August Gifted Gorgeousness

Hello fellow stitchers!  Thanks for visiting my blog today!  If you are a frequent reader you'll know that Gifted Gorgeousness is the post I talk about the things I've stitched during the past month that were gifted to me (fabrics, fibers, or patterns and fully finished projects) or that I have gifted others.  Last month was Christmas in July so I finished off a lot of little projects that I will be gifting others used patterns that were gifted to me (or were free from designers) .  If you would like to participate in this challenge that is the brain child of Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching.  You can read the rules here.  Or you can visit Jo's page and see what others are stitching here.

Many of you know I've been stitching the free Advent characters from Brooke's Books.  I was down to the last two!  I have them all stitched now and will be fully finishing them soon!  Here are Deborah Donkey, and Rudolf Reindeer both stitched on 32 count  light blue over one.

I've also been stitching the 12 Dragonets of 2012 by Dragon Dreams.  I was stitching one a month but since last month was Christmas in July challenge I was able to finish stitching the last 5 and hopefully will fully finish them soon.  Here are 8 Dragons Milking, 9 Dragons Dancing, 10 Dragons Leaping, 11 Dragons Piping, and 12 Dragons Drumming.  These are stitched on 28 count natural over two.

I have been working on some Nursery Rhyme Characters hoping to make a mobile for my Grandchild who will be delivered in September.  I was hoping to finish it for the shower that was yesterday, but I just ran out of time.  So here are the last few that weren't published last month.  I'm just going to show the pictures, and you can guess the rhymes.  If you get stumped, they are listed on the 2021 goals page...just scroll down the finished items and you should find them.  These are stitched on 40 count Lambswool over two and were quick and easy stitches!

I was able to finish up a couple of crocheted items for the baby too.   First was this little afghan.  This was such a challenge to me...but so relieved when I finished it.  I love how it came out!

And last is this Yawn the Sheep Snuggle Sack.  This was a free pattern from Yarnspirations.  I found a few mistakes in the pattern, but I was able to work around them and figure out how to put it together.  My DIL loved it!  And my son said they could put the baby in it for their first Halloween...hahaha.  It's pretty big, so he or she might be a little lost in it, but it will definitely keep them warm!  July/August is a pretty warm month to be crocheting....but it's the first project of this type that I have done and I'm pretty proud of how it turned out!

And that's all that's fit to print.  I did take a week long vacation to celebrate our 37th anniversary and hopefully when life slows down a bit I'll be able to blog a little bit about that.  We were so focused  on the shower that happened yesterday, that I have had little time for anything else.  I have to say there was a nice turn out for the shower and they got a lot of really sweet gifts.  Hopefully I'll be back to stitching again soon, it's been so long I really feel like I'm going through withdrawal!  But this time it will be things I want to stitch for ME!  (How's that for selfishness?  hahaha)  Ok, off to take a well deserved rest today.  I hope you are all safe, healthy, and loving life!  Happy Stitching!

Hobby House Needleworks

Hi Fellow Stitchers!  I know I've been MIA for a little while.  Sometimes you just need to "get outta town" ... LOL  It was our anniversary last week, so my husband decided we needed a little trip to celebrate our 37 years of marriage.  So we decided to take a trip north to visit friends and family.  

When I saw a new needlework store was slightly out of the way on the way north, we decided to visit there first. and I'm so glad we did!  When we walked in the door to Hobby House Needleworks our first sight was of a lovely fireplace with needlework models displayed around two inviting chairs.  

Kathy greeted us at the door as we walked in.  She asked what I needed (floss of course!  LOL) and walked me over to find everything I had on my list.  Just look at how well stocked they are!!!  I have to say, as soon as I walked in the door, I felt a peace ... but also a sense of WOW!  I was amazed at how well stocked their store is.  There was so much there, but it wasn't crowded.  It was well laid out so you could see most things at a glance.  They had all kinds of fibers...and they were there for the taking (not like some stores where they are on display but you have to order them).  

Their stock of fabric (even though some is hard to find right now) was amazing, and even though they didn't have the exact fabric I was looking for, they searched and found the color I needed, then found a substitute that would work well.  It's a new fabric I haven't used before, I'm anxious to give it a try!  

Not only did they cut exactly what I needed, they surged the edges and ironed it before they slipped it into a plastic sleeve and wrapped it neatly in tissue paper.  Amazing!   They told me they do this for their mail orders too!  Their philosophy is that when you receive anything from them, you can take it out of the bag and begin immediately.  They also wrapped their floss in tissue paper so it wouldn't get tangled in the bag with any other item you are buying.  I found some things I've been looking for (like bell pull hardware, charms (lots of them!!) and smaller tart pans).  It really is a stitcher's paradise!

They are well stocked in patterns as well.  They are in baskets, bins, turning display racks, but separated by designer so things are very easy to find!  And if you can't find something, Kathy is right there to lend a  hand!

In the loft of the store is a long table with chairs around it for their stitch events.  It's surrounded by all kinds of goodies, wool swatches of different sizes, more silk fibers, charms, needlework stands (they took time to show me one which I actually bought...all the parts, how they worked together, and all the pieces I would need, then let me sit and try it out...) and various other things.  You don't know how much I would love living near there to attend their stitch events.  They truly love what they are doing and really cater to their customers (I'm going to call them guests because they treated you like they really wanted you there).

I enjoyed my visit there so much, and I know if  you are able to go there too, you'll find the same experience.  They helped me find charts I was looking for, then showed me models they had hanging around the store and had stories to tell about who stitched them, or about the pattern.  Here's the address...it's near a lot of lovely sights in the area too, with a lot of wonderful restaurants and hotels.  We plan to go back and see more of the sights!  

Hobby House Needleworks

50 State Street (The Green Log Cabin)

Pittsford, NY  14534

They do a lovely mail order service too, here is their website...Just click on the link!

https://hobbyhouseneedleworks.com/

And you can visit them on Facebook by clicking this link!

https://www.facebook.com/hobbyhouseneedleworks

Thank you, Kathy, for such a lovely visit to your shop!  I'll be watching for any stitching events you  may have in the future and hope to see you again!