Kelly has been busy stitching away on the Winter Birdhouse canvas that she will be teaching this fall at the shop.

I love getting texts from Kelly as she’s working on the piece to see what she’s up to.  She amazes me!

This poinsettia is gorgeous!  Kelly loves to play with felt.

Love the background!

Kelly stitching is so pretty.  I love how she uses composite stitches and multiple threads to create such interesting stitches.

How cool is the roof line and greenery on this birdhouse?  It looks really hard but it’s not!

Kelly always has the most fabulous embellishments.  And lucky for us, they come in the kit from Colonial Needle.

If you’ve been thinking about taking the class, now is the time to sign up.  Class registration will close at the end of the week.  If you can’t make it in person and would like us to send you a kit, call us by the end of the week as well so we can make sure you get all the special goodies that are in this kit while we’re putting together the kits for the class.

Class is October 16-18 from 10-4.  Hope you can join us!

It’s the perfect time of year to stitch this adorable little heart.  Especially for all you beach lovers out there!  I know many of you are very excited to get started on this piece.  So . . .here we go!

Let’s start with the thread list

Thread List

Entice E246

Kreinik 8 Braid 212

PE 6-Ply Silk Beach V1306

Petite Frosty Rays: PY201 or PY218, PY217

Sundance Size 11 Beads #250

Berry Beads

3 Mini Starfish

Beading Thread: White and Tan

We’re going to start with the sand.  Use Kreinik 12 Braid 212 for the white stitch in the diagram and3 strands of PE 6-Ply Silk Beach V1306 for the gray stitch in the diagram.  It’s best if you lay one row of the Kreinik and then stitch over it, rather than laying them all at once.  With the three strands of the silk, turn one of the strands the opposite direction of the others to break up the variegation in the thread.

Be sure to follow the numbering in the diagram, working the top stitch like Basketweave.  If you work it vertically or horizontally, it will look different on the front.

Stitch over the starfish.  You’ll sew them on as the last thing you do.

Let’s move on to the water.

Use Entice E246.  Just one strand.  Follow the diagram below.  You can stitch over the waves.  We’re gonna add them in after with Petite Frosty Rays PY217.

After you get the water stitched in, come back with PY217 and lay some long stitches or Stem Stitch the waves over what you have already stitched.

All that’s left is the ocean spray at the edge of the water.  For this, you can do Colonial or French Knots or mixing it up is even better.  Use PY217 and PY201 to make the knots.  Add is a few of the berry beads and white beads to fill in the little open spaces between the knots.

To sew on the starfish beads, use one strand of tan beading thread doubled over in the needle.  Make sure get those suckers on really tight!

I hope you’ve enjoyed our first Stitch Along with Suzie!  If you’re late to the game and you want us to send you a kit, we’ve got a few more left in stock.  Or, you can come back to this guide any time.  But, when we run out of the starfish beads and berry beads, that’s all she wrote.  So don’t wait too long!

You can join in the fun by calling the shop or click here to order in our online store.

We’ve been moving things around and making room for lots of new canvases arriving at the shop. It’s time to find these dear friends a good home to go to. The following canvases are 50% off now through Saturday July 13th. You know the drill by now. Give us a call or shoot us an email with the frame number and a description of the canvas and it’s all yours! The frame numbers are below the images.

Frame 1

Frame 2

Frame 3

Frame 4

Frame 5

Frame 6

Frame 7

Frame 8

Frame 9

Frame 10

Frame 11

Frame 12

Frame 13

Frame 14

Frame 15

Frame 16

Frame 17

Don’t pass up this opportunity! 50% off doesn’t come along very often!

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We’re past the half way mark of June but there’s still time to drop off finished pieces during our finishing sale. All finishing dropped off or mailed in during the month of June is 10% off! Beat the holiday rush!

Last weekend I went into New York City and of course I had to stop at one of my favorite stores, Mood Fabrics. Let’s just say that I had myself a little party there and had a huge box shipped home. That store is dangerous!

Linda has been working her finishing magic and playing with some canvases we have in the shop. Take a look at some of the fabulous ideas she has!

This is one of my favorite Amanda Lawford pieces. The colors are just to die for and the piece breaks up into different sections so you really feel a sense of completion when you finish a part. You could add some drop beads into the centers of the diamond patterns for a little something extra(even I would do that beading). The brushed fringe trim would really make this piece pop!

I’ve wanted to stitch this piece from Voila but I kept thinking to myself…what would I do with it? You can go wild on her hair with French and Colonial knots with a few different threads…or even crazier and Turkey Work her hair. Use a little Accentuate on her glasses to make them look reflective. I just loved this fabric and had to have it. I had no idea what I’d do with it but here you go!

We found these tassels last year and have been dying to use them on a piece. This simple piece from Two Sisters can definitely handle the tassels. You could either bead the pineapple if that’s your thing(definitely not mine) or you could tent stitch or do Upright Cross with a gold thread to give the pineapple some weight and texture. The background is wide open for your stitch of choice.

This classy lady is also from Voila. I think our favorite fabric from Mood is this hot pink velvet we’ve used it a lot in our own finishing. And the onion ball trim is something we found at some point and have been dying to use. You could bead her necklace…a girl’s gotta have her bling! A really pretty stitch for her dress with a silk and metallic, like a filler Alicia’s Lace…and she’s ready for a night out on the town!

Tempted? I know I am! But I can’t start one of these pieces right now. I’ve got a long list of pieces that need to be stitched for the Dallas show and a few others for a special event coming this fall. And right now I’m on a painting deadline for the Dallas show so I better stop typing and pick up my paint brush!

Linda has got a few more pieces she’s playing with so stay tuned!

A year ago we just reopened the store when we moved to our fabulous new location. But we looked like this.

And now we look like this!

We just love our new location. It’s so bright and sunny with so many fabulous displays.

But it’s crazy to me how quickly a year flies by. Where does the time go?

We had the best day yesterday at the shop. Our dear customer, Tony, brought us the most delicious chocolate cake. I what a treat!

Becki even stopped by to join us.

We weren’t celebrating anything in particular…just good friends and good times. But I’ll find any reason to celebrate these days. Finishing radiation last Friday has proved to be a week long celebration. I think I’ll keep it going through this weekend.

Speaking of which, we will be open this Saturday over the holiday weekend from 10-3. Stop by and stitch with us! If you’re looking for cake I have to disappoint you and tell you it’s all gone. My son did a number on it last night!

Tony threatened her bring us another cake next month. This could be the beginning of a fun event at the shop…a little fake and stitching…what could be better?