New Acquisitions AKA Fun at my Local Needlework Store


I am very saddened by the loss  of so many independent retailers these days.  It has always been such an adventure to go into an independent store to see what they had, how they were different from others and just to enjoy their individual quirkiness.  Fortunately, there are still a few around.  This is one of my favorites and while not in my neighborhood, it is still worth the drive.  It is The  Stitch Niche in Arlington, Texas at the corner of Arkansas  and Bowen and while it is a bit of a drive from my house, it is a complete joy and adventure to visit.  It is a small shop, long  and narrow, with the patterns and finishes at the front and, in back, a big table with chairs for those who want to sit, stitch and pass a little time.  The shop owner does have regular class times but she is always welcoming for those who want to just come and stitch.

I was in the store a couple of weeks ago and I struck up a conversation with the owner about how much trouble I was having stitching on linen.  I couldn't see the threads well enough, the light was too dim, I was blocking my own light, blah, blah, blah and she decided to divulge her secret for successful stitching on very small  thread count linen.  This was it--

The Mighty Bright floor lamp with twelve LED's and is either plugged in or runs on batteries.  This will be great if we have another power outage.  She didn't have it in stock so she ordered it for me and I picked it up on Wednesday.  I used it Wednesday night and have to say it is worth every penny I paid for it.  Thanks, Carol, for recommending it!

I have been doing some Christmas stitching using some of the Little House Needleworks patterns.  I will post finish photos another time.  I am not sure what I am going to do with these but I was looking for something small to do and these filled the bill.  While I was in the shop the other day I picked up a couple of new little patterns.  One is another LHN pattern --

 

I am really enjoying these little pieces and will post photos later.

I also picked up a tiny pattern called "Play Time" by Sam Sarah Design Studio.

Sorry it is so small -- it is a cute little rag doll in a little wagon.  It is very small, only about 2.5 X 2.5.  I don't have any idea what I am going to do with this but it was cute and I liked it.  It does call for specialty thread, which I rarely use --  I usually just go for the DMC subs, but I think this time I will give the fancy threads a go because it just allows me another trip to The Stitch Niche!

Friday Night Sew In

Last night was the latest meeting of the Friday Night Sew In group.  I discovered this group through Not So Plain Jane and decided to participate.  If you would like to participate in future events, sign up at http://craftyvegasmom.blogspot.com.          

I was all ready to go! We had take out pizza from Rocco's -- our favorite, independent pizza place.

It was lovely -- mushroom, black olive and carmelized onion.   Fantastic.  After dinner I got hubby all settled in to watch "Die Hard 2"  (I think).  It has Bruce Willis with hair so it was old but Hubs  was enjoying it.  I was enjoying the fact that it would be over for me to watch "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" which I find to be hilarious but rather sad.  I also had my big glass of iced tea waiting for me.

I have been working on some Christmas stitchery for a couple of months now and my latest project was this piece by Little House Needleworks.

However, when I began the project a few days ago I decided to make it smaller by using smaller gauge fabric -- 18 ct. to be exact -- but the only 18 ct. I had in the house was a lovely pale pink.  I thought it would be nice.  Well, I was wrong.  It was too pale and so last night, in mid-FNSI, I decided to start over on a more natural fabric. I was almost half done on the pink fabric but now I have only done the lettering and about an inch of the white lacy edging on the top.  I guess I will have my own Saturday Night Stitch In tonight!

I have to admit that my first time participating in this group turned out to be a comedy of errors.  Not only did I decide to start over on the project, I had many failures with my equipment.  I couldn't see well while sitting in my usual chair -- I blocked my own light from my lovely but dim lamps so I had to move to the sofa which doesn't recline like my chair but is in better light.  Then, the clip-on light that I had on my Q-snap kept popping off and.....the phone kept ringing which meant that I had to keep putting everything down to answer the phone.  Now, a more organized soul would have simply put the phone next to the sofa but that would have required much more thought that I was apparently capable of last night.

In spite of it all, though, I stitched through the movie, I stitched through the gypsies, I stitched though the change of fabric and I really enjoyed the idea that I planned to do this and gave myself permission to attend the "event" and didn't feel the least bit guilty about leaving other things undone! I will attend again in the future.