Busy Week

 

On Monday I met Barb, the Wicked Stitcher!

What a wonderful lady!

We met at our LNS which Barb has to take a ferry to get to. It is only 19 short miles for me.  Then after adding to our stashes, we walked to the local library where a group of stitchers meet informally on Mondays to stitch.  All were pleased to meet another fellow stitcher.

Then we headed to a local Mexican restaurant and indulged in some luscious food and stitchy talk.  Oh, the time passes so quickly!

I had a great time, Barb, and hope we can meet up again soon.

 

And look what I found in the mail when I got home!

Wonderful Kim from Wisdom with Needle and Thread sent me this gorgeous blackwork ornament that she stitched and finished!  The workmanship is amazing.  There is some gold metallic accents in the ornament that are hard to catch in the photo, but the metallic thread is picked up again in the twisted cording.

All because I was the first person to follow her blog!  Run right over if you haven't found her yet.  She is posting some adorable free patterns that you will love!

 

 

P.S.  Kim paints china and the little girl on the card is a photo of some of her work. Is she not amazing and beautifully done? Kim is a true artist.

What else have I been doing?  Well, my finishing pile was teetering on top of my ironing board.  I couldn't even get to my Merry Cox pieces (which I am ashamed to admit that I haven't touched since I came home from AZ in Nov).  So it was way past time to delve in and see what I could accomplish.   Here is the BBD Christmas box all put together--doesn't it look great!

 

(Sorry for the glare-I was lucky to get any pictures today as my phone slipped into the tub when I was giving Amber a bath this morning)

 

Of course, I did a lot of second guessing and why didn't I stitch that other design, but altogether I am pleased with the way it turned out.  What do you think? 

 

Now, would someone else pick a spring theme or Valentine's theme and try it out?

Here is my Liberty House.  Remember I stitched this on an uneven weave old linen?  And it turned out rectangular instead of square.  Well, I had this Olde Colonial basket that really needed a top, and as I am ornamented-out (is that a word?)  thought a basket top was called for.

Next up is Pretty in Pink by Brightneedle finally finish-finished!  Yes, the scissors came with the kit.  And also a little beeswax which I forgot to put in the photo.

 

OK, this was my first attempt at ruching ribbon and I want to share a little of my journey.  For the scissor fob I followed the written instructions to the letter.  Unfortunately when I was done, the cream thread they said to use to gather the ribbon showed too much for my liking.  And the same thread was used to tack it down around the fob. Didn't like the tacking down either. 

 

SO.... I decided to read up on Vonna's tutorial about ribbon ruching before I did the pinkeep to see if she had some words of wisdom on this.  She did and I implemented her tips AND used matching thread AND used the pins to attach the ribbon to the edge.  It was a much better and easier method.  But I think next time I will try tacky glue or hot glue.  Does anyone have any tips or advice on this?  

Here is With My Needle's Quaker Hornbook finish-finished with Crescent Colours hand-dyed chenille trim in color Bamboo.  This is a round chenille trim .  Any imperfections in attaching it is user error.

Isn't this box the cutest!  It was part of my advent exchange with Lorrie of A Stitcher's Snippets.  I finished the inside of the box and amazingly it was that same technique that I learned with Merry Cox last fall and that BBD used in their Autumn Song box.  Once you learn this it is so easy to finish the inside of any shape of boxes!

Last, but not least is the finish-finish for Gentle Stitches by Shakespeares Peddler.  This is the one that Theresa finished as a roll.  The colors are so wonderful and mild.  I painted the box and antiqued it with dark brown Briwax a long time ago.  It has been cluttering up sitting on my ironing board waiting for me to get in gear.

Did you notice something in common about all these pieces?  No sewing required.

 

This is just a portion of all the items that need finish-finishing.   There are items that I am finish-blocked (like writer's block).  And items that need more sewing than I want to do. 

 

I also got the Rhapsody in Blue by Jackie de Plessis kit and haven't even started it. Which I want to do this weekend after the girls Bible quizzing team we are hosting leaves and my EGA meeting is over and....  well, you get the idea.

 

Have a great weekend everyone!