I Did It !!!

I finished stitching on my Bluebird of Happiness canvas last night. I took a deep breath this morning and trimmed the edges, worked the piece into place and applied the fabric glue.

Just like that I had a finished wallet. How fantastic is that? Fortunately for me the sticky layer is rather forgiving and let me align the piece more than once. For those of us who like instant gratification and hate waiting weeks for a finisher to return a piece these Lee's Leather projects are perfect.

Bluebird and Wallet

This picture shows the black wallet I ordered from Lee's Needle Art, Inc. They have a wide range of styles to chose from and Robin Clark was most helpful. My canvas measures 2.75 inches by 6 inches, 18 count canvas. This size will fit into Lee's Barrel Bag, the Zip-Top and Regular Wallets and also the Checkbook. The best part is that you, the stitcher, can finish it at home. Each piece from Lee's comes with instructions for finishing, all you add is a bit of courage!

Of course, if you are more like the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz you can send it to your regular finisher. The Zip Wallet has lots of places for credit cards and money as well as a zippered compartment and a wrist strap. Each is well made in good quality leather.

Bluebird of Happiness

I've been taking it fairly easy this summer as you can tell by the lack of new posts. Sorry about that but sometimes you just have to wallow in slug mode. I decided to do something a bit on the fun side and this being a small piece, it should be a quick stitch. Using a piece of scrap canvas I painted a bluebird from my In My Garden series and added a pink flower with leaves. The area to be stitched is only 2.75 by 6 inches, 18 count canvas. When finished I will insert it into one of the Lee's Needle Art wallets. (see above post) At this point I have the background to finish and the brown center of the flower. I used threads from my overflowing stash so I didn't even have to make a trip to my LNS. The background is worked in a Mosaic stitch using Impressions. The bird's body is worked in a Criss-Cross Hungarian stitch using Splendor and Tiara for the shiny dots. The beak and tail are done using 2 shades of Soy Luster solids. The cheek is a Wound Cross stitched in Splendor and the wing is worked in Gold Rush 18 with Petite Sparkle Rays for the white Smyrna crosses. The flower is edged with Tiara and filled in with Splendor. And last but not least, the leaves and stem are worked in 3 shades of Splendor. All these stitches are rather basis and can be found in most needlepoint books.

St. Francis of Assisi

I finally finished stitching my second saint and I wanted to share it with you before I sent it off to the finishers. I'll have them make it up as another small stand up like the St. Claire.

St. Jude

I didn't get a chance to show a picture of my new design: Saint Jude, #214. St. Jude is the patron saint of miracles, lost causes and hopeless cases. This is one of my favorites because I feel like it would take a miracle to actually get through all the needlepoint projects I've got squirreled away. St. Jude, sitting here with a basket of unfinished projects, is like me looking through my stash basket trying to decide which one to work on now. I'm definately a hopeless case!

Sharing Time

A few weeks ago I sent off several pieces that I had stitched to one of my favorite finishers, The Spinning Wheel. Today a box was delivered with the finished pieces inside. Opening the box and pulling out each piece is as much fun as Christmas. I wanted t share two of the items with you since you watched the stitching. The first is a Christmas piece, Skating Santa. I had him finished as a simple box. I think I will find some Christmas ribbon to wrap around the outside edge of the box and then it will be perfect. The second piece is Saint Claire. St. Claire is the patron saint of needleworkers. She is joined by 2 other saints, St. Francis and the recently added St. Jude. Saint Jude is the patron saint of lost causes and hopeless cases. I show him seated, surrounded by a basket of unfinished needlepoint canvases. If you are like me, it will take a miracle to get through all my unfinished projects. He's on my "to stitch" list.

You Know You Have A Good One When.....

How many stitchers can send their husband to a needlepoint shop with 3 skeins of thread, ask him to come home with matching beads and floss........ and he does, perfectly!
Wow, I feel lucky. This past 2 weeks has been rather hectic. First we were gone for a week vacationing, as soon as we got back I had scheduled the replacement of our washer and dryer. The next day it was the garage door and after that it was a week having the kitchen counters changed to granite with a tile back splash. Because of all the various workmen I couldn't leave the house for the entire week. but my sweetie came through with flying colors. Now I have everything I need to finish working on Wild Love. Judy Harper graciously sent me a copy of her very informative book titled The Workbook Needlepoint Beads. I plan to read it and follow her suggestions for perfect beading.