Welcome To My Porch

Welcome to my Southern Porch!

I am a girl that was born and raised in the South, Kentucky to be exact. I sometimes dream of a place on the beach and I love to travel but the bluegrass state is where I will most likely keep my roots planted. I am so excited to start this blog and have you all join me. My posts will focus on all things cross stitch and a little bit of life thrown in. I decided to name the blog My Southern Porch as that is a place that is revered in the south as the "gathering place" to talk, have a drink, share tidbits with a friend, or quietly sit and watch the world move around you. So I invite you all to join me on my porch, share your stitching or stories, have a nice cold sweet tea or lemonade, and if you ask I am sure I can find a nip of some good Ky Bourbon for you.

A few more details about me. I am happily married most days. Come on, ladies, you know how some days, they just drive you crazy! We have one baby, a 3 year old boxer named Patch. I have a degree in English Literature but I work in the financial business office of a hospital. I am currently taking a medical coding course in hopes of changing positions and possibly being able to work from home. I am an avid reader and read most genres and I have a book blog that you can visit called The Book Tree. Be sure to head on over and read some book news, sign up for giveaways, and leave me your suggestions on what I should read.

Now... to the good stuff. Cross Stitch. I have been a stitcher for around 30 years. And wow, that makes me feel really old reading that. I actually started out with latch hook kits as a young teenager and moved on to stitching. There were many years in there that I didn't make one stitch and many years when I had trouble getting a few in due to life and returning to college at a later age. However, over the last 5-6 years, the stitching bug has been back with a vengeance and I can't seem to get enough of it. I attended my first stitch retreat in August 2015 and I was exposed to a whole new world. I have made some of the best friends I have ever had, learned new techniques and stitches, acquired tools that I never knew existed, and oh my, the amount of stash I have purchased since that retreat!

I will be sharing pictures of my starts, wips, and finishes. There are several ufo's in my tote but I am working on a plan right now to resolve that. I am in the process of organizing my stash and setting up a rotation where all ufo's will become wips. At the moment I have a tote of patterns that need to be kitted, a tote of projects that are kitted and ready to start, and a tote that has ufo's and wips intermingled. Along with the tote of patterns to be kitted, I started a notebook where each page contains a pattern from that tote and all the items needed for it to be fully kitted and ready to start. I was tired of searching for a pattern that I knew I had but didn't know what tote or drawer it might be shoved in.

Well, that is a short version of me and my stash at the moment, if you have questions, please ask in the comments below or you can email me. Please introduce yourself in the comments as I would like to get to know as many of you as possible.