and Framing!

In the previous post, I told you about all the lacing I was doing. Well, here are some of the pieces that were framed as a result of the lacing. First up is "Singing The Blues" by Little House Needleworks which was stitched by my friend, Linda. When choosing the frame, we did like the old, crackly frame as shown on the cover of the chart, but we opted to change the corner design. These little corner pieces on the frame mimic the corners of the stitchery so beautifully. Linda did an excellent job of stitching this sweet birdy!



Next up is "Rose Quartz" by Needle Delights Originals. We offered this as a class late last year and my friend Judy took the class. She recently brought in her finished canvas to be framed. I just love the mat and frame we selected to show off her lovely stitching!


This following design is a program we did at our EGA meeting. It is called New England Button Sampler. You decide on the colors you want to use in your piece, find scraps of fabric and coordinating buttons, charms or other trinkets you'd like to include and then stitch. The checked boxes you see in the design are actually little pieces of gingham embellished with cross stitches, buttons or beads. My friend Pam stitched this Button Sampler and decided to frame it in a shadowbox. It turned out so well and is a wonderful keepsake if you have special buttons or charms from a parent, grandparent or favorite friend. I can also see this done up for a baby's room, using scraps of a favorite blankie, pj's or other clothing. Add a tiny barrette or bitty baby buttons and this will be quite a special gift!


Finally, some Christmas ornaments. CarolS taught this finishing class in July. The students were able to go home with their ornaments almost completely finished. Most had started their outer border embellishing and just had to finish up on their own. CarolS teaches how to cut out the insert for a shaped ornament. She instructs how to mount the fabric on the insert, how to join the front to the back, demonstrates twisted cording and finally, how to create the lovely ribbon edges. CarolS will be teaching this class again near the end of October, so please send me an email (cathy @ inspiredneedle dot com) if you are interested in attending.



Hope you all have a productive stitching week!
Cathy

Whole Lotta Lacing Going On

This weekend was not filled with any plans in particular. My sister came over Saturday evening and we had dinner together and then I helped her work on my birthday present! You see, my sister is a new stitcher and had made me something (read: stitched) for a present but needed a little help in assembling it and putting it in a frame. Nancy also purchased some pretty little butterfly treasures that didn't come drilled with holes and she wasn't sure how to attach them to the needlework. We had a quick lesson in couching. She had everything else ready to go and I showed her how to lace a piece of needlework to foam core. Which reminds me, I should hold another class like that at the shop, huh? I think she did an awesome job! When you look at the picture, keep in mind that this was her first attempt at working on linen!


A customer piece I worked on was next on my list. This design is "Rose Quartz" by Needle Delights. We taught a class using this piece several months ago and I'm happy to say one of the students finished her design and it's now ready for framing! Here is the canvas laced and ready to be placed in the frame.


Next up was a design my friend stitched by Teresa Wentzler. She had stitched both this fruit version and the floral version and wanted both pieces framed the same so she could hang in her newly remodeled kitchen. I didn't get a pic of the floral piece but here is the fruit. Please excuse the reflection off the plastic. I didn't want to unwrap. The next time I'm at her house, I'll take a picture of the two pieces side by side. The pair should make quite a statement in the room!!



And finally, Angel Train is in the frame! This is a slightly different version than what was pictured on the cover model of this design. I wanted a bolder frame and more in keeping with the darker floss colors. If you look closely at the bottom border of "blocks" in the picture, some are stitched with a light color floss that closely matches the color of the linen. When you look at the framed piece in the picture, you don't really see these rows and the blocks appear to be dancing! I love the effect!


Hope you all had a great weekend! Thanks for reading and for your comments!

Cathy

Another Year Older

I was up for almost 30 minutes the other day before I realized it was my birthday! How does one forget the day they were born? When you're sick to your stomach! I've been battling a weird dizzy/nausea thing ever since we came back from PA. I spent the entire day Sunday in bed because sitting or standing upright made me feel like I was in a funhouse. Monday morning I woke up and I think I was so intent on how I felt that it didn't register at first what day it was. Since it was my day off work, I was able to do a few (read: very few) things around the house. I also went to the shop to catch up on some mail orders and then ran over to the framers. When I got home my DH was waiting to take me to dinner. We went to my favorite place, Longhorn. I got a snap of all courses of my favorite dinner....the one meal I always get if they happen to have it in stock. Believe it or not, I've gone several times when they've been out of Prime Rib!! We started with the Chips Platter appetizer, then the main course of baked potato and luscious prime rib. Look at the size of that piece of meat!! I always order the largest slice because I want leftovers!



We were even able to get in a few spoonfuls apiece of the birthday sundae that the waiter brought over to our table. My DH wanted to embarrass me by having the wait staff sing to me, but luckily Longhorn no longer has such a tradition! Saved! LOL


Last Friday before we brought the twins back to PA, they had a pizza party for me. We all wore Sponge Bob party hats and the kids blew noisemakers and shot party streamers in the air. There was a huge birthday cake (enough to feed 20 people), flowers and presents. The kids bought me the game of Life, I suppose because they wanted to play. LOL

Sickly or not, I had a pretty good day. Thanks, Boobah, for making my birthday special.