Martha's Loon

I just love this loon. Martha did a wonderful job on the stitching, using a variety of threads and stitches. I admire her ability to give it away -- I'm not sure I could.

This canvas is a great design for stitches because it has blocks of color.

Judy's Resolution Stitching

Last year, we encouraged you to commit to finishing some of your projects. Recently, we have started to see these projects come back for finishing. Judy's belt was one of her resolution projects so she is way under the December 31 deadline. But I thought it was important to remind you to keep on stitching. The end of the year will be here before we know it.

Daffodil Pillow

Isn't this pillow stunning? Our customer brought in her own trim and fabric and we sent it off to one of our finishers. It is just exquisite.

We have some finishers that we recommend letting them make the fabric and trim choices. But for those of you who have your own vision, you can bring in your own fabrics and trim. Our finishers will then be able to match your idea of what the finished product should look like.

Raymond Crawford Canvases

I just wanted to show a few more of the Raymond Crawford Canvases. The snowflakes come in red and green and pink, too. We all love the Santa from the Santa canvas; think what a great mail basket it would make. There is also a menorah for Chanukah.

And of course, stitchers don't always stitch for themselves. But why not stitch "I'd rather be Stitching?"

Christmas Finishing

Of course, there are always those people who manage to get their stitched items in way before the Christmas finishing deadline. So of course, we've started to get those canvases back.


On the left are some fun ornaments. I love the whale watching ornament and Santa going down the chimney. Of course, the tennis player would love a tennis ball ornament.

Halloween Stitching

I arranged to have the Raymond Crawford Trunk show in October because he has such a wonderful selection of Halloween canvases. I've posted a few more to remind you that there is still time to get your Raymond Crawford canvases while we have the trunk show.

Raymond has a wonderful selection of holiday canvases. His colors are bright and most of his canvases are whimsical. Let us know if you want one before the show leaves.

This would be a good time to be stitching for next Halloween.

Pencil Holder

Sally did this adorable pencil holder. We specifically asked that it be finished so the mouse's feet show. It's is really very sweet.

Suzanne M's Tallis Bag

 

Suzanne M completed this beautiful tallis bag. She did a beautiful job. She actually completed two but for some reason, I was unable to open the image of the second tallis bag.

We happen to love this tallis bag. The scene of Jerusalem provides wonderful opportunities to use different stitches to keep the task more interesting.

Vanessa's Frog

 

We have enjoyed this canvas over the years. It's a frog prince; there was a frog princess, too. Unfortunately, the designer has retired so it is no longer available.

But Lori purchased one of our last ones. She will add it to her collection of needlepointed Christmas ornaments.

Marilyn's Halloween Pillow

 

Marilyn was able to pick up her finished Halloween pillow in loads of time for Halloween. She used Kreinik's glow in the dark thread for the ghosts. Marilyn reported that her grandsons were so excited to see the ghosts glow even as she was stitching it. The pillow came just before her grandsons came to stay for the weekend. Marilyn placed the pillow under a light so that the ghosts would truly glow! They just loved it.

Marilyn is a classic stitcher who primarily uses the basketweave stitch. Recently, she has started to use more threads which enhance the design. Cooper Oaks pieces are wonderful canvases for the tent stitcher because there is so much detail.

Gretchen's Eliza B's

 

Gretchen really hates to give up her Eliza B's flip flops. This pair just arrived back from Voila and Gretchen hopes there is still time to wear them before the frost.

Sarah's Knitting Basket

 

Sarah bought this canvas for the May 2010 David McCaskill's embellishment class. David came up with some great stitches to make the canvas a three-dimensional piece. It's truly wonderful. And now she gets to work on the balls of yarn.

Lori's ornaments

 

 

Lori was stitching away all summer. She really enjoys stitching ornaments and belts and has done lots of each. These two delightful ornaments just came back. They are lovely.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

 

One thing I love about having a trunk show is the opportunity to really look at a designer's line. Although I do get to do it at the national shows, I see so many then that it becomes overwhelming. During a trunk show at the store, I get the chance to look at the various designs and really think about what I would do with them. Today I was looking at Raymond's canvases.

I thought this canvas would make a great juvenile canvas. I love this canvas. (Of course, I did love Mary Poppins growing up.) But I also think it would be a great pillow for a baby since it would grow up with them. Even if it took you a while to stitch the canvas, the pillow has a timelessness to it.

Sally's grand-daughter's Santa

 

We just loved this Santa when it came back from the finisher. So we were excited when we told Sally she could pick up her ornament. When Sally came to pick it up, she told us that her granddaughter had done all the stitching. We thought this ornament was fabulous -- but we were really impressed when we realized that it was stitched by a relatively new stitcher.

It's really great that Sally has been able to share her love of needlepoint with her grand-daughters.

Mike, our UPS guy

 

We truly love our UPS guy. He is always helpful and just a delight to have come into the shop. This weekend, Mike is doing a walk to raise money for breast cancer. If you are interested in supporting his effort, please let us know. We have an envelope where we are putting checks for him.

The picture shows Suzanne giving Mike an envelope with checks for the cause.

Reusing a Needlepoint

 

Originally this belt was on another purse but the owner just didn't enjoy using the purse. So instead, we had the belt installed on Nantucket basket purse. We think it looks great!

Halloween Needlepoint

 

I love Halloween so I'm always interested when a Halloween piece comes back from the finisher. On this canvas, Erin supplied her own trim. I just love the way the trim makes this witch so incredibly whimsical.

Martha's Loon

 

Martha's daughter picked this loon canvas out for a godparent but Martha stitched it. Martha used some great stitches and threads to make the loon come to life. This canvas would be a wonderful addition to a house on a lake where you might hear a loon yodel in the summer. Or perhaps, you just want to imagine you could hear the loon.

Seeing Historical Needlepoint

This past week, I was intrigued by an article in the New York Times. Under Antiques, the article listed several exhibits that were opening in early October that focused on needlework in Colonial and Early America. The Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford has a n exhibit titled "Connecticut Needlework: Women, Art and Family, 1740-1840. The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Cone has "With Needle and Brush: Schoolgirl Embroidery from the Connecticut River Valley.' And the Winterthur Museum in Delaware has an exhibit "Betsy Ross and the Making of America."

On Monday, I saw the Bennington Flag at the Bennington Museum, and a very early American flag and two pieces of Grandma Moses's needlework. I was particularly interested in her pieces since I knew that she had done needlework before she painted. The two pieces were done with decorative stitches, primarily short and long.

The Bennington Museum also has the Jane Stickle quilt which is 150 years old. Over 5000 pieces make up the quilt. Because of its age, it is only exhibited once a year.
So, what needlework exhibits are near you?

Lee's Leather Totes

 

 

We love Lee's new leather totes. The bag is beautifully made with great pockets for you phone, glasses and other items. Then, there is a small circle to insert a needlepoint. We have been stitching our monograms. Christine, our superb letterer, has been doing lots of different monograms. Suzanne's monogram (green bag) is based on her signet ring. My monogram is based on the way I used to sign my memos. It makes each bag unique to the owner.

We have figured out how to finish these so there's still time to get have a monogram painted, stitched and inserted in a bag before Christmas or Chanukah. We think these are great gifts for important people in your life. The bag is available in carmel brown, neutral green and a maroon red.