Happy Dancing for a Finish

Finally. Finally finished my turtle canvas by Julie Pischke. And yes, I still need to attach it to the bag.

On this one I looked. I bought it in March of 2011. Only 6 years to stitch. What an idiot I am.

Finally Framing

I have a feeling that I could look back on this blog to find out when I stitched this piece. I'm going to guess 2005 or 2006. I just framed it this year.

It's no secret around here that some of us needleworkers love our framers at Total Framing. I've slowly been digging into my finished, but unframed box. And bringing things to them for their transformation. If you're in the area of northern Virginia, go see them at either location, Fairfax or Chantilly. I've been really  happy with everything they've framed for me and my friends.

I believe this is a Bent Creek piece that originally said Long Winter. Which just seemed like a bad idea to me so I changed the words. I may have freely substituted threads and fabric. I honestly don't remember.

And I love this reclaimed wood frame. Sets it off perfectly.

Shop Girl Fun

Few things working in a needlepoint shop are more fun than helping someone pick out threads for a painted canvas.

Sometimes business is slow and you can devote all the time in the world. Other times you need to speed up the process.

I'm pretty confident of my color sense. Which helps when you're trying to do this quickly. But it's a real challenge when someone wants to perfectly match some colors. (Purples are notorious for not having enough to choose from especially if someone won't strand threads.)

You have to read your customer. Will they strand? Does it need to be flat, shiny, or fluffy? What are they willing to work with. Some people automatically reject certain threads they've had bad experiences with. I don't blame them. Tell me I need to use a rayon based thread and I have fits. But eventually I'll calm down and use it carefully.

So it's always good when new threads come in. This week I got to put up the new shades of Rainbow Gallery's Silk Lame. Pictured is the 18ct. But they also come in 13ct and Petite.

And here's the new colors of Glisten also from Rainbow Gallery, a merino wool with a shiny metallic. I'm looking forward to trying this. And I've got the perfect project to use it on.