Tea & Stash

Grab a cup of tea or coffee and get cozy, it's time for a stash update!

First of all, thanks so much for all of the sweet comments about Christmas Gathering. It was a little beast of a project, but it was worth it, and I appreciate your kind words. I wasn't blogging as much as I would have liked during February, but sometimes life has an annoying tendency to interfere with stitching and blogging, doesn't it? Amazingly, it doesn't seem to interfere with shopping! I've got several months-worth of goodies to show you, so settle in with your cup of tea and let's get caught up!

Market goodies! It's been a while since I've been this excited about Market. I actually made a list this year! My LNS didn't have everything on my list, but they did have three of my favorites and I was tickled pink! I think Tiger Lily is just as interested in them as I am. Left to right: Antique Beasts & Birds by Elizabeth's Designs (I love the verse on this!); Here a Peep, There a Peep by Brenda Gervais (third in the series); Three Little Kittens by Ink Circles (love, Love, LOVE this one!).

Little paws on my linen... (I won't handle my linen unless I've washed my hands, but I let her walk on it. Go figure.)

I hadn't thought of this rhyme in years and years but when I saw this I was immediately transported back to my childhood. Of course I had to have it. The colors are scrumptious. 

A new Limited Edition GAST color: Cardinal

I adore these little oval designs Brenda Gervais is doing. So far there is a Christmas one and a Halloween one, and now this one. I changed some of the colors, and when I get it stitched I'll list my substitutions. I think I'll be stitching this one soon.

Like most of the rest of the Stitching Universe (it seems!), I'll be stitching LHN's Farmhouse Christmas series. I plan to stitch them individually, and I found this cute box at Michael's to store the set in once I've done the finishing.

When I started stitching 30 years ago, I would never have imagined being able to order kits from Moldova from a seller in Ukraine, and yet here we are. I could not resist these, and frankly, I didn't even try. Just look at that chubby, completely adorable little girl skating with Santa. I mean, c'mon. How cheerful is that design? And a baby fox in a dress? Please. 

Alright, now that we've drooled over new charts and threads, here are some practical goodies. Little bitty magnetic board, perfect for traveling or small projects. I don't know why I didn't already have one of these. So cute. It's about 5 1/2" x 7 1/2". The silver marking pencil is something I've been using for years on colored charts. I use colored pencils to keep track of my progress on my working copies and as a result, I almost never have to frog. When I do, it's never more than a few stitches. For colored charts, I use these silver marking pencils. The metallic lead shows up on them much better than regular colored pencils. And these 4" Fiskars embroidery scissors are my favorite. I got a pair last year and I love them so much I decided to get another pair. They have a very solid, sturdy feel, and they're inexpensive.

Finally, here are a couple of travel pill cases that I found at Jo-Ann Fabrics in one of their odds & ins bins. I thought they would be great for holding beads and charms and other little embellishments. They're about 3" x 2 1/2" and only 1/2" high, so they fit nicely into project bags without taking up much space. Perfect for traveling projects.

Now we're all caught up. I hope I'll be able to stitch and blog more regularly now. I've got a pretty long stitchy to-do list, but the first thing I have to do is excavate my sewing room. It looks like a bear has been in there looking for food. So that's my plan for this week. If y'all don't hear anything out of me by next week, send in the dogs.