So many people have requested that I post all of the Melissa Prince pieces that we have stitched at the shop and have guides for. So here you go!

Wizard of Oz

Superman

Frankenstein

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Dirty Dancing

Murder on the Orient Express

Romeo and Juliet

Pretty Woman

Star Wars

Sixteen Candles

Jaws

Forrest Gump

Hunger Games

Maleficent

Titanic

Fifty Shades of Grey

Romeo and Juliet

Sex and the City

Sixteen Candles

Paint the Town Red

12 Days of Christmas Wreath

Mediterranean Diet

Butterfly Wreath

This piece can be personalized with any name

Pagoda Birdhouse

Winter Birdhouse

Floral Birdhouse

Thistle Birdhouse

Air Stream Birdhouse

Rudolph

Nautical Birdhouse

Pine cone Pillow

Damn!! That’s a lot of pieces by Melissa Prince! See . . .I wasn’t kidding about how much we love her.

All of the pieces have stitch guides and can be kitted up for you. Give the shop a call before the end of the month when we pack up the trunk show. All in stock trunk show canvases are 20% off.

203-210-5107

I told you a few weeks ago that Amanda Lawford was retiring.  I just couldn’t bear to see her fabulous line disappear forever.

SO I BOUGHT IT!!!!!!

Suzie Vallerie, owner of The Enriched Stitch, is now the proud owner of Amanda Lawford Artworks and DC Designs!!!!!

I am so excited about carrying on this amazing line. I hope I know what I’ve gotten myself into lol!
Amanda was the first person I ever met in the needlepoint world. She was living in New York City at the time I opened and came to the shop to show me her line. I was so overwhelmed and was also a little star struck. She rolled in a few suitcases filled with canvases and I started going through them. I had a huge pile in front of me and knew I was spending way too much. Little did I know then what I would be spending on needlepoint. Ha!

Amanda has become a dear friend of mine, helping me get started with my own wholesale line. She is such a talented artist and an icon in the industry. I never dreamed that I would one day own this line when I purchased my first Amanda Lawford canvas over 20 years ago.

I will be contacting shop owners to introduce myself and with the new contact information. I will be fulfilling the orders placed at the Dallas show. So you don’t need to worry  if you have placed an order.
This is a big change in my life. But rest assured, it’s business as usual at the shop. Mary Susan has come on board as the manager of the shop so you’ll get to see a lot more of her. But don’t worry, I’m still there. Now you really won’t think that I sleep!

Thank you, Amanda, for dedicating your life to needlepoint. So many of us have spent countless hours enjoying your designs. Amanda will be missed, but fortunately her work will live on in the needlepoint world.

We’ve been working our way through the Dallas market and what fun we’ve been having!  So many great new canvases.  We’re exhausted and the credit card is melting lol!

A lot of people have been asking to see Amanda Lawford’s newest and last designs.  I told you a few weeks ago that she is retiring, but will fill orders on all the new designs by the end of the year.  I think this is some of her best work.

World Traveler Santa

The 30″ design is in her room and it is magnificent.  He comes in 30 inches on either 18 or 13 mesh.  He will also come in the 20″ size but only on 18 mesh.  Get him while he’s still around!

World Peas is available on both 18 and 13 mesh

Wonderland Heart for the Go Red with Thread fundraiser

Her farewell canvas.  We will miss you Amanda.

Email us as soon as possible if you would like to order anything.  The show closes at 4 tomorrow and that will be the end.

enrichedstitch@gmail.com

I think you all know by now that Melissa Prince is one of my favorite designers.  I have stitched tons of her movie coasters, which I promise I will do a blog over the weekend with all of the coasters that we have stitched at the shop and have guides for.

I’ve also started a bunch of her pieces that are still in progress.  I love the clean lines of her designs and that you can easily basketweave a piece or that she gives you room to play with decorative stitches.

Melissa’s trunk show is in the shop now through the end of the month. All in stock trunk show canvases are 20% off and special orders are 10% off.

Here are some of my favs from the trunk show.

The blue pumpkin is my all time favorite. One of these days I will stitch that piece. One day . . lol!

Give the shop a call if you see anything you like. I’m sure once you pop on over to Melissa’s website you will be tempted!

203-210-5107

On a different topic, we will be open our regular hours this weekend.

Saturday 10-3

Sunday/Monday: closed

We’ll be back in the shop on Tuesday after a relaxing weekend.

Happy Labor Day!

I just received a letter in the mail from Amanda Lawford announcing her retirement.  This makes me so sad.

Amanda has been one of my favorite designers since I started needlepointing.  I have pieces from her in my stash and my WIP (who doesn’t? lol)  I have stitched many of her pieces over the years and have gotten to know Amanda well over the last few years.

 Her artwork has touched so many people and graced their homes.  But after 42 years in the industry,  I understand it is her time to say goodbye to this wonderful world.  She will be sorely missed.

I guess this means I better stock up at the Dallas trade show.   So if there’s something you’ve had your eye on, let me know and I’ll pick it up for you at the show or order it for you.

I wish you well Amanda in whatever you choose to do next.  Can’t wait to see!

AMANDALAWFORD.COM

What would we do without Neon Rays? I love this thread!

I can hear you all grumbling about this thread as you’re reading this. Wondering how in the world I could like this thread.

I agree, it’s a difficult thread to work with. Here’s a few secrets to working with it. I promise you won’t hate it so much after you read this.

Let’s be honest . . .it’s a slippery little sucker. The most common complaint I hear from customers is that it’s hard to secure. And I’ll be honest, it is the first thread to come loose. Over the years we have gotten finishing back and there’s that little sucker pulling loose. We have tricks to fix that, but that’s for another day. Let’s just say we’ve gotten those little guys to behave before you’ve ever seen the problem.

So . . .how do you make sure this thread stays in place? To start the thread. either do a pin stitch or an away knot. If I can, I do a longer away knot than I usually would to make sure that this thread is stitched over as much as I can. I’m not saying it needs to be a 6 inch away knot. More like a half inch. A half inch covers 9 canvas threads on 18 mesh canvas. That is plenty long enough to be stitched over to hold it in place.

Sometimes you can’t do an away knot if you are doing open work. So try to find a place to hide a pin stitch. And sometimes you just have to tie a knot at the end. (The cardinal sin lol!) If you do that, make sure you double knot it. If I have a full coverage stitch around where I’m using Neon Rays, I will knot the end and slide it through the back of the full coverage stitch . . .once horizontally and then again vertically so it crosses in the back.

And that is exactly how I end the thread as well. If I’m lucky enough to have another thread nearby that catches everything, like Kreinik, I only run through the back once.

The other problem people have with working with this thread is that there are creases in it from being wrapped on a card. Simple solution . . . either buy a mini flat iron and run the Neon Rays through it quickly after it heats up. Or . . .because I’m too impatient to wait for my flat iron to heat up . . .I run the length of the thread between my fingernails and few times, pressing really hard. Problem solved.

Neon Rays is 100% rayon which is why it is so slippery. But that’s what gives it an incredible shine. It’s a very “strong” thread. What I mean by that is that because it is so shiny it can become overpowering in a piece. When I look at piece and decide which threads to use, one question I ask myself is “should this be shiny?” If so, Neon Rays is your thread of choice.

Another funny tidbit about this thread is that it has a long lost cousin, Ribbon Floss. So, if you can’t find the color you’re looking for in Neon Rays, move on over to the Ribbon Floss rack at the store. They are identical threads other than the colors. But this only applies to Neon Rays, not Neon Rays+ and the Shimmer and Metallic Ribbon floss. Those threads are different, but I’ll save that for another day.

Destination Dallas is quickly approaching.  The trade show starts September 9th.  This is my favorite show of the year.  It’s held in an Embassy Suites type of hotel, where each designer exhibits in a hotel room.  Sounds a little weird I know, but it makes things so easy for buyers when we’re lugging around tons of new canvases to bring home to our shops.  Also, there’s always somewhere to rest your tired legs, unlike at the convention hall shows.  And boy do my legs get tired!

The theme of the show this year is “Murder on the Orient Express.”  So Melissa Prince called me up and asked me if I wanted to propose her movie coaster as a class. I stitched that little guy up quickly and lucky us, our class was accepted.  This will be my third time teaching at this show.  I’m so honored that I was selected again.

I just love these movie coasters, as you all know.  I’ve stitched about 15 of them.

Before you ask, I did not miss stitches around the hat and mustache.  I did that intentionally to create the illusion of a face.

If you’re interested in this piece, the stitch guide will be available after the show and we will have kits put together.

I’m so excited that Melissa’s trunk show will be in the shop in September. If you haven’t stitched one of these little 4 x 4 “candies” as I call them, you’re missing out.

Many people have asked me to post all the coasters that we have stitched in the shop and have guides for.  I’ll be sure to do that while her trunk show is here.  I just have to find all the pictures buried in my computer. Haha!

For now you can click here to take a look at Melissa’s website and find a movie that you love.

I am so excited to share with you the three exclusive designs for shops participating in the 2018 Go Red with Thread national fundraiser!

I have collaborated with three designers to create pieces just for this cause.

The Mediterranean Diet by Melissa Prince

(5 x 5 on 18 mesh)

Wonderland Heart by Amanda Lawford

(4 x 5 on 18 mesh)

Red Tails at Sunset by Leigh Designs

(6 x 7 1/2 on 18 mesh)

All of these canvases will be debuting at Destination Dallas in a few weeks.  The stitch guides are by yours truly.  Full kits will be available.  We’re taking preorders now so give us a shout if you’d like one or all of them!

If you haven’t heard of this fundraiser, you can hop on over to the website and read all about it.  I won’t bore you since many of you probably know about it from previous years.   The website currently has last years designs on it.  We have all of the designs from last year in stock at The Enriched Stitch if you are interested in any from last year.

I just finished stitching the last of the pieces and writing the guides.  It’s been hard keeping this a secret for the last few months.   I’ve been bursting to share them with all of you.  I hope you like them as much as I do!

While I was on vacation I did a post discussing the new thread Glisten.  It was suggested to me that I should do a weekly post discussing different threads which I thought was a great idea.  Apparently you all loved that blog and have asked for more.  So here we go!

Pepper Pot is the best selling thread at The Enriched Stitch by a landslide.  If you’ve never used it, RUN to your nearest needlepoint store and get some!

Pepper Pot is a single strand silk, comprised of three thin plies of silk.  DO NOT take it apart if you find the thread to be too thick.  I’ve done it.  The plies are too thin to be stitched with alone and they break apart.  So, use the thread as intended.

There are hundreds of colors.  And more colors are added all of the time. They’ve recently added over dye Pepper Pot to the line.  Almost all over dye threads are strandable.  And I know a lot of people are not fans of stranding.   I had suggested to Tracy, the owner of Planet Earth Fiber, that we’re missing a single strand over dye thread.  So, last year at Destination Dallas, the company premiered a new line of over dye Pepper Pot and the Planet Earth Silk.  You ask and you shall receive!

Pepper Pot is intended to be used on 18 mesh canvas.  Personally, I find it too thick for 18 mesh and can Basketweave with it on 13 mesh without a problem.  But I have very light tension, so that might not work for most people.

If I were to have anything negative to say about this thread, is that it fuzzes up a but.  But that is the nature of these single strand silks.  They are tubular in nature and therefor cant be laid flat.  But, it is so easy to work with and feels great in your hands.

The color palette of this thread line is very diverse.  Many of the colors have a very gray base.  Which is probably why I think their grays are some of the best of any thread line.  Here’s some of my favorite colors that I use frequently.

If you want to see the full line check out the Planet Earth website.

I used Pepper Pot on the pink and green ears on the bunny, as well as on the tail.  Bet you’re wondering how I did that?  It doesn’t look anything like that thread.  Remember when I said earlier that there are three plies that comprise the one sturdier strand of thread?  I deconstructed the thread and used it in a completely different way.  Who says you need to use a thread the way it was intended?  No fun in that!

Two weeks ago I was enjoying a wonderfully relaxing time in Block Island with my husband and son and my in laws.  Don’t balk at that . . . I love my in laws.  We have gone to Block Island every summer for 15 years.  They’ve been going for 49 years!

The ferry ride is always a highlight for the kids.  Friends of ours were taking their boat up for the week.  So, my husband rode up on the boat and his wife and son drove with us.  Leaving me to back the car on the ferry.  Always an experience.  And this parking spot topped it all!

That;s my car squeezed in there.  No way could I get out the driver’s door.  I had to crawl out through the back right door.  Getting out was easier than falling over the front seats.  To which when I looked up I had an audience applauding me as I made it back over the seat.  Let me know if you see that on Youtube.  Hahahahahahahaha!

We had beautiful weather and beached most of the days.

This guy cracked me up!  Brilliant . . .just brilliant.

We did have a windy day and one rainy day.  So I stitched my little fingers off!  I finished this little piece by DC Designs.  It just makes me happy.

I also stitched the GOAT ornament.  It was so delightful to stitch something simple for once, that I could just stitch and not think.  It also helped I used Mary Susan’s stitch guide. LOL

I stitched two other pieces on vacation that I’m dying to share with you but I can’t yet.  One is a Leigh piece that is premiering at Destination Dallas next month.  I am so honored to be stitching for Leigh.  Another was one of the three pieces for the Go Red with Thread fundraiser.  Those pieces will debut in a few weeks.  Two out of three are done.  The last one will be wrapped up this week.  So stay tuned for that!

This is my in laws home.  Yep . . .I said home.  They have lived on this beautiful boat for 19 years.  So I would say our accommodations aren’t too shabby.

If you’re wondering about the ferry ride home, the parking situation was uneventful.  But we’re never without drama.  Our friend’s little boy cut open his chin and had to get seven stitches when we got home.  Never a dull moment!