Feeling accomplished

This past Saturday I did the final finishing on the two IMAKE kits (Spider & Black Cat and Golden Pumpkin) that I received the previous Saturday; each one took just three days to stitch, then one day to finish both, so in one week I got two adorable finishes:

These kits came with really cute charms/embellishments and they included finishing supplies. I did use the backing boards provided, but chose my own fabrics and trims, and I'm really happy with the results. I still don't really enjoy the finishing process, but getting good results makes it worth the effort. There are two more kits in this set of Halloween designs, so I'm hoping they'll offer to send the other two in the future...🤞🏻

Yesterday I pulled out Chatelaine's Mini Mandala Mystery 1, which I'm thinking I could finish either this week or next:

This is as big as it gets; I have a few more regular stitches to do in the outer border, then specialty stitches and the remaining beads and crystals and I can finally have a finish 18 years in the making!

I forgot to share part 3 of Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Welcome to the Circus last week, which is Pancake the Panda:

I am firmly in the "clowns are creepy" camp, so I was relieved that they were able to make this clown cute! 🤡

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Recovering after retreats

It took a couple of weeks, but I'm rested from my almost-two-week-long adventure and getting back into my normal routine--so, a lot of stitching! 😄

I bought and kitted Heart in Hand's Wee Santa 2026 in Tulsa, and was able to finish it in the morning on the last day of the Chatelaine retreat:

He is stitched on Wichelt's French Country 32ct linen using the recommended threads. I'd like to work on fully finishing this in time for Christmas, but right now he's on top of the pile in my "finishes" bin.

I used the rest of the last day to work on Chatelaine's Mini Mystery Mandala 1, which I started back when it was a mystery in 2008. This is as far as I got back then:

To this day, I have no recollection of buying, kitting or starting this design, but 2008 was right around the time my son's issues started kicking into high gear; I'm sure there are a LOT of things that I don't remember for the space of a few years because I was just constantly in crisis mode.

I made decent progress at the retreat and got it to this point:

Then I worked on it more last week, and this is how it looks right now:

Back when I started this, I had fairly recently discovered hand dyed fabrics and especially loved opalescent linens; I think this one is probably a Silkweaver fabric, possibly Midnight Fantasy, but that's just an educated guess. If I were kitting this today I would have picked a different fabric, but several people at the retreat told me that they loved it with the design, so it was nice to get that positive feedback; maybe 2008 me wasn't just blinded by a love of sparkles!

I'll probably pull this one out again later this month and hopefully get it finished in September, but after I set it aside I went back to working on IMAKE's Aster Courtyard. I have fully completed the top border, including the beads, and it is turning out really well. The back stitching for the gate is kind of a nightmare, but it is worth the effort:

Now I need to decide if I'll continue the borders down next or start on the center portion. I'm leaning towards the center, partly because the thought of back stitching three more of those gates in the rest of the border is pretty daunting! 

IMAKE offered to send me one of their new little Halloween kits, and they ended up sending two, which was a pleasant surprise:

These come with everything you need to stitch them, as well as finishing kits with really pretty cording (a part of finishing that I haven't even attempted as of yet). I received the package last Friday and I spent the weekend working on Spider & Black Cat:

I did replace the kit fabric with my own, partly because I wanted to play with the color and partly because the kit fabric is cut a bit small for my taste--I like at least 3" borders on all sides because I use Qsnaps, and 3" gives me enough room to get the clamps on and tie on and off comfortably. The kit comes with fabric that has about 2" borders, and that just isn't enough for me. This fabric is large enough to stitch both designs, so I'll probably stitch them both first and then work on the finishing.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

One event down, one to go

The Silver Needle's summer event was amazing; I'm really glad I signed up, even if I can already tell that stitching events two weekends in a row is going to be a bit much. 😅 I arrived at my hotel in Charlotte last night and I've gotten a few grocery items and have now settled in, so hopefully I'll recuperate a bit before Thursday.

The last time I went to The Silver Needle, I didn't take pictures of the shop at the start and then ran out of time, so this time I took some right away. No descriptions really needed, it's all just eye candy!

Cecilia from Heart in Hand and Elizabeth and Marsha from Bent Creek were the featured designers, and they were so fun to listen to. I've been friends with Cecilia for several years now, but this was the first time we actually met in person, so that was very special.

The event included two large and two small stitch kits from each company, as well as a little appliqued Sneedlebook (SN for Silver Needle 😄). Here's my finished Sneedlebook, along with some adorable pins that we got:

Here are the models; some were included in the event and some were new releases that I bought, including the HIH 2026 Wee Santa:

Even though I know that I have most (if not all) of the threads used for the Santa, I ended up buying all of them because I really wanted to start him and I won't be home for another week. I don't even regret it, because I was able to work on him while sitting in the airport yesterday with a flight delay:

And here's my stitching spot for the next few days while I wait for the Chatelaine retreat to start:

I waited too long to book my hotel for the Chat retreat, so I couldn't get into the Marriott where it takes place. I'm in a Hilton about half a mile away, but this hotel is actually a better location as far as being closer to the dining choices. It might not be good walking over to the Marriott later this week though, because there's a lot of rain in the forecast, but at least I remembered to pack an umbrella. And this is right across from the hotel entrance, so that definitely weighs heavily in its favor!

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Two more sleeps before my big adventure

My flight to Tulsa leaves at 6:20am on Wednesday, so it's more like one and a half sleeps because I'll have to get up in the middle of the night to get ready to leave for the airport by 4:30am--ugh! Not looking forward to that part of the trip, but I will definitely be happy to be able to stop obsessing about packing for it. 😅

I was trying to pick out a couple of travel projects that would be easy to work on in airports in case I end up with delays; I chose a Jim Shore Mill Hill kit on perforated paper and a Laurel Burch kit on linen that I started probably 10+ years ago. I wanted to put in a length of floss on each just to refamiliarize myself with them before I left, and then this happened:

Oops, I finished Feathered Friend! I still have the Jim Shore kit, but I pulled out another one from this set of Laurel Burch kits and got it ready to go as well:

I figured the larger blocks of color would be easy to work on in non-ideal stitching conditions, so I still have two to choose from if I need to, though 🤞🏻 that I won't need to!

I'm trying to make myself wait until tomorrow to get my suitcase out, but I'm having a hard time settling down to do anything else so it might come out today. I'm excited for both events, but also nervous; I'll know some of the people at the Chatelaine retreat and already have plans to sit with at least one friend, but I'll be on my own for the Silver Needle event. As an introvert that's always a bit nerve wracking, but I know it will end up being fine.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Miss Apple Blossom is done

I was able to finish the adorable Miss Apple Blossom by Nora Corbett last Wednesday, and she is as sweet as she can be:

I have Miss Cherry Blossom ready to go, so I'll probably take her along on my travels in case I feel like making a start on her. The next two in this series probably won't be released until September, so I should have her done well before that; it would be nice to finish each set of two before the next sets drop.

On Thursday we received part 2 of Welcome to the Circus by Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, and I finished it this past Saturday:

The hippo is awfully cute, but I get the biggest kick out of those little seagulls! I'm glad I signed up for this SAL, and am looking forward to seeing part 3 early next month.

I spent my stitching time yesterday working on IMAKE's Aster Courtyard, slowly working through the specialty stitches in the top portion:

It's pretty much impossible to work with any speed on this design, so I'm finding it very relaxing to just focus on each small area without trying to race to a finish. 

I've already started my pre-travel packing countdown, which will constantly be on my mind for the next week--I'm always really relieved to head to the airport on the day I leave, just so I can quit obsessing about preparations! 😅

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!