Melissa Shirley 12 Days of Christmas Old and New

Hi everyone,

When we went took our class from Susan Portra at Needlepoint in Paradise, it was hard to put blinders on and not buy a new canvas at this wonderful shop.  I resisted buying a new BIG canvas and opted for 12 small ones!  My excuse was they are small and easy to travel with...have you used that one before?  And of course the kicker was that Susan had written the stitch guide.

I have just finished the first one (actually it is the second in the series) and already I have learned some new tricks.

2 turtle doves

With this canvas I learned how to make twisted cording and how to "shade" beads.   It's so simple that you can't believe you didn't think of it yourself.


The berries are clear pink Mill Hill beads which you shade by using different colors of beading thread or floss.  What a concept!  

shaded berries

Beads and Different colors of floss

And now the OLD part of the 12 Days of Christmas -still Melissa Shirley!  A blast from my needlepoint past!  OMG it's an old one...look at all the tent stitch!  I was so proud of my Rhodes hearts!!  And elongated gobelin for the wings!!  I have come a long way.

The berries were what stopped me...stitching circles!   I think I'll finish the berries here the same way with beads.  See, if you wait long enough the problems solve themselves.

Happy stitching,

Linda

Make New Friends

Hi everyone,

We are back from out boat trip and all in one piece! 

All week I was reminded of the Girl Scout song, Make New Friends.

Make new friends,

but keep the old.

One is silver,

the other is gold.

Well you know how it goes...

Here are our new friends that we made at our first lunch break in Ft. Lauderdale.  I told my husband "I'm going down below to make lunch" and guess who appeared?

New Friends

And when we got to Gasparilla Island we met up with the "gold" friends.

Looking good!

Andrea is a needlepointer!  And Susan Portra student.  It's a small world.

Last night our Royal Palm ANG chapter helped the local girl scout troop with their sewing badge.  They are making needlepoint bookmarks - one to keep and one to give to an  elementary school child to encourage reading.  Here are a few of the photos...

ANG President Lisa teaching needlepoint

Carol Ann who really is a teacher

Happy Scouts!

I am trying to finish my Santa Parade in the next few weeks so will have plenty to post!

Happy stitching,

Linda

Order out of Chaos

Hi everyone,

This is a busy time of year for us.  I am fighting to get outside and play golf (while I still can - it's already in the mid 80s) and I am trying to organize my paperwork for tax season.  So there isn't much time left for needlepoint.  Truth be told, I mainly needlepoint in the summer when we are limited in our time outside.

The organization bug has led me ONCE AGAIN into my closet where I can visit all my unfinished projects.  I seem to have a lot of small ones to finish - one's that only need a few days work.  Just this week I finally finished my Valentine Heart which I will have made into a door hanger for next year.  If I finish the February angel from Needle Works then I will have three Valentine decorations.  Sort of sad when I could decorate 4 Christmas trees with what I have now!

Valentine Heart from Needlepoint Now

I also received my Mom's sleigh back from Needle House.  So she now has three (of twelve) pieces of her Gingerbread Village.  These are super easy to stitch and Nancy has a great stitch guide so I may try and whip out another one soon.

Gingerbread Village sleigh

We are headed out on our boat for a trip across Florida through Lake Okeechobee next week so of course my main concern is what needlepoint to bring.  We did this trip when our girls were younger and it was so beautiful that I have always wanted to do it again.  This time however we are on a MUCH smaller boat that has 2 speeds - fast and faster! Which doesn't always lend itself to careful stitching so Rebecca and her Scout will be staying at home with the babysitter..

Happy stitching,

Linda