¿Oh where can my needles be? I'm totally frustrated abut them. I knew on Monday (5/3) that I would be going to Mexico on Wednesday (5/5). I had just gathered all my needles into a baggie with some fabric to make a needlecase and thought I'd throw the baggie into my tote bag and take with me. When I arrived in Mexico, I had no baggie, no needles other than the one on the cross stitch in progress. Now, back at home, I still can't find them. When I say my needles, I mean all my hand needles, every single last one of them (with the one exception). This means all my sewing needles of various sizes, all my quilting needles, all my embroidery needles and all my miscellaneous, craft, upholstery and needles and three crochet hooks!!

I was going to practice some of the stitches Sharon has showed us over on Pin Tangle. I have a project that requires beads and sequins to finally finish. While my fairy quilt is still in the machine state, it will require some hand embroidery. To say I'm frustrated is really an understatement. GAH!!!

Okay, I was getting frustrated just writing about it, so I went in search of some graphics to use on this blog. That took maybe 1.5- 2 hours. Then I made omelet burritos for dinner for the three of us (Kiddo is in Portland). After that I went and looked in my sewing area again. Nada. I looked around the kitchen (where I was packing my tote bag). Nada. HoneyBear gave me some cookies and I decided to come back in here (the Red Den) and finish this. This room is a disaster and, unfortunately, has been for some time. I was looking around trying to decide where to start cleaning it up when I noticed something under the pillow on the recliner. Beats me how it possibly got there since I haven't sat there since at least a week before I left, but there were my needles! Woohoo!!! TBTG! I am relieved, to say the least.

I managed to get a little work done on that cross stitch piece I had, though not as much as I would have liked. The danged ¼ stitches are a pain to stitch and my pattern shows them in a different color from the x stitches, so I often 'finish' a section having missed all the ¼ stitches and I had to go back and do them separately.

We saw a lot of lovely things there. I ended up getting a simple dress that is embroidered. It doesn't look that good on me since it's totally shapeless, but it's too pretty to be simply a nightgown (which is what it reminds me of). I think I will cut off the bottom part and turn the top into a shirt. I haven't decided what to do with the bottom, yet. Maybe make another shirt.

Here are some views of the embroidery: