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I just got back from a long weekend with "the girls" in Highlands, NC. A
good friend has a condo there and allows us all to descend on her and her husband and plop ourselves in comfy chairs to stitch for the weekend from time to time. There is much laughter and food and fun. And stitching. Oh, yes, there is stitching! While some like to stitch on one thing the whole weekend (those people that actually finish things), OTHERS of us tend to bring enough stitching for six months and flit from project to project like a hummingbird on
Pixy Stix. I pretty much switched projects every time we stopped to eat a meal.
Since I'd been knitting for so long, and I just "reorganized" my WIPs, I really brought a random selection of projects that would travel well. (Read: I grabbed whatever I could find that wasn't mounted on a frame or stored in a giant container.) Here's what I ended up stitching on (yes, there were even a few things I brought that did not see the light of day)...
Purrfect Christmas Santa (Jim Shore) from Mill Hill
Always good to have a "my eyes are too darn tired to see much of anything" project along.
In Full Glory by Blackbird Designs
You might remember this from the Lottlympiad. It's a conversion to Gloriana silks by Jean Lea at The Attic.
Bluebell by Nora Corbett (Mirabilia)
I did not get too much done on her (tired eyes!) Someone asked why I started her at the bottom...there is a little swirl in the fabric that I wanted her to be "skipping over", so I had to place her feet first. =) See that cute little bee skep pincusion at the bottom? That was part of my Christmas gift from our hostess that I forgot to take a picture of when I took this picture:
Can you believe she found a bag with a
knitting squirrel on it?? And the other squirrel there is holding hand sanitizer. I don't know which of those two needle minders I love best! Oh, and as if that wasn't enough, she ALSO gave me...
This gorgeous squirrel canvas!! She is trying to tempt me to the dark side (needlepoint). I think it's working... ;) She also gave us cute goodie bags with things like hand moisturizer, scissors, and that super-cool green twisting needle case. You twist it like a tube of lipstick and it fans out your needles like an old-fashioned soda shop straw dispenser! I am fascinated and may have played with it like a 5-year-old....
I was really excited to work on Prancer (by Mirabilia)!
Although, technically, I did not stitch on poor Prancer, just his GIANT Christmas stocking. It's big enough to fit a tree in! Oh, gargantuan stocking, where were you when I was a kid???
Peacock Cypher by Just Nan
If you've never seen this piece before, you may be thinking, "What language is that??" Well, it is a code (hence the "Cypher" in the title). It's difficult to explain without seeing the whole piece, but you need to find a letter that makes the words make sense. I'd tell you what it is, but Nan assures you in her directions that if you reveal the secret, all your needles will rust and all your stitches will unravel! =)
Castles by the Sea by Teresa Wentzler
I bet not many of you have seen this piece. It was taught at a retreat in 2004. I am changing the verse. Here's what the original looks like:
Finally, I tried something new this weekend...soutache embroidery!
The kit makes three snowflakes, and I got four out of six pieces of the first snowflake (the right-most one in the picture) done. I wish you could see how sparkly this really is! One of the pieces of soutache is an iridescent pearl.
I have already identified this as one of my
Theme-tas-stitch 2017 projects for Focus Finish February! What's that? You haven't heard of
Theme-tas-stitch? The wonderful Kerryp77 at
Ramblings of a Biscornu Addict kindly contacted me to ask if I'd mind if she hosted a SAL reminiscent of my Theme-a-licious SAL from years past. I was happy to give her the "go-ahead"! And I'm thrilled to participate in a themed SAL that I don't have to host. ;)
I am linking up with Jo at Serendipitous Stitching for Gifted Gorgeousness 2017, because I posted about some really lovely gifts I received, a friend gave me the gift of stitching time, and I learned about soutache embroidery (I am getting the gift of knowledge!) ;)
10 comments:
A stitching retreat with friends sounds perfect! You've made progress on some lovely pieces. I really like purrfect Christmas Santa. I'm not much for needlepoint, but the squirrel is fab. It's nothing like a lot of the twee ones you see in the UK. That needle case sounds really cool. I'd have been playing with it for ages too.
Thanks for the endorsment of Theme-tas-stitch and the link. I'm glad you're joining in too. Have a great week.
Such a lot of lovely projects you worked on with friends.
Great gifts bestowed upon you too.
I've never heard of soutache embroidery, that's a new one to me - it looks stunning.
Thanks for taking part in GG this month. What a wonderful way to do it too, with stitching friends!
I love the projects you too with you, if I'd been there I would have stolen them all.
Now going to find out more about Kerry's SAL. I do miss Theme-a-licious and the original shoe-horn.
That sounds like a great weekend and I think I would likely pack stitching like you. That's how it goes for any other trip. "This one for the morning and good light, this one for evening and dim light with my reading glasses, etc".
Sounds like a wonderful weekend! I love the way the flag of In Full Glory is designed, and the gorgeous Jim Shore Santa.
That needlecase is awesome!
I'm very tempted by Theme-a-licious too.
Stitching retreats are the best and what wonderful projects you worked on! I choose retreat projects pretty much the same way - what's already kitted up and in a bag!
sounds like you had a great time at Auxden! nothing better than stitching with friends, only if you could hunker down with snow and I know there wasn't any of that except on your lovely pieces ! I loved your Cookie A socks from last post - very impressive. Keep knitting too! hope the new year is good to you and Michael. Best Mel
You worked on some lovely projects! Sounds like a great weekend!
Gosh, what a lot of projects you have on the go, all interesting pieces and very pretty, I like them all and am interested to find out more about the Soutache embroidery.
Lots of great projects I love the beach one :)
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