Needles and Pins...

I don't know about y'all, but this week has just flown here at Brynwood!

Monday and Tuesday were spent editing and producing the video of the

North Port Concert Band Christmas program. Then, I set about finishing up gifts.

That didn't go quite as planned. You see, I also got two vaccinations - flu

and pneumonia - which made me a little groggy for the rest of the day on
Wednesday. I suspect it was all in my head, but I felt sleepy, so I went with it.
Needless to say, it wasn't getting anything accomplished in the studio, was it?

Thursday was a day for finishes. Grammie Jammies being produced (with
photographs to follow) and a few other small items to get in the mail.
 

All day yesterday, I taught my second session for my hand applique' class and

it was a real hit. Most of the students in my class also signed up for the hand

embroidery class and a quilt class that I'll be teaching in the new year.We 

really had a great day, and all the gals went home with nearly finished projects.

Late day yesterday, I still needed to finish making the gifts to give to the gals

at Coffee Club, so there was no sittin' around with my feet up. I headed back

to the studio while Handsome was at his last rehearsal for the week.

 I made needle books for most of my friends. 

This is my own design, so I've got it pretty well in my head. I just started

a little assembly line and the needle books were completed in about two hours.

 When Kathy saw the big pincushion I'd made for the guild gift exchange, she

let me know that she'd love a pincushion like it. I decided to mimic the design,

but used fabrics from the Fig Tree "Patisserie" line from Moda. It coordinated

the the "Dandelion Girl" fabric I used in most of the needlebooks, and it also

fit the colors in the Lillalotta "Coffee Break" twill tape I used to embellish both

gifts. It's a BIG pincushion, measuring about 9" long by 5" wide. I machine

quilted the parallel line pattern onto the canvas fabric for dimension. 

I then filled it with crushed walnut shell, so it's got a little heft to it, too.

It was after midnight when I finished everything. (I did take a break to make a

wild salmon and noodle Alfredo dinner for Handsome and me, and to hear

about his rehearsal, but then I went right back to finish the project in the studio.)

I hope my girlfriends like their gifts. I'll be finding out this morning, and

I might even take a little nap (and put my feet up) when I get back home!

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Make it a great one.