September 9th

I should be able to finish You Had Me at Flamingo today. Two birds and a bit of border. Hands on Designs released Christmas flamingos yesterday. I'll be acquiring that soon.

How did I forget to pack toothpaste? 

September 8th

Yes. I know I'm a day late. Travel delay. Completely shed all our cares on a drive south in Virginia. We're at a farm cottage in the country for a few days. 

My views for stitching. Occasionally one of the horses will snort. Right now I'm enjoying coffee and donuts outside listening to the birds.

September 7th

Yes, I am going to stitch this. Did I start yesterday? No. Will I start soon? No. 

Got some things to finish first. But I will start by Thanksgiving. LOL

 

September 6th

Back at the beginning of August I took my first Royal School of Needlework class. 

Amy Burt was our instructor. We had students from England, Canada, the United States, and France. 

In the class time, I managed to finish. 

One of these days, I'll turn this into an oval ornament. 

 

September 5th

 Today, while watching the EGA annual meeting on YouTube, I was stitching on this Hands On Design, "You Had Me at Flamingo."

I started this in January thinking I'd just whip it out, but that didn't happen. I've tweaked the flamingos' pinks. May have added one. Soon I'll be approaching the end here. 

September 4th

Was auditioning background stitches for my sky. Ugh. 

Nothing was working. 

I'm going with t-stitch. If you are doing it properly, here's how it looks on the back. 

 

September 3rd

I am still working a couple of days a week at my LNS. Right now, special order canvases may take 4-6 months. Wow. That's a long wait.

We have missing threads all over. Every thread order has back orders. I'm talking about normal colors like white and black and red and gold. 

Our new normal isn't pretty, but it's working. People are stitching who haven't in decades. Brand new stitches are discovering us. Our regular customers are grateful for the ability to come in a pick their own threads. And we are grateful to see them. 

I won't lie. This isn't easy. Or normal. We're hot and tired behind our masks.

So I'm off next week for a little bit of time in the country with my DH. He's been working hard from home since March. And we both deserve a change of scenery. 

Maybe I'll discover some ancient needlework treasures. Or at least work on creating some new ones. 

September 2nd

Yesterday I showed my Kathy Shenkel Easter background piece.

Today, I'll show the companion pieces. I have an extra girl bunny. I'll change her colors. The carrots are two different sizes. 

These were such fun little pieces to stitch. 

September Reset

It is September. 

Wait. How did that happen? Where did August go? 

I'm here now on the first day of the month to announce an intent to do thirty days of stitching and blogging for September.

I've been stitching right along through our current interesting times. Had some finishes. Been distracted by new, shiny things. Been organized and made a mess again. 

This is a Kathy Shenkel Designs Easter background canvas. I have several small figures done that are part of this set.

The house is mainly pearl cotton with Silk Lame windows. The jelly bean roof is padded Flair. The fence is pearl cotton in #8 and #12 with interlocking stitches. I've figured my grass and am auditioning sky stitches. 

I hope that some of you are able to follow my September journey. 

 

Yes. I am still here. I've just been a very bad blogger. I have been working in the needlepoint shop thru the lockdown. We were very busy, just two of us, answering the phone and delivering via curbside pickup and mail. It was literally exhausting.

We've been open to a limited number of shoppers at a time for about a month now. Happy to have people back in again. But still exhausting. And a lot less fun than it once was. Not to be a complainer, but some shoppers are just too much. Don't get me started on the one who told me over the phone that this "isn't the bubonic plague and we all needed to get over ourselves."

Anyway. Locals, if you come in, I'm still smiling behind my mask and will gladly assist you in anyway I can.

I briefly put down my needlepoint for some detours. First up, crewel work.

This is an Anna Scott design called Scarlet Glory. Look up Fine Stitch Studio on Etsy. She's got some beautiful kits. It's nice to sometimes play with a sharp needle on fabric. Crewel is the first needlework I ever did back in the 1960s. And I take great pleasure in a how easy wool is to work with.

I also detoured into a quick bracelet. A simple peyote pattern with size 11 delicas and two sizes of triangle beads. Pattern and kit from Caravan beads. Just a couple of hours and it's a bracelet!

I Als