Just Nan slides done

Last week I finished the stitching on Christmas Secret on Monday, then did the finishing on it and Feathered Fashion on Tuesday; now all four current needle slides are complete!

These are such sweet little pieces, stitched 1-over-1 on 32ct linen. Feathered Fashion is shown on the chart cover with one of Nan's Charm Garden Pins that is just so perfect for the design that I had to try to find one; luckily, I found a stitcher who was willing to part with hers, so it is now ensconced in the needle tin:

Once these were finished I stitched up a little freebie from Durene Jones while I waited for the last three charts in Amy Bruecken's A Little Batty SAL:

I have to say that I was a bit irked with The Silver Needle when it came to getting the Batty charts; I pre-ordered them in the spring, then sent a question about which threads were used so I could pull them from stash--they thought I wanted to add the floss to the order and that made them send the first two charts late. The second set was mailed in a timely manner, but the last three should have been sent almost three weeks ago. I had emailed an inquiry and she said they would go out around 9/25. No charge on my card over a week later so I sent another inquiry and was told they were waiting for them to come in (which was strange because the first person had said they were in the shop and would go out within a day or two). Another week and still no charge so I sent a third email, and this time the reply said that my card had been declined and they tried to call but I didn't have an answering machine. That really ticked me off because 1) my card showed no declined transaction (so they must have typed the number in incorrectly, 2) I do have an answering machine and 3) if they couldn't leave a message, why didn't they send an email (especially as my second inquiry was after the supposed declined card)? Sorry, bit of a rant there but the whole thing really bugged me!

Anyway, the charts finally arrived this weekend, so I'm going to stitch them and try to get this piece done by the end of the week; here it is as of last night:

In other stitchy news I am very excited to say that I will be attending a Mirabilia retreat in Charlotte, NC in October 2023. I know it's a long time away, but it's been six years now since I've spent a night away from home for something fun so I am really looking forward to it!

And in other Mirabilia news there was a new release on the 15th; it's a bit different from her usual style and I really love it and am looking forward to stitching it. It's called Portrait Queen, and here's a photo of it (not stitched by me) along with the original art (always fun to get a glimpse into Nora's process):

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!