Lock-In!

Greetings, all! Today was Lock-In day at In Stitches, and roughly 30 stitchers (counting the staff) gathered on this chilly, sunny Sunday to eat, share, stitch, buy, chat and stitch some more. Here's a photo taken just minutes before the hubbub.

New charts on the spinners.

Door prizes ready.

Shop Ladies ready. (From the left, Elizabeth, Candie, Ellen, and with her back to the camera, Patricia).

Delicious food ready.  A particular thanks to Patricia's son's girlfriend's mother for making those flawless, gorgeous and delicious cookies and the tiered tray.  I should have snatched a pocket full of them! 

Fun Lunch.

A door prize winner.

Another door prize winner.

We got to see what everyone is working on. Here, Elizabeth is working on "Spring by the Sea" by Jeannette Douglas Designs. Part two (summer) is shipping this week.

Jan is working on a mystery sampler that starts at the bottom. Jan, I can't remember which designer did this. Would you leave a note in the comments?

There was plenty of shopping too. Here I am, trying to decide between a sparkly 32 count white opalescent and a 40 count Attic Lace for a new chart: Cuore e Batticuore's "Shabby Summer Calendar." It's light and bright and fun and works equally well framed or as separate ornaments. The motifs are very cute.

It was wonderful to get together with old friends and new.

Here's Sherri's beautifully stitched and framed fairy. It's a capiz shell frame, which this photo doesn't show well enough.

A close-up of all the beautiful beading.  The fabric is Picture This Plus in Mesa.

The Nora Corbett fairy is in the April issue of "Just Cross Stitch."  Yes, we have some left.

A very wise thought.

Thanks, everybody who came! And thanks to the busy and talented shop ladies, and particularly to Ellen, who pampered us all. We had a blast.

To order or for questions, please call 703-360-4600. We are located at 8800 F Pear Tree Village, Alexandria, VA. Our hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and the first Sunday of the month, from 12:30-4:30. Stitch Nights are the first and third Wednesday evenings of the month from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Please join us!

Happy stitching!

Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! We have tons of bright and cheerful blooming flowers in the shop, both of the needlepoint variety and the counted cross stitch variety.


(Note:  blog header is "Bird in Hand" by Blackbird Designs.



This sweet pin pillow is by With Thy Needle and Thread.

"Elizabeth Bordman" is loaded with gorgeous flowers, by Victorian Rose Needlearts.

Lindsay Lane Designs' "Lilac Festival."

Not forgetting the candy. A new shop model, "Chocolate Love" by Kit and Bixby.

By Jardin Prive, "Patchwork Aux Chiens."  So happy for the dog lover.

And for the cat lover, Val's "Blooming Kitty."

Another beautiful garden sampler and new shop model by Rosewood Manor, "Willowbrook Pathways."

We have received two glorious new reproduction samplers from Hands Across the Sea Samplers: Miss Mary Ann Bournes 1791; and

"Susanna Milne 1843."

Two of my recent acquisitions! By Pippin Design Studio, one of her fabulous tiny needlepoint fish with sparkly fibers. There are about a dozen different fish.  I'd love to stitch them up, have them finished and then string them on a silky cord and hang them up.

and "Beach Blessing" by Erica Michaels. I took a lot of photos of beach and mermaid and beach cottage charts when I was at the shop. Next time we'll have a beach roundup.

Two "Block Party" designs by Hands On Design: "Buzz" and

"Wool."

Two mom's day enhancers in needlepoint:

To call us to order or for questions, 703-360-4600. We are located at 8800 F Pear Tree Village Court, Alexandria, VA.

Our hours are Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the first Sunday of each month from 12:30-4:30. Stitch Nights are 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. Please join us!


Happy stitching!