March Activities and Reports

Hi again! March was such a busy but also a fun month. It started with the celebration of my son's 15th birthday - he is 6'2" and great kid - he is funny and kind and loves his family and his video games.  😏

March also meant the return to work "the majority of the time," which has typically been three days/week. I have been going in one or two days a week for a while, so didn't think it would be much of a transition for me, but it was! I underestimated the energy from all the social interaction and the commute on a more regular basis - thank goodness for a cozy couch at the end of the day. 

Next up was the school play - my daughter was the stage manager again and she's said I can't post any pictures, so you'll have to trust me that the set she helped build looked great and she did a great job managing the show. The day after the show, we headed out for our first Girl Scout camping trip since 2019. It was so great to be back at camp with the troop, even though we had a smaller group than normal this time. We worked on primitive camping skills all weekend, and all but one girl (my daughter) agreed they weren't really interested in primitive camping. 🤣 

Building fires (three successes!)

Just before the camping trip weekend, I finished up the crochet gloves that I started in December. These are the 3-in-1 Hand Warmers and the pattern is available in both knit and crochet with three different styles - I selected the convertible mittens and I really like the end result. It was my first time doing a split stitch, adding a thumb, and using two colors - I learned a lot and like the end result - and they are warm!

But wait, that's not all! The weekend after camping was our first Two Tall Stitchers retreat! My mom and I decided last year that we'd like to host another retreat after making so many new friends from our Flosstube and we picked a date and posted the registration. In the end, we had 25 stitchers from across the Midwest (plus Florida and Georgia!) and had a great weekend. I shared lots of pictures from show and tell in our last flosstube video, but here's a picture of the group - new friends and old and we had a great time and look forward to another one next year! 

The month ended with the a spring break college-hunting trip with my daughter. We visited 6 schools in 5 days in 3 states and had a great time together learning, exploring, eating, and talking. It was a great week. No final decisions, but she's started to pare down the schools she wants to apply to. I am sure there will be a few more visits (she's a junior this year) before applications. 

Touring Boston the day before visits started

A quick trip through Grand Central Station

Philly! 

Can you believe that between all those activities, I still got a little stitching done? I finished up my Wee Santa 2021 which was started during the Winter Olympics. I love this piece stitched on 32 count Desert Sand linen with the called for colors (except the white, which I switched for Threadworx) and plan to finish it as a pillow, let's hope before this Christmas!

Wee Santa 2021 by Heart in Hand

I also fully finished my September Lizzie Kate Flip-it, which was stitched back in 2019. I have been finishing these a little at a time and glad to have another one done! Only three remain at the end of March. 

September Lizzie Kate Flip-it

You might imagine that there just wasn't enough time for much else in the month - I did load a quilt - this is one of Lois' UFOs that I still have to finish - I plan to quilt this one and donate it to a nonprofit organization for their annual auction. The top was already finished, so I made a back and got it loaded one night. I lost steam then and it has been waiting for me since then. I am sure I will get back to it soon. 

Floragraphix waiting to be quilted

Hope you're still with me - that wraps up a very busy month! I have a few stats to share as usual. April is proving to be just about as busy but I am hopeful that I will get some good sewing time this month. 

Stitching time - linking up with Kate at Life in Pieces

# of days with at least 15 minutes/crafting - 23/31 days for 74%

Stash Report - linking up with Donna at Quiltpaintcreate

Fabric added this month: 0 yards

Fabric used this month: 4 yards (quilt back)

Fabric added year to date: 3 1/2 yards

Fabric used year to date: 7 5/8 yards

Net fabric used: 4 1/8 yards