Halloween Exchange for Becky

I have received word from Becky that she has received her Halloween Exchange. I stitched the Kreinik freebie, Happy Jack. The design uses lots and lots of #4 Very Fine braid in Vintage Colors. Somehow, I didn't notice that it was so full of #4 braid until I had already started. I was a little worried about the amount of metallic thread but I think it turned out OK. I finished it as a stand up for Becky. She has much better pictures on her blog. I really enjoyed this Halloween Exchange. Thank you so much Becky.

We are having the most beautiful Fall weather. The fall foliage is at its peak. The nights are clear and cool and the days have the most beautiful blue sky. I hope everyone is enjoying autumn.

Gingerbread Friend

Here's an update my Gingerbread Friend from Brooke's Books Publishing. I need to get the stitching completed before the weekend so that I can work on the finishing with the Girl Scouts. As you can see, he will definitely benefit from some backstitching which I'll do when the cross stitching is complete. When I've actually had the chance to work on him, the stitching has progressed pretty quickly. I should be able to finish the little girl before Saturday.

Rather than finish the back as instructed, I think I will embroider a name on a piece of felt and use it for backing the stitching. Then I'll have an ornament/gift tag.

How is everyone's holiday stitching going?

Autumn House Exchange for Susan

Susan has received the Autumn House Exchange that I sent to her. Here is the needlebook that I stitched for her. The design is the house part of Cider House Garden from Liz Turner Diehl.

Here is the whole piece from Liz Turner Diehl.

I have seen stitched models of this piece and it is really gorgeous. I am pretty sure that I have also seen it on a stitcher's blog as well. I have it in my stash to stitch the entire sampler someday.

Fall is really kicking in around here. The leaves are finally changing and we seeing some frost in the morning. Pumpkins and Halloween decorations are everywhere and we've been making lots of apple picking trips. I hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather.

Autumn House Exchange from Joan

Look at this wonderful exchange I received from Joan. This is for the Autumn House Exchange. Beautiful cross stitching and sewing as well - Joan made the little chicken too. I love all the goodies too. Its hard to find ribbons and trims around here since we don't have a fabric store nearby anymore so the ribbons are doubly appreciated.

Sorry about all of the shadows on the picture. The sun is setting already.

Just wonderful. Thank you so much Joan.

Strawberry from Gaby

I received the cutest little strawberry emery from Gaby for a Make a Wish Exchange. Isn't this adorable? Thank you Gaby.

My Autumn House exchange is on its way and my Halloween Exchange for Becky will be on its way this weekend. Then it will be lots of projects for the holidays.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Halloween Exchange from Becky

I received my Halloween Exchange from Becky today. Isn't this just perfect! The inside of the box is lined as well. Thank you so much Becky.

It rained from Friday all the way through Sunday so I had lots of stitching time. Finished up my Halloween Exchange, made some progress on my Gingerbread Friend and I even worked on a near UFO - Mirabilia's Fairy Idyll. So, I'll have more pics as soon as the sun stays out long enough to take some pictures.

Thanks for stopping by.

Fuzzy Little Friend

No stitching pics today. One exchange going out tomorrow and another exchange going out the end of this week. Still have my happy gingerbread man too - he has a head and shoulders and a face. He just needs his little companions. I need to get moving on him to finish him up before the beginning of October - but first I need to finish up my Halloween Exchange.

I do have a pic of a fuzzy little friend. I'm not sure what variety this is, but I found him moving pretty quickly across my front steps.

Stitching pics next time. Happy Fall everyone.

Yuko's Birthday

I just found that Yuko has received her birthday gift for the Stitching Bloggers Birthday Exchange. Her birthday is on Sunday so it arrived just in time. Happy Birthday Yuko! I hope you like your Needlebook and needles and the JBW Designs.

Here's the cool needlebook design - this is the Folding Cross Needlebook from Indigo Rose. I changed the colors to pink for Yuko. The original design called for midnight blue. You can see (and purchase) the design here. We'll be adding more Indigo Rose designs to our website this weekend.

Each leaf of the needlebook has numbers to specify which needles are stored there and the center is a pincushion. Then the whole thing folds up neatly into this little square. Each leaf has button hole to button to the little tulip bead in the center.

The design was fun to stitch. I think I may join the cyberstitchers of the EGA just so I can take the reversible blackwork class. I had never done anything like this before and I am quite sure that there is a more correct way of starting and finishing and being sure that everything looks just so. But I am very happy with how this piece turned out. I will be stitching another one for myself when my holiday stitching is complete.

Have a good weekend everyone. Prayers for those who are in the path of Hurricane Ike.

No Gingerbread smile yet

Well, after Tropical Storm Hannah passed through Saturday night, Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day. So, my little Gingerbread Friend still doesn't have a smile (or shoulders or a head for that matter). And given that today is absolutely gorgeous as well, things aren't looking to promising for him today either. Maybe he'll have better luck tomorrow; its supposed to be stormy. I do have to finish him up though because the new Sweetheart Tree biscornu kits are calling to me. I really love the Blackberries on Gingham Biscornu, so I'll do that one first. Followed by the Holiday Holly design.

Blackberries on Gingham Biscornu	Holiday Holly Biscornu

I mailed out a couple of pieces this weekend for gifts and exchanges so I'll be able to post pics soon. I really liked working on these pieces. Can't wait to show them.



















This is a pic of the piece I did with the Brownies this weekend. This is a VERY old Mill Hill kit. Each of the girls picked a kit from this Summer or Fall's releases and started work on them. The beading parts of their kits will be much easier - they won't have to manage loops of beads. This little pin turned out to be cute. I hope they enjoy finishing their kits.

Gingerbread bellybutton

Now, there's a title for a post. I'll bet you expected more crumbs!

This little guy is Gingerbread Friend from Brooke's Books. It is stitched on perforated paper which is sooo easy. I think he deserves to at least have a head by the end of the weekend. (With all the rain and wind to come, I don't think I'll be doing much else) I plan to stitch a few more of these cute little Brooke's Books designs and use them as gift tags at Christmas.

I pulled out the Brooke's Books designs because most, if not all, of them are stitched on perforated paper and I needed a refresher on the perforated paper. I'll be teaching a group of Brownies some cross stitch (this afternoon, in fact) and I thought that the little Mill Hill pin kits would be a great place for them to start. The kits include everything. They are stitched on perforated paper, which is remarkably sturdy. They include beads so the girls get to work with beads and floss (and they're sparkly which doesn't hurt). And they are small enough that they won't be too tough to finish. So, hopefully, I'll finish the Gingerbread Friend before the next meeting in October with the Brownies and I can show them what else they can do stitching on perforated paper. I get to work with the girls again in the spring and then I'll bring small projects on fabric for them.

By the way, if you ever get the chance to work with the Brownies, I highly recommend it. They get so excited over new things. They're a blast to watch. And, you'll always know for sure when its time to order those Thin Mint cookies.

If you're interested in the Brooke's Books designs, you can see them on our website.

Enjoy your weekend!

Little House Needleworks

We are happy to announce that we will now carry Little House Needleworks designs. These popular designs really celebrate simplicity. Check out the great variety of LHN samplers on our website - NeedleartsGallery.com.

To celebrate this new addition, we will offer 10% all Little House Needleworks designs for blog readers through September 15. Just enter code NEWLHN during checkout.

Stitching pics next time!

Have you seen...

Have you seen the Hawaiian Garden mandala design from Chatelaine Designs? It is really outstanding. I could send you to the picture on the Chatelaine Designs site, but it really doesn't do justice to it at all. It is just a computer mock-up so you don't get to see the texture of the beautiful stitches or sparkle of the braids and beads. I recommend you see the pics on the Yuku forum - here. Look at the detail - the volcanoes, the pineapples, the beaches, the waterfalls - and it isn't even finished yet.



For those who don't have experience with Martina Weber's designs (Chatelaine Designs), Martina generally releases her designs online over a period of time. Some of her designs are "mysteries", you get a piece each month and you won't know what the final piece will look like until the last month. Other designs are "online classes" in which you can see pics of the complete piece but the design is released in parts over the months. You download each part in an Adobe Acrobat file and you use a password to open the file. She releases her designs in chartpacks to shops approximately a year after the online period is completed. Her designs are truly impressive - lots of different fibers, embellishments and details.

We carry a number of charts from Chatelaine Designs and we will be adding more as they are released. We'd also be happy to special order other designs if you are interested.



I highly recommend going to the Chatelaine bulletin board on Yuku (the link is in my 'Important Links'). The bulletin board has sections for each of the current mysteries or online classes. Under each of these is a topic showing current Works in Progress. There is also a general topic with a gallery of completed pieces. These pics are really stunning. The next time you are in need of inspiration, I highly recommend checking out the Chatelaine forum.

Feels like Fall

It feels like Fall. The nights have been going all the way down to the fifties. The days are in the seventies. Clear blue sky - all day. And no humidity. Some of the leaves are even beginning to change. Summer flew by.

I have lots of stitching going on but nothing that I can show yet. Right now all of my stitching is for a few upcoming exchanges.

The new Just Nan designs should arrive today. And, of course, that just adds to my new dilemma. - When we were finally able to get Mirabilia Designs again and lots of stitchers were re-invigorated and inspired to finish their Mirabilia WIPs, we all had a chance to see lots of newly finished pieces. While I have really liked a few of the smaller fairies/pixies that Nora Corbett has released in the few months, I don't really have a place for them in my home. I also really don't have any little girls for whom to stitch. But, in addition to the pixies, I really love a few of the Mirabilia mermaids. Now that I've seen more and more of them recently, I soooo want to stitch them - specifically Mermaid of Atlantis and Mermaids of the Deep Blue. How many people stitch large designs knowing that they have no place for the finished pieces? I still have Fairy Idyll only partially completed and I have no place for that either. Will these pieces be an excuse to re-decorate my office? Will this mean that I will just simply have to have a room dedicated to stitching? (I rather like that last idea). Am I just crazy?

Keep stitching!

New Designs

Yay! New designs!

Mirabilia Designs has released its first large design since being acquired by Wichelt Imports. Athena - Goddess of Wisdom is now available.

Lavender & Lace has also release a new design - Fallen Roses.

Keep an eye out for new Just Nan designs at the the end of the month - including Christmas designs as well as the next installment of the Over the Top and In the Tin series.

Pinkeep for Vonna

Vonna has received her pinkeep for the Make a Wish Exchange so I can post a pic of it now. Vonna wished for a flatfold or pinkeep in a patriotic or Americana designs. I stitched the Liberty Heart Freebie from Trail Creek Farm and finished it as a pinkeep.



Trail Creek Farm is the company that makes those adorable pillows in different shapes. Here's an example of one of the pillows that they make in the shape of a star. They have a large selection of others including a bunny, a carrot and even the placemat for one of JBW Design's pieces from last Christmas. These pillows are a great way to quickly finish off your stitched pieces. They even come with coordinating covered buttons.






I am continuing work on one of my exchange pieces and while it is coming along well, I am beginning to see the need for counting pins. Gridding this fabric really wouldn't have worked very well, but the counting for this design is a bit tougher than usual. Time to look into some of those pretty counting pins. I always thought they were pretty but I wasn't sure how much use I would get from them - now I can see how helpful they would be.

Keep enjoying these last days of Summer. For those who have already returned to school or who have already sent their kids back to school, Welcome Back!

Twinklings I

Here is one of of the ornaments I finished last week. This is Twinklings I from the Twinklings pack from Just Nan. This was a quick stitch and I love how easy it is to finish them off in a WhimZi frame.

The Cherry Blossoms Biscornu and fob from my last post are from The Sweetheart Tree. This year, Sandie is releasing biscornu kits that coordinate with some of her most popular scissor fob designs. Over time, she has said that she will release designs for various other stitching smalls to coordinate with these designs and create whole sets of stitching goodies.

I have some other stitching in the works but it is all for exchanges. I can't wait for one particular exchange to be sent and received. I am really enjoying stitching this piece and I can't wait to show a picture of it.

Must be off before the thunderstorm causes another power outage. Have a great week.

Wow! I can't believe its been over a month since my last post. Its been a really busy month too!

My family and I had a wonderful trip down south. We took the Auto Train from Virginia down to Florida and it was wonderful. It was far cheaper than flying for the three of us and that doesn't even count what it would cost to rent a minivan while staying down there. Even better, you can bring all of your stuff - whatever you can pack in your car stays in your car. No limitations on bags to check, bottles of liquids or gels or whatever. We were able to travel with all of the comforts that we usually have in the car, (games and snacks and such) plus I was able to bring a huge amount of the most popular stitching supplies for filling orders while we were away.

We had beautiful weather while we were away and we spent most of it outside and sightseeing so I didn't complete a whole lot of stitching. I am just now (a week later) finishing all of the laundry and cleaning. I'm not sure how long it will take to finish the garden. Apparently three weeks with lots of rain is just long enough to grow the strongest, heartiest weeds ever.

I did manage some stitching and I have packaged up a few items to mail out today for exchanges (no pics yet). I also finished my travel stitching project which came out nicely. I originally finished the Cherry Blossoms fob with the beaded edge, but I found that threads kept becoming caught on the beads. So I removed the beaded edge. I did finish it with the twisted cord and tassel.


I am waiting on some specialty threads for nearly all of my other Works in Progress. Hopefully I'll have some more pics of those once my braids and silks arrive.

Happy Summer everyone. Enjoy it while its here.

Happy 4th

Happy 4th of July everyone!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. Lots of summer activities - followed by lots more relaxation.

We're getting ready for our summer trip - taking the train all the way to Florida. Should be quite an adventure. My boys haven't been on a train before so even a short train ride would have been an adventure. Plus we get to take the car. The nice part of traveling this way is that I don't have to worry about all the limitations on liquids, gels, etc. for carry on luggage on an airline. There aren't as many limitations on my stitching projects either - so in honor of the trip, I am gifting myself a new project (both of my boys and my hubby have their birthdays within this week and I'm feeling left out). I'm deciding between Slicker Parade from Xs and Ohs and a design called "Magi" which is an old Janlynn chart that I have always loved but haven't had a chance to stitch.

I have made some progress on my 'travel project' - Cherry Blossoms fob. So far it is going more smoothly than I anticipated - possibly because it is such a small project. I have finished the stitching on one side and I have stitched all of the ThreadWorX thread for the second side. I wanted to start with the ThreadWorX on the second side just to be sure that I had enough. If I was going to come up short with the overdyed thread, I wanted to frog it without messing up any other stitching. Up until now, I haven't brought the beads with me. They would be way too easy to bump and knock over in the car.

On the shop front - stay tuned for the Christmas in July sale details. Lots of fun stuff!

Exchange Received!

I received a wonderful little package in the mail yesterday. Here is my needlebook from Terry for the Make A Wish Exchange. Isn't it wonderful! I love the colors. Now I have my own needlebook.



Thanks Terry for your beautiful work!

New Additions

We have lots of new additions up on the website. Here are just a few of them.

The new Gilded Dragonfly Scissor Purse from Just Nan is on its way here. This design is only available as a kit and it is a very limited edition. We only have a few that weren't pre-ordered so if this is one of those designs that you just have to have, you definitely want to order now because we won't get any more of these.
There are some new designs from Rosewood Manor. And a Garden Grew is a beautiful sampler with a large and varied collection of flower and animal motifs. The chart is a full 22 pages long and is in nice large print.
We also have a few new designs from Shepherd's Bush including Scatter Freedom and Scatter Sunshine. These are absolutely adorable with their cute little buttons from Just Another Button Company. Great Summer projects.

Be sure to stop by and pick up your Summer stitching goodies.

Cherry Blossoms

I was pulling together my materials for my new travel project, Cherry Blossoms Fob, and I decided to go back and check my pics of my Cherry Blossoms Biscornu. Strangely, I couldn't find the pics of the finished biscornu anywhere. I could have sworn I had some pictures up here but I can't find those either. So, new pics of my finished biscornu with the materials for the matching fob. The Cherry Blossom biscornu was a kit that included everything. The Cherry Blossoms Fob is a Teenie Tweenie chart that comes with the little pearls. The fob chart calls for Weeks Dye Works overdyed floss but the biscornu used ThreadWorX floss. I have a good length of the ThreadWorX floss left from the biscornu kit and I am hoping to substitute that for the WDW. Hopefully there will be enough and then the two pieces should match perfectly.






Of course, I took so long to get my materials together for this that I won't be able to start on the new biscornu kit right away. The new biscornu kits have arrived and I am looking forward to stitching the Baby Shamrocks Biscornu. And then, of course, I need to stitch the Baby Shamrocks Fob. The Cat Lover's biscornu is adorable too. I have a few cat lovers on my Christmas list who just might appreciate that cute little design.

Sandcastle birthday cake

So - I finally finished the sandcastle cake. There was a good deal of seaweed but no black bubbly things (I think those are egg cases for some sort of sand shark). The kids had a great time at the party and when it came time to have cake and ice cream - they ate all of the cake decorations. They weren't too interested in the actual cake. They were thrilled that they actually got to eat "rocks".

Lessons learned from this include:

Fruit roll ups dissolve into something that looks like swamp tar when the humidity level is high.
You CAN eat those realistic looking candy rocks.
Gummy fish stick together nicely when the humidity level is high.
Kids will even pass up chocolate if they think they can eat rocks instead.

Sandcastles

My young son will be having his birthday party this week. He has requested a sandcastle cake. I already had the sandcastle bundt pan and thought I could just make a sand-colored cake - Spice Cake - and it really wouldn't need too much decoration. The cake pan has quite a bit of detail. Of course, my son had a different idea - he feels that all cakes need to be decorated. So - I pictured a nice sandcastle like Mirabilia's Seaside Kingdom - nice bright sand, some sparkly beads, a few shiny shells, some ribbon flags. Yeah. That's what I thought. My son looked at it and said, "Yeah Mom, there isn't nearly enough seaweed and those bubbly black things that we find on the beach." So I drew some seaweed on the picture. Still not enough. Drew some more seaweed. Still not enough. Finally I got enough seaweed and "black bubbly things" on it. Now it looks a whole lot more like a mud pie. I'm thinking I might just make a huge batch of brownies and mash them up. This should be interesting.

Helen (Stitchingranny) commented on my last post about her method for taking projects with her when she's out and about. I'm going to take some of her suggestions and keep a project with me. I'll take something small - the Cherry Blossoms Fob that goes with the Cherry Blossoms biscornu. Its nice and small so I won't cry too much if I do get something on my fabric and have to start over. I have some of the over-dyed ThreadWorX floss from the biscornu kit left so I can make the two pieces match well. Thanks for telling me how you travel with your stitching, Helen.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads.

My Grand Plan

So here's my Grand Plan for Summer stitching. I need to get two name trees done for Christmas ornaments. I also want to finish 3 Twinklings WhimZi ornaments to keep on hand for those "surprise" gifts (you know, when you hadn't planned on shopping for a person and they arrive with a gift for you). I also need to do one of the Sweetheart Tree nutcracker ornaments as a Christmas gift (can't say here which one). I have an exchange due at the end of the Summer and I will probably sign up for one other exchange during the summer. I think that's all for obligation stitching. However, I do have a huge amount of obligation knitting.

Then - the items I would like to stitch just because I want to stitch them. First, the new Gilded Dragonfly Scissor Purse from Just Nan. Also, I really like Slicker Parade from Xs and Ohs. And I want to do one of the Mini Mandalas from Chatelaine. At some point, I would really like to try my hand at one of the HAED designs. AND, on top of all of that, an email from Mirabilia this week hinted that the company re-organization may be completed soon so the Mirabilia charts will be available again.

Baseball ends next week so I think I'll start off with stitching the Sweetheart Tree nutcracker. This week I'll get everything kitted up. How do people bring stitching with them when they're out and about? I can bring knitting and I have passed time waiting for practices or appointments knitting, but I don't think I could stitch. First, I'd be worried about getting something on my fabric. Second, how do you keep track of your threads and chart? How many places do you go that you can lay out your chart and pick through your threads to get any stitching done? I'm really curious how people achieve this. I would love to figure this out. Any thoughts?

Nora Corbett Designs

A new series of designs from Nora Corbett - Letters from Nora. The first three designs in this series have been release and they're really cute. These designs are all stitched on 32 ct Waterlily Linen with Crescent Colours threads. You can get more information on the materials for these designs on our Nora Corbett page.

Happy Summer

It's been a long time without a post!

In the last 6 weeks, I think I have been to a dozen school concerts, plays and award ceremonies and I feel like I have attended 100 little league practices, scrimmages and games. Needless to say, there has been little stitching going on. I've really only had time to finish a couple of exchange pieces, do lots of planning for Summer stitching and kit up my Summer projects. I can't wait to stitch.


I did finish off a biscornu for Kate for a Make a Wish Exchange. I based the piece on a design from Elizabeth's Designs. My pictures were pretty poor, but you can see pics on Kate's Blog.



There have also been some really great new releases in the past few weeks. The Dragonfly Scissor Purse from Just Nan was really very popular and sold out months ago. Nan has designed a new scissor purse - a limited edition kit. This piece includes beads, pearls, swarovski crystals, and is trimmed with metallic gold cord. The really neat feature on the scissor case is a thread called Gilt Sylke Twist. This is a thread with a silk base that is wrapped with the thinnest gold threads. Imagine the shimmer and shine of this thread!

The Gilded Dragonfly Scissor Purse and fob are stitched entirely with Au Ver a Soie silk - no conversions are given. We hope to have the silk packs available by the end of the month. The silk packs will be approximately $69.00 (they include the gold twisted cord). We will only have as many silk packs as we have Dragonfly Scissor Purse kits. The estimated release date for the Dragonfly Scissor Purse is June 25.

The new shipment of Barnabee's Bride kits is expected sometime next week. We will only have a couple more that have not been reserved so be sure to order soon if your heart is set on having one of these beautiful boxes.

For those of you who haven't yet started When Barnabee Met Bella, we will also be getting the silk packs for this design. The colors of the silk really pop on the lilac and blue backgrounds.

We also have a couple of new Christmas Eve Courier designs from Nora Corbett - Cupid and Vixen. These are the fifth and sixth reindeer in the series. Two reindeer left - unless she does Rudolph too!

Off I go to put my Summer stitching goals in writing! Can't wait to start!!!

Thank you Lynn

Thank you Lynne! This is my birthday package from Lynn for the Stitching Bloggers Birthday Club. Look at the chart from HAED - its called Celtic Butterfly One and its a quick stitch. I've never seen it before but I really like it. And I always like overdyed threads!

Thank you again Lynn!

Flower pics

Not much stitching going on here - and what little stitching that is going on is for an exchange so I can't show anything. But I do have pics of the flower fields in Carlsbad, CA. This farm or "Flower Ranch" grows ranunculus and they were in bloom when we visited. They also had beautiful poinsettias, lots of African Daisies and a Sweet Pea maze.

Stitching pics next time!

Flowers and biscornu

Long time no entry.

I've been away on vacation. Not a lot of stitching - although I did finish the stitching on both sides of the Cherry Blossom biscornu - just need to finish and stuff it. I did get to do lots of other fun stuff.

I spent a week with my family in southern California. I got to visit my sister and her husband and my two little nephews. We had such a wonderful week. We visited Legoland which was a blast - especially for the little ones. We checked out Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo! We all loved the zoo. We got to see Polar Bears up close and personal and we got to identify each Zebra by name via his "rump print" (don't get to do that every day).

Of course, the weather was beautiful - pretty much by anyone's standards. Sunny, in the upper 60's during the day, a little cooler at night. I really couldn't get over how bright everything was. The flower colors are so bright they seem to be electric. We even had a chance to go to the flower fields in Carlsbad. They have acres of ranunculus all in bloom and they allow the public to come in and view the fields up close. Absolutely gorgeous. (Pics are coming as soon as the camera gets unpacked.) All those flowers everywhere just make me itch to get out in my garden. Unfortunately, my garden still has patches of snow on it.

I did get the Weeks Dye Works fabrics for my birthday for Just Nan's biscornu, When Barnabee Met Bella. The colors are wonderful and I can't wait to start it.

Happy Spring everyone!

Cherry Blossom Biscornu and Just Nans

Last weekend, I did finally choose (randomly from a bag) which biscornu to do first - I started on Cherry Blossoms Biscornu from The Sweetheart Tree. It stitches up quickly, here is my progress after a couple hours - even while watching various basketball games. Its too bad that you can't see that the fabric is opalescent. There are also lots of beads to put on each side of this design - I added one so far. I need to finish stitching this today or tomorrow so I can start on the Just Nan biscornu.

The Just Nan shipment arrived this week. The Barnabee's Bride box is so cute. I'll get some better pictures of it today (before it gets cloudy out again). The biscornu design is wonderful as well. When Barnabee Met Bella is stitched on Weeks Dye Works hand-dyed linen and in light blue and lavender colors and also has lots of shiny beads - which you just can't see in the picture. We still have a few When Barnabee Met Bella designs left. We don't have any more of the Bella Bee box left for March delivery, but you can pre-order one for May delivery.

I hope everyone is having a Spring-like weekend (at least up here in the northern hemisphere - and a nice Autumn weekend down under).

So much to stitch

I finally finished part 4 on Indian Summer Reflections - at least as finished as I'm going to be for now. I didn't love the way the dew drops from the branches were coming out. I'm not sure how I'm going to proceed with this one - I'm keeping my eyes open for some lighter colored blue-gray overdyeds. I didn't love the backstitched leaves on the other branches either. I don't even have another idea for that yet. As for the spider webs which are currently missing, I am going to stitch a couple of samples - one with a pearl blending filament and one with a silver blending filament and decide which one I like better. Then, I'll put this piece away for a bit. There are so many things calling to me!


The biscornu kits from The Sweetheart Tree have arrived. Since I couldn't decide which to stitch, I'm just going to grab one out of a bag. Its so nice to have these come all kitted - and kitted with good fabric and fibers. Then its not so bad to be indecisive until the last minute - you can still start as soon as you decide. I need to get going on this because the new biscornu design from Just Nan - When Barnabee Met Bella - will ship next week. I already have the fabric and floss ready for that one. Then I kitted up that cool dragon design from Xs and Ohs. That one will have to wait until I am brimming with patience - I don't love stitching with Kreinik braids for long periods of time. I have to get moving on Scatter Eggs as well - there isn't much time before Easter.

I think Spring might be coming! We've had lots of rain in the last couple of days and its been really warm - close to 50F. Our snow is down to 4-5 inches deep in places and it is supposed to be warm for the next few days as well. I saw robins and bluebirds today - the robins are a good sign - I'm not sure if the bluebirds leave for the winter or if they've been here all along. I can't wait to see daffodils poking through the ground. Happy Spring!

Arrivals from Nashville

Lots of boxes have been arriving here this week - full of items ordered at Nashville.

The biscornu kits from The Sweetheart Tree have arrived. I can't tell you how cute these are. Sparkly and detailed - really nice. I can't wait to see the other designs that Sandie selects for the rest of the biscornu series - and even more, I can't wait to see the other needlework goodies that she creates for each series. I am personally hoping for the Blackberry design, the Holly design, and the Shamrock design. Sandie has already shown us the Catnip kitty fob which was adorable. Wait til you see that one. She has also mentioned Cherry Blossom and American Star.

My Easter project this year will be Scatter Eggs from Shepherd's Bush. This is stitched on 20 count Cork linen so it should be a quick stitch and it has adorable buttons from Just Another Button Company. I'm just going off to the fabric store tomorrow to find a nice coordinating fabric for a pillow finish.

Up on the website this weekend - new designs from JBW Designs. Here's French Country Amour.



There's a great picture of a beautiful scissor fob done with this design on the JBW Designs website.

I'd love to show you some of my stitching - but there isn't a lot to show. :-(

A Dragon and a Moose

How's that for a title? The Dragon is from Xs and Ohs and the Moose is from Stitchworks. First the moose.

The moose is Malcolm the Moose. These are a series of designs on 4" x 6" cards from Stitchworks. These aren't new, but I saw them at the Nashville Show again and then I noticed a few of these in a local school. They are adorable all stitched up. There are monthly designs as well as occupational and sports designs. Each design either uses buttons (which are absolutely adorable) or Mill Hill treasures. Here's a pic of the Surfer Moose for June. The buttons are the cute little inner-tube and the fish. We'll be getting these up on the site this weekend.



Then, the dragon. Here is another design that isn't new but really struck me when I saw a stitched model. It was really stunning stitched on black linen. You can't tell from the cover picture very well how beautiful this design really is.
See all those yellow speckles on the dragon? They aren't really yellow speckles in real life - that's just the was the camera picked up all the sparkle. Yep - that's all sparkle. The design uses 19 spools of #4 Kreinik braid but its all worth it because the final piece as really stunning.

As the days get longer and there is more light available at the end of my day, I'll be stitching this dragon for my son. I'll keep you updated on the progress.

Lastly, on the shop front - we will be carrying hand-dyed fabric from Picture This Plus. I'm sure many of you have seen these fabrics - they are really incredible. While we have loved the hand-dyed fabrics we've carried in the past, we just couldn't handle the backorder times (sometimes 3 months or more!) Picture This Plus produces fantastic fabrics with wonderful service. We probably won't have all of the fabrics that PTP creates on the website, but we'll be happy to order any that strike your fancy.

Have a great weekend! Remember - get the most out of these last few weeks of winter (wishful thinking?) Spring is coming!

More new products

Here is an update with some more new products. These are from Twisted Oaks Designs. First, Honor Thy Needle Etui. The finished model for this was really exquisite. The chartpack comes with the graph, excellent finishing instructions, die cut matboard and wood beads.

We have also added the designs in the French Monogram Collection to the website. In all, this collection includes an eyeglass case, a bookmark, a biscornu, a needlebook, a scissor fob, a bourse bag, and an album cover.

We have also added Coq au Pins and Merry Noel. Both of these designs are from the Chicken series and they're awfully cute. Be sure to stop by and see them!

Stop back tomorrow for another update.