In the matter of a few days it has gone from winter to spring here in America’s Finest City! The rain is gone, the cold, the wind, the hail and the sleet is all but a distant memory. The skies are blue and the temperatures are warming up. Puts me in the mood to work on Kelly Clark’s Spring Crazy Quilt! I am sure that you have noticed the grapes magnet that I have been using on this canvas, ’cause at times only a glass of wine will do! Kelly is brilliant and I love her mixture of threads and stitches, but sometimes I just don’t get it!

Since you saw this last I have restitched a few of the areas, 3 to be exact! Finished all the 21 areas, well excecpt for the green one around the bunny and have mastered the basket  technique which Kelly calls Trompe L’Oiel, which I believe means fooling the eye.

Next up on the stitching to do list is working on 2 of the seam treatments that will be in the May/June Issue of Needlepoint Now. I want to make sure that they way that it is written up in the magazine is the way to go. I have the threads and beads out, the beading threads and my needles and will attempt it later. I am thinking that with the amount of beads that I need to work with, that this will be best worked at a table rather than while I am comfortably nestled on the couch. I never know when certain feline children will land on my lap, sending beads flying all over the place! AlleyCat does “meow” a warning that she is eyeing her favorite spot on my lap, but at times it is just not enough notice.

Just to give you a little idea of the brilliance in San Diego at this time of the year, these are some pictures from the Carlsbad Flower Fields. It is located in the northern part of San Diego. I think that you might even notice a little view of the ocean too!

I have been just a busy little bee working on magzine stuff, writing and editing stitch guides, printing and printing and more printing. I do have someone that is now proofing the guides for me, but when you give them the WRONG info to begin with… well what can I say! Taxes are being worked on and all that other business type stuff is being checked off my to do list.

Soon I will be on the road to Dallas for the cash and carry trade show. I have my hotel & flight reservations already made for Columbus and the ANG Seminar in Philadelphia. I usually don’t buy flights this soon…but with the price of gas going up, how can I go wrong? Plus I blamed it on the Oregon master enablers who had put me to shame by having their reservations already made.

Even Sylvester was feeling the spring weather as he wanted to be outside to smell the fresh air and hope to spot a bird or two! and until next time…keep on stitching