And the Stockings Were Placed By The Chimney With Care!

This is the season for Christmas stockings. I have been designing these for friends, clients and strangers for over 40 years now and somehow, each one is "special." I have always attempted to turn over projects within the short span of 2-3 weeks but this year my biggest procrastination along this subject line was the stocking for my 3 year old grandson, Langston, who lives in Boston. It needed to somewhat match his sister, Caroline's. She is almost 7. This was a hard one for me.

Anyway, I started painting and stitching and painting some more and then stitching some more. And, this is NOT the way to design a stocking. I started this project the week before Thanksgiving and finished the stitching last week. Phew - a record. A labor of love and I think it came out great. Whenever I paint a stocking for a family member, I seem to agonize over it more than normal. For months, really. I guess this is called "knowing the person so well that it has to be perfect and nothing can be omitted." Oh well, my problem. But I am now promising myself that NEXT TIME I will paint the whole stocking before taking one stitch. And, next time is in January as I have one grandson left and Jack is almost 3. He has a 7 year old brother too, so it will be HARD - again! But, I promise to start EARLY! Really.

I am a very traditional stitcher when I get a chance to actually stitch something. I know the fancy stitches and fibers - but this is my favorite style and I love wool, and it all works for me.

The top two for my cuties in Boston - 4 years apart. Caroline was born 3 blocks from Make Way for the Ducklings sculpture in the Boston Commons. Langston loves everything sports and with wheels and spends hours lining up dozens of cars, trucks and other vehicles in lines around the room. 

A virtual car lot in the TV room. #14 mesh.

For 3 year old twins in Chicago. #10 mesh.

Two cute little girl stockings. Both join several siblings - different families. #10 mesh for each.

That's it for stockings in 2014. There were more shown in previous blogs if you are interested and/or need ideas.

Christmas Elves Have Been Working!

I just noticed that my last blog was October 31. Shocking! The time has absolutely whizzed by. Shipping finished ornaments has been the biggest "time eater" as well as trying to get  a few quilts off to my quilter extraordinaire so she doesn't run out of projects during the holidays. And, there are the customers who decide that they need a new needlepoint project. Then there was cooking for Thanksgiving - and, more needlepoint design - and, EGADS - the holidays were upon me!

A few samples of what I have been working on since October 31.

 Lots of ornaments in many different styles all designed by yours truly.



A 70th birthday remembrance for a couple - one for each child's Christmas tree.








A special 100th year Cookie Day commemoration ornament for family members. For this family 1000's of cookies baked and frosted the day after Thanksgiving are a tradition all the way from Germany. A fresh cookie will be slipped into the open stockings upon delivery.



Baseball mitts for my 6 year old grandson and granddaughter - their first year! Both loved it.

A  copy of an iron front gate - in needlepoint.

For a UNC Tarheel baseball team member. Go Tarheels!

And, practically all moms of boys everywhere know who this guy is wearing his tool belt.






Now I will search out Christmas stockings. And wrap gifts. And make cookies. And clean the house. And, maybe sleep!

Happy Halloween!

It is pretty scary in our neighborhood with this Darth Vader character scooting around. I have heard he will turn into Hans Solo before midnight.

VERY SCARY even without the full costume!

Beautiful weather in NC and Dee is BUSY!

With the exceptionally great weather we have been having here in Charlotte, it has been especially hard to stay inside and get my work/play done. Lots of needlepoint Christmas stocking coming back in to be finished and a million and six great quilting ideas just simmering below the surface, waiting to explode  into finished quilts. How to decide what to do?

Add all this to the ever changing daylight situation and two grandsons next door that are keyed up with light sabers and Halloween and need to run for at least an hour or two - and the days are full. But the truth is - I am  blessed to have them next door and I love my work/play. I have noticed that as I grow older it is not as easy to stay working into the dark nightime hours. I need daylight and lots of it. A little S.A.D. I am sure.

The good news is that daylight savings time ends this weekend, we all get another hour of sleep and the sun will shine maybe not a bit longer, but earlier. The bad news is that my waking hour of 5 will be 4 and there is absolutely NOTHING one can do at that ungodly hour.

Just a sampling of stockings from the photo pile.

   

Lots going on here in the studio.

Last weekebnd was a wonderful quilting spree here and there was fabric flying everywhere. I finished up two Irish quilts and an alternate one called Gardens of England.

I then walked back into my fabric room and noticed one of my favorite fabrics that I had made into a duvet cover for the trundle bed (grandchildren) when I moved to NC. The saying on it is "My Heart Always comes Home to You." There was about a yard of it just smiling up at me...........so I snatched it up, found three matching fabrics and within about an hour I had a very cute baby quilt. Lots of pink checks for the backing and enough cloud fabric for binding. Now that is what I call fun!

With my long arm quilter out of town for two weeks I have felt an urge to have lots of fun for her upon her return. She came back last Sunday and this deluge of projects might just push her over the edge. We'll see when I deposit four projects on her doorstep. I tell her this is "job security!"


Being a designer and not being able to rent long arm time here in NC, I turn everything over to this genius - and she proceeds. Aren't I lucky?

I can't show some of the quilts going off to magazines but I can show the fun baby quilt.

 This will look more balanced when the pink/raspberry binding is on. Guess I should have ironed the fold out before shooting the photo.

And now for a cute Bob the Builder needlepoint ornament I painted last weekend. Very cute. On #13 mesh. 

 

Ornaments finished in time for the holidays. I just love to open the packages from my finisher. Merry, merry two months early. Thank you all my needlepoint friends for getting these back for finishing early! Now you can look at them and admire your work for a while before sending them off to loved ones. Merry Christmas!

A Great Day!

Today I received a gift of several hours I had not planned on having and got to work on a couple of projects that I really have enjoyed.

The first was a hanging with batiks from www.sewbatiks.com  I met the keen team behind this company in Atlanta at the Quilting Live! show put on by my friends the Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting people. The choices were mind-boggling! I have never used batiks in my quilting before and it was so fun. The colors were wonderful - all the brights I love and now the project is about finished.

Aren't these just the best and brightest colors ever?

I also got a shipment of needlepoint Wrightsville Beach ornaments which went directly into the mail for the wonderful shop Yarns of Wilmington in Wilmington, NC. If any of you love that beach and want to stitch an ornament, give Binkie a call at 910-791-2157. She will give you price information and send you fibers to match the ornament.

Wrightsville Beach ornament on #18 mesh.

Here's hoping tomorrow will be as productive as today. Hope you have had an equally great day.

PROJECTS WITH FRIENDS.

In the past few weeks I have been around several different cities checking out the local quilt shops. I have seen a lot of tuffets - or footstools - being offered as classes. About a year ago, I took a class at a little shop outside of Spokane, WA with two college friends. It was a blast. Several days of sewing, laughing, a little wine and a lot of fun. We were three different personalities - as can be seen in the accompanying photograph.

This fuzzy one is mine. (It makes me dizzy to look at it, but you get the picture.) I had a wild animal moment. Love it. The middle button was first covered with leather which did not work - too heavy. I took the leather off and used felt. Same look - easier to wrap a large button.

Susan's, Dee's, Dwyta's. Love them all.

There's nothing better than quilting with friends!