Happy Halloween!

 

Still busy in the sewing room! Here are a few more finishes. I just finished stitching these lovely cat's eyes, available here. Stitched on 28 ct. black even weave.

This is Happy Halloween by Silver Creek Samplers, mounted on a wooden plaque from Michael's and embellished with a bit of a branch from our yard and some wooden leaves. My notes on stitching this are in this post.

And here is a wee fox ghostie! Isn't he cute? From this Etsy shop and stitched on 28 ct. PTP Dawn.

From my previous post, more pics of these finishes, just because I think they're pretty.

Happy Halloween, Happy Stitching... and On To Christmas!

Fall Finishing & Framing (& Enabling)

I have been playing in my sewing room! Prepare to be enabled!

Squirrel freebie from The Blue Flower

Fancy Pumpkins is available here. (NOTE: I purchased mine from Etsy but the shop owner has since moved her business to her own website. I have not purchased from this website. ALSO: My changes to this design are in this post.)

Halloween Kitties, from an Etsy shop that is unfortunately no longer available. Stitched on PTP Dawn.

Fall Mandala available in this Etsy shop as a set of four seasons.

Spooky Village pulled from Halloween Quaker by Lila's Studio, stitched on 32 ct. PTP Murky.

Back to the sewing room! My finishing & framing sprees are few and far between and I have to make the most of them before life intervenes and I have to go do more "important" things, like... everything. Play whenever you can, y'all!

Happy Stitching!

DMC Hoard Organization

 

The hoard is organized! My in-use DMC collection is wound on bobbins and lives very tidily and compactly in four floss boxes (variegated, Color Variations, and Coloris have their own box). Here's how I'm storing my stash of extra full skeins: divided by number and tucked in a baggie with an index card with all the numbers listed on it. Fits in a small box and doesn't take up much space, and so easy to quickly find what I need.

Between this and my toilet paper hoard, I think I'm all set. (By the way, I have been an enthusiastic TP hoarder for many, many years, which is a long standing joke in my family. But when the shortages struck last year, who was laughing then? Mmm hm.)

Happy Stitching!

PSA: DMC

 

Just in time for spooky season, I have a scary story for you! Y'all know that over the last 18 months or so, I occasionally pop on here with a PSA about the availability of stitching supplies, shipping delays, etc. I have no inside information; I just report what I'm seeing and provide a heads up for my fellow stitchers, just in case.

You've probably been reading about--and experiencing--shortages of varying degrees and price increases caused by a perfect storm of problems: pandemic-related policies/restrictions/closures, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, etc. Domestic products are being affected, and imports even more so. And what's our favorite import? DMC!

With this in mind, this past weekend I began pondering doing a long overdue DMC inventory and making a list of what colors I needed to restock. I checked the prices at the big craft stores in my area and they were around .46/skein. I decided to wait a bit and see if I could find a "20% off total purchase" coupon, and then I got busy with other things and didn't get back to it. 

Imagine my shock when today I rechecked the prices at my local stores and saw they had jumped to .60/skein! In four days! I'm not gonna lie, a wee bit of panic set in. I've never seen DMC that expensive. I have no idea if this is temporary or just the beginning of the increase, and while I'm not excited about paying .60/skein for DMC, I'm even less excited to pay .75/skein or whatever may be coming. 

I did a lightning fast inventory, found a coupon, and made a mad dash to the store. My 20% off coupon didn't end up working, but the sweet clerk scanned her 25% off coupon, which got my floss down to .45/skein. SCORE! 

If you decide to do a restock, make sure to check online for coupons. 

Here's your DMC checklist

Happy Restocking and Stitching!

Tea & Coffee Series: September

 

Got a fox! I was tickled pink when this month's teacup appeared! Click on the "tea" label at the end of the post to see the previous months.

Mini Quaker Series Finished!

 Summer is Coming Mini Quaker from Stitches Through the Years.

All four seasons, top to bottom: Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer

These have been an absolute joy to stitch and I am so pleased not only with each individual piece, but also how well they work together. It is simply a gorgeous series. Gorgeous. I mentioned when I showed my first finish (Autumn) that I'm not really a Quaker fan. In fact, these are the first I've stitched. I'm still not sure I'm a Quaker fan, but I am definitely in love with these. So much so that I'm sad to see this series end. Although I did put a little bee in the designer's bonnet, so maybe...

Fall Stash

Working away on Summer is Coming Mini Quaker so I can get it finished as quickly as possible (after some delays) and move on to fall and Christmas stitching. Hope you're all well and deep into your autumn stitching!

The Best Season Has Arrived

 

It's Here, and It's Pink

 

Y'all, the final installment in the Stitches Through the Years Mini Quaker series is out and it's pink! Summer is Coming Mini Quaker:

Do check it out at the link because my photo doesn't do it justice... it's gorgeous. I just got my threads (still waiting on one, Weeks Sanguine) and hope to make this my holiday weekend project. 

I have loved this series and I'm a bit sad to see it end. You can see my finishes of Autumn, Winter, and Spring in this post.

Tea & Coffee Series: August

Link to this series at the end of this post.

BONUS! See all the new goodies from the Fall Needlework Expo! (Keep checking back as more are added.)

A Wee Bookmark

 

Made myself a little Chow bookmark. The puppy is from this Etsy shop and she has quite a few breeds available (as well as other cute designs). I improvised the bottom part to make the bookmark. Stitched with DMC on perforated paper. The sparkly thread used for the bottom is Kreinik Ombre 1700. 

For easy instructions on how I finish perforated paper, see this post. 

Happy Stitching!