By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea.....finished!!!

Another wonderful event last weekend with Sherri Jones.  Many old friends were here and a couple of new friends and it was a drama free weekend....whew!  The weather didn't cooperate exactly, but stitchers thankfully don't really care about that...they are stitching anyway and don't mind sitting inside.  Since I worked the shop I didn't get a lot of stitching done, but Monday I was on it.  I finished stitching the gauze necklace and needlebook for "By the Sea" from Erica Michaels.  It was a joy to stitch and I can't believe I'm saying this, but a joy to finish.  The more I finish the more confident I become...although my Mani di Donna has proven once again I should not follow my own thinking when constructing her little totes...but that's another story.   Here is the By The Sea complete.  Since I talked about the strawberry in an earlier post I'll just discuss the gauze pendant and the needlebook.  Gauze 40 ct. pendant was an easy stitch (the gauze is so open it's easy to see.  My problem with this was,  I couldn't find the Bezel charm pieces at Hobby Lobby or Michaels.  Don't know if they are discontinuing this particular one or what, however, at Hobby Lobby they had the smallest starfish ever in a package so I purchased that knowing I had small shells in our own shell shop.  I looked at the beads suggested and I just couldn't get past thinking I could use the sand outside my door....however, in the end I didn't use either as I was thrilled with just the shell and the starfish.  But this is a matter of personal choice.  The needlebook was a smooth stitch, but as usual I had an issue with blank space.  On the front I therefore added a few flying birds just to have something in the space.  I then used them again on the inside just to have consistency with the front.

I have to tell you it's absolutely not needed because it folds beautifully, but I keep thinking I need to put a closure on it.  But of course I haven't yet, just talking about it.  It's in the shop on display so by the time I take it back I'll forget I ever thought about this.  But it would  be easy enough to do, and I  can always add it later.  If you have this in your stash...it's a fun easy stitch so get to stitching.  Once that was finished I thought I'd tackle the Christmas Mani di Donna piece I stitched last December and never assembled.  In the rush to get my house straightened up for the holidays I was stuffing projects in bags and throwing them in closets.  So it's been a real hunt trying to find some of it.  Anyway, I found this piece and decided to tackle it.  My supplies and tools were already out so it seemed the perfect time.  Things were going so perfect I should have know disaster was around the corner.  But I was on a finishing high and nothing could deter me.  I had ordered the plastic sheets that quilters used to make templates to use in place of cardstock for the sides and it worked like a charm.  I used double sided tape (of which I've got a ton since I keep ordering it in every size-a must have to assembling things at times, plus I use it now to make the tags)..anyway I pressed my warm and natural onto the tape then laced the fabric over that.  I tried several different fabrics but remembered I had a small dark green holly print originally so finally found it and when I opened it guess what fell out.  OMG my 1/2 stitched Erica Michaels silk Honey Berry ornament.  I really did a happy dance over this one since I have the threads and chart but nothing else in a tote bag beside my stitching sofa.  Can't wait to get back to it.  Anyway,  I was able to lace my fabric onto the wall piece perfectly.  Yes, I was patting myself on the back for some time.  Then I got out my circle cutter and cut a 4" circle out of matting for the bottom.  Perfect round and gathered the fabric over it and that's when things took a turn.  I decided to put the guide pieces back over the circular cutter blades so I wouldn't accidently cut anything I wasn't suppose to,  but missed and ended up just gliding my fingers down the blade.  On the plus side the blade was sharp, on the minus side I have two really deep cuts on my forefinger and my thumb.  Never known for letting adversity get me down I kept going.  Got bandaids and marched on, although I considered stopping at that point.  But I knew I couldn't.    I remembered to put a strip on the back seam to keep the circle shape...got the lining done and rick rack on and when I went to attach the handle it doesn't quite fit on the divider.  I'm afraid to cut a bigger divider because I think it will make the sides go wonky.  To make a long story short...I left the whole mess on the table and came to work.  I'll finish it tonight so I'll show you the end result tomorrow.  But now I get to pick out new projects and my tote is already overflowing with possibilities.  My favorite thing...starting a new project.  And I pulled a couple of fabrics and a  couple of new charts for my stash.  Well Delaware Sampler Guild is starting to roll in for the weekend...fun times ahead.   While these weekends may be exhausting a gathering of stitchers is the best gathering of all!

Madam Hare has arrived..;...

Yes, she is dressed in her best dress and has arrived in time for the parade.  She is stitched on 20 ct. Weeks linen with Weeks Dye Works Teal Frost, Cocoa, Whiskey, Putty, Lancaster Red, and Moss.  I did make her nose with a soft rose (Red Pear, I think) and black DMC for the shoes and Weeks Whitewash for the Pantaoons.  An easy stitch and semi-easy finish.  I didn't think I had the right fabric for backing so I purchased something at Hobby Lobby, but when I got home it was a bit too bright in my opinion and so I looked in my stash and at the bottom of the bin was a black striped teal that matched exactly.  Why didn't I look there first...never assume you don't have something....but on the plus side I've added to my stash.  Today isn't quite as bright as it was yesterday, in fact it's cloudy and a bit off...not raining, but not sunny and bright either.  But there are plenty of people in town for Easter so we should be busy today...fingers crossed.  On the other hand, I will probably be able to stitch while working...win win!  I worked on "By the Sea" last night and didn't realize initially that the lettering was over one...so that was an eye opener since I thought I'd zip through the lettering...but I got the first line of lettering in and will try to do at least 2 or 3 lines a day and in between I'll start Theodore, one of the Animal Cracker series.  I didn't need much of an excuse to start Theodore but glad I can blame over one stitching anyway.  Well, I'm signing off to get some stitching done.  Have a great day and a wonderful Easter celebration (if you celebrate Easter and if you don't have a great day tomorrow.)

Happy Easter Weekend.....

This weekend we start our spring hours....every day we'll be open from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., unless unforeseen weather crops up, which rarely happens in the spring so we'll be here with a smile on our face and ready to help you in your needlework journey.  I had a good week and a bad week.  The cough is still here so I'm back on cough medicine and Sara's left over meds.  I was really dragging on Tuesday at Stitch 'n Bitch, but I felt much better yesterday so perhaps this go around I'll get rid of the cough.  I did not let the cough deter me from my stitching though.  As you may remember my goal was to finish the front of the needlebook from "By The Sea" ...Erica Michaels new design,  and while I got the front of it done and shown below, I did not get the inside cover done because a Brenda Gervais kept calling my name and it had to be done before Easter so I had to stop working on "By the Sea" and work on "Tulip Festival" by Brenda Gervais.  If you know the pattern, Madam Hare is surrounded by huge tulips, and while I loved the whole look, I wanted just Madam Hare for Easter.  So I started stitching big time on Wednesday night after spending the day in Salisbury at one of my favorite spots, Hobby Lobby.  Then Thursday I wouldn't move off the sofa until I completed Madam Hare and I'm thrilled to say the stitching is done and now hopefully tonight I'll finish it into a stand up and have it in the shop tomorrow.   Fingers crossed!  The good news is I do have a finish.....

 Peeps Parade is now finished and has been added to our Easter display. I pray tomorrow Madam Peep will be joining the Peep Parade.  I stitched Peeps on 20 Kudzu linen from Weeks Dye Works.  I stitched using Weeks Dye Works and DMC pearl cottons.  So all in all a productive week for me.  Now on to the inside cover of By the Sea. and one of the Animal Crackers from Stacy Nash has fallen into my tote so that means it's come up on the rotation, but I'm going to try to concentrate on getting "By the Sea" completed.  And of course I still have one more piece after the needlebook in that collection.  Just never enough time to get all these projects completed....but I'll sure try.

I did find the Mani di Donna Christmas mini tote that should have been finished for Christmas but I put it away along with Erica Michaels Bee Petite Strawberry, and while I did locate the Mani di Donna, Erica Michaels piece is still MIA.  But since the Mani di Donna is finished hopefully I'll get it put together by next weekend.   Mercy, so much finishing needs to be done at my house...not my strong suit,  but with each project I get a little better.  I even put a zipper in the back of  "Peeps Parade."  I haven't put a zipper in anything since Home Ec in High School.....do they even have that anymore?  My home ec teacher would be proud that I even attempted, I won't tell her that I used the internet to refresh my memory.  The zipper makes a much nicer finish to pillows, and is really easy to put in so I'm glad I'm stepping out of the box.  Anway, have a wonderful holiday weekend.  Stay safe and keep your needle moving stitchers.  We have too many projects in bags to stop now.