Meet Needle Nick and Two New Stroll Additions (506-508)

Greetings from hot as heck Midlothian, VA where I am trying to stay ensconced in my air conditioned home as much as I can. We did venture out to the local farmer's market this morning but.... home again, home again jiggedy jig! This has allowed me to get some stitching and finishing done this week, so I won't complain too much! In fact, we had a bit of a short week as we drove to Wilmington, NC last weekend for a mini reunion of my hubby's family. That side of the family is spread out across the country from Austin/Houston TX to Rockford, IL to Savannah, Ga and a couple of North Carolinians. My brother and sister-in-law- have just bought a retirement home there and it was the perfect area to meet up. We went to Wrightsville Beach and the kids had a ball. I'm not a big picture taker but here are a couple:

Getting ready to rain...can you see it out over the ocean?

The whole gang...good thing my nephew has long arms!

 I got a little stitching done in the car, down and back, but none while there. So A Year of Celebrations June is done, except for the background which I'm saving for our trip To Yellowstone, and I started August. One of the colors in July wasn't working for me, so I skipped over that for the time being. 

After we got home and the laundry was done, I started on some finishing. First up is Thyme to Gather by Hands on Design. I used fabric and threads I had in my stash and added the JABCO button in the top wreath. The wool for the leaf, silver acorn charm and twine came in the mini kit.

Next up is a piece that had been languishing since 2003. Needle Nick was a LE mini kit from Lizzie Kate. I pulled it out in 2018 and took it to a stitch in since it was on a large count fabric (10 count Tula). I used the called for threads but changed out the supplied white basket for a stocking I found at Hobby Lobby the other day. The green Noel banner, bells, red buttons, gold star charms and scissor charm were part of the kit but I added the gold needle in his right hand and the bow at top.

  Cording was suggested for the trim but I had the perfect length...and I mean perfect, I had about 1" left after attaching... of green rat tail cording( not sure why it's called that) which I couched on. I then wrapped that with a burgandy #5 perle cotton.

Then, just in time for the fourth, I finished Holiday Hoopla 4th of July by With Thy Needle and Thread. I stitched it over one on 40 count Iced Cappuccino linen with threads I had on hand. This was not my original finish idea but when I figured it would fit in a Tim Holtz pocket watch, I couldn't resist. I added some red, white and blue beads for fun---easy-peasy finish!!!

I may have another 4th of July finish, but it's going to be close! I will be back tomorrow with the winner of the Quilting Bee chart by The Blue Flower so if you haven't entered, go to my June 12 post and leave a comment with the word "bee" in it. You must also be a follower of my blog. 

I hope you're keeping cool where you are....thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi