A Few Last Things to Tempt You

Greetings, all, on this last Sunday before Christmas. We have a few last-minute purchase ideas for you--whether for yourself or for a friend:

By Blue Ribbon Designs, "Woodland Tree Farm."

Blackberry Lane Designs "Up On a Rooftop." Psst--probably shouldn't plan to finish this by Christmas this year.

Two lovely Shepherd's Bush models stitched by a customer, Carol M. "Snowflakes are Falling" and "Tis the Season." They're new in the shop, and Carol commented that each could be finished quickly.

Also new by Shepherd's Bush, "I Saw Three Ships."

We have these ornament charts in stock. By Little House Needleworks.

"Vivement Noel" by Jardin Prive.

"Wreath" by Alessandra Adelaide.

By Scarlett House: "Sleigh Rides and Snowflakes."

By Rosewood Designs, some Christmas Tree thread savers.

The next five designs were also stitched by Carol. We don't carry them in the shop, but we wanted to give you a little eye candy to enjoy...

We are located at 8800 F Pear Tree Court in Alexandria, VA. To order or for questions, please call us at 703-360-4600. Special Hours:

The shop is open on the 23rd from 10-5 and closed the 24th-26th. Come join the fun on the 27th when we open at 8am. Come in your pjs between 8 and 10am for a special bonus. We will close at 4pm on the 27th and be open 10-5 on the 28th.

Merry Christmas and Happy Stitching!

Rejoice With Needle in Thy Hand

Greetings, everyone! Tonight I'm posting photos of Ellen's annual Christmas party for the In Stitches staff. It's always a blast, and how many parties do you attend where the hostess encourages you to bring your stitching (and everyone does)?

It's always beautifully decorated--I'm not sure how she gets it all done. Love the idea of stitching these ornaments and hanging them from garland.

I always wander around shooting the wonderful projects that Ellen displays in her home. Fair warning: you're going to want to acquire some of these, but many are out of print. It's fun to try to guess who the designers are (in preparation for a search on ebay).

This is such a clever way to display a sampler: under the glass of a little table.

One of my favorites: Sarah Salter. I have it in my stash. All I need to do is stitch it!

Here are some pictures of the staff of In Stitches, along with some of their specialties:


Rosalie, knitting a baby blanket for a charity, I believe. Unbelievably talented needlepointer.

Also sporter of nifty Holiday pins:

Ellen and Patricia, who together could run Microsoft, or launch a rocketship to the moon.

Mary, knitting:

Deborah, knitting a sock:

Lois, knitting a shop model scarf from bulky yarn.

Candie, knitting a scarf.

Gina, stitching a Long Dog sampler:

Radonda, needlepointing:

Radonda brought along this Heaven and Earth Designs Santa project she's working on as well:

Sherry, knitting and rocking a holiday sweater:

Wanda, knitting an afghan:

Karen and Diane, opening gifts during the exchange:

Note the action behind Karen and Diane:

All of the gifts were wonderful and much-stolen (a dirty santa exchange). I won this originally. It was stolen three times:

Three more needlepoint projects:

There were many more gifts. We also ate, but I didn't get photos of the food (busy filling my plate):
There were special guests:

Ellen's son with Buddy, the dog (awwwwww):

I'll leave you with a last photo, on which the title of this post is based:

We are located at 8800F Pear Tree Court, Alexandria, VA. Please call us at 703-360-4600 with questions or to order (no, you can't order Buddy). Our hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 12:30 to 4:30 on the first Sunday of the month. Stitch Nights are 6 to 9 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of the month.

Happy Holidays and very happy stitching!

Counting Down: New in the Shop

Sunday Greetings! We hope you have had a chance to stitch away during the bad weather that much of the country seems to be experiencing. We threw a chunk of meat in the crock pot, hunkered down with our needle, a couple of stitching projects and a couple of cats and only got up to fetch a diet coke or a hot chocolate.

There are a number of new items in the shop this week: Lizzie Kate's "A Little Snow." Appropos!

"Jingle Bells" by With Thy Needle and Thread. So adorable.

"How Can I Keep from Singing" from Heartstring Samplery.

A design to affix to Foxwood Crossing's ornament (we carry the sled and a variety of these clever ornaments).

"Raccoon Cottage" from Country Cottage Needleworks--this is the first in a series of 9 designs that can be stitched together on one piece of fabric, or separately. I purchased this and am working it up into an ornament for my tree (yes--last-minute Christmas stitching for myself or for a gift, but it is a truly petite design, charted for DMC. We carry the gray fabric.)

As always, The Drawn Thread has released a couple of charming Christmas designs. Here, "Christmas Jumble."

And "Christmas Thoughts Sampler."

A beautiful traditional sampler, "Harriette Elizabeth Coe 1844" by With thy Needle and Thread.

By Shakespeare's Peddler, another traditional sampler, "Mary Bate."

A gorgeous reproduction that I raved about on my own blog: Queenstown Sampler Design's "Mary Johnson 1806." I have seen a finish of this and it's far more vivid than the chart cover shows. Here is the floss toss on some 40 count Lakeside Pecan Butter. This will be my Christmas Day start.

Another lovely sampler by With Thy Needle and Thread: "Needleworker's Sampler."

And some bling for the dark days of winter: clever, shiny needle minders. A perfect stocking stuffer for a friend--or yourself.

We are located at 8800 F Pear Tree Court, Alexandria, VA. Call us at 703-360-4600 with questions or to order. Our hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday and 12:30-4 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month. Stitch Nights are the first and third Wednesdays of the month.

Happy Stitching!