Nativity, Tassel and Progress on Stirha

I received the finishing on the Elephant and Donkey in with Frank. He was not too happy traveling with an elephant and donkey. Cannot wait until all the pieces are on the mantel for Christmas. I have three pieces left to stitch. I have to do the Shepherd (about half done), the Sheep and the Camel. Unfortunately, I will have to take time from the Halloweenies to work on the Nativity. I will probably take the month of May to finish the Shepherd and do the Sheep and then try to fit in the Camel in between working on the Halloweenies. Such pressure.

The Tassel is from the canvas embellishment class with Tony Mineri. I have the background and beading to do. Very close to being done.

Stirha is so close to being finished. I had hoped to have her done by now but a little man by the name of Jake keeps interfering with my stitching. I just had to show you how spectacular she is. Amy is doing such a wonderful job on the Halloweenie Characters. I never thought she could top the Nativity but I was wrong. Frank is going to be a really fun and challenging stitch. His hands are going to really challenge me but with patience and helpful pointers from Needlepoint Study Hall, I am sure I will get them done. Just remember that Frank is not a perfect man so if his fingers are a little rough around the edges they are just perfect for him.

Off to go watch Jake, Jen and Eugene are going for a required meeting before the baby's Christening. Godmother Denise is coming to keep me company. The real reason is she wants to spend some quality time with her God Son.

Linda

Jake's First Easter

Jake and his Easter Basket - I guess I got a little carried away with his basket. It was filled with clothes for Spring and Summer and of course I had to get him a pair of Ralph Lauren Sneakers.

He is going to be one well dressed little man.

Stirha is coming along very slowly. She should have been done by now but Jake is just too cute to resist. Hope to have her done by the end of the week.

Tomorrow night is our last Back to Basics class with Tony Mineri until next year. Denise and I are going early so she can get threads for projects she is going to start and Tony is going to help me with my tassels. I will post pictures of them for you to see on Thursday. They are really going to be spectacular when they are done.

Linda

Jake Coloring Eggs With Mommy

As you can see, Jake was more interested in sleeping during the egg coloring process.

We had a fun day at Jen's today. Denise and Ashley came for lunch and bonding with Jake. Later on one of Jen's friends from high school came by with her mother for tea and cookies.

Jake had a great time being held by everyone but he especially like being held by his Aunt Denise the best.

After dinner Jen wanted to color eggs with Jake but he was exhausted from all the ladies falling all over him.

Stirha is almost done. I only have the the flames, beading and smoke to do. I do not get as much time to stitch as I would like since Jake arrived. My days are pretty much filled with watching Jake so Jen can go off to the gym, grocery shopping etc. Hopefully, I will get more time once Jake gets his shots and he can go to Mommy and Me yoga, a music play group for infants and meeting other friends in the park.

Hope to post a picture of Stirha by the middle of the week and of course a picture of Jake with his Easter basket.

Linda

Zi Zi Visits with Jake

Today I visited with Jake, which is my first visit with him since our meeting at the hospital. Of course Nana & Momma keep me up to date on his daily doings, but he & I needed some quality time together. I think we had a great day.

Jake & I chatted at length in Italian, & I read him the portion of the card I wrote to him in Italian. Jake & I have been speaking Italian together all along, as he was pretty quiet in utero for Jen, except for when I got up close and spoke to him in Italian. Then he would show his Italian side, and kick & jump around. Clearly, he is so very smart, he was multilingual from the start.

I really acted like an only child today, & pretty much wanted to hold Jake all to myself. I did not really see the need to share, but Jennifer insisted. I did allow Ashley to hold him for a little while, & his Momma, too. I begrudingly gave him over to the other two guests who visited him too. I shared pretty well, I guess. I saw no need for my stitching sister to hold him much. She can see him all the time ;)

Jake clearly prefers being held to any other options, such as hanging out in his crib or sitting in his bouncy chair. Since I didn't even bring along any needlepoint, I can't assess his interest in our hobby yet. Worked for me that he wanted to be held. Jen was less amused, and threatened a call in the middle of the night. More to follow on that one.

Oh, yes, needlepoint. Ponza 2 really is almost finished. A little bit more rock work, some puffy flowers, some borders....hopefully by the end of next weekend. Which is good, as the next quarter of my Sharon G online class has begun, & I want to move along with the Ponza canvas I gave to Tony, as well as start the last one with Sharon. Whew!

Linda will have an update on her Halloweenies soon.

Happy Easter!! Denise

Two Delightful Days with Tony M

We had two lovely days of Canvas Embellishment classes with Tony Minieri. I was working on another of my Ponza canvases, and Linda was working on two outrageous tassel canvases. It is always fun to see what our friends are working on as well. Tony starts each session by going through each person's canvas, & describing the threads & stitches he's selected, & why he did so. As my friend Susan said, this is one of the best parts of the class. Tony's creative mind, & the depth of his knowledge about threads, stitches & embellishments is outrageous. He says that he thinks about the level of stitcher you say you are, and then pushes the envelope just a little bit more--& then a little bit more! And that is so true.

Everyone has a great time in class, and Tony is just so patient!! We are like a bunch of little kids--"Tony, can you check this?" "Tony, can you just show me...?" "Tony, I need a some help here." And he never gets frustrated. Amazing.

Here are some photos from some of the work our classmates are doing. Linda & I will show you more detail about our canvases in the near future.

Denise

Progress on Stirha and Precious Jake

I have just finished the face of Stirha and had to post a picture for all of you to see. Amy did the most amazing job graphing out her face. I think this is the best face yet. I love the way her nose looks. She really looks like a witch. I am so sorry that I stitched Stirha's mouth though. She has been nagging me about spending too much time with Jake and not enough time on her. She wants her hair and dress done ASAP.
Jake is just the most precious little man. I was blessed to have him with us for four days since Jen lost her power during the horrible storm last weekend and had to come and stay with us. What a blessing that was. I got to really bond with my little man. He is so funny and smart. He is very much like his mother. When Jen was an infant she was very alert and would look directly at you, Jake does the same. He looks directly at you when you talk to him. He now weighs 8 pounds and 2 ounces and only wakes up once during the night at around 3:30 for a feeding and then does not get up again until 6:30 - 7. Not too bad for an eleven day old baby. Enough bragging about Jake - Stirha is yelling again and I better try to make her happy.
Linda

Settling in again

The resumption of electrical power is a wonderful thing. I never thought I would be happy to do laundry, but in fact I was. I was even happy to use my treadmill this morning. There are still lots of areas without power--about 25000 in Westchester County--but things are starting to stabilize. Thank God.

Jennifer, Jake & hubby have returned home. Linda was missing the Little Man before he even left...

We are taking a canvas embellishment class with Tony Minieri this Sunday & Monday at our LNS, Stitch by Stitch. I am actually very excited about this, although my excitement has been drowned by the rain. Linda is working on some interesting tassels, and I am working on another Ponza canvas.

We will post some photos soon of our class.

Denise