Here in the studio, we’ve been stitching up sample after sample on a project collection that I’ve had on The List for about five years now. We never seemed to find the chunk of time needed to tackle the idea.

Suddenly, this past August, we decided we’d just leap in and do it this year, no matter what.

We started finalizing our doodled designs, turning them into useable vector drawings, then we gathered threads and fabric, and then…

…and then we got interrupted by a gazillion other fires that needed squelching.

Here we are, mid-October, weighing whether or not we can meet an end-of-October deadline for the stitched samples. Can we do it? I think we can! You know why?

Because truly, there’s nothing better than having a Good Excuse just to stitch all day, playing with threads and stitches and fabrics and … BEADS!

Yes. Beads!

For me, beads are the highlight of embroidering small holiday projects.

Lately, I find that beads propel me out of bed in the morning. They drive me to work at unreasonably early hours. Beads occupy my waking moments at night. They insinuate themselves into my dreams. Beads rise up out of the haze of doing laundry and cleaning house. And they leap into my imagination when I’m supposed to be concentrating on other tasks … oh. Look! There they are, floating in front me as we speak…