And during the past few days

I have divided my time between stitching and reading. I finished reading Catherine Coulter's new FBI thriller, Knockout ... one of those great summer reads ... just challenging enough to keep the brain functioning in the hot, hazy, hummid summer of a NYC suburb but straightforward enough to put down and pick up at will without losing the thread of the story. And I've nearly finished reading Nora Robert's Black Hills, another interesting but easy and casual read.

I received my most recent order from Farmhouse Fabrics, my favorite source of buttons and trims.

Among the treasures I ordered was this little mother-of-pearl button Flower kit ... a very quick stitch ... and a perfect complement to my Beach Find Pansies piece.

I think I shall use both as embellishments on the crazy quilt handbag that is forming in my head. I'll probably get around to sketching it out shortly ... all the pieces are here. But my current focus is on finishes and will be for a while, probably through August. I just did an actual count: even though I have done the sewing and/or assembly finishes on 17 projects so far this month, I still have 21 finishes left in my to-do pile. I think these things breed like rabbits. I guess I am just going to have work on BAPs requiring framing next year to avoid the same problem in the future.

But before I start showing you my latest finishes, I'll get the WIP report out of the way:
I haven't made enough progress on the back of my Fertile Circles NeedleBook to make taking a photo worthwhile ... but ... Workbasket's Quaker Pig actually is beginning to look like a pig:

And another two hours of stitching on the Beach Find Pansies yields this result: And now for the finishes:

The Workbasket Rabbit Rondel Paisley Scissor Fob ... this one with beaded trim.The Poisson du Avril Scissor FobDragon Dreams Elemental Dragons, finished as a bell pull. Sorry about the picture quality ... not enough light. The close-ups of the individual dragons are better.The Dragons representing Fire and Air The Dragons representing Spirit and Water The Dragon representing Earth
The Stitcherhood's Quaker Flower, finished as a fringed pillow ornament,I am still working on my Rabbit Rondel mattress pincushion finish ... I can only do so when my eyes are really fresh and well rested ... the tiny ladder stitches are a bitch since the equally tiny straight stitches in which they are worked seem to slip beneath the linen warp/woof as soon as I insert a needle in the fabric. The fact that everything [linen and silk floss] is all in tone on tone blues isn't helping matters much. But I am determined to have it finished tonight and thus, it is on my list of sewing finishes.

This finishes up all the small projects, at least for the moment. Once I start stitching more ornaments, that will change. I have two more Christmas ornaments and a patriotic holiday ornament coming up in my stitching rotation. And, of course the JCS Christmas and Halloween ornament issues should arrive shortly. I am hoping to be caught up with all the other finishes by the time that occurs. But, now, I really have to get started on the pillows, totes, pedestal pin cushions and wall hangings I have been avoiding. These more complicated projects will be slower going, but in their own way, even more satisfying. At least, using up all the pillow forms will decrease the bulk of the projects in the to-do basket substantially. There are eight pillows awaiting finishing. That should keep me busy for the remainder of July ... and probably well into August. I think I shall work on the totes, wall hangings and pedestal pin cushions for the remainder of this month and declare August the Month of Pillow Finishes. How's that for justifying my procrastinating? Can you tell I am not really looking forward to starting on the pillows? Once I do, I'll enjoy it but it's the getting started that I find so very hard.