I Just Have To Show You!

I actually finished it on Thursday morning before we left on our ‘mini’ vacation to Syracuse, NY.    In hindsight, perhaps that wasn’t such a great idea because the main reason why I wanted to go to Syracuse was to visit my very first needlework shop…but more on that in a future post.

My inspiration for learning how to x-stitch was a needle case that I fell in ♥ with from the book, Thank You, Sarah Tobias by Blackbird Designs.

I read as much as I could find about x-stitching on the internet and with some help and encouragement from my friends Siobhan in Ireland, Heidi in Holland and Pat in the US, I jumped in headfirst, which for those who know me, is par for the course.  I completed three small-ish x-stitch projects last Fall then proceeded to work on Christmas gifts, FFF designs and the designing and creating of my Raggedy & Friends quilt.  X-stitching was relegated to the back burner. 

Immediately upon completing the Raggedy & Friends quilt, I went through a ‘betwixt and between’ stage…almost a mini burn-out.  I made a string quilt and some string needle books for Stephanie’s challenge, but the BBD designs needle case kept ‘talking’ to me.  I took the plunge and  ordered the necessary supplies.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

It seemed like forever for the order to arrive from California.  During that time I read and re-read the instructions to make sure that I knew what to do.  I also started to read the Elm Creek series of novels by Jennifer Chiaverini, just to pass the time.

Four books later, the supplies finally arrived and I dove right in.  I was nervous because I had never stitched on linen before.  I stumbled a few times but it didn’t take too long for the rhythm to return.  I thoroughly enjoyed every stitch, from the very first one on the 26th of February to the last one on March 31st.

Last Thursday morning, I started to assemble it.   I layered the top, batting and backing and made the binding.

I then trimmed it to size.

My first fabric choice just didn’t do it for me.  I chose a Civil War print from my stash and it looked too wussy.  After all this work, I wasn’t going to complete it with a fabric that wasn’t just right.

Back to my stash I went.  Eureka!  I found just the perfect fabric from the Madiera collection by Moda.  And the designers?  Who else but the Blackbird Design gals themselves!  So I re-cut the top and re-made the binding.  The colors blended perfectly.

The inside…

The outside…

And the finished project…complete with vintage button…

I can’t believe I did it…and I’m in ♥…with my needle case!

Happy stitching!

Kaaren ♥