Mary Beale Days of Advent Progress

Finished another block on the Mary Beale project. For a full explanation, go back to my post on April 23. Block 1 (left) represents the story of Ruth and Boaz. Block two (in the middle) represents the story of David and Goliath. The third block (right) represents the story of Abigail and David. Keep in mind, we started in the middle and are working to the end and then will go back and work from the middle to the beginning.

Also, this morning, I put the finishing touches on another project. This was a kit we received from Lady Dot at one of the Quilter’s Station retreats a few years ago. I had most of the finishing done and should have completed it when I first received it! It’s a round needlebook made with Blackbird fabric using a variety of Lady Dot trims. Her goal was to teach us a variety of finishing techniques.

I will post a very special finish for you tomorrow, so please stop back!

Finishing Frenzy

The last week or two were quite busy with stitching opportunities and family commitments. Some of my stitching friends decided they wanted to commit some time to finishing; so we blocked two entire days! I’ve made some good progress but still have quite a large bag of things that need to be finished. This is a common problem for most of us I think. We love to spend time stitching, but are not so fond of the finishing part. We’re going to dedicate two days again in June. I’ll keep picking away at the things in that bag. Here are a few of the things I accomplished.

Hemstitching…I have a handful of samplers that I want to hemstitch. Not everything needs to be hung on the wall, but it’s nice to have it fully finished. I worked on hemstitching these two samplers. The one on the left is the 2025 Countdown collaboration between Modern Folk Embroidery, Roxy Floss Co., and Evertote. The sampler on the right was stitched quite a few years ago. It’s the Scottish sampler from Amy Mitten’s Around the World series.

This little pillow is from Samplers Not Forgotten. We got the pattern at a Quilter’s Station retreat a few years ago. Kim Nugent sold it as a kit at market this year. The design is called “Roses and Scrolls”.

Finally, I participated in Spring Mingle last weekend and took Cathy Habermann’s class to complete “Do Dragons Fly?” Cute octagonal shaped pincushion with a dragonfly pin. Love Cathy’s creative ideas and finishes.

Which reminds me - did I ever share this needlebook finish with you? It’s the Perforated Poinsettia Needlebook and a Poinsettia Puff. This was Cathy’s project at the Jingle Ball last December.

That’s all for today. I have a couple more projects that are close to being finished, so I’ll have more to share in a few days. Thank you for stopping by!

 

Jenny Bean For the Parlor

I posted progress photos of this piece last year, but never shared a picture of the finish. I’m really proud of this piece. I loved stitching it. There were eight parts, stitched on 36ct Wren with the called for Sampler Threads. I may have occasionally substituted a DMC thread or two if the color of the overdyed thread didn’t look quite right.

Now to decide how to finish it. I don’t think I am going to frame it. I’m thinking about finishing the edges and rolling it around a spool. It will be portable and a talking piece!

Sandra - regarding your comment on the previous post, you are correct! Juniper has a stitched backside! 

Thank you to everyone who still reads this old blog.

Juniper

The finishing spree continued this morning. At a previous year’s Quilter’s Station Retreat, we received a kit from Stacy Nash for this cute little animal cracker named “Juniper”. The kit included the pattern and supplies for the little round sewing box too - “Rose Cottage Sewing Box”. Our group that attended the retreat finished the sewing box last fall, but we hadn’t finished Juniper yet. Today was the day. It was also my first attempt at using sawdust as a filler. Some challenges with the sawdust, but I learned a lot.

Here they are:

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Emma and Ophelia

Aren’t they cute? Both are from Giulia Punti Antichi (GPA Designs). Emma was a Nashville Needlework Market release in 2025 and Ophelia was released this year at market. The dolls are actually thread boards that were hand painted in Italy. Underneath their skirts, there is also a pincushion. Ophelia has a bat in her birdcage. I stitched and finished Ophelia last fall (I was able to purchase her in advance of market). Emma’s apron was stitched last year, and I did the finishing today.

A new doll, Abigail, is being introduced at Celebrations this month. Looking forward to adding her to the collection!

Muffin Tops

This afternoon, I fully, fully finished these two projects. Both designs are from The Blue Flower. Both were stitched last year, and both were finished in October. I just never put anything on top to fully finish them off.

On the left is “Bees in the Greenhouse” and on the right, “Festive Forest.” Jeannine from The Blue Flower affectionately refers to this as a “muffin top” finish. Lots of stitching in these two pieces. Easy to finish though.

Without further ado, here are the pictures!

We had a little visitor yesterday afternoon. He brought the pink frosted cupcake home with him from daycare!

Crackers and Pin Pillows

Here are some additional stitching finishes since the beginning of the year. First up are some Animal Crackers from Stacy Nash. I just finished Harrison (the rabbit) last week. I finished Bobbin earlier this year.

These are some of the pin-pillow kits that Samplers Not Forgotten puts out at market. I don’t have the specific chart names in front of me right now. I can post again with names once they are fully finished.

Short Sunday post! Hope you had a nice weekend.