Which really I haven’t been doing that much of that lately…well except for this weekend and that is a story for another day!

Last year when we are the ANG Seminar in Chicago at Expo! Night, I was helping Raymond Crawford and Elizabeth was helping Mindy…and those two were plotting and asked me if I wanted to stitch this for the magazine?!

Or sure, who wouldn’t want to stitch a Mindy? and the rest is history.

I start with getting the canvas on the bars and picking out some threads, maybe not all, but some. I don’t waste too much time getting started as wow does the time get away from you when you’re not looking!

A Gloriana silk was the purr~fect color, but I wanted it in the Princess Perle, not the silk for a variety. My shop didn’t have that color, so I called Anne of Gloriana and asked her if I could get 1 skein on each size, regular and petite.

I start with the easiest areas, a given, which for me was all the letters. Some were stitched, some were beaded and I tried to do each word in a different stitch/thread/technique.

Then to the background which was all done in Kreinik 032 in size #4. Can you believe that magic of Kreinik were it looks like I really used several different colors? Nope! Just one!

This piece moved along with little to none reverse stitching and the toughest time I had? finding the buttons! but they came from Mindy’s shop, so how could they not be just right?

To the gentleman on Facebook who always poo-poos stitch guides and why waste the $$$? Well I work very, very hard to make sure that my stitch guides are thoughtfully and carefully planned out so that the stitches work…not too difficult, enjoyable, but challenging enough to make the peace come to life. 99% of the guides that I create are written as I actually stitch the piece, so I know how it’s going to come out. Okay enough of this!

It was sent to the studios of Needlepoint Now and Elizabeth sent it out to be finished. Cindy of Needlepoint Plus in Beaverton, Oregon where she worked her magic and made this great bag with boiled wool. I love it! Don’t you?

and it even wound up on the cover! Two issues in a row and that doesn’t get old! Now it graces the window at the shop, until it’s time to decorate for Halloween.

The kids are keeping me compnay as I pulled a marathon stitching weekend for yet another deadline. Almost finished and hopefully this is it… I just have to learn to say NO!