Hi Everyone —

Last weekend I had the privilege to stay with friends on the beautiful Georgia island of St. Simon’s. On our way to sightseeing on Friday morning, we passed a shop that just called out to me.

The Stitchery on St. Simon’s Island.

The store was lovely and inviting on the outside.  The owner was off and so I wasn’t able to take a picture on the inside.  The stock was mostly yarn for knitting, but there were a number of painted canvasses.  I asked about stitch guides and was told that I was supposed to do those myself!  I found one needlepoint of the lighthouse on St. Simon’s, but that appeared to be the only local interest canvas — so I bought it!

St. Simon’s Island Lighthouse!

What do you think?  I thought it was pretty realistic.

St. Simon’s Lighthouse — the real deal!

My recommendation for stitchers going to SSI?  BYOS — Bring your own stash!

Cheers!

Rosie

My apologies for taking so long to post this last installment.  It has been a very hectic two weeks culminating in graduation last night.  But that is a different story …

Our last needlepoint stop in Pittsburgh was Beehive Needle Arts in Mt. Lebanon, a southwest suburb of Pittsburgh.  This was by far the largest of the three shops we visited.  Situated on Washington Road, a busy commercial street, Beehive carries both needlepoint and cross stitch supplies.

I must say that Beehive is probably one of the most organized shops I have seen.  They have an extensive inventory of painted canvases and threads, all arranged in beautiful displays.  The shop has little alcoves with tables to lay out a canvas and threads for matching.  And I noticed that multiple canvases of the same design were all clipped together.  What a pleasure to browse in this bright and sunny shop!

Beehive Needle Arts is located at 650 Washington Road, on Facebook and on the internet at www.beehiveneedlearts.com.  They are open Monday, Friday and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and on Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.  There is convenient on-street parking as well as a large parking garage across the street.

I did manage to find a few canvases to take home with me.  And I ordered a University of Pittsburgh Santa – we all had a laugh that the in-stock canvases were from schools in neighboring states but not a single canvas from UPitt.

A few more canvases …

I will be visiting all three shops in future trips to Pittsburgh.  If you have the opportunity to either visit the city (and it has much to see aside from these shops) or just pass through, I would encourage you to make a point to visit at least one of the needlepoint shops.

Happy Stitching!

I swore I would never use the H2P line (Hail to Pitt!) but I couldn’t think of a catchy title for this blog.

On Wednesday we took what will be the first of many trips out to Pittsburgh so that Nora could attend Freshman Orientation at the University of Pittsburgh.  We spent the day traveling and then dropped her off on Thursday morning for a two-day orientation to meet other students, take part in various information sessions, consult her Faculty Adviser, and actually register for her Fall classes.  She spent the night at the dorm so Steve and I had two days to explore the area. Luckily, I had a list of three needlework shops to investigate!   We did manage to visit all three shops.  (By the way, I’m going to break this into three blogs so as not to overly bore everyone.)  It was hard work but someone had to do it.

Our first stop was in Sewickley, about 12 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.  The town dates back to 1767 and reminded me of what the town in The Music Man would probably look like today.  The downtown streets – Beaver Street and Broad Street – are just made for strolling with plenty of shops and restaurants.  Our destination was The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop, located on Beaver Street.  Although a seemingly small shop, it packed a lot of canvases and threads inside!  The owners, Nancy and Barbara, were so very helpful in pointing out canvases and finished pieces.  I was particularly impressed by their selection of Christmas stockings. My family has not really been interested in having me stitch stockings but I was tempted by some of the pieces I saw at the shop.

I did manage to find a few canvases to add to the collection (I am now claiming that collecting canvases is a second hobby) and was pleasantly surprised that the price of the canvas included the threads to go with it!  The Porcupine will kit the canvases with pearl cotton along with some specialty threads such as Kreinik as needed.   Isn’t that a great concept?  If one wanted to substitute other threads, I was told that the price of those threads would be discounted. We took a leisurely walk around the town while Nancy and Barbara pulled threads and when we returned my kits were ready.  I was happy with the thread selections.  In addition to the pearl cotton I have Snow and Kreinik braid to some glitz. And each of my canvases and threads came in its own little bag!

At the suggestion of Nancy and Barbara we had lunch around the corner at 424 Walnut (yes, located at 424 Walnut Street).  The food was delicious and the service was excellent.  We would definitely stop in there again for lunch – great sandwiches and salads.

The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop is located at 404 Beaver Street in Sewickley, on Facebook, and on the internet at theporcupineneedlepointshop.com.  The shop is open Monday through Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

After lunch we headed back to the city to Needle Point Breeze which is located in the Point Breeze section of Pittsburgh east of the University.  That store will be the subject of the next blog (hopefully tomorrow).  Until then …

Happy Stitching!

Since I keep having other commitments on the 4th Saturday each month, I thought I'd post my Serengeti progress. I'm down to block 32, although as you can see There are about 8 blocks started but not finished. Between laying threads, the congress cloth, the stitches, and size of the blocks, I quickly lost interest in them and decided to move on and come back to finish them later. I have been marking in my directions when I've finished a block so I don't forget as I often do!

Serengeti 6/8/15

I haven't decided if I'm enjoying this piece or not. I would probably enjoy it more if I could make our stitching sessions. Some days I really enjoy working it and other days I don't want to deal with it. For now, I'm planning to finish it eventually. I do like many of the stitches and fibers. I DO NOT like Mandarin Floss or Tiara! I'm learning a lot and finding I don't mind working on Congress Cloth and I LOVE the canvas color.

I am glad we decided to do this piece despite all the little boxes!

Posted with Blogsy

As many of you know, I enjoy doing painted canvases and usually do my own stitch guides. I saw an online mystery class with Sandy Arthur advertised for Harvest, a painted canvas by Robbyn’s Nest, and fell in love with the canvas. Plus, I figured it was about time to take a class with a stitch guide.

I have to say, I’ve been very pleased with the first two lessons, even if, as usual, I’m way behind! The border is perfect for the canvas. Sandy suggested either a rectangle border or an arch across the top depending on how you were going to have it finished. I decided the arch fit the canvas design better than just a rectangle but wanted the rectangle for framing. I printed an oval the width I wanted and then cut it out to trace onto the canvas. It took a few tries before I got the right placement. Stitching the left side seemed to flow rather easily; the right side was a challenge since the stitches are opposite the left side. I’m not entirely happy with it but will see once I get the basket weave inside.

I’ve started the H, the tan pumpkin, and the green pumpkin. I’m still playing with them a bit to get the right look! I was going to start the flowers and leaves but realized I bought the wrong thread for the leaves. It’s a ThreadWorx and they use the same numbers for all their fibers of the same color with an extra number or two at the front. I accidentally bought Perel #5 instead of floss.

Anyway, here’s my progress so far. Like I said, I’m really enjoying this piece. I’m just trying to fit in all the other projects I’m doing as well !

Posted with Blogsy

Hi Everyone —

Today I finished the stitching for the pilot class of “Pair of Puffins Perched on a Prominence”.

Puffins are perched!  Gotta love that carved whelk!

I had finished stitching the beaded background on Friday.  However yesterday when I went to couch the puffin feet onto the rock, I discovered that part of the lower starfish was missing and a long length of thread was hanging from the canvas.  As far as I can tell, Ellie Bean decided to eat the starfish while I was working on a jigsaw puzzle on Saturday.  Or, she might have caught her claw in it when she was literally bouncing off the walls at the vegetarians (deer) in her new back yard.

So, I had to do some starfish repair before I could couch down those puffin feet!  Luckily I had plenty of thread and I don’t think the rework is too apparent.  Besides, aren’t starfish known to grow new arms when one is broken off??

The Pair of Puffins Perched on a Prominence is now perched prominently on a high TV cabinet — far from the wandering teeth and claws of one determined puppy!

Thanks to Ann Strite-Kurz for creating this whimsical design.  I haven’t enjoyed stitching anything so much in a long time!

Cheers!  Rosie