#24 Hours of Cross Stitch - July 2022 and Slow Sunday Stitching - July 17, 2022

OK, so this weekend isn't the "official" 24 HoCS virtual retreat.   But those of you who have been watching me for a while know that July is my big annual project/filing.   And it's always due right around the weekend that @JenLee chooses for the retreat every year.   This year, we file on Monday the 25th, so there's no way that I can take off the prior Friday for the official retreat 7/22 - 7/24.  So I'm moving it back a week and doing my own thing LOL.  Since I'm pretty much obligated to be in the distant office on Monday, I'm also going to run my 'weekend' from Thursday after work to Sunday afternoon (leaving the Sunday evening hours to get ready for the work week and get to bed on time).

I do have a family event Friday afternoon.  My grandson has been at theater camp the last three weeks and their final project is a short play or two.

My usual line up for the virtual retreat is as follows:

1. Finish the ten hours on the current slot in the rotation:   This time the current rotation piece is Dutch Beauty.
   
2. Do five hours on the BBD project:  I finished "Their Song" over the 4th of July holiday weekend and won't choose another project for #BBDweekendSAL until August.   What I DO have is the  BBD finish ("Autumn Silhouette") that I want to FFO as a project bag. 
   
3. Dealer's choice for the rest of the weekend -  work on anything that calls for my attention:  This time, that will be my USMC seal full coverage project. 
    
   As mentioned above, the first project for any #24HoCS is to finish up on the ten hour slot for the current rotation project.   Since I just finished the "not counted thread" slot on Tuesday, I've only put in 4 hours so far this week on the "Historic" slot in the rotation.  I got the 'grass' in along the center and right side of the 'nest' area and the 'sticks' on Page S/19.  Going to continue on with the cattails, sedge and water iris on that page. 
   

   

   Where I'm starting on DB, 4 hours of 10 completed
   

    
   
   And here is ten hours on DB. Not quite a page finish, but darn close.   I have one more stem to finish, with a large yellow water iris and one more cattail - second from the right.  
   
    

   
    

   Now I'm working on JC's USMC seal.   Three more of the over one letters, the backstitching between the blue and gold borders (inner and outer) and the banner in the eagle's beak is all that's left
   

    

   

   Where I'm starting on the USMC Seal.  

   
   

   
   

    

   

   
   

   I am SO CLOSE to a finish.   I'll keep working on this after I check out the SSS crew (current link party).
   

    

   For the record, the plays were super cute and Carl even had one speaking line!  And he ran the lighting board.  He was very unenthusiastic about this camp originally, but ended up loving it and wants to do it again, but only for tech.  He has zero interest in acting per se. 

    

    I knit on the hat while waiting for the curtain and between the plays, at the restaurant when the family went out to dinner afterwards etc, and got a good start.
   

   

   While I picked up a couple of 'OK' fabrics at the quilt shop, they aren't the perfect fabrics, so I'll keep looking.  I put enough time into the needlework for the project bag that I don't want to use just 'OK' fabrics for it.