Bellpullooza

Barnabee's Quest Pullware

Do you remember my Barnabee’s Quest? I stitched him as a SAL with some other lovely stitchers, and although I was one of the founding members of the SAL, I was the last to finish. I finished him July of 2008. And there he waited, hanging in my closet. It seemed such a shame to let this piece languish, so I sent him off to Deb to be finished. I cannot tell you how utterly gorgeous Barnabee has become under Deb’s amazing finishing skills. I am so glad that I purchased the pullware for this piece. Look how beautifully it goes with the stitching. Notice the triple cording that Deb added.

Barnabee's Quest

I am thrilled with how the piece turned out. Deb is a marvel!

Barnabee's Quest Tassle

I stitched this piece long after it was first introduced, so finding the pullware for it was a lucky break. I was not able to locate the accompanying beeskep tassel. But, look at the wondrous tassel that Deb created for me. I love that it has not only the colors of the cording, but it also incorporates the purples in the piece and in the pullware. Lovely! I cannot imagine trying to attempt this finishing myself. So thank goodness, I have Deb!

Primitive Tree

But, that’s not all. You may remember that I finished this piece myself a while back. Well, although I tried to artfully photograph the piece in order to camouflage the problems with it…I was so unhappy with my finishing. The main problem with the piece was that the stitching needed to be blocked. The border lines were wavy and crooked, just due to not having been blocked. Try building a fabric border around wavy lines. Well, after pulling the piece apart twice and attempting to correct it, I finally gave up and sent it to Deb. She managed to block the piece and also straighten everything else up. You’d think I’d been sewing drunk. Thanks to Deb, I can now look at this piece without cringing. I am so pleased with it. And what I thought was a simple bit of finishing, frustrated me to no end.

Primitive Tree Wall-hanging

All better! Who knows what Deb thought of me when I emailed her asking if she performed rescue operations. And guess what…she does! Thank you, Deb for your beautiful artistry!!

So, you can see what a happy mail day I had last week, when these arrived carefully wrapped up.

I also did a little bit of stitching over my four-day weekend, although a lot more than you see here. First, let me say that this piece is impossible to photograph. The best photos I’ve gotten of it are with no flash, but those are also blurry…so this is the best I can do. Please ignore a) cat hair b) thread behind piece c) inaccurate color representation…as the colors are not nearly this “neon”. Anyway, I did stitch a lot more than it looks like. I just stitched the same thing three times. I filled in Adam’s face, then proceeded to outline his torso. Then, my lines didn’t match up. I ripped it out and tried it again…still not matching up, but the problem was in a different place. Ripped it out and restitched a third time. Worked. Then I started filling in his torso, and got tired of stitching on it after giving him a cummerbund. I had hoped to see way more progress on him this weekend. Of course, we were catching up on episodes of 24, and so possibly trying to watch the last four hours may have contributed to my inability to count.

Adam & Eve 052409

So, after throwing in the towel on Adam…I decided to pick up something new that I already had in my stash (fabric, thread, chart – how often does that happen?). This is Earth Sampler by Primitive Needle. I love this chart. And I think this may be my first time to stitch on 40ct. I love it. It is not nearly as hard as I was thinking it would be. And I am feeling good about the coverage of one thread over two. I love love love this fabric too…it is Picture This Plus Ale, which is the recommended fabric. It is gorgeous! I wish my threads were showing up a bit better against the fabric color, but perhaps it will look better as I move along. The greens are just a bit light. And, with Eric and I having finished up 24, we moved on to watching more episodes of Season 1 of Earth: Final Conflict, which I am really enjoying.

Earth Sampler 052509

Anyway, I hope to have some more done on Earth Sampler in the next few nights. Thanks for all of your congratulations on my Access test. I hope to have another unit test under my belt early next week. After Access, I’ll be starting on my Project Management classes. Here’s hoping those go quickly! Hope you all had a great weekend and enjoyed your stitching!

I am grateful for time with Eric.

60 thoughts on “Bellpullooza”

  1. Oh Michelle – Barnabee’s Quest turned out stunning. You were so right to purchase the hardware for this one. And the finishing – wonderful. Deb did an amazing job and she rescued your other piece too. WOW!!!
    Love the new stitch.

  2. Oh Michelle – Barnabee’s Quest turned out stunning. You were so right to purchase the hardware for this one. And the finishing – wonderful. Deb did an amazing job and she rescued your other piece too. WOW!!!
    Love the new stitch.

  3. Both projects are beautifully done, Deb sure is a marvel!
    Your WIPS are just spectacular too 😉
    Have a great week!

  4. Both projects are beautifully done, Deb sure is a marvel!
    Your WIPS are just spectacular too 😉
    Have a great week!

  5. Wow! Barnabee’s Quest is just amazing! And so is the other piece. Deb is well worth sending to! gorgeous! I’d never seen the hardware for Barnabee before. It’s wonderful! Love your A&E too. 😀

  6. Wow! Barnabee’s Quest is just amazing! And so is the other piece. Deb is well worth sending to! gorgeous! I’d never seen the hardware for Barnabee before. It’s wonderful! Love your A&E too. 😀

  7. wow, Deb did an awesome finishing job for you. Love the cording and tassel. Both pieces came out great. Good progress on A&E and Earth Sampler! Glad you had a nice weekend!

  8. wow, Deb did an awesome finishing job for you. Love the cording and tassel. Both pieces came out great. Good progress on A&E and Earth Sampler! Glad you had a nice weekend!

  9. Such gorgeous finished pieces! Wow, what amazing finishing, and I love the bell pull hardware. Your stitching is lovely!

    Looking forward to seeing more of your Earth Sampler.

  10. Such gorgeous finished pieces! Wow, what amazing finishing, and I love the bell pull hardware. Your stitching is lovely!

    Looking forward to seeing more of your Earth Sampler.

  11. Michelle, all your pieces are just great! The beautiful finishing accents your great stitching perfectly and Adam is coming along nicely!

  12. Michelle, all your pieces are just great! The beautiful finishing accents your great stitching perfectly and Adam is coming along nicely!

  13. Deb did a fantastic finishing job on your two stitched pieces! Barnabee in particular looks fantastic and the hardware just sets it off perfectly.

    Nice start on Earth Sampler, I really enjoyed stitching this one 🙂

  14. Deb did a fantastic finishing job on your two stitched pieces! Barnabee in particular looks fantastic and the hardware just sets it off perfectly.

    Nice start on Earth Sampler, I really enjoyed stitching this one 🙂

  15. Wow,your Barnabee’s Quest and the EEF finish are just gorgeous!
    What would we do without Deb?!
    I actually had to send her some stuff to “rescue” one time, that I’d paid someone else to finish (before I’d found Deb, obviously), she fixed it so well that I decided right then and there to N.E.V.E.R. use anyone else to finish my things!
    Your WIPS are looking good!
    xoxo

  16. Wow,your Barnabee’s Quest and the EEF finish are just gorgeous!
    What would we do without Deb?!
    I actually had to send her some stuff to “rescue” one time, that I’d paid someone else to finish (before I’d found Deb, obviously), she fixed it so well that I decided right then and there to N.E.V.E.R. use anyone else to finish my things!
    Your WIPS are looking good!
    xoxo

  17. mainely stitching

    Oh my gosh, everything looks so utterly fabulous. Deb’s obviously a gifted genius! And I have to laugh at your ‘ignore …’ warning with your picture, as I was tempted to say the same sort of thing with a closeup picture I posted. LOL!

  18. mainely stitching

    Oh my gosh, everything looks so utterly fabulous. Deb’s obviously a gifted genius! And I have to laugh at your ‘ignore …’ warning with your picture, as I was tempted to say the same sort of thing with a closeup picture I posted. LOL!

  19. Barnabee’s Quest is fantastic – both the stitching and the finishing. Deb did a wonderful job for you. And I never saw the other piece before Deb got it, but it’s also great. Good progress on A&E. I am unhappy to report that I still have not taken thread to fabric on that one. Love your new WIP too! The more you stitch on 40ct, the more you get hooked!

  20. Barnabee’s Quest is fantastic – both the stitching and the finishing. Deb did a wonderful job for you. And I never saw the other piece before Deb got it, but it’s also great. Good progress on A&E. I am unhappy to report that I still have not taken thread to fabric on that one. Love your new WIP too! The more you stitch on 40ct, the more you get hooked!

  21. Deb did a great job with the finishing Michelle! I’m sorry Adam was giving you trouble! Your Earth Sampler looks great – I love the fabric!

  22. Deb did a great job with the finishing Michelle! I’m sorry Adam was giving you trouble! Your Earth Sampler looks great – I love the fabric!

  23. The finishing is outstanding. And the stitching isn’t half bad either.;)

    Love that Primitive Needle, it’s so cute.

  24. The finishing is outstanding. And the stitching isn’t half bad either.;)

    Love that Primitive Needle, it’s so cute.

  25. Michelle, you must be so thrilled with both projects! Deb did an amazing job–but she always does. 🙂 Love your progress on Adam, too, and the start on your Primitive Needle design!

  26. Michelle, you must be so thrilled with both projects! Deb did an amazing job–but she always does. 🙂 Love your progress on Adam, too, and the start on your Primitive Needle design!

  27. Terri(TerriBoog)

    Barbabee’s Quest is beautiful, Michelle as is your other piece Deb finished for you. I’m really enjoying watching your A&E progress – love it on that black!

  28. Terri(TerriBoog)

    Barbabee’s Quest is beautiful, Michelle as is your other piece Deb finished for you. I’m really enjoying watching your A&E progress – love it on that black!

  29. Love how they turned out! I am with you, Deb’s finishing is amazing.

    Your A&E is really coming along. Isn’t Earth Sampler a fun stitch, I can’t wait to get mine back from Jill Rensel.

  30. Love how they turned out! I am with you, Deb’s finishing is amazing.

    Your A&E is really coming along. Isn’t Earth Sampler a fun stitch, I can’t wait to get mine back from Jill Rensel.

  31. Julie's Keepsakes

    These finishings are lovely. I love the Christmas banner finishing. I’ll have to do something like that for Christmas. Deb did a wonderful job at finishin. And I’m glad you had time to spend with Eric.

  32. Julie's Keepsakes

    These finishings are lovely. I love the Christmas banner finishing. I’ll have to do something like that for Christmas. Deb did a wonderful job at finishin. And I’m glad you had time to spend with Eric.

  33. Deb did a gorgeous job. The finishing of Barnaby’s Quest and the tree piece is just perfect. Thy look wonderful.
    Your WIPs look great!

  34. Deb did a gorgeous job. The finishing of Barnaby’s Quest and the tree piece is just perfect. Thy look wonderful.
    Your WIPs look great!

  35. Wow they both turned out wonderful but I adore Barnabee’s Quest. It is stunning. Deb did a wonderful job.

  36. Wow they both turned out wonderful but I adore Barnabee’s Quest. It is stunning. Deb did a wonderful job.

  37. Deb done a fantastic job on the finishing! Both pieces look just simply amazing! Love the progress and also love the new start! I look forward to watching you stitch it!

  38. Deb done a fantastic job on the finishing! Both pieces look just simply amazing! Love the progress and also love the new start! I look forward to watching you stitch it!

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