Hello!  Finally I  have some stitching to show.  My "Full Moon" witch has a face and the glowy orange in the picture were added over Labor Day weekend.  The orange is truly not as neon as it appears in the picture.  It is a very nice Halloween orange in Flair.  I also worked a bit on the vest so I could get rid of some spaghetti strings that were hanging around. 

The reason I got some stitching done was that we had a four day weekend for Labor Day and I had Stanley Steamer come in and clean.  I sat on the front balcony and stitched while they cleaned.  They are huge on up selling but I am so pleased with what they did.  Now some pieces really cannot be saved like some of the furniture that needs to be recovered and the carpet is going to be replaced but even if they are kind of trashed, they are clean. The most impressive thing they did was deep clean the hardwood floors.  I was going to have them stripped and redone when I replace the bedroom carpet but this deep cleaning made them look like new.  They shine!  They had 10 years of soap buildup that I did not realize was there.  We did have a big party on Saturday but things stayed relatively clean.  Fortunately, the kids were happy with Apple products, XBox and the park.

I leave tomorrow for EGA National Seminar in Naples.  I have been packed since Wednesday.  The condo is open and the car services are arranged.  I cannot wait for the fun to begin.  I hope to learn a lot, stitch often, shop, and relax.  I will try to remember to take pictures and I will post if I can.  I am not sure if there is a laptop or if I can post from the IPad. 

Have a nice weekend. 

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.