Last week was CRAZY!!!!  Kelly Clark was in town teaching her three day Rooster Collage piece.  What a way to come back from my vacation.  Reentry was a little rough last week.  LOL!  But more on that later this week.

It was a packed class an boy did they work hard!

On Wednesday morning it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.  Thursday morning brought some random stitches with silk ribbon.  I was ready to run across the street to the liquor store and pick up mimosas to relax them.  But they got it!

Kelly is so delightful and an amazing stitcher and teacher.  I can’t wait for her to come back next spring for our retreat.

Katherine nearly finished her piece during class.

We enjoyed a few wonderful dinners out, with Margaritas of course!

Even my little Bella hung around during class.  She looks very relaxed.  I guess stumpwork and ribbon work don’t phase here!

We have one kit left if you’d like to ghost the class.  The kits are only available through the class.  The stitch guide will not be publicly released till next year.  So, if you’re thinking about it, don’t wait!

The second design in the series just came back from the finisher and it’s just as cute as the others.

If you like Halloween and are looking for a few little quick stitches, then this is the club for you.

The third design is still out at the finisher.  But I think you get the idea.

 These would also make darling little pillows on black ruched fabric with some wild trim.  Hmmmm…I may have to stitch some more.

Click here to sign up online or you can give the shop a call. 203-210-5107

People always say “needlepoint is an expensive hobby.”  I beg to differ.  A wonderful customer of ours, Tony, just finished this magnificent pillow.  It’s big . . .like 26 x 18 big.  Most of is don’t want to know what our delightful hobby actually costs.  But, he kept track of the expenses for him to make this pillow.  475 hours

280 cards of Rainbow Gallery thread

$2328 all together with the finishing.

When you do the math, it comes down to $4.90 per hour.  Tell me dear readers . . .what can you do that brings you so much satisfaction for less than $5/hour?

Let’s face it.  All hobbies are expensive.  My family is in the business of boating.  We literally throw money into the ocean.  Or what about golfing? Tennis? Skiing (we do that too)?  Hobbies are meant to be wonderful things that make us happy in life. . .something we choose to do . . .not have to do.

Meredith Willett is really outdoing herself on this Charlie Harper design that will taught at our retreat next April, Needlepoint in New England.

Could you now cry this is so cute!  Look at the baby birds.  Bestill my heart!  I wish I could take this class.  But I’ll be busy teaching the New England Santa.

And then there’s the nest.  How does she come up with this stuff?  Amazing . . .just amazing.

Meredith’s class is nearly full so if you are thinking about coming to the retreat, April 27-29, 2018, don’t wait to sign up.  You don’t want to miss your first choice class.

All of the details about the retreat are on the website.  Click here to hop on over. 

Kits will be available to ghost the class if you can’t make it to the retreat.

They just make me so happy!

Earlier today, the wonderful stitcher and blogger Diane Gasior, sent me an email and asked my opinion about the new thread Glisten from Rainbow Gallery. She was having some difficulty working with the thread. Shes using it on a background doing Skip Tent. She’s tried using shorter lengths but it still frays. 

Here’s my thoughts on Glisten.
I love the look of it!

It fills the holes beautifully on 18 which I find surprising. Usually threads that are designed for 18 mesh are much tom thick in my opinion.
I agree that the ends fray because of the 4 strands you are working with. I find that if I use a size 20 needle then I don’t have a problem. It opens up the hole more so less fraying. I don’t think I would use a 20 on skip tent because the holes open too much and I can see it and it bugs the heck out of me! But I would use a larger needle if it were a full coverage stitch.
I never use shorter pieces of thread. Slows me down WAY too much! A bigger needle does the trick. Even with Flair I use a 15-18 inch length.  I’ll give you some tips on working with Flair and Petite Frosty Rays another day. 

Some of my customers will put Thread Heaven on it to control it, but I personally don’t think it’s a great idea to put anything on a thread. You just have to deal with it! Lol!

If I want something fine with sparkle on a background I prefer to use Petite Silk Lame Braid.
So, to sum up, I think that Glisten is best used for full coverage stitches on smaller areas. I know it makes beautiful Turkey Work but I haven’t worked with it that way yet. 

There are much easier threads to work with on a background. Keep background threads simple. More on that topic later…
If you don’t follow Diane on Facebook, you should. Her page is Diane’s Stitchin in the Mitten. She’s a fabulous and prolific stitcher!

Finishing is pouring into the shop from our June finishing sale!

Joan stitched this adorable coaster set by Kathy Schenkel.

Bea stitched this flag from The Collection.  I love the ruffle around the edge.

Our very own Becki stitched this amazing piece years ago and didn’t know what to do with it.  Leave it to the creative minds at The Enriched Stitch to come up with something fabulous.

Becki also stitched Lambie Pie a few years ago.  Not so easy to find the right blue fabric for this piece.  She stitched this for her daughter, Emily.  So many people loved this piece that she wrote the stitch guide for it.

I stitched this piece by Alice Peterson last fall.  This one screams home to me around here in New England.  There’s three other canvases in the series.

Our finisher made the most amazing twist for this boxed pillow.

My dear friend, Laura, stitched this hysterical piece.  I’m so glad someone finally did because it is just too funny.  People would look at it hanging in the shop and then would burst out laughing once they finally got it.  I love the tassel trim.

Designing the finishing is just as much fun as stitching it.  We like to choose fabrics and trims that enhance the piece, not overshadow it.  After all . . .why mask the beautiful work you did?

Holiday finishing deadlines are quickly approaching.  How scary!

Christmas
Standups, Gusseted Ornaments: August 19th
Stockings/Pillows: October 1st
Belts: November 1st
Ornaments: November 1st
Stockings/Pillows: October 1st

Yep . . .you heard me right.  There are three trunk shows going on at the shop right now.  I don’t usually have more than one trunk show at a time.  I don’t think that’s fair to the designer. So here’s what happened.

I had booked the Silver Needle trunk show early this year.  So that was scheduled.  We just love the travel rounds!

Then I asked Kathy Schenkel to send just the Tiny Inspiration signs, because my customers LOVE them and want to see all of them at once.

Kathy sent me a few more categories than that.  We have the college rounds, mini socks and treat bags.  All such quick stitches.  Who doesn’t love that?

And since Kelly Clark is coming to teach at the shop next week, I think it’s fun to have a bunch of canvases from the designer there when they are in the shop. It’s so interesting talking to the designer about the pieces, how they created them, what inspired them.  Kelly’s trunk show is only here briefly, basically till about the 11th.

All of the trunk show canvases are 20% off.  Special orders are 10% off.  Kelly’s class piece is not included in the special orders.  Sorry.  But you can definitely order a kit!

I just love trunk shows.  It’s so much fun to look through all of the canvases.  I always make myself a little pile of my favorites.

Shark Week ends today.  It’s a sad day for all of us shark fanatics.  Maybe this will cheer you up.

Here’s a sneak peek of a new artist that will debut in our wholesale line in January.  Isn’t it too cute?

I have walked all through the January show looking for shark canvas for you know who.  I have found three.  The Kathy Schenkel mini sock . . .

Jaws by Melissa Prince . . .

And the Finding Nemo coaster by Melissa.

That’s it . . .three canvases out of how many thousands.  And there definitely isn’t a whale shark, which is the kind of shark in the first piece.  And before you Google it, a whale shark is a shark and not a whale.  I’ve already questioned this with my little expert. LOL!  I don’t know why I question him.  He knows what he’s talking about!

How much do you all love the travel rounds from Silver Needle?

I stitch the Block Island ornament for my husband last year.  I can’t tell you how many of these we sell at the shop over the course of a year.  A quick stitch and great gift.

I also stitched this simple little ornament for my husband.  I think that was for Christmas the prior year.  I might have to find a different thee for him this year.  Too bad I can’t find a picture of the finished piece.  I had it done as a gusseted ornament.  Simple . . .but super cute.

Silver Needle is a fun collection of designs.  You can see the entire line on their website. 

Goodnight Moon.  One of my favorite books I used to read to Trip.

Beatrix Potter

Lots of Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard pieces.  These are my kinda thing.

And there’s tons of belts.  (Definitely not my thing.  LOL!)  But maybe I’ll have one stitched for hubby this year.  Yes. .  .you can have pieces stitched.  I’ll tell you more about that in another blog.

Everything in stock in the trunk show is 20% off and special orders are 15% off.  So give us a buzz if  you see something you like.  FYI . . .There’s still plenty of time to stitch an ornament for Christmas.