Hometown Holiday Tea Room Finish

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm not a coffee drinker, so I converted the Coffee Shop into a Tea Room. I simply replaced the coffee pot with a tea pot and changed the sign on the window. The only color changes I made were Weeks Seaweed for the trees and DMC 3865 for the snow. This is my first finish in the Hometown Holiday series--only a whole bunch more to go!

Have a great week, everyone!

The Comfort of Stitchy Things

We're less than two months away from moving day and things are in pretty good shape around here. We're busy, but not frantic, which is how I like to be. I'm getting a lot of enjoyment out of my mini stash and am finding time to stitch several evenings during the week, and much of the weekend. That's more than I stitch when I'm not moving! And it has been really helpful with keeping the stress in check. It seems that when we most need the comfort and relief of stitching, that's when we put it away because "there's too much going on." I decided to do the opposite, and it's working well for me. I'll have more thoughts on this after I survive this move!

Here's my current WIP, LHN's Hometown Holiday Coffee Shop. Except, not being a coffee drinker myself, I converted it into a tea room. I replaced the coffee pot with a tiny teapot and changed the sign on the window. Just a little more work on this one and I'll be moving on to my March choice for the Christmas Ornie SAL.

Pretty little stitchy goodies always make me happy and they're an important ingredient in my mini stash. This is my new needle minder from this Etsy shop. Isn't she lovely? 

And here's a beautiful little 4" lavender hoop I just got. I'm a Q-Snap fanatic so I rarely use hoops, but since the smallest Q-Snap is 6" sometimes that's just too big for a teeny tiny stitch. It wastes too much fabric to cut it large enough for the snap so I use a small hoop. I got this one from one of my favorite Etsy shops. It's from Japan and also comes in Cherry Red and Tiffany Blue.

This is my new duck. Why? Because adorable. And because $1.99. And because since I can't decorate for spring this year, I needed this one, tiny touch of spring in my sewing room. He's from Hobby Lobby.

And this is my sweet kitty Tiger Lily, the ultimate stress reliever. Look at those little feets. 

I've also been following the Nashville Market updates and sneak peeks very closely, as I do every year. This year is very, very sampler heavy, which will delight lovers of large samplers, but I was beginning to wonder if I was going to find any designs to suit me. I needn't have worried, as some of my go-to designers have come through, and I now have half-a-dozen designs on my wish list. I've also preordered the Market cookbook (which has small charts in it) and the Rosewood Manor cookbook (which has lots of small charts in it) and I'm really looking forward to getting my mitts on those. I love cookbooks, and cookbooks with charts in them are not to be missed! Market is next weekend, so it's not long to wait now.

Hope to have a couple of finishes to show next week. Have a lovely weekend, y'all, and happy stitching!

Christmas Ornament SAL February Finish

I'm 2-0 for the Christmas Ornament SAL so far! Here's my February choice from the 2008 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue. It's supposed to be finished as a biscornu, but I'll be finishing it as a flat ornament... when I get time to do some finishing!

This is stitched on 28 ct. olive mystery linen with Caron Wildflowers in Snow White and Mint. It's embellished with 2 mm pearl beads and a Swarovski crystal from Hobby Lobby.

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

Preparing Framed Needlework for a Move

Hey, y'all! Moving preparations in the Wonderful household are humming along. In my last post I mentioned offering some tips on preparing needlework for a move, and I've finally gotten a post together. Keep in mind, this preparation is for a house-to-house move, and not for long-term storage. (I'm not sure what I'd do differently for long-term storage, and I don't have time to think about it right now!) This is just some basic protection for your needlework because, as much as we'd like, we can't strap it all to our bodies and guard it with our lives! Somebody else will have to handle it, be it movers, or your husband, or his buddy who's helping with the move. I know. Try not to have nightmares.

You need a few simple supplies, available from Amazon.

*large Ziploc bags: The 2 gallon size should hold up to an 8 x 10 framed piece, unless the frame is unusually large. These also come in even larger sizes.

*silica gel packets: These are the little paper packets you find in new purses, storage boxes, etc. They absorb moisture.

*twine, string, yarn... whatever

*acid-free tissue paper

*acid-free foam core: I'm using 1/8" but it doesn't really matter (available at any craft store with a framing department).

Using the framed piece as a template, cut out a piece of foam core that fully covers the front of the frame.

Place a piece of acid-free tissue paper over the stitching.

Place the foam core on top of the tissue. The purpose of the foam core is to shield the stitching from anything pressing against it or into it in case of less-than-careful packing.

Tie it all together. (You don't have to use pink and white baker's twine, but while you're at it, it might as well be cute, right?)

Place the framed piece in a Ziploc bag, pop in a silica gel packet (just in case), and seal the bag. Label it with the name of the piece.

And now your treasured framed needlework is ready to be handled by just about anybody. Even your husband's buddy.

If you're anticipating another move at some point, save everything in each labeled bag (you may have to replace the silica gel packets). Next time you move, you just pull out the bags and all the supplies for each framed piece are ready to go. 

It takes less than 5 minutes to pack up a framed piece, even with cutting foam core, so if you have a lot of framed pieces, don't worry. It doesn't take much time and it's well worth it.