I See You!

Quite a while ago I was on a spree at Pocket Full of Stitches located in Lubbock, TX. With mandatory stash enhancement efforts underway (once one foot set inside the door), this and a companion squirrel canvas by Melissa Shirley were mine. I've had both kitted up almost from inception but the timing wasn't right to take them both on....Now it's several months later, and at the behest and pleadings from my husband to break out the wildlife I'm embarking upon the raccoon.

There's no stitch guide unfortunately, but I do have enough books containing suggested stitches for fur, feathers and probably fins to fill half a fhelf. Given how little I enjoy turkey work, I'm going to do my best to avoid this obviously appropriate stitch choice by choosing warm and fuzzy threads instead. So far Rainbow Gallery's (RG) Petite Very Velvet fits the bill big time. First, it's very "pettable" and second there's no need to lay threads.....happy day. Yes, you do have to make sure this fun to use thread doesn't twist and the colors are somewhat limited but it's great for my purposes here. I'll also use a little Whisper, Fuzzy Stuff and Alpaca (all RG threads) throughout for the body, head and tail and have pulled RG's Splendor, Caron's Impressions and J.L. Walsh Silks for the leaves and background. Nothing gets set in stone with me making the decisions, however; it's pretty much trial and error....lots of error unless a professional has selected the threads and provided a stitch guide. One of these days I'll get the hang of making these decisions more quickly but in the meanwhile I'll plod along ever grateful for a well stocked stash closet.

Along with this piece I have been working on a pilot class project for the past month and a half that has been taking up most of my stitch time but is nearly completed. So I decided to get one of my newest acquisitions (Mindy's Christmas Flowers) up on the stretchers and will begin this and stitch simultaneous to the raccoon. I usually don't do this but I'm in the mood to live dangerously these days so I'm goin' in!

Now that I've whiled away the morning doing blog things I may as well just forgo everything else that needs my attention and get back to stitching. Sounds good to me. Thanks for visiting today, I'm really glad you're here.

BBB is back!

Happy Dance! I picked BumbleBeeBracelet up today. The sparkles don't show in the photo but I did use all Kreinik braid for the entire bumbler. Then Perle Coton for the background.

This is a Melissa Shirley design and there are many others to chose from. The bracelet itself has a metal cuff inside and is finished off with black leather.
It also came with the box, which is great since I stitched this for a gift.

The bracelet stitched up in no time and now that I've done this one, I think the next one I'll embellish more with beads and other fun sparklies.

This was not on my stitching queue for this year, and it has set me back a little in terms of keeping me on track with my planned projects. In fact it's one of several irresistibles that have unexpectedly managed to wheedle their way into my shopping bag. What's a stitcher to do? I don't have an answer, do you?