My Spring Stitching Slump is about Over

Hello and thanks for coming back!  I have been in my yearly spring stitching slump.  Every spring, the weather turns nice and I get more in a reading mood rather than a stitching mood.  This year even reading took a back seat to life.  Well, I did not abandon stitching entirely during this time, I just slowed down and did not feel I had anything to show my stitching friends.  You really do not want to hear about the amount of time I spend on the terrace or in my stitching chair playing on the IPad or watching bad reality TV. 

Let me start out with my stitching.  Last time I wrote about two months ago, I was working on the background of Santa and the Pea by Princess and Me.  I was hoping to finish this last night but I got too tired.  All that is left is the little bit at the bottom of the ornament and a few more beads/snowflakes. 

I piloted a two day class with Diane Herrmann that will be taught in Santa Fe, this fall.  It is call Color Theory with a Twist.  This is a fun class for anyone interested in color theory and you can complete the project or use this as a notebook class.  I am working on the project because it is a pilot.  The project is not that difficult so it is a good project to work on when you just don't have it in you to do something difficult.   While the class is just three leaves, most people that took the class are going to buy the supplies for the entire Mobius Band.  I did not take a picture but I have a lot of the stump work lady bug done. 

Another class I am taking started on June 1st.  It is a cyberclass taught by Janet Perry on how to create your own stitch guide.  We have only had one lesson so far but the discussion board is going to be very interesting.  I am looking forward to this class. 

As I mentioned earlier, I have been spending way to much time on my IPad.  This has lead me to spend way too much time on EBay.  I have three new canvases.  Two are Princess and Me Ornaments which I like to have on hand for travel projects and I finally have a Edie and Ginger Frog.  The frog I bought is a stitched model in Needlepoint in Paradise and I have admired him for years.  Now I just need to get busy planning my stitch guide and sitting down to stitch. 

I have been doing a little traveling for work.  I have been to a meeting in Denver in April and training last week in Dallas.  I decided not to go to Bead and Button on Friday because that would just lead to another project.  Instead, I am going out shopping and lunch with a friend I have not seen in a while.  Saturday is my Guild meeting and the H2O bath product warehouse sale which happens to be across the street from my house.  This sale is fun because they give you a cardboard box with a rope to drag around and put your bath products in until you pay for them.  Saturday night is the going away party for  a friend moving to Charlotte.

Speaking of Charlotte, my husband has been living there for over two months.  He comes home every weekend and the being away from home is getting a little old for him.  While the first two months were a little hard, I am getting the hang of having the house to myself.  I am not thrilled with feeding myself, but I am eating the way I like to eat which is more veggies and less meat.  I am going out with my friends more and I figured out the cat and cat box are a complete pain in the butt.  He is old, so he is forgiven. 

Over Memorial Day we were able to get the outdoor plants done.  I think they turned out nice and I think they will grow up to be very pretty.  I was down state last weekend and was told about Supertunia's and I want to still buy a planter of those because they look like fun.  The first picture is the front balcony and this is the perfect environment for Inpatients.    The second picture is from the south facing terrace with full sunshine.  There are three planters on the terrace and two on the balcony. 

I think you have hand enough babbling from me.  I hope all is going well for my blogging friends.  I hope to get back into the swing of this and catch up on all the things going on in your worlds.  Have a great week. 

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!

New Stash

I am finally posting pictures of what I bought at the Guild Retreat. This first pattern scares me but I thought it was so pretty. It is a whitework sampler. What scares me is I don't pull tight enough on pulled work and I have done very little cut work or Hardanger. Oh well, someday I may get brave and I will be ready!!

I have a soft spot in my heart for notions and I was having a run on magnets. The long purple bar is a magnet made especially for the Lowery stand. It will hold scissors or laying tools. It is supposed to be a strong magnet on both ends. The yellow bee hive magnet went so well with my Teresa Layman project, I had to buy that one. The dragon fly and the travel scissors were bought so I could be well accessorized when I travel. Not that I have a trip planned. I usually travel bi-monthly and I have not been anywhere since Christmas. I am thinking about going to Florida next month. Hopefully, I can meet up with Deb this time for some shopping.

This is my final project from the weekend. I saw this on Tracy from Ink Circles blog and thought it was beautiful. I shamelessly copied from one of her customers. I think I went soft in the head when I purchased 25ct black fabric to stitch over one. I swore off black fabric 20 some years ago. At this age, I will need my 2.5 magnifiers and an up light to see this.

My final pictures are from Easter. Sorry the picture is small. I was tagged on FB and if I enlarge this picture it gets all out of focus. I am on the left, the 4 year old that was at Easter, The EB, and my husband. The final picture is the Challah bread DH made for Easter dinner. I must be honest, I did not eat any but it is really pretty. Everyone said it was delicious.

Happy Stitching. Kelly