If you’re looking for a quick gift to stitch up for someone, perhaps those graduates in your life, I have the answer for you!

This three inch round stitches up in no time!  The canvases don’t come with an initial on it.  But, we can certainly do that for you for no extra charge when you purchase one of the canvases from S.O.S Designs.

There’s also little bags the canvases slip into.

Or snap trays.

The boxes come in a variety of colors.

And this is what I started with.  I never stitch anything for myself.  This was one of those rare occasions.  Hence, the “S” for Suzie.  

Hopefully this will make it to my house one day.  But my guess is that it will live in my second home, The Enriched Stitch. LOL!

I know I’ve shared this piece before, but I just love it!

 And now, there’s a magnet to go with this fabulous piece.

Most piece don’t get this much attention.  But you probably remember that this piece was designed for our Go Red with Thread fundraiser for The American Heart Association.

I’ve seen a number of people sharing their stitched pieces on Facebook.  I’m thrilled how many people participated in this event!  We still have a few kits in stock so give us a buzz if you’re interested.

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There’s nothing better than when a big box arrives from one of our finishers.  OK…that’s not true.  What’s better is when I know that MY finishing is in the box. LOL!

These Zecca pieces were from a class I taught back in the fall.  

I just LOVE the gusset with the ribbon.  The ribbons are designed by Zecca, as well.  How cool is that?

This little guy took me an hour and 15 minutes to stitch.  Yep . . .I timed myself.  

All of the pieces in this series have stitch guides.  Karen, aka Zecca, stitched the pieces and I wrote up the guides for her.  There are five more canvases in the series.  I have to stitch one more because you can’t just have two!

We’ve been busy kitting up our Hippity Hoppity Egg Club.

And this wasn’t even all of it!

We’re waiting for a thread or two to come in and then we will get them out right away.

If you missed the first round of signups for this club, it’s not too late.  We have a second batch of everything on order so you can still join in.

These cuties are going on to the finisher this week. Can’t wait to get them back!

You can sign up online or by calling the shop.  Click here for all the details of the club.

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Look what arrived in the mail from the finisher yesterday!

This is going to be perfect on my bathroom counter to hold my makeup brushes (and whatever else gets tossed in it)! The needlepoint is protected by the acrylic box so no worries of it getting wet or stained.

This darling little piece is from DC Designs.  A quick stitch measuring 5 x 5.  Any 4 x 4 or 5 x 5 piece easily slips into one of these boxes.  We just have the finisher finish it flat like a coaster then slip it inside. Voila!

Back in January, I showed you my favorite canvas that debuted at the January trade show.

This Twelve Days of Christmas wreath by Melissa Prince is simply fabulous!  So many elements to keep you entertained throughout stitching the whole canvas.  And the best part about it is that it is only one canvas and one finishing!  Usually this design concept comes in 12 ornaments.  Let’s be serious . . .who’s getting through a series of twelve canvases?  Not me!

Customers have suggested some really interesting finishing ideas.  I’m going to finish mine as a wreath.  But you could also write something in the center, such as “Noel” or a year and square the piece off and make a fabulous pillow.  It could lay flat on a table and you can place a votive candle in the center.  So many possibilities!

My copy of the canvas came in a few days ago.  I just love when all the new canvases from the January show start pouring in.  And boy have they been filling the shop!

I’ve been stitching away on the piece since so many people were interested in doing a class or stitch along.  So here’s how it’s going to work.  We will ship the canvas, entire thread kit and first installment of the stitch guide in July.  So that means you have to sign up by May 5th to make sure that we have a canvas for you.  There will be 4 installments of the stitch guide.  I will email a PDF of the guide each month after the first shipment goes out.  The canvas is $195.  I have no idea what the thread kit will be yet.  I just started the piece!  The stitch guide will be $20/installment.

And here’s an added bonus . . .once a month we will get together in the shop on a Saturday morning to work on the piece and I can help you with whatever you need help with.  If you don’t live around here, and I know many of my readers don’t, you know you can always call or email me with your questions.  Think of it as “Needlepoint on Demand.”  Hmmmm . . .that’s an interesting concept.  More on that later.

Here’s what I’ve done so far.  Trying to plow through the background.  It’s so much easier to do these open stitches when you can count through unstitched canvas.

I didn’t get to finish the beading on the pear yet.  It was my little guy’s 9th birthday this past weekend so it’s been a little crazy in my house.

Give us a call at the shop if you would like to join in the fun.  Or you can sign up online.  If you sign up online, the price that is listed is for the canvas only.  We will contact you at a later date for the payment for the threads and guides.

I hope you join in the fun!  I have some fabulous things planned for this canvas.

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It’s going to be a beautiful day here in Connecticut.  I think we are finally done with winter!  So  I thought I’d share a piece from my new wholesale line to celebrate.

I just finished up “Hydrangeas” by the artist Kim Leo.  This was so exciting for me to stitch a piece that I put into production!

The flowers are done in a few different techniques.  One of them being the stumpwork I told you about the other day.  I just love ribbon work.  It makes flowers really come to life!

I finished the piece up on Saturday morning, minus the buttons for the drawer pulls.  I scooted out of work to run to the fabric store.  I just had to get this piece done!

I have canvases on order and should receive them in about 4 weeks.  I’ll write up the stitch guide as soon as I can.  So, if you’d like to order a kit, let us know.

If you are a retail shop owner, the canvas line is available wholesale, as well as the stitch guide.

Which one shall I stitch next?

OR

Check out the canvas line on our website!

This is a HUGE trunk show!  So many canvases!  You know we love Melissa Shirley.  Who doesn’t?

I thought I’d share some of the pieces that we have stitched over the years and have written stitch guides for.  Not all of them came in the trunk show. If it did, you’re on luck because all in stock trunk show canvases are 20% off!  If the canvas you want didn’t come, don’t worry.  You’ll still get 15% off the canvas.

Wildwood Santa

Kip the Bun

Pastel Bunnies

Mushroom Cap Chick

Carrot Top Chick

Purple Flower Chick

Blue Bonnet Chick

Butterfly Chick

White Teacup

Blue Teacup with White Flowers

Christmas Teapot

Berry Basket

Gold Bird Cage

Fall Buny

Duchess

Lambie Pie

Baby Mockingbirds

Nadia

Gunilda and the Cauldron

Leulla and the Snakes

Helowise the Peddler

Bird Stories

Angel Clarence

Debbie Mumm Thanksgiving Set

Let us know if something piques your interest!  And don’t forget to check out Melissa’s website.

I was stitching last night when my husband came home from work.  Shocking . . .right?  He came over to say hello and looked at what I was doing and said “That’s not needlepoint.   That’s that other thing.”  To be honest, he looked a little scared like he thought I was going to pick up another addiction.

I was making stumpwork hydrangeas on embroidery cloth and working on a circular hoop frame.

This is a really cool and fairly simple technique.  I did Colonial knots in little circles, about dime sized, on a piece of muslin.  You could also do French knots. But I like the rhythm Colonial knots.  If that doesn’t make sense to you, that’s a blog for another day.

Anyway . . .then you baste around the edge of the cluster of knots. Leave the tail of the thread long. Then cut it out of the fabric.  Make sure you don’t cut the thread that you left hanging when you do this.  I cut the thread I needed to secure the cluster to the canvas with not once, but twice!

Then you pull the long thread and the cluster will form a little ball.  Secure it to the canvas.  And voila!  You have a hydrangea bloom!

You can see this in the flowers that are done with knots.  Of course, the dimension doesn’t really come through in a photograph.  I’ll have to work on that.

I’m closing in on the first piece I’m stitching from my wholesale line.

It will be finished this afternoon . . .come Hell or high water!

If you’re interested in a kit, let us know.  I’ll write up the stitch guide as soon as I’m finished.

What to stitch next?

World Autism Awareness Day is April 2nd.  I haven’t shared this publicly but my son is Autistic.  He was diagnosed in kindergarten.  We are very lucky that he is on the extremely high functioning end of the spectrum.  He would be classified as Aspergers, but that classification was done away with a few years back and is now grouped under Autism.

 He is, and always has been, a happy child but extremely quirky and wildly intelligent.  And I’m not saying that just because I’m his mother.  He spends the summers at the store with me and will come down and chat with customers or make a ton of noise upstairs in our classroom, building something or whatever it is that he does. LOL!

Fortunately, we have received so any wonderful services through his school.  Not all children with Autism receive enough services.  Seeing as how fortunate my family is, I thought I’d paint up a little canvas where a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Autism Speaks.

Since the paint just dried, it will be about 6-8 weeks before I receive more.  But you can go ahead and order a canvas in our online store and we’ll get it out to you as soon as we can.  The heart is about 4 x 4 on 18 mesh canvas.

Click here to order!

I’m sure there isn’t a person reading this who’s life hasn’t been touched by Autism in some way.  So let’s do our part to make a difference!  What a wonderful gift for someone in your life who has been impacted by Autism.