I heard about The Jingle Ball last year but also very confused on how you roll out a whole stitching retreat online. But people raved how fun it was so I decided to take the plunge. This year the Jingle Ball was December 5th thru the 7th. The beauty of Covid is that it created new ways to meet people that was never an option before. So this is a new exciting way people can gather, stitch and learn. The cost to join the Jingle Ball was only $15 but if you signed up for a class it costs more and of course if you bought items at the shopping booth it costs even more. Bet your bottom dollar I spent a small fortune on patterns.

I decided to take one class with the kit. I went with Primrose Gardens stitching mesh bag.

I figured this would be a good introduction to the whole online retreat process. I am a huge fan of Primrose Gardens and their designs. Easy and so darn cute. The class/kit was expensive but it never hurts to have a good stitching project bag in my stash. All the ladies from Primrose cottage came to the retreat. It was their first jingle ball too. When you take a class you have 30 days to watch the classroom video. It is helpful if you want to rewatch a part of the lesson.

Yes I started the project bag, no I did not finish (yet). Stitching inside a bag is a bit more awkward than I thought. Sometimes my hands don’t work that good (arthritis) and it was not going well. I will finish, but not today.

Besides the classes there are stitching rooms you can join, entertainment videos to watch, speed dating, classes, meet and greets, and shopping. I was a little apprehensive about how you do speed dating but it was very easy.

The ladies I chatted with were very friendly and it was fun. I sure we would have been friends if we met in person. The furthest away was a lady from Australia. Most were in the States. The nice thing about the Jingle Ball is that it was open internationally and was 24 hours a day.

I did a lot of the meet and greets, tried the speed dating and watched most of the videos. I did enter a stitching room but it was not my cup of tea. It works great if you go with a friend so you can chat and share.

It was from Friday to Sunday with lots to do. I mostly watched and stitched during the meet and greets. So I got a lot of stitching done. One of my favorite sessions was a man who collected vintage LPs from the 1940-1950’s. His Christmas music was great. I asked him for the playlist so I can create a Spotify list. Love those old Christmas songs.

I excelled at shopping. Most of the booths had freebie patterns only available at the Jingle Ball. A nice gift from the teachers. Speaking of the teachers, there were 12 teachers from the different companies. As I mentioned I took a class from Primrose Cottage.

Steph from Lindy’s Stitches is the creator/hostess of the Jingle Ball. So many great companies like Primrose Garden, Hands on Design, Tiny Modernist, Teresa Kogut participated. I love these designers.

Every year they do an ornament book and the patterns are exclusive for a year. I was thrilled that the book was a PDF since I don’t need another book in my house. They also had last years book. Yes I added it to my cart.

There are many cute designs. The 2024 Santa from Teresa Kogut was just released and I have seen a lot of people do his jolly face. Each of the designers had a shop with exclusive jingle ball releases. I have seen a lot of people on Facebook asking where to get the patterns. Sorry you need to wait a year since you did not go to the ball.

Here are the patterns I got from Primrose Garden. I am hoping to start Winter Rules next.

The Winter Forest Ornaments was a 5 part mystery series that was exclusive to Jingle Ball. I finally got all 5 patterns (one a week). Tiny Modernist rolls out a lot of mystery multi part stitches. I never seem to know about it on time, so I was thrilled to grab this exclusive one from her shop.

Of course I bought from other designers.

Some I already have kitted up and ready to stitch others I am holding onto and will kit later.

Overall I really enjoyed the Jingle Ball and will probably do it again. They do have a harvest one and a spring one but I think the Christmas one is the big event. Maybe next year I can talk my sister into to joining.

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I think I mentioned it before but I am incredibly slow with my cross stitches. I usually only stitch on Saturday and Sunday morning because after work it is too dark and I am too tired to stitch.

This pattern is from Primrose Cottage Stitches and this is one of five new Halloween releases. I like their patterns but definitely cannot keep up with their releases. I actually stitch in a QSnap so it is a slower approach. I don’t really like the stitches when I do stitch in hand. That approach is faster but my stitches look wonky. If I am going to frame something I need it to look neat.

Now I just need to frame this beauty and it will be ready for next year.

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Just on the heels of the summer bucket list (summer be gone) I am rolling out the Autumn/Halloween bucket list. Autumn time is my favorite season. Chilly night, leaves falling, a nice windy breeze, pumpkins on porches, scary shows on Netflix, hot soup and warm tea at night. Ohhhhh my favorite time of the year.

I keep seeing all these cute pictures on Pinterest.

Amen.

But onto the bucket list.

There are a few new items on the list and a few favorites. More crafts this year and less cooking. But that is fine. Gotta mix it up. I will joyfully celebrate the season. I may do things not on the list. Let’s see where this takes us.

Let the leaves fall and the winds kick up and start the bucket list.

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It is my final post on the Autumn Bucket List 2023. Although I finished this project before the deadline I did not get a chance to photograph it.

Again, this is another Primrose Cottage design called Autumn Rules. My sister also did this design as well as the Christmas Rules design. She even managed to mount them on long boards with ribbons and Autumn picks. She did a wonderful job. Ahh to be retired and have some extra time.

It is a little hard to see the design so here are some closeups. I used a Lugana fabric which is so easy to stitch on.

I just need to finish this project. I have the board but I need to choose a background fabric and use some autumn picks and ribbon. But no rush since Autumn is officially over. Hopefully I can do the Christmas Rules next year. So much to stitch, so little time. But now I am all about Christmas activities now so I closing out my Autumn Bucket list for 2023.

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Halloween is my favorite holiday, all the pumpkins and bats are exciting to me. So it comes as no surprise that I cross stitch Halloween designs.

I decided to do a couple of Primrose cottage designs. The first is the Salem Sisters Apothecary on linen. I was hoping to get the frame from Etsy but it sells out before I even have a chance to see it on sale.

Then I decided to do a bunch of smalls from Primrose Cottage book called 13 Halloween Smalls. I just did 6 of them. Not sure if I am going to make ornaments, small pillows for a dough bowl or frame them.

These were quick and easy to stitch up. Maybe next year I can do the other ones in the book.

Now I am off stitching up Christmas designs.

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I enjoy cross stitching. I remember doing kits (like dimensions) with my Mom way back when when most cross stitch kits and patterns were kinda ugly. Aida came only in white or beige and your only option was to just stitch it up and hang on the wall. Now people are making project bags, cute decorative pieces, and tiered tray pieces or even a dough bowl filled with little stitched pillows. To be honest I do not remember actually finishing anything back then or maybe I just blocked it out. But cross-stitch has come a long way since then. The patterns are really cute with something for every season or occasion in many different sizes. Aida comes in beautiful colors and most are hand dyed to get the beautiful shades. The options are endless.

I rarely buy kits anymore instead I get patterns and my own floss and fabric. I am still a fan of DMC which is classic and very reasonable in cost. But now there is hand dyed floss which comes in beautiful rich tones. Now there are so many vendors who sell on Etsy that sell their custom colors. The choices are endless. I bought some that are Halloween and Autumn tones.

I am not sure what I will make with these floss colors but I am thinking a simple shaker design that will bring out the colors of the floss.

The Halloween ones have fun names like Werewolf, Sweater Weather and Moonlight. I thought this simple pattern would look good in one of these flossesj

The autumn colors are just luscious, so rich in golds, browns and oranges.

With names like Embers, Autumn Harvest and Golden Rule I can pictures leaves and pumpkins. Maybe I can do this pattern.

Or maybe some fall leaves 🍁

Or maybe I will hold onto them until the perfect pattern comes along.

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I finished finished the Fat Quarter Shop Halloween Mystery Stitch Along. I am definitely behind the curve so I struggle to keep up with other stitchers. I can only stitch after work and on the weekends and time does not always permit. But I do enjoy this stitch alongs and applaud all who participate.

That moon took quite a while to stitch but was enjoyable because I could stitch without counting. There are a few mistakes (I won’t point them out) but overall I am pleased. I need to find a backing I like or a frame.

Now onto the Christmas Mystery Stitch Along!

#hauntedhalloweensal

It is time again for the annual halloween mystery quilt along and stitch along that Fat Quarter Shop hosts. They generously post a new part of the pattern every week in June to make a cute wall quilt and a cute cross stitch design.

I received in the mail the fabric for the quilt. This year they are using Urban Chiks Owl-O-Ween fabrics from Moda.

From what I can tell, it appears to be a castle, haunted of course.

The cross stitch seems to have a pumpkin and a bat.

I thought about using DMC but went for the fancy floss because it looks like the pumpkin is a large enough piece that the variation would look good.

I decided to make a grime guard for my QSnap in the same fabric line. It makes it all the more festive. See you in June.

Since 4th of July is around the corner I decided to stitch up a few small patriotic pieces. To motivate me I jumped on the Primrose Cottage Stitching challenge.

I have done of a few of their ”kisses” patterns. Not only are they cute, they are fast to stitch.

Now for the million dollar question. How do I plan to finish them? I am thinking the small decorative pillows to put in the dough bowl. But we shall see.

To see other great projects from fellow stitches on the challenge use this hashtag #starspangledstitching

I finished part three of the Little Women SAL. I was hoping to catch up on the book but I have been kinda dragging lately.

This part has the dates and names down on the bottom. In an effort to catch up I immediately started Part Four so I can catch up.

I saw someone on Instagram who made a project bag out of the finished project. I am not sure what I want to do with this sampler. I am leaning towards frame art, but framing is so expensive. I can try to frame this myself, but I doubt I can do it justice.

What do you think? What should I do with it.