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.

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.