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May in Review: Stitching, Storms, and Sweet Summer Bees

Updated: 7 days ago

Hi friends! I'm popping in with a roundup of everything that's happened around here in May. I was away for most of the month - so instead of skirting around the fact some of it had nothing to do with stitching, I'm leaning in and sharing it all. 😉 It was a busy month: a trade show, forest retreat, a cross-country road trip to take care of some family things (complete with unintentional storm chasing) and some cheerful new releases for my cross stitchers. Let's jump in!

H + H Americas: Creative Fuel in Chicago

Early in the month, I went to the h+h trade show in Chicago. All I can say is wow! It was amazing to soak in so much creativity all in one place. The stitcher side of me really loved discovering designers and finding products that I haven't seen in other channels. My thoughts:


LOVED the classes. Such a supportive and uplifting environment. Love, love, love.


I really enjoyed being able to talk face to face with vendors that sell products we use every day. (Zweigart, Bohin, Valdani, Clover, Dritz, etc.)


I thought it was super valuable to be able to sit in classes with people who work in other areas of the craft world and absorb the insights that they had that apply to all of us.


I want to keep this post short and sweet, but if you want to chat more in depth about the show or have specific questions, message me. I'm happy to share. ;). I only had one day there and was so busy I almost forgot to take pictures, but here's a 50 second montage:


Before moving on, can we pause for a moment to take in some gorgeousness?

Cross stitch piece featuring two folk art peacocks and geometric elements. Stitched in rich jewel tones ofblue, red, and gold.
Traditional Folk art cross stitch featuring geometric floral designs. Stitched in shades of red, green, blue, and yellow.

These are pieces from the Avlea Folk Embroidery booth. Yes, I brought some samples home for you! Kits from the show are here. I stood in the booth taking pictures like a tourist and making it weird, so huge thanks to Krista for being so gracious. :D

Mother's Day Magic (...and some spooky weather)

Right after h+h, I headed north with my kids to unplug for Mother's Day weekend. We spent a few days glamping and stargazing. It was just us, the trees, a handful of deer, and some huckleberries.

Perfection, really.

View of a river flowing through an evergreen forest under a blue sky with white clouds.

I came home, did laundry (always laundry!) and hit the road again for a cross country trip to take care of some more family things. Along the way, my travel buddies and I found ourselves facing a storm cell that was tracking along the freeway toward us. There was no where to go but forward, so we snapped some pictures, screamed (because horseshoe) and zoomed right under the storm to get past it before it got meaner. 0/10, would not recommend, but it did make for a memorable few minutes!

Horseshoe shaped storm cloud directly over a freeway.

You great plains folks? I have no idea how you handle weather like this on the regular, LOL.


Summer Stitching News

Back to cross stitch! I've got a few new things from Cherry Hill Stitchery® to share! First up is a new bee-themed summer cross stitch design called "Everything is Gonna Bee Okay." This PDF cross pattern is a sunny cross stitch chart featuring a cute bee, bright yellow flowers, and an encouraging quote to stitch. You can pick up a copy by clicking on this link.


Bee cross stitch pattern with quote "Not to spoil the ending, but everything is gonna bee okay."

I also released a coordinating enamel needle minder called Beehive. This one has two kinds of enamel including one with some shimmer, a border of flowers, and the same adorable bee from that ^^^pattern^^^ flying home to its hive. If you want something happy and sunshine-y to brighten up your hoop, this one is for you.

Two beehive needle minders. They have a cute bee and a hive with a floral border of yellow flowers. The background is shimmery blue.

A Peek Ahead...

You'll also find a new Cherry Hill Stitchery® design featured in the Summer 2025 issue of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher Magazine. This pattern was inspired by my Scandinavian road trip last year and all the darling red houses scattered through the countryside that I saw while I was there. If you want an interesting rabbit hole, google why so many are painted red. Learn something new? ;). I did!

A stitched model of a cross stitch pattern with a red house. There are two stitched evergreen trees and two large red and pink flowers also in the design. The finish uses a brown fabric frame.

Most of the time, inspiration for each new design is a jumbled mess in my head, but the colors and design elements were pretty deliberate for this piece. Here are inspo pictures from my mood board: Red buildings:

Home and outbuildings on the shore of a tree-lined fjord in a mountain setting.

Folk art flourishes from a church that had been painted by hand hundreds of years ago:

An interior view of a church from the middle ages. Rosemaling has been painted all over the interior of the building in yellow and blue.

Colors. How scrumptious is this?

A beige house with a brown roof, brown shutters, and a red door. The home is surrended in baskets of red geraniums.

This color combination was everywhere too, so had to include a little pink and yellow.

A pot of pink geraniums in a terra cotta pot that has been placed on a brown picnic table. Red and yellow houses appear in the background.

One more time, here is the resulting design:

Cross stitch with a red house, evergreen trees, and flowers that are pink and red.

Hope you can show PNPS a little love and pick up a copy of the magazine to get the pattern. If you stitch the piece, I'd love to see it! Talk to you soon,

-Deanna

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