{Thrift Shop Temptations} Is she Cinderella?

I'm not a fan of needlepoint framed behind glass. The glare on this piece was so bad that I thought it was a flat reproduction of a needlepoint piece until I took a much closer look. 

The flamenco dancer was huge, and this piece was even bigger. Apologies for the bad picture, but glass outside on a bright summer day is probably the worst circumstances for trying to photograph needlework....

He was sixty-five dollars. After seeing that, I didn't even look for the price on the dancer. I'm not in the market for vintage needlepoint....

Then I saw this one. She's under glass, but it seems to be the anti-glare kind. And she was eight dollars.

I managed to resist until I stepped inside the store and saw that all wall art was fifty percent off. Four dollars for a gorgeous piece of vintage needlepoint? If I'd left her behind she would've haunted me for years.

I thought the colors were too bright, but now that she's inside the piece is steadily growing on me. I love the fireplace, and her shoes, and the hatchet. (Please tell me that she isn't planning on cooking any of  those birds for dinner!) 

This post is linked to Share Your Cup. 

Visit the Scenic Overlook Hotel

This was such a quick and fun little project -- I can't believe how close I came to getting rid of the kit!

I haven't decided how I'm going to display this one yet, but it's going to be something fun and wild and appropriate for Halloween...and then I'll probably have to fight my oldest son for it.

Under the building, it was supposed to say "Mt Hood." The red letters from the canvas show through just a bit. I've played with the idea of spelling out something over it with embroidery floss...or I could put part of the frame over that part. There are lots of possibilities for making this work.

I don't know how long this little needlepoint kit sat in my stash, mostly because I don't remember buying it in the first place.  If I'd gone through and decluttered with that strict "Are you going to actually use this?" mentality that so many people tell us to use, it would've been among the first things to go.

It only took me a few days to stitch up, but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I have it...and working on it gave me the confidence to tackle a bigger needlepoint project that I've been intimidated by for years.

The Things I Find in My Stash...

I've been up in my sewing room playing "What is this and why do I own it?" Sometimes I find bundles of vintage pillowcases that I've never seen before. Or yarn or fabric. 

This little needlepoint kit has been plaguing me for years. I don't ski. I've never been to Timberline Lodge. So why did I pick this up? (There's a hazy half-memory of a thrift shop in the early days of my cross-stitching passion.) Why have I held on to it for so long? I was never going to stitch it. 

A while back, I saw it again in the bottom of an old sewing basket and told myself that it should really go in the donation box.

 It wasn't until the middle of the night that I made the connection. The Timberline Lodge is the Overlook Hotel. Not my favorite incarnation of the Overlook, but haunted hotel needlepoint can't be a bad thing. I had to wait until morning to go up and make sure it was the right ski lodge.

And now I'm happily stitching away on The Overlook Hotel.