Some like it hot!

It was quite a weekend - temps over 90 degrees both days. So naturally it was a good day to stay inside and stitch! So that is what I did.

Thanks to everyone who posted such nice words about my Quaker Garden. :-)

On Saturday evening I finished Secret Garden from Blackbird Designs. It's the latest Loose Feather. What a quick piece this was. I think it took me longer to paint and finish the box on Sunday then it did to stitch the top! But I think it turned out wonderful. I did the inside in a red and cream stripe and I finished under the lid in a really pretty tan and cream toile. I love having useful pieces around. Especially since I haven't had one cross stitch piece framed in years. (I really need to fix that). I did Secret Garden with the recommend red - Turkey Red I believe on 30 count R&R light espresso - it is a little more yellow than the recommend linen.

I did drive down to my favorite needlepoint store, Northshore Needleworks in Northbrook on Saturday. I had ordered a pug canvas about three months ago and it was finally in. I did not buy the fibers for it since my focus is on cross stitch right now and they recommended silk pearl - that's going to cost a small fortune to kit. However, I did pick up some really pretty variegated silks (Watercolors from Caron I think) to experiment with a couple of single color designs that I have at home. I'll see how they look with the linens I have. It was be nice to shop my stash for a change.

I started back stitching Lace and Linen by the Drawn Thread. About 1/3 done there I think - I'll post a photo tomorrow. I should finish that one by the weekend at the current rate of which I'm stitching. :-) And I'm waiting for all my new goodies to arrive.