Meet Miss July 2012

I had a fun, pint-size finish this week as Miss July 2012 came off the stretcher bars.

Miss July is from a series of July 4th children designed by Melissa Shirley. Carolyn Hedge Baird wrote a great stitch guide for this series. Thank you, Melissa and Carolyn! I wish the photograph could do justice to her sparkly personality. She has hex shaped beads on her dress which really pick up the light. I added some star sequins at each corner that I purchased from Amy's Golden Strand this summer. They also add some extra sparkle. The big, blue bow in her hair is the icing on the cake! I have a companion piece from this series that I want to stitch - a little boy holding a flag - so that they can be finished together (whatever that may be).

Last week, I promised you some pictures of the Christmas Parade. This parade just keeps on keeping on! I am so close to finishing it but I think it still has another couple of weeks on the stretcher bars. The bottom border seems to stretch on forever. I haven't worked on it every day this week but it has taken me a week just to get half way across.

I took a break from the border and started the turkey work on the bottom border of Santa's coat. I'm thinking I probably don't need loops as large as I have made them but I suppose it's better to have larger loops with too much thread than small ones and not enough to work with. Larger loops just mean a little more thread is required and a little more cutting and trimming. I must be ready to wrap up this project because right now every section I stitch seems to drag on into infinity! Do you ever feel like that with a project? No matter how much you love a project or have enjoyed the work put into it, there comes a time when you are just ready to be finished. That's where I am with Christmas Parade.

What's the upcoming Halloween season without a Halloween project to stitch? This season's project is Mehitabel from NeedleDeeva. I made a good start on her last night while watching the Georgia-Vanderbilt game. Go Dawgs! Mehitabel has a winning smile that is sure to make her the belle of the Halloween Ball this year!

Robin King has written the best stitch guides for the Creepy Characters of which Mehitabel is a part. Several of her fellow Characters are off at the finisher as I write. Hope they make it home for Halloween this year!

Here in Georgia, our first weekend of Autumn is off to a beautiful start with cool nights and warm days. At Publix yesterday, I bought a beautiful bouquet of sunflowers and eucalyptus to welcome the first day of fall. Pretty, isn't it?

Well, time to go get the slow cooker ready for the Boston butt pork roast that will cook all afternoon. I'll have barbecue pulled pork on the menu for the rest of the week - not a bad thing!

Hope you have a great week ahead!