Trimming

Happy Sunday! Today has been busy, but I have a little finish to show you. I started it yesterday, and today it's done! It is "French Country--Scaredy Cats" by JBW Designs. It's from 2010; I ran across it in my stash when I was hunting for a pumpkin pin pillow to work on. (I found one, no picture though until I have some more progress.) I stitched on it yesterday afternoon and evening, and almost finished. This morning I finished up the stitching at the car dealership while I waited for my little car to go through its 15,000 mile check-up. The dealership is a very comfortable place to stitch, with big comfy chairs and all those windows for the showroom. One of the things I appreciate about living in an urban area is that the mega dealer where I purchased my car has service hours from 5:30 am to 10:30 pm, no appointment required. So I took it in at 8 am today and was back on the highway and running errands by 9:30. My next stop was Jo-Ann's, where I selected the polka dot backing fabric, interfacing, the trim and the thread. Those are Gutermann Sew-All thread spools, by the way. I love the fact that they don't tangle and knot. I stitched the design using a 40 count Lakeside remnant leftover from Liz Easdon, using AVAS from my stash (charted for Sampler Threads and Weeks Dye Works).

It has been a while since I visited a Jo-Ann's, and it was a fun visit. Their supply of craft/stitching/knitting/quilting magazines is huge, and I loaded up. I wandered around, looking at the various fabrics I could use as backing for other ornaments(including a huge supply of Independence Day type fabrics), and lecuring myself about not re-acquiring a fabric stash. Once upon a time, I was a fairly active sewing enthusiast and had a pretty large supply of fabrics which I gave away when I realized that I wasn't an eager home dec sew-er and that I found sewing clothing tiresome. Many of the fabrics at Jo-Ann's, including the fabric I bought, seemed to be fairly good quality.
Then I headed for home, where I measured and cut and fused and stitched, then stuffed the pillow with Poly-fil and finally applied the trim (love the trim). The trim is stitched on. The interfacing didn't fuse to the linen particularly well, but it did lend enough stability that when I stitched the whole packet together, there wasn't any dreaded fraying (remembering my horror as the seams I stitched on some Christmas ornaments frayed right past the stitching) and since those nearly ruined ornaments were due as a gift that weekend, I spent some panicky time fixing them (by using fabric glue to attach them to some black cardboard and then jamming the results into a couple of Christmas tree ornament frames). They turned out fine, but I may never be the same!

Here's the back of the ornament. Now, of course, I'm anxious to stitch and stuff and embellish some more. Jo-Ann's carries a decent number of trims and beads and crystals too. Several years ago I worked in NY City for about 6 months, just down the street from M and J Trimming. At lunch I would browse the button collection and the trims.
By the way, if you get the Pier One Imports little catalogue in the mail, look on the last page for the gold ornament tree. I am thinking of getting one to deck with all the ornaments I'd like to stitch! Here's a link to the online page with the trees.

I've been working on "Christmastide at Holly House" (The Scarlett House) lately also. I love the brickwork in this design.

And of course, I continue working on "Peaceful Paradise."

Juliet/Crafty Green Poet asked last post if poor Elvis had friends now. Yes, he's madly in love with Elizabeth, pictured here. When the former threesome broke up, Pink and Peaches cast Elvis out, and he was beside himself with grief at their rejection. So although we didn't really want another rabbit, we let him choose a new mate when he was boarded at the bunny rescue/sitter, and we came home with Elizabeth. She is quite devoted to him, even though she's standoffish with us. We don't mind, as long as he's happy

I have noticed some wonderful new designs coming out. Am I the only one planning some year-end/new year starts at Thanksgiving, Christmas (the day after Christmas, the day after that, etc.) and New Year's eve and day? That about covers it for me! Tell all! I have a few more large finishes this year and early next year, so I have room in my rotation for a few half a dozen new large starts. More about that next time. Happy week!