Pair of Amish cross stitch pillow cases
Finally, a little randomness. We always have a silent and live auction at Seminar as fundraisers. I volunteer to be a spotter/runner during the auction. The two pillow cases above were in the live auction and were just stunning in person. Those were the tiniest stitches I've ever seen. That red line is actually a chain stitch! One of the perks for working the auction is you get to check out all the goodies as they go up on the auction block.
Here's what I got in the silent auction. I couldn't pass up bidding on this hand beaded needle keeper necklace. The price was right and I know I would have spent way more if I'd bought the beads and tried to do this myself. Besides, it was done in "my" colors! I just love it.
Encyclopedia of Needlework by Therese de Dillmont
We also have a vendor section where several quilt dealers set up shop for the weekend. I usually can't afford anything in there but I love to go look. They are very gracious about letting you take pictures. This year I found this little treasure. I know you can
download it online but there's just nothing like holding this little antique gem in your hand and thumbing the pages. I've got a thing for books but I think you already knew that.
Spool Blocks
When I travel I always like to take some kind of hand work with me. The day before I left I saw
this post and fell in love with the spool blocks. Not that I didn't have enough to do, but I just HAD to draft a pattern and make some templates for these blocks. Hand piecing is such a good traveling companion and I dearly love to do it.
Apparently, there is a group of women in the Netherlands who started this craze for making spool blocks. They call them Klosjes. This is the
blog where I first read about this. Who knew there were spools being made on Saturdays?
Mine were made in an airport, on a plane, and in a conference! I will most likely stop when I have enough for a mini quilt. Whenever that will be. I don't want to give up too much stitching time right now for spool blocks. Although, they will be a fun project to take to my little quilt group's once a month UFO night.
Design: Big Berry Scissor Companion Kit
Designer: Ewe & Eye & Friends
Floss: DMC included in kit
Fabric: 32 ct. included in kit
Started: 9/22/11
I also took a new stitching start with me in case I ran out of fabric scraps for the spools or just wanted to do something different. I actually spent a good bit of time in the Philly airport working on this one. It went fast since it's pretty much mindless fill work. I actually got about half of it stitched!
This was one of those that haunted me until I went back to buy it at the LNS. I've been itching to get going on it but made myself wait until I got my Lucet class piece stitched. I'll bet telling you more about that soon.
Well that wraps up my grand adventure. I hope you've enjoyed my ramblings. Thanks to all who have left me comments. They really do make my day. Also, welcome to my new followers too!
The Inspired Stitcher
