BOO!

This is a pillow that I stitched last year. Yesterday, I put out my Halloween decorations and I added this to the ever changing chair. PFOS did a fabulous job on this one. I don't know if you can see it but the gold sparkly pom poms are three dimensional and very glitzy.

The trim around the outside looks like black spider webs. Too cool.

The back is a wonderful mix of black and orange ghosts, pumpkins, witchy hats, etc.

Isn't it boolicious?!

Tooth Fairy Pillow #2

I have been very good so far and have resisted working on my tassel or my mystery class. I am determined that I will finish the second tooth fairy pillow before I work on anything else. I MUST have it finished by November 15th in order to have it back in time for the wee one's arrival. Like the last pillow, I can't show you alot because I don't want to spoil the surprise. This is a sneak preview. It really is very cute.

Mystery Class - Lesson #1

You might remember from an earlier post that I have signed up for the latest mystery class offered by Bedecked and Beadazzled. Ruth is using Raymond Crawford's Merry Christmas canvas for this class. My first installment arrived while I was in Charlottesville. This package included the canvas, stretcher bars, and threads & the stitch guide for the first sections. Every few weeks she will send me what I need for the next section. I won't have any idea what the finished project will look like until I get to the last installment. I do know that this will be glitzy and over the top - something that Ruth specializes in. The picture above shows the inside of my box. Even the packaging and the contents are pretty!!

These are the colors that I will use on the first section. Visit Ruth's blog and see what she has done with the first section. It is lovely!

Check out this great folder. This is what the stitch guide came in. It looks just like a peppermint. I don't know where Ruth gets her packaging but it is truly amazing.

The run away from home adventure

On Sunday, my buddy, MJ, and I gathered up our stitching tools, a little wine and some chocolate and hit the road for Charlottesville, VA. Our destination was a fabulous needlepoint shop called Threads (Hi Gretchen!) where we would take a two day class. Gretchen was a delightful hostess - providing lunches, snacks and lots of goodies to choose from in her shop. Several months ago, we signed up for a Tassel class that was being taught by Meredith Willett. In addition to being the owner of M's Canvashouse in Lexington, KY, she is the co-author of Knots, Fur and Turkey Work. Her co-author is Beth Robertson, who is also known for co-authoring Stitches for Effect, More Stitches for Effect and Even More Stitches for Effect with Suzanne Howren. We were lucky enough to have both of these lovely ladies in the shop with us. On Sunday, Meredith taught us the techniques for stitching all things knotted, furried or turkey worked. Beth busily scoured the thread selection for the perfect threads for our class on Monday. On Monday, Meredith taught us how to needlepoint a tassel. We had to decide on the shape of the head and the ruff of the tassel. We also had to decide if we wanted a two tiered skirt or one long or short skirt. We each had been asked to choose one skein of Watercolours. I chose one called Havana - which is a wonderful mix of purple, bright green and blue. Beth worked her magic and came up with 5 complimentary colors and textures. Her choices were incredible.

This is my tassel. I am very pleased with it. I still have to add another layer to the top of the head. I have to finish one or two more layers of threads and one or two more layers of metallic before the skirt is finished. Then I need to add the ruff right above the skirt. I haven't decided if I will use knots or beads or some other option for that yet. Once it is all stitched, then I will cut the bottom of the skirt to even it out and fluff it up. I will also probably add a background of some sort. I learned so much and had such a great time.

Thank you Gretchen, Meredith and Beth for a great two days. Thanks also to MJ for running away from home with me.

Where have I been?

I know - I know. I haven't posted to the blog in a while. My apologies. Work has been crazy and it has either been too late or I have been too tired to blog when I get home. My sweet hubby and I were out of town weekend before last.



AND



This past weekend I ran away from home.
It was delightful! I promise to tell you ALL about it tonight. I will even show you pictures of my adventure!!! Talk to you soon.

Tooth Fairy Pillow Was A Big Hit

The baby shower for my nephew's wife was yesterday. It was a wonderful event and she got some really cute (and tiny) things for the wee one. I wish you all could have been there when she opened the gift from us. The look on her face when she saw the tooth fairy pillow was fabulous. It made all my frantic stitching feel like it was worth while. I've been promising you pictures as soon as the shower was over - so here they are. The first picture is a close up of the tooth fairy pocket. The image doesn't do it justice - but the trim around the pocket and the pillow has these wonderful little tufts of metallic and pink and blue threads. It makes it look almost shabby chic.

This is a close up of the ice cream cone and some of the bigger dots. Again, just to give you a feel for some of the stitches and threads.

This is the back of the pillow. The finishers at PFOS were sweet enough to put my initials and the year on that adorable blue and mint green leopard print.

And here is the front of the pillow. Again, the picture doesn't do it justice. It is a wonderful mix of mint green, pale blue and pink. I am very pleased with the finished product.
Hope you enjoyed getting a chance to finally see it. Thanks for all your support while I was frantically stitching this. I feel like it was a true team effort.

Now I need to get busy working on the second tooth fairy pillow for our other nephew and his wife. That baby is due in March, but I need to have the pillow back from the finishers by mid January.