So much of our correspondence and etc. is done via the internet these days…but I still love  my snail mail. A letter, a card, a new catalog or this month’s magazine…Needlepoint Now for example and ooh lets forget all about those bills.

This canvas is Maildog by Unique New Zealand.

Where would we be without mail delivery service? How would the shops get the canvases and threads from the wholesalers? and take it a step even farther back, how would they get their canvases from the painters? We get new threads, our orders, our montly clubs, beads, bling and so much more through the mail. Just think about these hardworking people working every day, through inclement weather and all. So for me I am happy to thank them for delivering all of these packages and especially now right after market when so many orders are being shipped. Thank that mailman when you see him or her for that matter!

I was vacuuming yesterday and the kids absolutely do NOT like that noisy thing. So they are very quick to hide. I believe that they learned this from their older brother Felix who was petrified of it.  I have had other cats…present company excluded that used to love watching it move across the floor.

and until next time…keep on stitching

Just the other day on Facebook, there was quite the conversation about this new thread, Entice by Rainbow Gallery. The feed started that it “shreds like nobody’s business!” and that comment quickly had me adding to the comments that I hadn’t experienced that at all!

I had already been stitching with it long before it started showing up in your local needlepoint shops, since I was giving my 2 cents worth for a review in an up and coming issue of Needlepoint Now. I do use the items that you see in the magazine before I write, so that I can see if I really do like them or not!

Under the supurr~vision of Ms. Kitty, a magnet by Elizabeth Turner Collection…I was stitching variations on a T-stitch using Entice.

a little basketweave and yes my doodle canvas does experience some reverse stitching from time to time!

Kimberly Smith said it best as I quote her from Facebook: ”Kimberly Smith Working on frame, pulling your stitch straight out from the canvas helps tremendously. If you take a stitch and pull at an angle, you’re chaffing the entire length of thread on the canvas=lots of fraying.”

This lead me to dig through my ort pile to inspect what I had cut away from my stitching… 

I didn’t experience any shredding!

and this was when I stranded one of my leftover lengths, just to see what it would do!

I really do like this thread. I found that it was easy to stitch with…use it off the card as is, no  stripping, stranding or laying. What’s not to love about that? I greatly appreciate a thread company who brings a new thread to market for us to use. Think of the investment that they have made, the time to develop it and come up with all of these wonderful names.

Like I said, No Pain! No Gain! so what if it unravels a bit? Think about some other threads that we use such as Flair… and how it can unravel. Neon Rays needs to get that kink out of it whether you iron it or snap it. What about Marlitt? or Prisms? Or Kreinik High Lustre, how it curls as it comes off the spool and oh yes the Kreinik with the L after the color number, now that unravels too! But we use these threads because we love the end result as it brings our stitching to life.

I really do love this thread and a little unraveling is not going to keep me from using it. I do like the shine that it gives! It will be wonderful for stitching Christmas, Halloween and so much more.

Today is Groundhog’s Day and let’s see what Mooch and Earl are up too!

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes! The weekend is over and know it’s time for me to get serious about no more goofing off.

This was me and my shadow(s) while I was stitching last night. AlleyCat on my lap and Sylvester by my side. They were actually touching too!

and until next time…keep on stitching

The big game… what big game? I guess they are talking about the Super Bowl…check this out!

May the best team win, let the commercials be great and the guacamole delicious!!

Well it’s my birthday! and besides celebrating part of the day with some dear friends I promised myself no work today… and maybe tomorrow too. Who know, maybe the entire weekend, we’ll see!

even the cats agree!

No, I am not finished with What’s New From Market! Is that good or bad? well I’m not sure. If you figure out how many of our favorite needlepoint canvas designers exhibit at market times how many new canvases they each debut, plus the bags, the threads, the books, the magnets and more….whew, that’s a lot of new stuff!

This magnificient standing rooster was a big hit at the show and created quite a buzz. There are approximately 16 canvases that assemble together to create your masterpiece!

And here he is!

While I was in Patti Mann’s booth, this darling canvas caught my eye! Isn’t this the cutest? I don’t think that is a new canvas in her line, but it’s new to me as I have never seen it! Had a great chat with Patti about this canvas (since it was early in the morning and still quiet) and found out that all these dogs are the family dogs. For example, the French Bull Dog that you see in the front, well that’s Gus. You may have met Gus on Facebook. He is almost as famous as his human which is Chris Mann, who is currently touring with The Phantom of The Opera!

I love these two canvases by Zecca! The canvas on the left is the one that I selected to bring to class with the incomparable Tony Minieri, Meredith Willett and Suzanne Howren at In Stitches in Atlanta! I can’t wait and yes this canvas is a selection out of my comfort zone. Since I teach now, stitch models and create stitch guides, I want to challenge myself with different stitches and techniques. And knowing this amazing ensemble of teachers, I am sure that they will happily oblige!

Meet Mdm. Pompadour, a limited edition canvas by Labors of Love. Why is it a LTD you ask? well look closely and you will see a sculpted head and hands that are added to the canvas after it is stitched.

Another canvas by Labors of Love, a small Tudor Rose that goes with the series of King Henry and his wives as was seen in Needlepoint Now last year.

Remember seeing the picture of Tony yesterday? well someone texted or tweeted him to say that they wanted to see a picture of him on the show floor, maybe to validate that he was really here?! Well I believe Tony took that literally and he is really is ON the show floor! either that or he is just taking a quick nap…BTW with as much as this man accomplishes, I don’t believe that he EVER sleeps!

Quail Run set up the most amazing booth! So welcoming to the buyers. Notice the blue ribbon on the front table? well they were winners of the Best Booth award. Congratulations to Quail Run!

Somebody was trying to get my attention…or maybe telling me that I was spending too much time on the computer and ignoring her? Gotta love her!

and until next time…keep on stitching

Yes, while you weren’t looking…I actually finished something for myself! It is amazing the color change from taking this picture under my stitching light to the next one which was taken in natural light.

I probably started this 2 or maybe 3 years ago, as I remember bringing it to the Blue Bonnet Retreat the first time I went to work on the beading of the words. I could also tell by the tape that I used on the edges too!

So what was I to do next? well bring it to the framers of course! New Creations in Pasadena, California where the brilliant Nancy and Andrea frame, and frame they do brilliantly.

I took some pictures as we worked away. It helps you see things in a different way when taking the pictures. I also had a friend on the other end that was giving me a thumbs up or not! The gold frame was quickly ruled out by all of us, but the frame on the left is a good possibility.

This mat is not quite right…

This frame is great, but too heavy with the piece. It overpowers it.

Found the right mat, which is the one on the left, with the first frame that we looked at. Now  all I have to do is anxiously await that phone call “your framing is ready to be picked up!”

AlleyCat loves, loves, loves these coffee carry out holders. She tears them up, pushes them all over the house and often sits on it, in it and then naps on it. Silly girl!

and until next time…keep on stitching

Isn’t that the truth? Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve…and with that being said

This a canvas, first of a few that I ordered for me, myself and I! This is by Elizabeth Turner Collection and is my canvas of choice for my class with Meredith, Tony and Suzanne later this year at A Stitch in Time in San Marino, CA. I would call these 3 the terrific trio, but I hear that they may call themselves the Emebellishment Squad.

Speaking of Tony, he was at market this year! He always adds a buzz on the floor with his exuberance and excitement with the new items. Here he was hamming it up with Colleen, owner of The Needleworks in Austin, Texas.

A southwestern creche scene by dede… and no I did not order this one for myself.

I love this lady! Beth of Eat, Sleep and Stitch. who also owns a shop. I don’t know how she does it all. I have one of these t-shirts and sleep shirts in pretty much every color that she has! Magnets, soup cups and so much more.

Booth by Pepperberry…

What a great welcome for us! and no, that’s not the end of what’s new from market as I have barely scratched the surface! I think I finally got all the pictures to my computer, now it’s just deciding what order I want to use them in.

It’s going to be another beautiful day in America’s Finest City with summerlike temperatures. Sorry to all of you who are snowbound and shoveling themselves out.

Today I need to finish up my magazine work today of course along with proper supurr~vision!

you know mathematically speaking, there are at least 1001 places you can park yourself… why here?

and until next time…keep on stitching

One of my favorites from the show! These gorgeous pears by Alice Peterson. This is something that I would love to stitch…hmmmmm. I guess I should say in this lifetime.

I am sorta kinda not really sure where I left off with the new market pictures…since I can’t go back to my older blogs and look at the pictures! In my zealous actions to make room for new stuff to share with you, I deleted pictures from the area that I shouldn’t have. So not only did it delete it from the library, hence making more room for new pictures, it deleted them from the blog too! Luckily when I ready photos for the blog, I place them in folders and/or date them. I will work on restoring them a little at a time!

I really liked this little canvas by Kate Dickerson. I would most definitely stitch the body in basketweave and then get creative with the scarf, the hat and his facial features!

How about this canvas from Kate Dickerson? My mantra exactly!

This would be a quick stitch and you could have so much fun with this! Canvas by Anne Brinkley.

Point of It All Designs introduced a series of these darling dog canvases! Different breeds doing fun things. I have more yet to share with you, but I didn’t take pictures of all of them. Check with your LNS to see what else they have.

A new canvas by Sandra Gilmore. Just beautiful!

Two more pieces from Sandra Gilmore!

I hope that from what you are seeing from here and on other blogs, social media, designer and shop websites, that it is whetting your appetite for something new that you just have to have! I know that going to market and seeing all the new designs, always invigorates me!

I have been stitching up a storm, usually spending 3-4 hours nightly with my needle and thread and with proper supurr~vision. Most of what I am working on right now are pieces that are not ready for primetime publication.

If you can’t devote as much time as I do for stitching, just try an hour a day. You’ll be surprised at how much you can get done. Trust me, it really works.

and until next time…keep on stitching

That yesterday was National Answer your Cat’s Question Day?! How could I have missed that? Maybe that’s why AlleyCat was giving me that look the other day? and yes the little snafu that I encountered was that there was no more room for new pictures!

Ever wonder what your cat is asking with those meows? I sure do! Both of mine are talkers… how about yours?

So I thought that I would go through the rest of my pictures from new canvases at market and see how many cats I could find! This is Best Friends Selfie by Laurel Burch. A smaller canvas that would have a reasonable expectation of being finished sometime in this lifetime.

This is another new Laurel Burch canvas which is not so small! How fun would this be to stitch all of these cats differently!

And of course you have seen the new cats by Labors of Love! Rumor has it that Thumbelina which is the tuxedo kitty, took the most orders at the show. Her human is Sally, who works at Rainbow Gallery and she (Sally of course) makes sure that all the shops gets their orders on a timely basis. Thank you Thumbelina for sharing your human with us!

And here she is again. This is Cheryl Schaeffer & Annie Lee Design… a very famous kitty!

and this is a wonderful new design by the collection.

AlleyCat is in her normal snoozing while I’m stitching position!

and until next time…keep on stitching

AlleyCat stopped by to say that there is a little technology issue with the blog this morning that won’t allow adding any new pictures! maybe it’s just as easy as deleting some from the media library as this is where we found this one.

So as soon as we figure this out…we’ll be right back!