Flosstube #73

[@stitchysally]

You and Sally are doing brilliantly on your 50 for 50. You’re nearly halfway. Your Historical Sampler finish is absolutely beautiful. Lovely too see your WIPs and starts. Happy stitching 😊

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you so much Sally. It’s hard to believe we’re this far along now. Doesn’t it seem like yesterday that it was New Year?

[@SarahsStitchySpot]

I am watching you in Canada. I knew you would bring me peace, the calm before the storm. Thank you for all you do to unite our community. Many hugs.

[@sewmesarah]

Hope you are having the best time in Canada.

[@SarahsStitchySpot]

@@sewmesarah It is so wonderful!!!

[@Yvonnescraftyadventures]

Sarah your Historical Sampler piece is so very beautiful, well done and it's so impressive that you kept up with it because each part was not small and you have so many wonderful pieces on the go.

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Yvonne! You’re right, there was a lot of stitches in the parts of All Things Grow. It’s such a lovely project though. I’m very happy to have it done.

[@noreenkennedy5381]

Great stitching as ever Sarah, I got a beautiful Erica Michael strawberry chart so will definitely join you and Sally 😊

[@sewmesarah]

Yes, please join us with your strawberry, Noreen.

[@susanradford9503]

Thank you Sarah for a plethora of videos. I was so far behind so I have spent a very pleasant few hours over the last few days, catching up! You are doing so well in your 50 for 50 and I am loving seeing your progress. Thank you for sharing and happy stitching x

[@sewmesarah]

Oh thank you for you patience having to listen to me all that time. At least there’s plenty of pretty stitching to share with you. Hope you are well Sue.

[@flossysewsandgrows]

Oh my eyes are leaking! Such lovely words my wonderful friend. I have been loving this crazy adventure as much as you and our growing friendship. Has been wonderful to catch up with your stitching and plans. Big hugs 😘😘😘

[@sewmesarah]

Sorry I made your eyes leak, but I meant every word 😘

[@jeanmansfield1138]

Lovely finishes and good progress made. Well done Sarah. Longer daylight hours helps I find😊

[@sewmesarah]

Longer daylight is wonderful! There’s much less strain on my eyes in daylight. Just need the temperatures to settle at a nice spring warmth instead of dipping one day and rising massively the next!

[@annemarie6962]

Than you for your kind words Sarah. So glad you enjoyed the books. I knew they were going to a good home 👏👏👏 One last trip across the Irish Sea before we get home after a lovely but very busy holiday. It was great to catch up with family & friends especially Darcie, Jon's almost two year old granddaughter. I finally got a photo of the three generations that I'm happy with so I'm going to get it mounted on canvas to be displayed at home. I haven't had a stitching needle in my hand for over a week & boy, do I miss it. I don't think I fully appreciated how much I enjoy stitching & how it keeps me grounded. I am so looking forward to taking up residence in my chair on Tuesday evening. Knitting needles do not bring me the same level of joy, though I did make some progress on my blanket & scarf. Scarf knitting is perfect for appointments & the car. I'm very tempted by the Emma Condon stitch. I really like her work. I might just have to treat myself. Your stitching is lovely as always. It's great that you are getting so many finishes in as well. Take care, best wishes from North Wales.

[@sewmesarah]

Hope you made it home safely Anne Marie and are tucked up in your chair with a needle and fabric. Breathe, and take it all one day at a time.

[@countrygal854]

So much beautiful stitching Sarah. You are really getting lots of stitching in when you can. I will join you both with Barbara Anna since I already have the chart. I'm enjoying seeing so many different charts out there. Take care 💞

[@sewmesarah]

Yay for joining us with Barbara Ana Ruth. It’s so lovely to have our friends pop in and join us on a project here and there. I’m very excited to try my first Barbara Ana, though I have a couple more lined up for future starts too😉

[@jodidrehmer8624]

Living in the US, I "needed" to order the SAL with Caterpillar Cross Stitch. I paused the video to go and order it. Can't wait to start this. Thanks for sharing.

[@sewmesarah]

Of course you needed it! I hope you enjoy stitching along Jodi.

[@justinestitching]

Lovely to catch up with you and see your most recent starts. I'm amazed that you have already finished 9 of your 50 and hope you are very proud of yourself. The Blackbird book from Ros is a lovely gift and I can't wait to see your strawberry!

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Justine. Will you make it to Stitch in London in October this year?

[@justinestitching]

Yes - booked for weekend 1. Hope to see you there xx

[@cotterillfamily7355]

So many finishes so far - you’re definitely not going to end the year with 50 wips at this rate! Take care, Nic x

[@sewmesarah]

That’s the plan!

[@gelbfisch6472]

Thank you for another great video! I just purchased the next caterpillar cross stitch SAL😅 - Thank you for your Inspiration 😊 Kind regards!

[@sewmesarah]

Oh I hope you enjoy your trip around North America with us! Thanks for watching!

[@KathysQuiltsandStitching]

Congratulations on your finish of "All Things Grow"! It is gorgeous! I am also stitching "Light a single candle" and it is really fun! I adore the Bee Queen chart... and really anything by Tiny Modernist!

[@sewmesarah]

I love Tiny Modernist too! The Bee Queen has been calling to me for a long time and I’m so glad the start is coming up😬 Good to know you are enjoying Light a Single candle. Thanks for watching Kathy.

[@CrossStitchtheGlobe]

I'm working on the Secret SAL and it's really fun! I highly recommend people join us!

[@sewmesarah]

It’s such a brilliant idea. Can’t wait to see all the different versions when they’re revealed.

[@joyd5000]

Lovely stitching!

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Joy.

[@ryoungdesigner4340]

I love listening about all your birthday projects, the prompts the progress. Everything is beautiful. You can now add enabler to your accomplishments 😂, if just purchased the Caterpillar stitch along box. So excited. My husband and I love to see different places, so this should be fun. Would you believe at 67 years old I have never been to our capital. By the way, I'm from West Virginia in the USA. Have a wonderful couple weeks.

[@sewmesarah]

How exciting that you’re joining the North American Adventure SAL. I really hope you enjoy it. I’m wondering how many of the landmarks I will know as we stitch them. Maybe you and your hubby can take a trip to Washington, I hear it’s a fabulous city to visit. Hope your Caterpillar box arrives soon!

[@TheStitchingOwl]

You are doing wonderfully with the prompts and starts this year…finishing 9 already is amazing. A video and a zoom on the same day has kept you busy this weekend. Happy stitching.

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Karen. I’m so glad you made it to the zoom on Saturday night. It was great to hear from you there.

[@sunrise49738]

Hi Sarah! Happy to see and listen to you today! I was so tempted to do the North America SAL but just don't have the extra money to join it right now. I will be looking forward to your stitching of it. How is Charlotte's new routine going? Wow, 2 new SALs for you. Love the house ornament, so cute! Wonderful progress on your WIPs and new starts. Congrats on your finishes! You are such a wonderful spokesperson for the stitching community. I am still sick, this time it is sinusitis so on a third antibiotic for another 10 days and he gave me a refill of it, which is rare for a physician to do here in the States. So tired of feeling yucky. Have to go for a CT of my sinuses in a new part of town on Wednesday. I even took the weekend off from watching Walter although I did get to see him for about 45 minutes to an hour as they were at a local park before they went to Eric's brother for their usual Sunday night visit. Happy stitching. Dawn in Texas

[@sewmesarah]

Oh my goodness Dawn, you are having such a rough run of things. Good luck for the CT tomorrow. I hope that they will be able to spot and treat whatever is lingering with you. Hang in there!

[@annemarie6962]

A treat to look forward to on our way back to 🇮🇪

[@katiepunch42]

All things grow looks beautiful Sarah, congratulations on the finish 🤗.

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you Katie. The colours in the kit were wonderful. Perfect for a spring time stitch along.

[@jeancairns1825]

Hi Sarah. Raising a needle to you this evening as I stitch on What Remains and watch your video. I’m really enjoying working on it and after my initial worry about the colour of the linen, it’s looking great now that I’ve washed it and the thread colours are going in. Thank you for the inspiration! Your finishes are gorgeous; very much your colours, I think 😉. All things grow is particularly nice. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. God bless.

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you so much Jean. I’m so glad that you are happy with the fabric for your What Remains after that doubtful beginning. It’s such a pleasant chart to stitch. I really hope you will enjoy it.

[@donnabennett5106]

Great progress👍beautiful stitching,Sarah we have ATC card share going on here in NZ just for us only,having lots of fun and creative stitching,have a good week Thankyou for sharing 🇳🇿❤️🪡

[@sewmesarah]

Oh that’s brilliant that you have an ATC swap going on. I think it’s really fun to test your creativity sometimes. Enjoy!

[@saralore5357]

I started “Schoolgirl Lessons” from my stash today. Thank you for all you share. ❤🧵🪡♥️

[@sewmesarah]

Brilliant! I hope you are enjoying it Sara.

[@susanlamatrice6938]

I’m still working away on my 5 big starts for my big 5-0 birthday this year! I’ve got my first ever full coverage start coming up on May 1!

[@sewmesarah]

Oh that’s exciting Susan. I really hope you enjoy it!

[@peggymartinez5350]

Thank you for a great video. I appreciate your sharing the information and links.

[@sewmesarah]

You are very welcome Peggy. I’m really glad they are helpful.

[@stitchyrach6252]

Some months stitching and watching floss tube is hard. April has been a stitching bust. Finally finished this today, no koftas involved. 😂. Thank you so much for the giveaway. I'm going to pull Light out with you and Sally in June and hopefully get some progress on the sad start that is now 4 years old😳

[@sewmesarah]

Some months why you’re a parent I think you deserve congrats for just making through to the next day! I was so pleased when you last posted your Light with a link to the pattern. I tried to find it for ages before then but couldn’t. It’ll be nice to have you stitch along ahead of us.

[@RosClarkeCraft]

I don’t think I realised you were going to try and meet all the prompts, otherwise I wouldn’t have suggested so many! Don’t feel obliged to do all of mine. I shall be raising a needle to you this week as I start the Il Pleut piece.

[@sewmesarah]

I won’t make all of the prompts, but it’s actually been really fun to see what’s in my stash that fits them. I wanted to do it as a way to engage with viewers too, and that’s been very successful so far. You did give us plenty to be getting on with. I think there’ll only be one or two of your fourteen (!) not covered when we finish - hopefully! 😉

[@sew_stitch_sewnat9548]

Watch when it cam out but didn’t come back so. Just a quick comment that I will join you for the strawberry (already had the book) and light (managed to find but not via the link), I just need to kit from my stash. This will also be my first Barbara Ana. Thanks for sharing Nat

[@sewmesarah]

Thanks for alerting me to the fact the link isn’t working for Light. I tried for months to find it myself with no luck and then Stitchy Rach posted this link. Where did you find it? Perhaps your find will have a better link I can post. So glad you’ll be joining us with the Strawberry and Light too Natalie!

[@sew_stitch_sewnat9548]

@@sewmesarah it’s on her instagram linktree in her bio. Along with some other freebie’s which I have not looked at

[@Dippys_stitches69]

Great to watch as always, doing a great job with your 50 starts 😊 and 9 finishes wow 😊 look forward to seeing you next time xx

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you! We’re both really enjoying the challenge.

[@mihaela.929]

I loved the finished All Things Grow with Love when I saw it on ig, you cannot take your eyes off of it. You touched upon two interesting topics: I love projects that have backstitch, I prefer this older style to the modern- primitive one. As for choosing your own colours for a monochromatic piece, that is exactly what I am doing with the Peacock Tree - your sal gave me the opportunity to do this and I love it, even though it is a bit of a trial and error stitch. I would have liked it so much to start along with the Schoolgirl Lessons , but there is no pdf version for it. I am just curious to know how many annual days off do you have in UK - I live in Romania and we have here 21 days plus 16 days for the bank holidays but more than half of them are Sundays so ... :) Happy stitching during these spring days! I hope to honour your sal with a finish in May!

[@sewmesarah]

Backstitching can be used so effectively, and of course, blackwork, which I love, is all backstitch really! It’s great that you are switching up the colours of Peacock Tree too. In the UK legally a contracted worker is entitled to 5.6 times their working week in annual leave days which includes the bank holidays. In most of UK there are 9 days bank holiday but here in Northern Ireland we have 10 days. Some more generous employers might give their staff the 5.6 weeks plus the bank holidays on top. It varies greatly. A company can also give more than the minimum of 5.6 weeks if they want. Some do give more for seniority for example, but that is much less common these days.

[@RenewingStitches]

Sarah, thank you for filming such lovely videos! I am a week behind, but I just wanted to have a dedicated and relaxing hour stitching with you. All of the SALs you mentioned look and sound so fun. And your finish of the Historical Sampler Company piece is so very pretty. Any thoughts on how you might finish it? Lovely projects, progress and overall visit this evening ❤ Thank you, thank you friend!

[@sewmesarah]

Thank you for spending your stitchy time with me. If I lived alone, I think I would finish All Things Grow with Love into a sofa cushion. But here sofa cushion are pulled to the floor and used for trampolines, so maybe not …. I’ll have to think of how I could frame it and let it create a pretty spot on a wall.

[@inezharrell4339]

🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@patchy_pony_stitcher]

🐴🐴🐴

[@sharonwilliams6787]

Are you not counting your stitch a longs (caterpillar cross stich & sampler co.) as part of your 50 new starts?

[@sewmesarah]

So, the counting of the SALs is a debate that’s still going on in my head Sharon 🤣 I did count the first two - All Things Grow and Enchanted Realms but I’m not sure what to do now. Practical head says, get them counted since you’re stitching them anyway, but my more idealistic self is looking at the very long list of projects I want to fit in to my 50 and wondering if I count the SALs does it mean they are taking up another start’s place? It’s all very complicated (only because I’m making it so). 😉

[@sharonwilliams6787]

@@sewmesarah well it could be 50 planned starts for your birthday year. And extras to enjoy with your friends. I love seeing all you are working on and can't wait to see how long it takes to get back to your sweet 16 number.

[@sewmesarah]

That sounds like an eminently sensible way to describe it 😉 It will be interesting to see how long it takes. Maybe I should take a poll at the end of the year and see what everybody thinks😂

[@FrostyXStitch]

🪡🧵🥰