Bead sweating decision made...whew!!!!!

This is the progress so far for my Roses for  St. Nicholas stocking.  I am really in love with it so far.  As you can see I have the beads placed and stitched in between the cabbage roses on the cuff.  That was a tough one.  I am such a failure when it comes to color theory and choosing the right colors.  I ultimately decided on Mill Hill seed bead #3034 Royal Amethyst.  These beads vary between a deep maroon purple and a blue purple depending on the light and the actual beads do vary in shade.  I chose the redder of the beads and they are a perfect match in shade to the deep maroon of the roses.  I did change the brighter gold bugle bead to a more tarnished gold bugle bead and they look perfect.  This is a vintage style stocking and the brighter gold did not fit my vision of what vintage looks like.  The bugle beads that I had purchased earlier this year had this more tarnished gold included in the 10 different colors I purchased.  SCORE!!!!!!

Here is a closer look at the bead flowers and it really shows the slight varied colors of the seed beads and the more muted appearance of the bugle beads.  

Here is an enlarged picture of my bead flower.  I love the way it turned out.  It was worth the angst and the time of stitching multiple flowers with the  different color combinations.  Seriously, they look completely different stitched in your piece then rolling around on your table top.

Here is a picture of one of 5 motifs that will vertically run down the stocking.  I did make an error which I discovered later, the pink crosses should have been stitched as Mosaic stitches.  This looks fine to me and I will just leave it as is.  The gold seed beads in the motif are Mill Hill 557.  They are more matte in shine, more vintage in appearance.  I didn't even look to see if I could find a Mill Hill seed bead in the tarnished gold color like the bugle beads.  The dark beads in the motif are the SJ Design's #21 and the color is Green Iris. 

I did not stitch much this past week, we had a huge tree limb come down on our roof and pierce it.  That was a drama I can live without.  Our roof is repaired and we have an inspector coming to see if we need a new roof.  The storm that blew through on Monday past had 70 mph winds, torrential rain and hail.  So much for a Midwest spring!  I wish all of you the gentle blessings of stitching and a strong roof over your head whilst you so so! 

When what to my coveting eye has appeared?

Oh JOY!!!!  More designs that have caught my coveting eye.


Satsuma Street's, "Deck the Hall's".  I absolutely love the colors and the design has a retro feel to me.


















Little House Needlework's "House Rule".  I love the street of homes and the little sheepie on the hill.












Mill Hill's Caribbean Santas.  I bought these on sale for 22% off.  I love them because my husband is from the Caribbean, Guyana and they would be darling on our Christmas tree.  Not only that I call my brother Rick a pirate and they also remind me of him.



Long Dog Sampler's "Life after Death". This is the companion piece to Death by Cross Stitch which I also covet. I adore all the little motifs and the saying "Love is the thread that mends worn."  That saying reminds me of my husband whose love mended me.


Victoria Sampler's "Birthday Needleroll".  I love needlerolls but I love the frilly girlish nature of these beauties.


Homespun Elegance's "It Take's a Village".  Sweet saying with a lovely strawberry border.  I love that the stitch shop is front and center with the church right next door.


I have noticed that Christmas designs are popping up like dandelions in the yard.  The year half over and less then 6 months until the holiday season is upon us. 

Let's see what I will be coveting when next we meet.

The Silver Needle Camp Wannasew Retreat-Tulsa, Oklahoma March 2017

The building on the right and in the front is the meeting area.  It faced Sequoia Lake.  The series of small windows in the building behind are the rooms we stayed in.  The two buildings are connected.

This is the lake view to the south (to our left).

 This is the lake view to the west (in the center).

 This is the view of the lake to the North (to the right).

The pine cones were huge!

 This is the view we had sitting inside our meeting area at our table.

This is the view from inside our meeting room behind our table.

This is our table of ladies, minus me.  From left to right is LaDawn and Donna. On the other side is Lee (in front with the red hair), Edie (in the center) and Marilyn.  It was a wonderful table full of ladies.

 Lee with her "Eat. Sleep. Stitch." t-shirt.

Edie, the hitchhiker.

 The store which was full of goodies to purchase!

This is the meeting room.  Three tables on each of the two sides of the room and the store set up between.  The door to our complete kitchen is on the right.

This beauty is called a "tool holder".  LaDawn had meet a lady at a previous retreat who makes these.  I am hoping she is still making them so I can purchase one.

This is Mona who does all the finishing for Lindy at the Silver Needle.  She also finishes for many designers which include Lizzy Kate.  She is short and oh so adorable.  Our table was right next to her finishing table so we interacted with her quite a bit.

 These are two of the four projects we received for the weekend.  The one on the left is Shepherd's Bush "Little Pink House"  The one on the right was designed just for us by the Silver Needle.

This is the back of a Mill Hill Beaded kit which was stitched on fabric and finished by Mona.

 I will never again stitch a Mill Hill kit on perforated paper!  These are two shop models in the Silver Needle and are finished by Mona.  They are exquisite and they were also two of the kits I purchased.

I am in absolute love with the butterfly and I look forward to stitching it on light blue fabric or mint green fabric.

The most beautiful sunset was witnessed by all of us on Saturday.  What a sweet way to end an inspiring weekend retreat.