Welcome to the opening day of market! I can hardly stand the excitement!

As promised, for those of you who are still with me, here is my final fall market release:

A Ghoultide Welcome

Stitch Count: 332w x 176h

Linen used: 36 ct. Vintage Sand Dune by Lakeside Linens. A great substitute
would be 36 ct. Lingonier Latte by R&R Reproductions.

Threads used: Needlepoint Inc. silk (with their DMC equivalents in parentheses):

903 (435)
964 (645)
962 (648)
692 (677)
245 (730) (2 skeins suggested)
241 (733)
981 (822) (2 skeins suggested)
954 (611)
694 (833)
767 (975)
316 (830)
976 (3021)
588 (3371) (3-4 skeins suggested)
721 (3830)
124 (3772)

Please note: while each stitcher's floss usage is different, I've included what I think would be best for you to have on hand, in case you run just a little short. If you choose to use a lower-count linen, please know that you may need more floss, just as you may need less if you use a higher count. However, since these are not overdyed threads, you will most likely be safe if you don't have all the skeins you need on hand right away, as dye lots for these silks don't vary as much as an overdyed silk or cotton would. It's possible that you've had a different experience, but mine has been one of color consistency among these particular threads.

The frame for A Ghoultide Welcome is extremely complimentary to the piece, and was chosen by Sherri Berkman of Total Framing in Virginia. I never see my pieces before she sends them to me, as I like to be surprised. I trust Sherri implicitly, and she never disappoints! If you'd like more information on this frame or any others used on my designs, please give her a call at 703-426-0660.

There is a small area of personalization on this chart that will require either a tent stitch (basically a half stitch, or a stitch that hasn't been crossed) or a full over-one-thread stitch, whichever you choose to do. An alphabet chart has been provided for you to graph out your own name, or you can certainly fill the area instead with a motif from elsewhere in the chart.

I hope you've had fun looking at the previews this week! I'm very excited to get back to the drawing board and see what comes out of the mouse. It almost never matches what is in my mind, but that's okay. I'm always up for surprises!

Happy Market to You!

P.S. A patriotic-themed "Welcome" is brewing…

It's almost time for market to open! It's open early tonight for the designers who have Early Bird Specials or Limited Editions they're selling. But I generally don't participate because I'd be dying to get out of my room and into their rooms to see what wonderful creations they've come up with! Isn't that just awful? Every year I say, "Okay, Paulette, you're doing a Limited Edition for Friday night, next year." Then along comes Friday-night-next-year, and all is dark in the Plum Street Suite.

Crickets… crickets…

I can usually be found bouncing from room to room, trying not to look like a regular Peeping Tom if the doors are shut. I just can't help myself. Market is just so exciting!

Instead of a preview of my last release, I've decided to do a sneak peek instead. The reason for this is because some shops have told me that they actually do like a surprise sometimes! So I really hope I'm not frustrating those of you who may have stopped back by to see what the last release is, but I'm sure by this photo, you'll be able to figure it out quite easily…

Hint: It's a companion to a sampler released at last year's St. Charles market.

I will definitely have it posted tomorrow, along with all the information you need if you'd like to stitch it!

In the mean time, I'm going to look forward to pressing my face up against all the suite windows to try to see what goodies await in exchange for what's in my pocketbook. I'll try to take lots of pictures for you, too, so you can experience a little of what it's like as well!

It's almost market day!

By the time you read this, I'll be way up in the sky, happily awaiting my tiny bag of airplane peanuts while I'm making a bee-line to St. Charles for market.

(By the way, I read on www.phrases.org.uk that the phrase make a bee line came from the "waggle dance" that forager bees perform for other bees in order to tell them where a good source of nectar can be found. Apparently, the angle and length of the dance denotes how close and in what direction the bees should fly, and as soon as it's communicated, they "make a bee line" straight to the appropriate flowers. Hopefully I won't break out in one of these waggle dances as soon as I de-plane.)

The next release has nothing to do with bees, believe it or not. But it does have to do with wiener dogs.

First there was Halloweenies, and then there was its companion Winter Wienerland. The next in the accidental series of Doxie-designs is a Thanksgiving-themed one:

Turkey Sausage

Stitch Count: 200w x 60h

Linen used: 36 ct. Vintage Pearled Barley by Lakeside Linens

Threads used: The Gentle Art (with their equivalents in DMC):
Mulberry (300)
Heirloom Gold (610)
Toffee (680)
Endive (830)
Cinnamon (975)
Wood Trail (3021)
Espresso Bean (3371)
Country Redwood (3777)
Terra Cotta (3826)
Old Red Paint (3859)
Weathered Barn (3858)
Oatmeal (Ecru)

Thank you once again to Nicole Neville for stitching the model for me!

I'd like to take a moment to thank all of you who have received this little series so warmly, whether or not you actually own a Dachshound. I've never owned one, but I find them to be the most hilarious of the little dog sort, and the few that I've met have been the gentlest creatures.

Stop by tomorrow for a peek at my final market release, and don't forget to let your shop owner know as soon as possible if you see anything anywhere online that you'd like for her/him to bring back to you! I'm very, very excited to see what is being offered this time around from some of my favorite designers and thread and linen dyers!

I'll see you very soon!

One of my very favorite rooms at market to go into is Lone Elm Lane's, because it feels like I'm walking straight into a Country Living magazine; oh, for the love of stitching, how do they take a simple Dixie cup and sweet tea and turn them into a veritable goblet of country goodness?

Their Shaker boxes are absolutely gorgeous, and if you've ever seen them at your local needlework shop, you know that they're beautiful, high-quality boxes, made in the same traditional way that the Shakers made them.

Please pass the smelling salts.

It's so hard for me to choose one favorite, because really, I see the sampler-potential for every single color! But if I had to choose one or three, I'd say my favorites are the Wooly White, the Shepherd's Bush Plum, and the Robin's Egg Blue.

Which brings me to my next release…

As I said in my blog post yesterday, I absolutely love love love the traditional colors of autumn – the burnt orange, mahogany, chocolate, gold – they're all so cozy! But I also love the unexpected, cooler colors – which can actually mingle quite well with the deeper shades of this glorious season.

This is Autumn Posy, and I've chosen the 6" Robin's Egg Blue box to mount it onto.

Autumn Posy

Stitch Count: 97w x 95h

Linen used: 36 ct. Vintage Pecan Butter by Lakeside Linens

Threads used: Weeks Dye Works (with their DMC equivalents in parentheses):
Mulberry (154)
Kohl (310)
Sea Foam (504)
Whiskey (729)
Sanguine (754)
Havana (830)
Hazelnut (975)
Kudzu (3011)
Bark (3021)
Putty (3046)
Icicle (3756)
Schneckley (3829)
Terra Cotta (3830)

Trim used: Cinnamon Rick-Rack by R&R Reproductions

Thank you so very much to Nicole Neville for her stitching talent! I'm so appreciative of her taking time to stitch this for me, considering she's got a full-time job and a housefull of very active (and handsome) boys!

 By the way, I just have to share with you one of my favorite Bible verses that seems as if it was made specifically for autumn:

Psalm 65:11a – "Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness." (KJV)

How perfectly poetic and true!

(Two more days!)