Land of the Free

Hey, Friends!

Know what I’m thinking of during my Staycation?  The Myrtle Beach Fall Fling Stitching Retreat with  PALS !  What am I talking about?  Lots of stitching, chatting, eating, and general fun times at the east coast of South Carolina!  Amy, from Down Sunshine Lane is the sponsor, and here’s a link to the general information if you’re interested in setting aside a few days in October for having a blast with a bunch of women with the same passion for stitching that YOU have! 

I finished stitching Land of the Free, the Blackbird Designs patriotic chart that was published in the July edition of Cross-Stitch and Needlework magazine.  By the way, the Yahoo group, Blackbird Designs seems to have lost its owner, so a new group was created, Blackbird Stitchers, if you'd like to become a part of a group who loves BBD.

After Land of the Free was stitched, I immediately picked up a Lizzy Kate small design and started stitching it.  It should be stitched up today.  Why do I want to get some smalls done?

When I’m visiting your blogs I see your beautiful baskets of seasonal displays, but I don’t really have a lot of table-top space for displays.  I thought I’d love to have a wooden dough bowl for my smalls, but here again, more table top area would be needed.  And then… I walked into one of my recent favorite places, Shoppes on the River, and what was there?  A dough trough on legs!  It measures about 22 x 11 and is 27 inches tall.  Where will it go?  I don’t know, but it’s perfect!  

AND something else I really “needed” was a set of Virginia Rose dishes that I so vividly remember from childhood – not in the table being set with china way, but pieces of the set, like eating from a soup bowl…  Anyway, this set was said to be from a 90 year old woman who said this was her first set of dishes.  There are six 9-inch plates, 6 inch bread plates, and five - inch berry bowls, but no cups and saucers.  I walked away several times, but just could not leave without them!  From what I've read, these "were distributed through Department Stores, primarily Woolworth, and later through savings stamps."  Here in the south, Woolworth was our 'dime store' and S&H Green stamps were given with grocery purchases.  I imagine the pieces in my memories came from Woolworth.  Those precious green stamps were saved for things like an iron or bath mat sets.       

After making the changes to the blog site, I noticed that my 2011 finishes page was affected.  Most of the recent information is gone.  I tried to download from previous saves, but what’s there is the result – not accurate, but all that’s left.  I will update it again, but that will be another time.  Ah, don’t you just love Blogger?  I said to someone the other day, it’s getting almost as bad as like Yahoo! 
And for other Staycation news – have not done as much cleaning and organizing as my plans included, so there are no photos of the nice, tidy craft room.  That’s usually the way it goes here for me. I’ve enjoyed what I have done, and that’s the point of vacation to me. I honestly don’t care about going away for every break I have from work. I’m basically a home body, and love to spend time here.

Thanks for coming by today.  If you have a minute, leave a word or two or just say, Hey!  See y’all next time.

PeaceëLoveëJoy
and Happy Stitching
Charlene♥SC