That secret hiding spot….

You know how when you put something away for safe keeping?  It’s a good plan except for when you don’t remember ever having done that.  But then it can make for a pleasant surprise.    One of the stitches I want to get fully finished in the next day or two to use as a gift is a hollyhocks design (I can’t remember the actual name of the chart – it may be that; it may not Sewing Friends bag) from The Sewing Club book from Blackbird Designs.  So I went to the box of finishes to pull it out and in that box found three brand new 5×7″ frames, one of which I clearly planned to use for this stitch.  I don’t remember when I bought them but I’m sure I ordered them from Amazon.  I love the 5×7 three packs of frames where all three are the same style but different colors.  And so many of my small stitches will fit into 5×7 frames.  Here’s the three pack that was in there.

Here’s the frame from that pack with the stitch sitting under it.  I definitely will be framing this in the next day or two but I think I may go thru the Ultimate Sampler Motif book to find just a little border or motif to add below the word just so I can center it a bit more in the frame without too much blank space.  Hopefully I’ll get that addition added tonight and can assemble it tomorrow.

The other hoop

As I was searching for wider hoops, I first came across a hoop on Amazon – Darice hoop, Klass & Gessmann brand (although in other places on the item listing it says Nova Brand but that is who is selling it, not who made it).  It was being shipped from Bulgaria and the delivery date kept being pushed back and pushed back (weeks) and I wasn’t sure I was going to receive it.  In the meantime I found and ordered the Nurge set of 3 hoops which I’ve previously told you my opinions of (love them- go back a few posts to find that info).   The K&G hoop finally arrived last night. 

The K&G hoop is on the left and Nurge on the right.  I ordered a 7″ from K&G/Nurge is 6″ (that’s the measurement of the space within the inner hoop.  The K&G is a nice hoop. Comparing the two, the Nurge feels a bit smoother and has what looks like sturdier hardware but that’ doesn’t mean the K&G isn’t well made.  For instance I think you can see form the photo that the bracket area where the screw goes thru is more substantial on the right than the hoop on the left – it’s a more “beefed-up” version of what is on most hoops and the screw end is hexagonal rather than the normal round so for my hand/finger issues it’s a bit easier to hand tighten.  Both of course have the screw slot in the end so you could tighten with a screw driver if necessary but they tighten well just by hand.   I will say tho that the Nurge set of three hoops was a better bargain price-wise than the K&G hoop.  But all that to say, I will gladly add the K&G hoop into my line up so adding that in means I now have the wider hoops in  4″, 6″, 7″ and 8″ – all the sizes I should need (although as I said before the 4″ seems a bit too small to hold and stitch with due to the hoops being wider).   But that 4″ will be the perfect finishing piece for some small project and I may clean out some of my other hoops to add to the Good Will bag.

Here’s the progress on Brick House Sampler.   The chart is printed on three pages so I’m working on the center page.  The flower vine area on the bottom is the width of the page so a bit more flower to finish, the front steps to add and part of the tree on the other side before finishing off the first page.

I am missing one of the green called for colors so I need to look it up to see what it looks like and then find a substitute in my stash before finishing up this page.

In other news the rain has stopped finally after a week or so of it and it’s not quite 11 AM and already 68 degrees – it feels really damp and muggy outside.  I had thought about opening the door to let some fresh air in but no, too damp, but at least it’s not snow.  Although the heat wave will be short-lived and tomorrow it will be back to normal temps but that’s okay.  The grocery order should be delivered any time now,  dishwasher nearly done with its cycle, so time to refill the coffee cup and do some tidying up.