Trick or treat!

Happy to report we survived Hurricane Sandy unscathed, unlike our unfortunate neighbors in New York and New Jersey.  And how did our little terrier Phoebe weather the storm?  Why, hunkered down on top of her best friend, Molly the beagle, of course!

The little ghosts of "A Chorus Line" wish everyone a Happy Halloween!

Trip project finale

I've finally finished the "English Rose" canvas that I took with me on our recent trip to Texas and Kansas!

The background was stitched in taupe Petite Very Velvet, while the ribbons were worked in DMC cotton floss.  Pink and gold Kreinik #12 tapestry braid provided a bit of twinkle along the edges of the ribbons.

I'll add this to my collection of dining room ornaments, in hopes of eventually getting enough to decorate in a new theme and color scheme!

More finishing!

Here are the rest of the finished projects I picked up Saturday from my LNS:  three ornaments to adorn a tree for the Cape Cod Hospital Auxiliary's Holly Berry Bazaar on Nov. 10.  Two friends of mine are in charge of decorating two trees to be auctioned off--these are destined for the tree with a red and gold theme.  I also provided three signal-flag ornaments for the tree with a Cape Cod theme.

Anyone planning to be on-Cape Nov. 10?  Stop by Nauset Middle School in Orleans to jump-start your holiday shopping!

A TADA moment

As luck would have it, I ran one skein short of DMC floss #503 to finish the English Rose canvas I'd taken on our recent trip.  But while we were away, I'd received a message from my LNS that some of my finishing was ready for pick-up.  So off I went this morning to collect my treasures!

Here's the finished Nellie's Imari pillow, a design by Judy Harper that I'd been working on for the last three years.  It's nestled in its new home, in the corner of our living room sofa.  Backed with navy blue velvet and a welted seam treatment in the same fabric, it has a zipper in the back for ease in cleaning. 

I was so excited, I just had to snap a photo right away!  I'll show more of the finishing I collected when I take some photos.

Stitching on the go

When I'm taking a trip, I always bring a stitching project along--and our recent junket to Kansas and Texas was no exception.  I was looking for something small that would pack handily in my carry-on bag, and my English Rose canvas fit the bill. It's only 7 x 9 inches, small enough to comfortably hold in my hand. This time I decided to change the colorway a little to coordinate with some other ornaments I'd stitched to decorate our dining room during the holidays.

Was I ever glad to have this project with me!  I read instead of stitching on the plane flight from Boston to Dallas (737s are too cramped).The trip from Dallas to Kansas, however,  turned out to be a six-hour drive each way, and with DH behind the wheel, I managed to get a lot of stitching done when not admiring the Arbuckle Mountains of Oklahoma.  The flight home on a 757 was much more conducive to getting work done.

When mounting the canvas on stretcher bars before our departure, I added a small piece of scrap canvas to the corner of the frame to act as a "parking lot" for needles.  I don't own a magnet--I'd much rather spend the money on threads!  I slipped the canvas and the threads I'd pulled in a clear plastic bag, with my bright teal-colored Fiskars blunt-tipped scissors (purchased for $1.99 years ago just for this purpose) prominently on top.  I added this bag to the quart-sized plastic bag for liquids in a bin going through security and sailed through the screening process.

Go West, young woman

The "young" part may be a bit of a stretch, but I really didn't fall off the face of the earth--I went to Kansas!  For the last week, DH and I have been visiting our sons:  No. 1 in Kansas and No. 2 in Dallas.  A wonderful trip and great visits, but now it's back to work!