I buy very little in the way of new needlework designs these days. Aside from the fact that I'm not stitching quite as much as I'd like, I also have so much needlework stash that it's more than I could ever finish even if I devoted all my free time to it for the next decade! Unlike with books I am pretty good at knowing when to say when! One of my favorite needlework shops offers a birthday discount, which I took advantage of in February, however (it's hard to say no totally). A couple of the designs hadn't been released yet, so this week I finally had a nice surprise in the mail!
The two designs on the left are by Chessie & Me. The chart on the top is "Miss Chessie's Tuffet" and the bottom chart is "Busy Bee Tuffet". A tuffet (also called a biscornu in French) is a pin cushion with eight corners (four pointing up and four down). They are my favorite accessory to finish. I've made lots of them, but I've only ever kept one for myself. Both these charts have tuffets and fobs. I ordered the fabric to go along with the charts, but the photo of the bottom one looks distinctly blue, but the chart calls for a color called putty. Hmm.
The designs on the right are by one of my favorite designers, Just Nan. If anyone knows how to market her designs, Just Nan does! They're so clever, and very tempting, and also pretty expensive. She's designing a series of four of these little tins with stitched lids and fobs to hang on your scissors. "Hop" is the first one. It's too bad this didn't come out before Easter, as I'm not sure I'm in the mood to stitch rabbits! It's a small project at least.
What am I working on? I've finished what's going to be a pincushion. This is a freebie design that Carriage House Samplings offered several years ago. This is another very favorite designer. Her designs are very American folkish. I'm a very lazy finisher and I should have sewed this ages ago. I thought I might finish it as a mattress pincushion. I've never tried this, and it doesn't look particularly hard, but it does look time consuming. I tend to be a lazy finisher, so I might just sew a nice piece of fabric to the back and call it finished.
I did start this one well before Easter, but it's been languishing. It is by designer Drawn Thread (I have lots of her stuff, too). This is a another series of designs, one for each season, that are finished as little cushions. This is the "Spring Spot" and really I should be pulling out the "Summer Spot" soon, since it's getting so warm. Like books I always have more than one project on the go. Unlike reading I don't feel too guilty to set a project aside (I hate to admit how long some have sat waiting for me), but it's nice completing something. Especially something small, which really shouldn't take all that long to stitch anyway.
And my most recent new project? Little House Needleworks also makes very folksy American types of designs. I have lots of her charts, but I've yet to actually finish any of them (unlike the other designers that I've mentioned). This is called "ABC123". It's not very large, just a tad over 4" x 4". I think I will try and finish this as a mattress pincushion. I like small projects as they usually give me the satisfaction of working on something and finishing it relatively quickly. I've been in the mood for a larger project as well, though I can't seem to settle on one thing. I used to stitch in the mornings before work, but lately I've been spending the time reading. This means stitching just on the weekends usually when I am watching a movie. And I've really not even done much of that lately either. I wonder how other people do it...reading, working, and maybe some other small hobby. Do you do something more than read? Hopefully I can work on one of these this weekend (and finish a book--I'm still being optimistic!).
**I actually posted this on my book blog, which I hope will explain my explanations in my post. Normally I wouldn't be so specific over here! I've been terribly neglectful lately of my stitching blog. I'm not quite sure what to do with it. I want to post more regularly, but I've disovered how hard it can be to just post in one place let alone two! I would love to update this blog a few times a week, but I haven't been stitching a whole lot, which means I don't have much to share! I do thank you for anyone who still comes around and checks in here! I'll do my best to try and update more often. And I absoutely say thank you to everyone who is still kind enough to stop by and leave comments. Oh, to have a few more hours in the day!