threads on the Jacob piece and I haven’t done a loop start. Could be the darker thread just isn’t as good at variegation showing up when there’s less block stitching, as you say🤷🏻‍♀️

[@DeviSisk]

💛🐇❤️🐰🖤

[@rebeccajourney3183]

Sarah, why don't you change the color on the other half? The male peacock is the colorful one. The hen is more subdued, as in most species. Just a suggestion. I've only stitched on Aida. I can't imagine doing 40 count = or unpicking!

[@sewmesarah]

I’m pretty sure if I changed the second half, I’d end up frogging the first part to make them the same🤣 In a year where I wasn’t doing a crazy 50 start thing I’d probably restart it in another colour.

[@cotterillfamily7355]

Any month now you are going to tempt me to your dark side with a new start…. Take care, Nic x

[@sewmesarah]

It’s not so bad on my dark side. Come on over 😉

[@janecopeland2306]

I don't have a Jacob piece in my collection but seeings yours, I think I should. The peacocks are lovely. I am progressing, too, on Woman In a Field of Flowers. I was working on it earlier and for some reason my thread kept knotting so I stopped -- 16 stitches done! I'm sure tomorrow will be better. Thanks for showing us all your plans.

[@sewmesarah]

I heartily recommend having a Jacob piece to stitch, as you can imagine 😉 How frustrating for you that your thread kept knotting on Woman in a Field of Flowers. Hope you had better luck the next day Jane.

[@trudymeyer430]

I understand fully about creative doubts, but you really needn’t. Your clay works are beautiful, and I suspect the more you look at them the more you will appreciate them. They are fun, the colors are just….neat😁. We are all our own harshest critics. Have a beautiful Easter, may the Easter Bunny be especially good to Charlotte (does the bunny come to Northern Ireland or is that an American thing?). Anyway, peace and happy stitching🕊🪡🐰

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Trudy. You’re right about the clay pieces, they are growing on me. I guess I’m just adjusting to the reality vs expectation. I didn’t mean to sound quite so hard on myself, I think I was just processing my thoughts about them. On display in the living room, they look very nice and more importantly, I had a great time at the workshop with m6 friend doing them. So, the Easter Bunny isn’t much of a thing at our house. As a tradition it doesn’t have the same history that it does in the US but it’s definitely growing in popularity here.

[@sewmesarah]

There will be plenty of chocolate eggs though, have no fear!