A Good Ending to a Great Year!

A few weeks ago, we gathered at my friend Jayne's house for a Christmas stitching party. Jayne went all out with a wonderful buffet dinner for all of us; each one of us attending brought a dessert. Do you think we needed about 10 desserts? The meal was scrumptious and the company was excellent. I enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing evening of stitching, something I normally do not get to do. Part of the thrill of the night was a chance to participate in an ornament exchange. It was not a requirement to stitch an ornament but I set that as my goal. The picture below is the ornament I stitched and assembled.



We each selected a wrapped ornament, after having confirmed it wasn't the one we brought. I selected my package and then one by one, we opened them. I received a wonderful mitten stitched by Nancy. It is the cutest thing! To top it off, Nancy tucked 4 skeins of floss inside the mitten. Look what cute names she chose: Weeks Santa Claus and Holly. Gentle Art Sugarplum and Mistletoe! How very clever! Here is the ornament that Nancy stitched and finished.



Lastly, over the Christmas holiday, I was able to finish stitching the English Sampler Bookmark. It was adapted by Betsy Evans of Charter Oak Designs using three motifs from her 1832 English Sampler. Betsy came to our local EGA meeting last year and gave a lecture on historical samplers and motifs. This design also fits into a Petite Easel Back Clock by Olde Colonial Designs. I haven't decided yet whether I will finish it as a bookmark, frame it or mount it into the Petite clock.



I'd like to wish all of you a healthy and fulfilling 2011! Thank you for taking the time out of your day to stop and visit at my blog. May you stitch with joy in the coming new year!

Cathy

Customer Finishes

A few weeks ago, my friend Marilyn stopped in to show me some of her recent finishes. The first picture below is of Jane Greenoff's Dragonfly Garden Hussif. Marilyn did all the finishing of the hussif herself. She chose to use a dangling charm as a weight to hold the hussif closed rather than make the linen wrap closure. I think it turned out beautifully! Click on the third photo to zoom in and see all the numbers that are stitched to represent needle sizes.









Marilyn also finished Spring Quakers by Rosewood Manor. She is a really fast stitcher! This was stitched with the Valdani threads on Picture This Plus linen in the color Valor. Another great finish!




Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

Cathy