Come Celebrate!

Come to Middletown, VA Saturday, September 21st to celebrate the one year anniversary of Valley Needleworks!  

There will be:

  "Gadget Demonstrations" by Denise & Karen 

  "The Nebby Needle" (I'll be there all day!) & "Black Branch Needlework" Trunk Shows with a "Meet and Greet" 

  The Winchester EGA and the Loudoun Sampler Guild - representatives will be there for a "Meet and Greet" with membership sign-ups and project models.

* Clearance Items * Fresh-popped Popcorn * Prizes to Give-away *

*Sign-ups for Top Notch Classes * Join A Guild * Find Your Next Project *

Enjoy a Day With Fellow Stitchers & Celebrate Needlework!

Hope to see you there!  ~*

Fields of Clover

Another  new design on it's way to Hoffman.!  "Fields of Clover" celebrates my mama deer and her two darling babies . . . who, I think, have hit puberty.  I just saw them yesterday and I had to do a double take . . . they are really growing!  So happy that they are forever young in my new design (the hubs' favorite)!

I get so excited when Hoffman Distributing sends me a PO for anything!  It always seems to correspond to a posting by another designer of their new design.

My new design order:

Lizzie Kate's Mystery Sampler Shipment:

HAHAHAHAHA!!

The hubs says. . . "maybe someday that will be you" . . . I love that man!        ~*

More Finishing

Here are the two finished pieces I couldn't show you last week . . . they have arrived at their destination . . . better late than never!  I'm embarrassed to say that these birthday gifts for my BFF stitchin' buddy are for last year as well as this year . . . her birthday is in May.  The one on the left was mostly finished when we moved a year ago April . . . I just couldn't find it after we unpacked.  It was in with my finished pieces that needed final finishing (but it wasn't finished!?!) and it took nearly a year to find . . . that's how often I finish things . . . lol . . . oh, that ADD just gets in the way!!!  That's my story and I'm sticken to it!

The one on the left is an adaptation of Homespun Elegance's Virtue Samplers (Jen's a very virtuous friend!).  This is what the original pattern looks like:

The one on the right is a borrowed idea from Pineberry Lane.  I don't know if her "mother" pattern was a pattern for sale or if it was a freebie but, I took the idea and charted up "friend" in a similar style.  Here's what the "mother" one looks like (I love the different letter styles and the color combination!):

I really need to give up the gardening for awhile and get another pattern out there.  The response through Hoffman Distributing has been very exciting and motivating!

We have a momma deer and her two babies that frequent the yard . . . must be all that clover in the grass!  They are so cute!

 

I think they need to be featured in an upcoming sampler don't you?

Happy stitchin' . . . get something finished today!                 ~*

Finishing Day!

I finally took the time to have a finishing day.  I didn't get everything finished that needed finishing but I did make a dent . . . what a good feeling!  The letter "R" for the EGA quilt is finished.

I can't show you two of them just yet because they were . . . belated . . . birthday gifts.  I did finish this little shelf pillow from Blackbird Designs (for myself) . . . that's the backing material I used.

You know those beautiful framing boxes you can get for your needlework . . . beautiful and very expensive.  I bought this unfinished wooden box with brass hardware at Hobby Lobby . . . sorry, don't remember the price, but I'm pretty sure it was under $20.  I stained the box with Briwax (dark brown) (also runs about $20 for the can of wax . . . didn't use it all).  I covered a piece of foamcore with some batting and then the stitched piece from R&R (from the Shepherd's Bush Retreat last year).  I made some cording out of some wool yarn I had and attached it all to the box with PVA glue from Paper Source and there you go!  So much cheaper than several hundred dollars!  I stained the sides of the inside of the box too and plan on putting some Christmas fabric in the bottom and inside the lid.  I changed the stitched piece just a little . . . surprise . . . added some beads to some of the snowflakes, used overdyed threads and eliminated the dark boarder.

Just a little sad news.  Remember the bird nest that was built in the shelf on our back porch?  It is no more.  I was blaming the neighborhood cat, but now I'm thinking it was a fox.  We've discovered a very skinny baby fox that's been hiding in our front bushes.  Don't know where the mama is, but the poor baby looks like he's not eating well . . . guess I can forgive him for eating the three baby birds . . . maybe.

                                                                   ~*

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!

         ~*

A Month Full of Gardening, Fund Raising and Stitching

We've had so much rain this month that it's amazing that I've gotten any gardening done!  Everything is growing like crazy . . . that means the weeds are as well.  I try to get out there early and I've usually had it by lunch time if we haven't had a storm by then.  It's also been hot and humid and I become a puddle by noon . . . more puddles we don't need!

My poor hydrangeas . . . they've grown almost as tall as I am and have been beaten down by the rain!  (They were blue earlier in the summer . . . now, fading to purple)

Last year:

This year:

I was out this morning and a beautiful yellow finch paused at the empty bird bath . . . no rain yesterday and I haven't fill it today.  Then as I was trimming the spent flowers on the butterfly bushes, a humming bird was no more than 3 feet away from me.  I went inside to get my camera and neither of them showed up again.  I did capture some butterflies and a strange looking bee(?).

On the back porch, the hubs moved a shelf out of the way to remove a wasp nest in the corner of the ceiling.  We can't move the shelf back because a bird has made a nest . . . 3 little eggs inside!  I won't let the hubs remove the nest until the babies leave home.

Don't know if the 3 little bird candle holders attracted it's attention or it really liked the blue serving bowls that were sitting there!  I'm a little concerned about the neighborhood outdoor cat . . . although I haven't seen him lately.

I participated in Relay For Life (being an almost 7 year survivor of Breast Cancer) and made the front page of the Herald & Tribune in Jonesborough, TN.  That's me carrying the banner (second from the left) leading the survivor walk.

They had a dunk tank at Relay and for a donation you could dunk the local mayors.  That's the Jonesborough mayor Kelly Wolfe in the lower left hand corner.  He got dunked many times . . . a good sport . . . and a very talented Elvis impersonator . . . well, he sings like Elvis . . .  haven't seen him dress like Elvis!  Nice guy.


I've been stitching in the evenings working on an upcoming design (which has morphed several times),

letters for a cross-stitch/quilt that our EGA is doing for the Birthplace of Country Music museum that's being built in Bristol  

and a needlepoint piece that a member of our EGA is coaching us on.

I think I need remedial training for this one!  I'm way behind . . .  couldn't get the outline to line up and had to take a lot of it out.  It's FULL of beads . . . I'm in trouble!!!

We have an EGA teaching weekend coming up this weekend with Clara Blalock (The Stitching Parlor).  Her piece is adorable . . . a small garden toolbox with a stitched lining and smalls . . . can't wait!

We had a regional director of the EGA visit our meeting earlier in the week.  She has completed the Master Craftsman Program . . . took her 9 years designing and completing 6 (different techniques) good sized involved projects!  They were all beautiful!  What an accomplishment!!!  Think I'll pass!

Can't believe July is almost over . . . time is just passing  

w a y  t o o  f a s t!!!!    ~*

Along I-81

Finally slowed down enough to share the past few weeks with you . . . without being rain soaked . . . although it's not looking too good out there.  Between the hubs and I, we are wearing-out the road surface of I-81.  He's been spending time driving back and forth to Allentown, PA with work and I recently went to Connecticut to visit our daughter and another quick trip to help my parents move back to their condo from their apartment in a retirement home . . . AND I have been a printing fool filling more orders for Hoffman!

On my way up to Connecticut I stopped in Middletown, VA at Valley Needleworks.  I had received an email from the owner (Jennifer) who was interested in carrying my designs.  I took a chance that she would be there and just dropped in.  She wasn't in, but I left each of my patterns with Karen and the finished pincushion from "My Garden" saying I would be back that Saturday on my way home to see if they were interested.

I also stopped in Scranaton, PA to walk around The Christmas Shops (not at all just a Christmas shop) and stay the night (just can't do 12 to 13 hours in the car in one day).  On to Connecticut in the morning . . . just 3 hours more!

I LOVE mother/daughter time!  We had a lot of fun simply running errands, eating vegan food, watching movies, and painting pottery at one of those "paint your own" pottery places . . . can't wait to see our final products!  When we checked out, the woman who owns the place commented that she didn't realize we were mother and daughter . . . she thought we were just friends.  I LOVE our "friend time" together!

On the way back I stayed with the hubs' cousin near Harrisburg, PA and had dinner with her, her mother and her mother's grief counselor (having recently lost her husband . . . a sweetheart of a man).  Back at her house we enjoyed an evening of card games (with her hubs as well) . . . 7's and Golf . . . I'm a great lover of game nights!

The next day I again stopped at Valley Needleworks and got to meet Jennifer . . . instant friends!  They now have my charts for sale and we're discussing a trunk show and possible teaching weekend this fall.  It's a cute shop in an old building in a small town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Looking forward to stopping in to say hello on our frequent drives along I-81.

Got back in the car last weekend and hit I-81 again to visit my parents and help them pack.  I'm not happy that they are moving out of the retirement home they've lived in the last 14 months.  Their condo hasn't sold and it makes more sense financially to just move back there.  In their mid-80's and progressively losing their physical and mental abilities this is not where I want them to be . . . they have not lost their stubbornness however.  I just don't know how much longer they will be able to live without some form of assistance.  I may be making this 2 1/2 hour drive a lot more frequently!

Dinner at the retirement home dining room (meals and housekeeping are included) was a sad comedy.  The parade of walkers make their way in and find their "usual" tables.  The residents that share my parents' table also share a similar degree of dementia and the conversation was almost like a stuck vinyl record . . . I was asked 3 times by the woman sitting next to me where I lived.  None of them seemed to be aware that the conversation kept repeating itself.  It is very painful to watch your parents decline when they were once very active, sharp and vibrant people.  There is something to be said for dieing young!

I don't want to end on a sad note . . . so . . . since I've been home these past few days I planted some flowers to greet us at the back door (the door we generally use to enter and exit our house) . . .

. . . and the hydrangeas, knock-out roses and butterfly bushes are blooming their hearts out!

 Have a nice day . . . now where is my Tennessee sunshine?

~*