Some finishing work...........$$ saved!

Well I hope all of you are doing something fun and relaxing on this Memorial Day and taking a moment to remember all those who have served our country and the thousands who have lost their lives doing so.

Hard to believe it is almost June already! It's been a busy weekend for us getting together with friends etc....and DH and I are taking a trip back to the midwest in a few days to visit various relatives on both sides of our family. I'm hoping the recent heat wave there is over by the time we get there....I'm not good at handling humidity anymore! It's hot here in the southwest but very dry this time of year so as long as you are in some shade, the heat really isn't that bad.

Lately I've been pretty annoyed at the high cost of framing. I have 2 things still at my LNS I've been waiting for since early March, and another piece at a local framing shop near my home. I had gotten a coupon in the mail from the framing shop as I've had other things done there, so I figured I would take advantage of it. How do the rest of you feel about these coupons? I'm beginning to believe it's a huge scam - I think the craft stores as well as the framing stores (who have to compete with the craft stores) have all raised their prices in order to offer you "coupon savings". I took my "Peppermint Twist" to the framing store, and with mounting, the frame, 2 mats, museum glass, "labor", and taxes, the 50% off price was $215!!! Is this crazy or what? Now I admit I am picky about my framing.....and that comes from years of learning what I like, bearing the cost of redoing things I wasn't happy with, not liking the work certain stores did, etc. So for "special" pieces I am willing to pay to have it exactly like I want it, but I am outraged just the same!

With all this in mind, I recently went through my box of finished pieces waiting to be framed and reassessed the projects. I was able to pull out 5 things that really don't need to be framed - either they are things I can finish into something else, or I can use small ready-made frames and do the mounting myself. Some of them have been sitting rolled up in tissue paper for many years and it's crazy that I haven't finished them up by now.

Here's what I got done last week. This Thanksgiving banner I did not stitch myself - it was a from an exchange I did 3 or 4 years ago and was finished into a banner....I had been wanting to get it framed but instead I did a flat ornament-style finish that fits better where I want to hang it for November. It's about 6" wide and 11" long - I'm really happy with how it came out, I used some autumn-themed fabric on the back.

I made the flatfold below out of snowman I stitched many, many years ago. It was from a book by Alma Lynne. I always intended to stitch the companion snowman and frame the both of them ........I have abandoned that crazy thought LOL. I love how it came out....I even added some glittery snowflakes I found in my craft supplies. The good thing about being a stitcher as well as a quilter is that I usually never have to buy any fabric to finish things - the total cost of these projects came to about $2.00.... I had to buy some extra DMC in the same color to make the cording. (so take THAT, you framing stores!)

I'll see you all when I get back from vacation. I'm making progress on Plymouth Sampler and back to finally working on Quakers & Quilts and hopefully I'll have some good progress to share by then. Keep on stitching!