What's happening?
If you follow my social media profiles you probably know by now that I plan on attending the #stitchpeoplegathering that's happening in Provo, UT (That's south of Salt Lake City, for those non-Americans out there!) on February 1st.
Omgosh I am looking forward to my first little solo trip interstate! Since we moved to the USA, I actually haven't stepped foot outside California. Ack! It's almost criminal. I've had time to myself (such as my weekend trip to Hollywood alone for my Birthday last year) but nothing like this.
What you are also probably aware of is travelling on a plane with stitching supplies can be a nightmare. You never know if you're going to get an asshole TSA agent who sees your round-ended, teensy little needle as a threat to every passenger on the plane and confiscate your belongings (This is a gross overstatement, of course, I doubt anyone has had that happen!) or if your fancy, little-more-than-4" scissors are allowed because they are having a good day. So what's a girl to do?
What's the plan?
What good would a cross-stitching event be if I didn't take cross-stitching to work on?
I know myself; I know that I can easily flip flop between what I should work on (being the priority of course) and what I want to work on (if the 'should' allows for it). Right now, my should pile is low and non-urgent so therefore, I can bring what I want to work on!
When I got back into cross-stitching (and stitch people stitches) back at the end of 2017, I started with doing my own little family "through the years" dating back to 2012, as that's when things started changing for us. Plus, my then-boyfriend-now-husband had been together for 10 years, so it felt like a natural place to start. I realised -again- that I still had not finished my family portrait for 2018.
Oops!
So, what better choice to take to a stitch people gathering, than my own stitch people projects? I've gone ahead and designed last year's family portrait too (as I base them on how we were at the end of the displayed year), grabbed the corresponding fabric to match all the rest of my pieces, and I'm good to go.
So with that, obviously, comes a lot of different colours. Normally with projects, the floss bobbins live on a metal ring and the project is all tucked into a ziplock bag. But since all I am taking with me is a carry-on bag, I don't want to have to deal with tangles, poked bags or lost floss.
In comes this smaller plastic floss storage box!
Of course, I wouldn't be able to do anything without the tools and equipment. For fear of my things being confiscated or lost, I am only bringing the bare essentials and a couple of luxury, albeit helpful things. Needles (more than one! I can't stress that enough!), small embroidery scissors (the blades must be smaller than the width of your palm), water-soluble pen, a regular pen (to scribble on my patterns), a needle minder, a floss ring and a fabric clip.
The last two aren't really necessary, but sometimes they can be incredibly helpful. Plus, I don't mind terribly if I lose either of those as I have plenty being left at home 😁
Anyway; I think this is a good plan! It's small but it allows me flexibility on what to work on, it's organised and neat, which I'm a stickler for when it comes to stuff like this and it ought to be very travel-friendly since I'm packing super light and space/weight is something I have to consider.
Regardless of what I'm bringing, I can't wait to meet my fellow stitchers! I am hopeful that this gathering will make some of the people I know of on both Instagram and the Stitch People Facebook group feel more than just a photo and name, but become my friends.
Are you attending the gathering? Drop me a comment below or on your social media platform of preference and we'll make sure to catch up!
