A Touch of Spring

I got this belt back from the finisher last week and just wanted to share it with you. It really came out great. Looking forward to wearing it this spring and summer.
Most of my Christmas decorations have been packed away. All the decorations are off the tree but we have not taken the tree down yet. Probably tomorrow the tree and mantel will be put away.
I always have to start the New Year off with my house in order. I guess it is my OCD.
Linda

Christmas Gifts

I have always loved Whimsy and Grace's bees. When I saw the bee bag, I just knew I had to have. I then found the belt and had to have that too.
My husband said to order them and it would be part of my Christmas present.
I ordered them from Stitch by Stitch, my local needlepoint store and they arrived within a few days of ordering. I then picked out my threads, Vineyard Silk #C-008 and Kreinik #12 braid 002HL. They also came within a number of days. Now I had a really big problem, since I already knew about the gift do I wait until Christmas or start stitching it. I could not wait so I started stitching.
This is going to take awhile to finish since I have the Christmas Banner and then the Thanksgiving House but I figured that if I stitch for an hour every afternoon during part of Jake's nap I would feel like I was accomplishing something.
I received two absolutely wonderful gifts from my really good friends Karen and Melinda. Karen gave me a snap tray and a frame weight with my name on them and she also had a scissor fob made to match. They are just too die for. The scissor fob is such a perfect match. Karen also gave me a Vera Bradley hanging toiletry organizer for when we take our needlepoint trips. I guess she felt sorry for me since I put all my toiletries in ziplock bags.
My other good friend, Melinda, sent me the wonderful snap tray that says Stitching Stuff, I immediately snapped it together and put my scissors, thread pull, laying tool, etc. into and use it everyday. I just love it. Melinda also gave me cutest magnet, I saw this when I was Amy's and resisted buying it, I am now glad I did because now I will think of Melinda when I look at it. The magnet is a Queen stitching. Melinda also gave me the nicest stitch counters by Zecca.
I am the luckiest person to have such wonderful friends.
Today was Christmas again. My husband was hanging around and saw me looking at Amy's website and asked what I was doing. I told him that Amy was having a sale and I was looking to see if I wanted anything. He said order what you want. Now do you think I need to be told twice? I ordered two canvases with threads and guides. My box should arrive by the end of the week and I will show you what I bought.
Jake had a wonderful Christmas. Santa was very good to him. By the time he came to Nana' house he had the gift opening down to a science.
Jen and I both got him a Leap Frog computer. One is for home and one for
Nana' house.
Hope you had a great Christmas.
Linda

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas!!!
Linda

Anginetti Cookies

I made one cookie last night and today I will make shortbread cookies. I usually bake about 10 different cookies but having Jake all week does not leave me much time to get things done.
I have most of my prep work done for my Christmas dinner and will finish up today.
Very little stitching has been getting done. I am putting in the third step on the background of the Christmas Banner and hope to start the pear this week.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
Hope Santa treats you good.
Linda

What A Difference A Year Makes

Here are two pictures of my Jake. Can you believe the difference? He really has gotten to be such a big boy. When I picked him at nursery school this morning, the teacher was totally amazed that he knew all his letters. Not bad for a 20 month old. Jake not only knows every letter he also knows the sound for each letter. While I am bragging he can also count to eleven,
although he must have something about the number one since he starts with two.
Since this is a needlepoint blog, I felt I should post something needlepoint. This Christmas door is one of my favorite needlepoint pieces. I love it so much that I leave it out all year.
Hope you are having a great day.
Linda

Needlepoint Advent Tree

This is a picture of my Needlepoint Advent Tree. I still have a few ornaments to add to complete the 25 needed. The Nutcracker tree skirt was purchased.
We put up our big tree yesterday and I have to finish decorating it. All the gifts are purchased and wrapped. I just have to make the bows for the gifts. I am waiting for my cards to arrive from Shutterfly. Once the cards are written , I just have to do some baking and then I will be ready for Christmas.
I am progressing very nicely on the Christmas Banner. Step one of the background is almost complete, I will then do steps two and three around the first pear. I did not want to stitch the pear until all the background was done around it.
Hope you are finding some stitching time in your busy and hectic schedules.
Linda

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I love Christmas. No matter how much I gripe about being stressed & having too much to do & not enough time, I just love this time of year.

The trees are up; the little gingerbread tree my nephew & his wife gave us a few years ago, with Ashley's needlepointed gingerbread house under it. My needlepoint tree, which is now way too small for all my ornaments. And our big 12 foot tree in the living room, with all the pink ornaments that were purchased by my mother & grandmother the year I was born. My favorite part is unwrapping the ornaments, remembering the vacation we were on when we bought an ornament, or an ornament Ashley made, or one Frank bought for us.

Of course taking it all down is dreadful, but we won't think about that right now!

Hope everyone is getting the spirit!!

Wonderful Weekend

This weekend Denise, Karen and I took a canvas embellishment class with Tony Minieri at Edwardian Needle. We had a fabulous time. We were all happy with our stitch guides and threads. Tony is very funny and kept us entertained with his stories.
The women in the class were all wonderful stitchers and we had a great time with them and are looking forward to seeing them next year.
I was having such a wonderful time that I forgot to take pictures for the blog. So the only picture I have is of my Christmas Taxi by Raymond Crawford.
This is such a fun piece to stitch. Tony did some wonderful stitches and there will be a lot of bling. I am going to finish this piece as a card holder.
The Christmas Banner border is complete and it is now on the 40 inch evertites. I have to get use to working on such long bars. Tonight I am going to start the background.
Have a great week.
Linda

Nativity Is On Mantel

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with a day full of wonderful food.
The house is decorated except for the tree which we will put up on December 9. The first thing I did was to put up the Nativity. I just love taking out all the pieces and am always amazed at how beautiful each piece is. Amy really did an amazing job designing each piece.
I am so proud of my finished Nativity.

I have been working on the Christmas banner and am almost done with the border. Will post a picture when it is done. Cannot wait for lesson two. I am really looking forward to stitching the pears.

Linda

Twas the Night Before...

Actually, it's the night before Thanksgiving, but close enough. This beautiful piece just came back from the finisher; I love it! It has a music box inside as well. All my Christmas pieces are now back for the holiday season to begin.

Tomorrow, I will give thanks for my wonderful family, my exceptional friends, my stitching sister, Linda, of course, the talented designers & the dedicated stitchers. Enjoy Thanksgiving!

Denise

Progress on Christmas Banner

I have completed the border on the right side of the canvas. I have to move the canvas to stitch the left side of the border. My forty inch evertites have not arrived yet. I sure hope they arrive this week. I am not comfortable with rolling up the stitched area and just leaving it hanging is not any better. Right now I am just letting it hang with a pillow case over it.
I am thoroughly enjoying stitching this canvas. Amy's choice of stitches and threads for the border is perfect. The direction changes and color changes for the stitches really makes someone looking at the canvas think it is so complicated to stitch but it is so fast and easy. Looking forward to lesson two. I can only imagine the magic Amy will work on the pears and background.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. I am so thankful to be blessed with my wonderful family and friends. I am especially thankful for my Jake. He brings such joy into my life.

Linda

Stunned!

I have finished my African Safari Teapot, which was a workshop class I took with Tony Minieri at our LNS, Stitch by Stitch in Larchmont. I was challenged by this workshop, as, for me, this was the first project of this type on this canvas size. But classes with Tony are such a fun experience, that I just had to accept the challenge.

I am stunned with how beautiful the piece is, and Tony is really so inventive; it amazes me. If you ever have the chance to work up a project with Tony, do so; you won't regret it!

Denise

MERRY MERRY

I am so happy that the Christmas season will be here by the end of next week.
My house will be decorated on next Friday. I cannot wait to get the Nativity out and on the mantel. I miss seeing all those beautiful pieces.
Today I received a box from Ruth with my holiday snap tray and walker bags. I am so excited to have needlepoint accessories for the holidays. I am already using my snap tray and the small walker bag. As you can see from the tray and bags, I am Merry Merry. This is truly the happiest time of the year for me. This year will be especially exciting because of Jake. When he saw my Halloween decorations and lights, he got all excited and I can only imagine his excitement when he sees all the Christmas decorations.
Amy has me in the Christmas state of mind with the Christmas Banner (which I am just loving), and next week Ruth will add to my Christmas spirit with her New Mystery Class. So many wonderful things to stitch.
Linda

Christmas Banner

Oh, this is such a fun canvas to stitch. Amy has once again worked her magic. The border is just spectacular. I have not gotten that much done yet but when it is complete it is going to be amazing. Since I have not gotten the forty inch evertites, I mounted the canvas on 24 inch evertites that I had. I started on the right side and did all the gold work on the right side along with center gold stitches and center green and red. I am also finished with the upper right section and then onto the lower right section. I will then fill in both sections before moving the canvas over. Hopefully, the evertites will arrive this week so I can permanently set the canvas on the bars. I cannot wait for lesson two to see what magic Amy works on the first pear.
I have been thinking about how to finish this piece and I think I came up with the perfect way for me. I am going to have it made into a bolster pillow. I have seen some large ones at Ruth's and they are just beautiful. My finishing problem is solved.
Linda

Karens Amazing Needlepoint Adventure

Our trip started last week with a Cook Up Class at Amy's. We had a wonderful time with great food, friends and laughs. Amy always amazes us with her amazing stitch guides. We all left for the airport on Sunday evening. Denise and I had a seven o'clock flight to New York and Karen had a seven thirty flight to LA.
On Monday Karen's amazing adventure began.
Karen first stopped at Aristeia Needlepoint and just raved about their new store and then she went off to the Ritz Carlton. The hotel is in the most perfect location with the most perfect setting and just beautiful rooms. Needless to say Karen felt she was in heaven. The next day started with a delicious lunch and then the best part began working on the needlepoint project. Karen has called me everyday with a report of what she is doing. I can tell you she is having the time of her life. The setting is perfect, the food is delicious and the class is fabulous.
Karen has meet so many wonderful people like Melissa Shirley, Carol Eix, the snap tray and frame weight lady, the BeStitched Girls and so many more. She is thrilled with the class loves the canvas and the teachers are great. She is already planning our trip for next year. I will be going for sure provided I get in.
The only low was that Wendy was not able to be there. Wendy is on the road to recovery and hopefully will be back soon. We are all praying for you Wendy.
This is a picture of the finished piece. It is a Melissa Shirley and is available
through Aristeia at 310-476-6977.
Linda

Finished Second Halloween Candy

Last night I finished the beading on the second Kelly Clark Halloween Candy. This is a club that Ruth Schmuff is doing. The canvases are small and are a quick stitch. I am going to finish four before I send them in for finishing.
Linda

Where Did The Weekend Go

This past weekend just flew by. I had such fun at Amy's Cook Up Class. Amy wrote a fabulous stitch guide for my tic tac toe board. This canvas is going to be spectacular when it is finished. All the canvases had such great stitches being stitched on them. Amy really worked her magic for us.
Here are a few detailed pictures of Karen' canvas.
I was very sorry to see the weekend come to an end and am looking to our trip back to Amy's in May.
Linda

Day Two With Amy

What a wonderful time we are having at Amy's!! Amy is such a talented person. All the canvases are coming to life with the guidance of Amy and her amazing stitch guides. We are all learning new techniques and stitches and are having such fun doing it. I cannot believe that we only have one day left. The time just seems to fly by in class. Amy creates a no stress environment in class and hence we are all relaxed and able to stitch and really enjoy ourselves. The atmosphere in the classroom really lends itself to learning.
Here are a few of the wonderful canvases being done in class.
Linda

What Amy Has Wrought

Today is day 2 of 3 at our Amy cookup class. I have been focusing on borders, as this canvas has some beautiful ones.

Here's what I've done so far.

Day One With Amy

What a wonderful day we had in class today. Amy did a wonderful stitch guide for my Halloween tic tac toe canvas. I am going to have such fun stitching this canvas. Amy worked her magic with stitches and her choice of threads and beads.
Denise loves her giraffe canvas stitch guide. Amy did a wonderful stitch guide and Denise is thrilled with all her stitches and threads.
We have a lot of fun ladies in the class and are having a lot of laughs along with learning new techniques.
Off to bed so I will be ready for another wonderful day full of learning and laughs.
Linda

Amy Has A Faux Birthday

Here we are in Memphis, having dinner with Amy. Our gracious hostess decided that Amy was having such a good time, it must be Amy's birthday, so she embellished Amy's desert.
We are having a great time, & are so looking forward to class tomorrow.
More tomorrow.

Witch Shoes Canvas

Today I received lesson two from Meredith Willet for It's All About the Shoes canvas. In the package Meredith included two presents. One present is a really cute bag for Halloween and the second present is a scissor fob for Halloween. The best part about the scissor fob is that Meredith and her mother made them for all of us in the class which is fifty plus stitchers. I cannot thank Meredith and her mother enough for making me and all the other stitchers this absolutely stunning Halloween scissor fob. This is coming with me to Memphis along with all my other Halloween needlepoint accessories.
I am working on the second Halloween candy and should have it done before I leave for Amy's.
Now that I seem to have this iPad blogging down, I hope to post every day from Memphis.
Linda

Finished Name Tag

Last night I finished the name tag that I had Amy's make up for me. I called Amy's and spoke to Jill and told her what I wanted and we worked out the canvas design together. Amy happened to be in the store when Jill was going to pull the threads and helped with the thread selection. I am thrilled with the colors and with the finished piece. Now I will send it off to be finished.
I just put the second Halloween candy on stretcher bars and will start it today.
Linda

Blogger On iPad

Just got blogger on my iPad and hopefully I will be able to post from Memphis next week.

I just have to finish up the beading tonight and my name tag will be finished. Tomorrow I will try to post
a picture through blogger on the iPad.
Linda

What Has Linda Been Doing?

As you can see I have been a very busy little bee. Today I made six scissor fob, two for Halloween and four for Christmas. I will be giving some away as gifts and keeping one Christmas and one Halloween for myself to use with canvases relating to the fob. I have decided to match my fob, magnet and snap tray to all my canvases. When I go to Amy's, in just about two weeks, I will have a complete Halloween theme for all my accessories. I will be stitching a Halloween Tic Tac Toe game board canvas by Liz of Tapestry Tent. I am even thinking of doing a Halloween frame weight.

The second picture is a name tag that I ordered from Amy's. Since I will be going to the ANG Seminar in Philadelphia and I need a name tag I decided to have one made for myself. I will post a picture when it is finished and then one when it is back from the finisher. Denise is having one made too but she is having her name tag made smaller.

The third picture shows my progress on the Summer Flowers canvas by Barbara Elmore. Denise and I are doing this canvas and we both have finished our backgrounds and stems for the flowers. We are planning on getting together to do the ribbon for the flowers and the beads.

We are going to have a fabulous lunch with wonderful cupcakes. It will be our BeStitched lunch at Denise's house.

The last picture is of my finished belt. It really came out great and has gotten use already.

I am taking it with me to Amy's with my leopard needlepoint shoes. I am so looking forward to this trip. It has been way to long since my last trip to see Amy.

My shoulder is coming along. I am able to stitch, which is really the most important thing. I still have restrictions and will be having a talk with the PT person tomorrow about my concerns. My major concern at the moment is that I still cannot blow dry my haiir. Going to get my hair done twice a week was a lot of fun in the beginning but it is really getting annoying now. It has been three months since my surgery and I am finding myself getting very frustrated with my limitations. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring some answers to my concerns.

Linda

Another Month Goes By

It's been a busy month for the Stitching Sisters. Linda's back to Nana day care, enjoying her time with Jake but missing her freedom a bit. I have been absolutely crazed at work, and am busy at home on the political front as well, working on my candidates' campaigns for local offices. This keeps me out at night a lot, truly interfering with stitching time.

Notwithstanding life's demands, I've gotten a bit of stitching done. I am working on a large piece for which I have a Tony M stitch guide. It has a lot of my not so favorite stitch, the packed outline, so I find myself actually watching the TV, rather than just listening, just to avoid that stitch. I put it aside for a while, to do some prep work on a canvas that Linda & I will surprise you with, hopefully later this month. I did manage to finish up this little canvas shown above, which is the next in the series from A Stitch in Time. I am quite impressed with my ability to keep up with this club; there are 5 more canvases left.

This week, in between my meetings, I have a class with Tony M again at Stitch by Stitch. We are finally getting back to our African Teapot class. We've had to cancel this class twice already, because of inclement weather & illness. Hope all goes well for this week.

I am feeling a little stressed by the weight of all these canvases that I've started but haven't finished. I am not good having so may unfinished projects at one time. I really do want to finish these, and I have no problem disposing of a project I am not interested in any more. However, I find that as I advance and refine my stitching, though, I am less inclined to dispose of a canvas that I've started.

I guess there could be worse things than having too much stitching. On the bright side, I always have something to look forward to!

Have a good week!

Denise

Laughing Jack Crunch Bar

I am back to stitching projects again. I am starting off working on small canvases and Laughing Jack was my first choice. This canvas is the first in a series of eight Halloween Candies. The canvases are by Kelly Clark and the stitch guides are by Ruth Schmuff. What a quick and fun stitch this was!! After stitching belts all summer this was a great project to start on. Ruth did a great stitch guide for Laughing Jack and her threads and embellishments are just fabulous.

My current project is a canvas by Barbara Elmore called Summer Flowers. BeStitched had this as a class and also offered it long distance. Denise and I signed up and are currently working on the background. Once the background is complete we will meet and do the ribbon flowers. It will be our BeStitched class at Denise's house with a wonderful catered lunch. It might not be the box lunch BeStitched caters but it will be delicious and wonderful.

Yesterday was our class with Sharon G at The Nimble Needle. A BIG THANK YOU to Sharon G for a wonderful class, Missy Gray for the most delicious cinnamon buns and Karen for bring in such a talented teacher. Sharon worked her magic on every one's canvas and we all left very happy with our choice of stitches and threads. Missy baked the most wonderful cinnamon buns for us to enjoy. Denise had given me a heads up about the Missy baking so I did not eat breakfast so I could enjoy my cinnamon bun. We all were licking our fingers. We all had a wonderful time learning, eating, laughing and making new friends. After all isn't that what needlepoint is all about.

Linda

A Few More Finished Ornaments

As I mentioned, my Christmas ornaments have been trickling in from our LNS's finisher. Here are a few of the Raymond Crawford series.

I recently reviewed my stash and realized that I still have four more of this series. Yesterday I received the next installment of my flower calendar series from A Stitch in Time. It has been quite busy at work, but worse, I have been very busy at night as well, and I am generally out at least 2 nights a week for work or business related activities. These seriously restrict my stitching time.

I am currently working on a large canvas for which Tony Minieri wrote a marvelous guide; this was a class I took at Stitch by Stitch last fall; I can't believe almost a year went by! It is the Euro flower stand. It will take me some time to finish this one, so I am glad I have finishing coming in to share with you.

Denise

No Denise, It's Halloween

Yes, I am decorated for Halloween. I always decorate Labor Day Weekend. It just puts me into the mood for Fall. I was so happy to take out my three Halloweenies and amazed at what an amazing job Amy did on the stitch guides for them and also at my stitching of them. I have to finish up the rest of the Halloweenies.

I have a few new items for the mantel this year. The center Haunted House is from Pottery Barn and is just a perfect accent piece for the Hallowenies, the Halloween Apples are new this year along with the Halloween boy and girl candle holders . I have more needlepoint decorations placed around the family room and sewing room but I felt the mantel was the focal point.

Today I received the three Walker Halloween mesh bags from Ruth. I will be using them for all my current projects. I also ordered the Halloween snap tray. After all a girl has to have a complete outfit. Cannot wait to see what Ruth does for the Christmas bags and tray.

Today was a big day in our house - it was Jake's first day of nursery school. He just loved it and was so happy he did not want to leave. He goes three mornings a week from 9 to 11:30, just enough time to give Nana time for her errands, physical therapy, hair and now a new doctor for her neck.

I had my second post-op visit this morning and was told that I am doing very well and am just where I should be after two months since surgery. I told the doctor about me using my neck muscle when I lift my arm and just cannot break this habit - he told me I had to go and see a neck specialits who would work with me to stop using my neck muscle. I can now work on my stand when I stitch but only small projects. I still cannot blow dry my hair (a really major problem for me) and probably will not be able to for at least six weeks. The hair salon loves me. I go twice a week to get my hair done. If I could afford it, I would go everyday. I really cannot complain. I feel good and see improvement in my arm. Hopefully, I will be almost perfect when I go to Amy's in November. I will have to get a name of hair salon just in case I need it.

Linda