Look What I Found...

Brynwood Needleworks - Completed Needlework Pieces

I've been slowly sorting and cleaning in my studios. I've pulled fabrics to share and donate, and I've also emptied containers that were in the rooms they related to, but hadn't been emptied. Today, I "found" a few pieces that I need to finish now.

By finish, I mean frame, turn into cushions, or complete in some other form. These are pieces I've had for years - and in some cases, decades!

Brynwood Needleworks - Told In A Garden 1993 "Christmas Angel"

This beautiful "Christmas Angel" is a 1993 freebie from Told in a Garden by Marilyn Leavitt-Inblum. Don't you love her designs? The design is about 4.5" square, so I may make this into a small bowl filler pillow...or a small square frame.

Brynwood Needleworks - Tristan Brooks Designs "Newbury Small"

I purchased this beautiful crewelwork design from a needlework shop in Williamsburg, VA one of the years Handsome was invited to perform with the Williamsburg Consort. I wrote about this in August 2013, so I'll initial and date this finished piece, before I frame it. The finished piece is 3" square. Perhaps it would be nice on top of a needlework box? The Heathway hand-dyed crewel yarns and Gumnuts wool and silk yarns were a delight to use. I wrote about it HERE when I purchased it.

I met Sharon J. of Corgis In My Garden in 2011, when she and her Arabelle spent the day with Tag and me in Colonial Williamsburg. Another special thing about this piece was that I purchased it where I met Michelle May of The Raspberry Rabbits for the first time. She came from New Bern (where she lived at the time), to meet and spend some time with me.

Brynwood Needleworks - Cayman Islands "Poinsettia"

This piece really takes me back. I purchased the handpainted canvas in the Cayman Islands (British West Indies) on Handsome's and my honeymoon. I held onto it for years without stitching it, but finally tackled it using DMC pearl cottons. This one will definitely be a small cushion.

Brynwood Needleworks - Told In A Garden "Ice Angel"

The last piece I pulled today is another Told In A Garden design, "Ice Angel". This one is larger, at 14.5" x 16", and will be framed. It uses metallic threads and beads, along with beautiful DMC stranded cottons.

I think this one will hang in the master bedroom when it's finished. Don't you think everyone should sleep with an angel on their shoulder?

Pulling out these pieces was like reuniting with old friends. I have more needlepoint, and I know where those pieces are. I'll be taking those out as soon as I've finished these. I'm going to enjoy these for a while, first.

Another Day...

It was fun to work on a crewel piece for a change. I haven't really done any

wool embroidery for a number of years (like 20!!), so it was fun to dip my

toes back in it again. When I was finished with this, I remembered wool

drapes that used to hang in my childhood home. They were completely

embroidered just like this small piece! I realized that I could now do my

own set if I ever chose to have anything like that hanging in our own home.

I really had fun working the different stitches, too. There were areas of long 

and short, satin, French knots, twisted buttonhole, trellis couching, stem, chain, 

closed fly and fishbone (my new favorite!) stitches. I liked the challenge of 

remembering how to execute some of them, and some were completely new to me.

I was so proud to be finished...and I really thought I was. Then, while

editing my photographs, I saw this. sigh I missed two stems. I've been

so excited about the way the leaves turned out that I never noticed that

I'd hadn't stitched the stems. So, rather than share a finished piece, I'm

sharing a "mostly finished piece". When it's completely finished, I've

decided that I shall have a small frame made for it. I never did tell you

the size of this one, did I? It's a petite 3" x 3". All that stitching in such

a small area. Perhaps I'll do this again, but on a larger scale - another day.

Busy Hands, Happy Heart...

 When I packed a few projects for this trip, I added this crewel kit that I'd purchased a
while ago when I met Shell May (of Raspberry Rabbits fame) in Williamsburg.
It's just a small piece when stitched, but it's perfect to work on while traveling.

 I don't want to make a mistake with the kit name (like I did with my last

project), so I'm showing you a photograph of the cover sheet. It's "Newbury

Small" by Tristan Brooks Designs. It's a beautiful, little Jacobean wool piece.

I hooped the fabrics (linen with a muslin backer) into my treasured, antique

hoop which once belonged to my mother-in-law, Evelyn. I was stitching in

no time at all. I actually made more progress before I quit for the day, but I

wanted to be able to show you some of the work I'd done on it before I lost

the good natural light that we bloggers crave when photographing for our posts.

Today, I'll be spending the day with my aunt and one of my "sisters by choice".

Tag will be with me while Handsome does a little instrument shopping. I'll also

see one of my beautiful nieces and her son for dinner, which will be the perfect

end to a fine day. I'm going to take this kit along to work on because it lends

itself well to tea, time with friends and loved ones and can be stitched without

much intense concentration or effort. I haven't done crewel embroidery in years,

but it reminds me of many hours spent with Mom Grace (who I'll see soon).

Happy times with happy pursuits and loved ones.

I'm very blessed.