Stitch-a-thon

The hubs is out of town this week and it's raining . . . again . . . sounds like a stitching day to me!  I've got a couple of designs I'm working on and a few designs to chart up, but I've been finishing up a couple of the smalls from last weekend's class with Clara L. Blalock (The Stitching Parlor).  Her design is so cute!

I've finished the pinkeep and floss tag so far.  There are several specialty stitches in these pieces and my first attempt at the Detached Buttonhole stitch was not pretty.  I redid this stitch (which is the girl's skirt) and it was as much of a challenge taking it out as it was putting it back in!  I'm not looking forward to doing it again on the large pincushion.  I know my pitfall is thread tension . . . wish me luck!  I enjoyed the Nun's Stitch around the edge of the floss tag and like the look of the fringed edge.  We did a Spider Web rose, Smyrna Cross for the rose buds, Satin Stitch for the girl's hair and bee bodies and Lazy Daisy for the bee's wings . . . those stitches I've done in the past . . . piece of cake.

On the pinkeep we made 3-D wings for the bee using wire, tulle and a Buttonhole Stitch.  Some of us had better luck with this than others.  I actually made a second set of wings when I got home that I shaped a bit more like real bee wings for my final piece.  Here's the front and back of my pinkeep.

I can't wait to finish this darling project.  I love the way she has finished the caddy (silk lined with side pockets), the large pincushion with the "boxed edge" and the scissor holder on the back.

Clara is perhaps the most organized teacher I've ever met.  She gave us a notebook full of pictures, charts, materials and instructions!  It is unlikely that anyone will have any questions unanswered somewhere in this book . . . THANKS CLARA!

Now . . . to start the needlebook or the large pincushion?

Happy Stitching!

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