Once again Photography issues

I have been working on Mayan Lightning. This picture needs to be rotated and I cannot make it turn even in the edit section. The picture is from my IPhone so I have even less knowledge about what I am doing. The colors in this piece are very pretty in person. I was so hooked on the yellow last night I stayed up to close to midnight working on it. Keep in mind the yellow is rayon and that awful thread can usually run me off to bed.

The reason I don't have more control over the camera is because it is on holiday in Mexico with my husband. His consulting job was up so he decided to go down and scuba dive with some friends. The good news is this means my evenings are free to do what I want. Last night it was blue cheese, crackers and a glass of wine for dinner. OK not the most healthy dinner but the cleanup was easy which left more stitching time. I have done all my household jobs. I just have to maintain a few little things and the rest of my time is fairly free.

This is a short post because not much is going on. Maybe I will have more to show as the week goes on. Happy Stitching!

Not One but Two Finishes this weekend!!

My Teresa Layman French know set is done. I could obviously use an iron and someone else will finish this for me but I will enjoy this set. In case you have not been following me or are not familiar with Teresa's designs, this is a scissor case, a needle book and a scissor fob. Some people find French knot more horrid than going to the dentist but I love these projects. The French knots became so addicting that I bought two more kits. I will take a break for now and work on some of my other projects. One day when I need comfort, I will pull out a Teresa Layman FK project.

My second finish this weekend is my Orna Willis project from seminar. I really cannot see myself wearing this piece but I think it will look cute on my Christmas tree even if the colors are not traditional. Orna gave me a second kit that I might also make into an ornament and give it away at an ornament exchange. With the other one, I may change some of the colors to make them more traditional holiday. Not everyone in our ornament exchange is Christian but some that celebrate Chanukah participate so I don't like to do ornaments that have religious meaning.

It was amazing that I got anything done at all this weekend. We had 15 people over for dinner on Saturday night. This required me to clean which is not my usual gig. After the cleaning I had to buy a few things like 6 more place settings so everyone could eat on a glass plate without making me hand wash my china. Once all the mundane things were done, I was off to a sample sale for a new sweater and the nail salon for a mani/pedi. The party went late but I think everyone had a good time. Yesterday was cleaning-up. Mainly all that was left to do was empty the dishwasher and refill it with glasses that did not fit the night before. I still have to do sheets from friends that spent the night. The cleaning lady can take care of the floors and other hard work when she comes tomorrow.

The upcoming week should be much quieter than last week where I had stuff going on every night. This week I will pick a project to play with and hopefully, I will have some progress to show you later this week.

Happy stitching.

A Small Packing Tragedy Strikes

I am back from Seminar and about recovered. I was one of the younger seminar goers and I found the week to be exhausting. I met one lady who had an ANG number in the 300's, who drove herself from Pennsylvania, had two fingers in a splint, and was well up in her senior years. She was amazing! Me...I have an ANG number in the 40k+, flew, two perfectly working hands, and in my 40's and this week kicked me in the butt. I am still going to bed at 8 pm. To be fair, I think I have a mild cold or allergies and I partied like a biker most of the weekend.

I had a small tragedy. I think my stand went through my canvas. I was packing my stand in the hotel lobby and did not put it on the bottom of my suitcase and I think it went through Santa. Fortunately, I do not have much work done on this canvas and I can buy a new canvas from Janet or try to draw this on a new canvas. I know some of you would repair this because it will be hidden in the finishing. Most likely, not going to happen!!

I wanted to show you a better picture of Frog Stew. Still love this class and Debbie. I found out Debbie Stiehler is my friends NAN sponsor so maybe our paths will cross again. BTW...Her peacock feather piece at ANG Seminar next year is amazing in person.

This is what I accomplished in two days on Funky Rose by Terry Dryden. I really enjoyed painting/coloring the canvas. I am not a huge fan of silk ribbon embroidery yet. This is the reason to take classes so you can learn new techniques. Some people finished the rose in class. I picked most of mine out in class. Maybe if I work on this in my own environment, I will enjoy this process more. I love the piece and I will continue to work on this. The colors are so me!!

On Wednesday afternoon, I had a class with Orna Willis. I heard she was one hot mess in the morning class but she pulled everything together for the afternoon. My kit was short some threads but she gave me a new kit, in a different colorway to make up for it which was very kind of her. I like Orna's designs and I would enjoy another class with her in the future.


I thought I would share some of my stash enhancements. First, Shapes of Needlepoint, by Sandy Author (I apologize, I had the wrong last name yesterday) was "The Hot Book" of the show. It is nice especially if you have a circle, square or rectangular area to fill in. However, more than likely you have all these stitches in one of your other books, just not organized in this way. I bought a Tekobari laying tool. I had heard so much about Tekobari laying tools and how hard they are to get. I mentioned to Janet Perry that it is about like my BLT and she came back with Shay Pendray is a Japanese Needlepoint artist and the BLT is basically a Tekobari. It is OK with me. It fed my obsession with laying tools and my Tekobari is a little smaller than the BLT so it may be a little more comfortable for me. Finally, the white thing on the chair is a mini Ott light that came from Joann's. With the coupon, this cost $10.00. This looks perfect for traveling. I have a couple of trips coming up out of the US so the batteries and the size should work great.

My regular EGA Guild meet on Saturday. Our group has Spooky Surprise in October. It is usually a quick project with a Halloween theme. This year we made the scissor fob. Mine is done!! Mentally, this is about all the stitching I could take this week. I have not done anything since I finished this on Monday night.

After my long post, I thought I would share my progress on my French Knot scissor case. I am so close to done. I have some finishing to pick up next weekend. If I can get this done, maybe I will turn this in for finishing. We are having a big dinner party on Saturday night so I may not have much time this weekend. We have friends in from San Francisco and Brazil.

Finally, I would like to welcome my new followers and say Thanks to my other faithful followers. It is kind of you to read my weekly drivel and comment. I am not the worlds fastest stitcher but I do enjoy my projects. The blog keeps me working on my projects because I want something stitchy related to say. Someday, maybe I will even be able to take a decent picture:) Also, keep updating your blogs. I may not always have time to comment but I am out here lurking and enjoying all your projects.

Happy Stitching!

Half way done

Seminar is a blast!! I have just finished 2.5 days of classes. Two and a half days left. I arrived on Sunday afternoon. I unpacked and hurried up to the book store and the shop. I only picked up a couple of threads at the shop and nothing at the book store. My shopping is being held back because my bag weighted 49 pounds. Never fear... I still have room in my carry on and UPS is available if I need to ship home my dirty clothes. Sunday night was the banquet which was ok. We were served typical, banquet, dried out chicken. They did try to class it up some by adding blue cheese to the salad and feta and olives to the chicken even though those really do not go together. Half the salads at my table were returned because people would not eat blue cheese. The real crime was the chicken but it was what I have come to expect at a big dinner. After dinner, the awards for the judged pieces were awarded. There are many beautiful pieces in the show. I have not spent a lot of time looking at the juried pieces nor next years classes. That is a field trip in a little while.

Monday and Tuesday was Full Moon Frog Stew by Debbie Stiehler. I made some good progress. Debbie is a wonderful teacher. She teaches with so much personality and makes everyone feel good in her class! If you ever have a chance to take one of her classes, run to it. The stitches are not that difficult but she shared some great ideas. Notice the beautiful sky and the grass. When I finish the frogs, they will have their little tongues sticking out. Monday night I meet up with a friend from Chicago and she said there was a bus trip to Dublin, OH. The bus dropped us off at What's the Point. It is the cutest little stone cottage full of needlepoint and they even served dinner and wine to the seminar ladies. They do offer a 10% discount to ANG members so good for mail order too. Tuesday night was the auction. There are many talented ladies in this organization. I did not buy anything but I do have some regret that I did not bid up a monkey. Many of the pieces were selling for $200-$300 dollars and many of the pieces had that much or more in supplies and finishing. (Sorry for the crap pictures. My first pictures with my i Phone.)

Today was Santacicle's by Janet Zigler Casey. It was a fun class. This one has hope to be finished sooner rather than later. This afternoon I have class with Orna Williams. Tonight is the Teacher's Showcase and tomorrow is Expo Night so this is where my bags could become full.

Between all of this, I have been working 4 or 5 hours a day for my real job. I want to keep the job so I can go to seminar next year. It is an exhausting week but so much fun!! If you have never been to a seminar, save your pennies and go.

Off to shop and my duties as a Class Angel this afternoon. I miss keeping up on all the blogs but not enough hours in the day to do everything. More posts and better pictures soon!! Happy stitching.

ANG Seminar, here I come

Seminar is just about here!! I cannot wait. I am slowly collecting my things in the second bedroom and tomorrow I will get everything into the suitcase. Hopefully, I will be able to manage with one suitcase and a good size carry on. I am going to have to do some work while at seminar so I will have to bring my laptop. The good news is that I will be able to blog and show my progress while I am gone. I will be taking pictures with my IPhone which could be interesting since I have never done this.

I have had a really busy week between work and my personal life so no stitching has been accomplished since last weekend. Above is what I got done on my Bee Scissor Case. I finished the blue area at the top, the ivory background in the main area, some of the boarder and a little bit in the bottom section. I had high hopes for a finish but that is not going to happen.

Last night we went to see Billy Elliott. I knew nothing about the musical or the fact that it is a movie. I really enjoyed the musical. We were third row center so the tickets could not have been better. It was hysterical watching all these gay men trying to be burly and blue collar while they are singing and dancing in a musical. Everyone was much more comfortable when they all put on their tutu's at the end.

Hopefully, I will be able to share some fun posts next week. Until then, happy stitching.