At long last.....

I am so pleased to have something to show you. This was the Tug O' War bargello stitched earlier this year and designed by the late Jean Hilton. I wanted to do something with it other than hang it on the wall, and several readers suggested I make it into a serving tray. Wonderful solution! After trying unsuccessfully for several weeks to find a ready made tray that would be suitable in color and size, I eventually took it to a local framer and had a custom tray made. This was also suggested by a reader.

The most challenging thing about the whole process was finding the handles. Having no luck here in the Denver area locating this type of hardware, I turned to the Internet and in the end needed to send away to this company located in WY that had an extensive selection of beautiful hardware for various needs. I was very pleased with the level of service and quality of the products which were made in England.

The framing included using plate glass to prevent accidental breakage and then being sealed in silicone to avoid damage from any leakage should the tray actually be used. Because of the smallish size, my intent for the tray was for decorative purposes only but now it can be safely used.

Another project I am very proud of has been framed and already sitting in place on the sofa table at my daughter's home. Deco Cat was stitched and intended to be made into a large decorative pillow at first. I had purchased all the fabric and trim and set out to turn it into a whimsical creation. After cutting everything out I began sewing and soon realized that this was not going to work out the way I wanted it to. The problem is that the cat design is so large and in order to accommodate two or three mitred fabric borders and fabric covered cord, the pillow would have had to be HUGE to balance with the stitched design. I was so disappointed but managed to take it apart without damaging the canvas and skulked down-trodden to the framers. The framer transformed deco cat into a wonderful work of art (This piece was a Mystery Class by Ruth Schmuff and I wanted it framed like hers!)

Oh, I almost forgot, meet Tahoe the inspiration for my version of deco cat, enjoying a relaxing afternoon with my daughter reading magazines and sharing the sofa.

Thank you for visiting the blog today, I've missed posting and look forward to resuming normalcy as life has been anything but normal lately. I have several new projects to share with you including getting started on a canvas from my Mindy's Needlepoint Factory visit.