Sample It! my favorite part of the Needlework Market. An hour of fast and furious shopping  on Friday night before the market opens. Knitters and needlepointers both scramble to get the best of the best from maybe 100 vendors. A small sampling of what is to be offered on the sales floor and usually packaged in a way that you won’t see in the booths.

This is one of the 4 Christmas Hearts by NeedleDeeva that will be available at Sample It. I love these little hearts as they really are a quick stitch…1 or 2 nights. If my ideas all come together with the threads and stitches behaving then it really does work up quickly.

He was mostly done before I went home for Christmas, except for his scarf, mitten and his nose. I had originally just stitched the nose and then brick beaded the snowman. I realized when looking at it from a distance, that he was going to need a nose job as the nose was lost. Well I will get to that when I get back…and after studying the back of it realized that I would make a big mess if took the stitching out…so I just beaded over the stitches using a clear white bead and orange beading thread. Actually it worked great as it makes the nose a little higher as it should be.

This is my favorite…a candy lovers delight and talk about a fast stitch! Wow! Thank you to Susan Portra who empowered me and enlightened me with this one. I remembered that I never took a real picture of this one, this was a working picture with my cell phone that I always take either to share or check my work.

These hearts will be available in packs of 2 at Sample It! If you would like this, just ask your FNS (favorite needlepoint shop) or LNS (local needlepoint shop) to shop for this if they are coming to market. They will come with the stitch guides too.

What is wrong with this picture? This is San Diego you know. And for all of you that want to say “ooh that is not cold!” well yes it is as remember nights like this can ruin or totally wipe out crops of avocados, citrus and all the other wonderful plants and produce that is grown here. Melinda that writes Living the Good Life blog talks about their weather and how it is in the high 70’s in Atlanta!

So I will think warm thoughts and put on a heavier sweater and as Colleen from The Needle Works says “cold Sundays mornings are a great excuse to stay in bed and sleep in. It is also great snuggle time with the kitties.” I agree!

I am headed up to the great state of Oregon in a few days to spend some time at the Needlepoint Now studios, see the puppies and have some quality stitching time. Yes I know that it will be cold and could even snow, but there it is supposed to do that, not here!

I have to laugh at the kids when they sleep like this. I think that it is time to wash all of the cat hair off the bedding, but that means a trip to a place where they have bigger machines than here. and until next time…keep on stitching