It's a frameup!

As mentioned in my last post, I spent most of yesterday hanging out with Mom at her house.  While Dad was busy framing the four pieces I pinned a couple of weeks ago, I spent some time checking out the new goodies Mom had picked up at the Baltimore market (and no, I didn't realize there was a Baltimore market until she announced she was going... I think it's a newer market).  I got to see some beautiful new overdyed cottons from Weeks and Sampler Threads, and some delicious looking silks elizabethan silks, but I've forgotten who they were from!  Horn books, new linen fabrics, there were so many lovely things to admire.

I showed her some of my newest finishes, including this little guy from the 2010 JCS Halloween issue:

I've been wanting to stitch this piece since I first saw, but only just got supplies and time all together for stitching and finishing.  I used a piece of black (or dark gray) flannel for the back.  You can see the slight pattern in the fabric in this overexposed photo:

Once show and tell was over, we settled down to business, discussing design options for our Cabinets of Curiosities.  I have just about decided that I will be primarily relying on panel designs that are being provided to us, while Mom is much more ambititous.  She's trying to come up with designs for a North Carolina themed casket.  Next month's lesson is finally going to have us actually putting needle to thread for the first time (so excited), and we had some prework to do in tracing the image we will be stitching onto a piece of linen:

Please believe me when I tell you that tracing onto such dark linen and lining it up so that it's square on the fabric is easier said than done.  Can't wait to see what our next lesson brings!

I was also able to pick up an issue of this year's JCS Christmas Ornament issue while at Mom's.  I loved so many more ornaments in this issue than I have in recent years.  As you can see, I've picked out quite a few that I'd like to stitch up this year... wonder how many I'll actually get around to stitching!

Now on to the framed pieces.  I took these photos before the glass was added to the frames.d  This first one was my first stitching finish for this year, Jenni Bean's Creation Sampler:

 Here's Janet Gibson in her uber-ornate frame:

 I finished the North Wind last year, and had some issues finding a frame to fit it, as the recommended frame did NOT work at all:

 And finally, a piece that I finished years ago, and that has never been shared on this blog.  Winter in the Park is a Chatelaine Mystery design, the first Chatelaine design I ever bought, and the only one that I've actually finished.  It's hard to see the sparkly gorgeousness of this piece in this photo.  It's much prettier in person.

That's about it for today.  I will leave you with an image of what I found clogging up my sink last night while I was getting ready for bed:

Silly Lucky!  Til next time, have a creative day, everyone!