A New Vignette. A Framed Favorite. My Stitching Tool Box.

I have finally gotten around to unpacking my smalls, and I have made a new vignette for my display by the front door! I had purchased a large pedestal stand for my Advent candles this year. (I never found a wreath I liked, so I just got this pedestal stand and put big pillar candles on it with some greenery around. It worked out pretty well! I like it! And being a pedestal, it raises it up off the table, so it’s not in the way of the serving dishes, bonus!) I hadn’t found a good place to store it until next Advent, and then I realized it would be perfect to use for year-round display of smalls! Next to that is my long faux dough bowl filled with seasonal pillows. Of course, I can’t fit all of them so some are in front on the table. I am very happy to see my stitching again!

For our anniversary last summer, my husband told me to get one of my stitched pieces framed. I have wanted to have Rosewood Manor’s Autumn Quakers framed for a long time. When I went to get a frame for it, the one I picked was really prohibitively expensive so I never got it framed. So that one was on the top of my list. I took it to Sandy at The Attic and look at the beautiful job she did. It’s hung now in our entryway and I really love it! By the way, The Attic’s framing is very reasonable compared to some of the framing centers I have priced at…just a little shameless promotion! 🙂

What with the chaos of our flood last November, I never had a chance to show you the stitching toolbox that I made. I had to hustle to make it because I wanted one for the retreat I was attending. I guess I didn’t tell you about that either, so I will have to save the story for another post! Anyway, the box took many hours of thinking over several months before I bit the bullet and just did it, and in the end it only took a few hours to make up. I bought this jewelry box at Target. I took out the insides like many stitchers have done with similar jewelry boxes. I decided to use the pieces of my Stacy Nash project that I felt I did not want for the inside of the “Birds of A Feather” needle book. And I also used some coordinating Moda quilting fabric from my stash. For the pincushion, I cut a chunk off of one of those wool balls that people (including me) put in their dryers to increase efficiency and decrease drying time. It was the perfect thing to make a really firm pincushion.

Here is the inside when you open it up and see all the pretty things. The needlebook is Stacy Nash, as is the velvet strawberry. The parts taken out were the ring holder, a compartment divided into 4 smaller spaces, and I think an earring board? I don’t remember. Basically I gutted it.

Here you can see the custom interior emptied out. I used a bit of stitching (the fruit basket) to line one comparment. I plan to use the other part of that orphan stitching to make a cute topper for the lid but haven’t had the gumption yet. I want to stitch a panel that says “Mary’s Stitching Tools.” My tools include 2 of my “fancy but not too fancy to use” scissors, needleminders, counting pins, strawberry emery and then in front of the box from left to right…a glasses cloth, the needlebook, a mother of pearl thread keep, tape measure, tin for tiny bits, corner gauge from Sassy Jack’s (a freebie you get with your order sometimes!) a new needle, and lens wipe, leather adhesive finger pads which I like for a thimble sometimes, a poker tool, my star de-tailor (one of my absolute favorite tools for tucking loose ends and threads) a snag nab it, also good for pulling in a loose stitch or fuzz, a, I think it’s a disposable mascara wand that it used to pick up fuzzies of thread after you have frogged and there’s thread bits stuck in your linen, and finally 2 needle threaders. My favorite is the heart one from Clover. It is a brilliant invention. Do I use all this stuff? Hmm. Yes, but most of these I count as “nice to have’s” and not totally essential. Sometimes I’m just really glad to have the threader, de-tailor, and tape measure. This box sits at my sewing spot at home, but when I’m on the go, I’m good with a pair of scissors, my glasses, and a needle.

For a long time I’ve wanted to make a post about my stitching tools, so this was a good opportunity. It’s not too detailed so ask me if you want to know most about anything and if I’m missing out on a tool I should have be sure to let me know!