Thank You, Irene, & Good Riddance

Irene has departed. I will admit it was pretty scary last night; the wind howled, quite loudly, the rain pelted down, and it stayed that way for about 16 hours. Thankfully, we had little damage, a lot of yard mess, but nothing consequential. Linda unfortunately had some water entry which created a messy cleanup and will require some reconstruction, although Lord knows when that can happen. Many in the NY metropolitan area are without power and even under water; lots of roadways are closed, mass transit won't be functioning tomorrow. So all in all, good riddance to this pesky hurricane. She couldn't get lost fast enough.

On the other hand being stuck in the house since Friday has allowed me to get a lot of stitching done. Question to myself: in the winter when we get snowbound, I get the urge to cook; I had no such inclinations with this hurricane. Wonder what's so different in this season? I guess there are fewer summertime comfort foods.

In any event you can see the results of my efforts. I have finished the project that our local needlepoint store did as a group effort, this lovely Rebecca canvas, "Twas the Night before Christmas." Actually, I am not quite complete; I ran out of snowflakes and I need to wait for our local store to reopen to get about 6 more flakes. I am planning on making this a standup; I was going to have this be a music box, but I may not any more; we'll see as I send it in for finishing.

I will be moving on to this month's Raymond Crawford calendar canvas; I should finish it by week's end. Then I plan to resume the many canvases for which I have guides from classes with Tony & Sharon.

Keep all those burdened by Irene's path in your thoughts.

Denise

Spectacular Finishing on Eye Candy Fall Tree

What a wonderful surprise the UPS man brought me today. I love the beautiful, magnificent, spectacular, stupendous and wonderful finishing that Ruth Schmuff did on Ada Haydon's Fall Tree. I knew that I would be happy with the finishing Ruth did for this tree but I never expected to be blown away. The base is just perfect with some bling. The ribbon is perfect with the bat and bling. The pink gusseted sides with the black velvet ribbon and bling are perfect and the fabric for the back is perfect. Yes, the finishing of the tree is just PERFECT!!! Can you tell that I really like the finishing. I am now really looking forward to doing the Winter tree and having it finished the same way. I can see all four trees on a shelf in my sewing room. I was unsure about not doing the single tree but now that I see how perfect it is finished I am glad that I did just the single tree.

Thank You Ruth for another spectacular job.

Linda

Choices and Stash Enhancement

I am trying to decide between the Maggie Tiger Lilly dress and the Eye Candy Halloween Collage for the Sharon G canvas embellishment class that I will be taking in September at Nimble Needle. I will probably have to wait until just before the class to decide which to do. My decision will be based on the range of motion I have in my arm. If I cannot extend my arm that far, I will probably do the Halloween Collage but if I have full range I think I will take the Tiger Lilly dress.

Even though I can only work on belts at the present time, I have added to my stash. I could not resist Candy Rush by Ewe & Eye that BeStitched put together as a total package. You get the canvas, stitch guides, threads and custom made frame. I could not believe how reasonably priced it was. I just had to have it. When I receive the frame I will post a picture, so everyone can see how beautiful it is. BeStitched wrote a wonderful stitch guide for this canvas. I cannot wait to stitch it. The best part is that once it is stitched I will have the frame to put it in - immediate gratification.

Last month when I received the July/August of Needlepoint Now and saw the Whimsy In Bloom canvas by Mindy with stitch guide by Tony Mineri, I just knew I had to have it. I ordered the canvas from our LNS with all the threads and beads. Tony did a magnificent job on the stitch guide and it is going to be such fun to stitch.

I have two wonderful projects to look forward to stitch when I am fully recovered. I go to the Doctor on September 12 and am hoping that he will tell me that I can stitch on bigger projects again.

My summer vacation is coming to an end. Jake will be back in less then two weeks. I am looking forward to having my little man again and am very happy that he will be going to nursery school three mornings a week. This will give me some time for myself to get errands done, and any appointments I have to make without worrying about what to do with Jake. Jake has had a wonderful summer. Jen has kept him very busy with going to the pool (everyday), the park and play dates. Jen and Jake are going to miss their carefree days together, and Nana is going to miss her freedom too.

Linda

Finished Apples - First Haircut - Progress Report

Today I received the Kelly Clark Halloween Apples back from finishing. I have to thank Kelly Clark for designing these wonderful apples, Amy Bunger for the wonderful stitch guide for the apples, and Ruth Schmuff for coming up with the wonderful finishing idea for them. We are truly blessed to have three such talented and creative needlewomen to help us create beautiful needlework. The apples are on display in my sewing room waiting for Labor Day weekend when the Halloween decorations go out. I cannot wait to see Stirha, Frank and Dracula again. Unlike my fellow Southern Stitch Sister, Melinda, I only finished three of the Halloweenies. Hopefully, I will be able to get a few more done for next year.

Here are two pictures of Jake getting his first haircut. He looks like a big boy now with his new haircut. In September, he will be going to nursery school three mornings a week. This will give me a little break so I can have some free time to get things done. I hope to have someone help me with him for a couple of months, until my shoulder heals.

I have started physical therapy and seem to be making good progress. I am still limited with the use of my arm but I can see improvement. I still cannot stitch from my stand and have to work on projects that are held in my hands - so I have been stitching belts. One is off to the finisher and I have about a third done on my second belt. I will be taking a Sharon G class at the end of September and hope to be able to stitch on a stand by then.

Linda

Kitty Cat Collars, Back from the Finishers!! UPDATE

Cara & Mia are pleased to announce that their lovely needlepoint collars are, at long last, back from the finishers! Creation of these collars was a new challenge for Stitch by Stitch's finishers, but I am proud and thrilled with the result.

Cat collars, for those of you who may not know, MUST for safety reasons be break away. I did some internet research to find the correct hardware to create these collars for my girls. Cats have a tendency to get themselves into small spaces where they just might get their collars caught on something, which could have a very bad ending. Therefore, all cat collars must either be elastic (so they can come over the cat's head when pulled) or come apart easily when pulled (and not pulled that hard, either). Cara & Mia are small cats, neither of them weighing more than 7 lbs (Cara coming in at 5.8), so a collar mounted on leather would have weighed them down. You can see the special breakaway hardware in the photos.

I am so proud of what was done. The cats are thrilled with their new looks. The collars were specially painted for them, as I wanted them to be thinner than the usual dog collar; these are less than 3/4" wide. Cara's has a light green Vineyard Silk background, to match her eyes; Mia's has a beautiful blue background, to match her eyes. Neither one of them wanted to pose with their eyes open; in fact, Mia closed hers completely!

I have been told that there isn't as much demand for cat collars; somehow I find this hard to believe! In any event, I am so happy that Stitch by Stitch got this done with their efforts & that of their finishers! Excellent!!

Denise

PS: A lot of you have asked, so I am actually putting my comment here too, for those who don't read the comments. It's for the safety of the beloved kitties:

To all interested in cat collars; check with your LNS. There are plenty of dog collars; see if you find one you like, & they can ask the artist to make it narrower & maybe longer if necessary (my girls are petite, I had them 1/2" & about 12" or so long). Depends on the size of your cat. Take into account that with breakaway collars there is some foldover.

It is IMPERATIVE that you get the collars finished with break away clasps. DO NOT use regular buckles. Your cat can be strangled by a regular buckle collar. Stitch by Stitch was able to get their finisher to make them correctly; I did send them an old collar to study.

Kitty Cat Collars, Back from the Finishers!!