Canvases by Ruth Schmuff…stitching by me! Way back when I first started doing the blog, do you remember how I was teasing you with snippets of something that I was stitching? well this is it! and you too can stitch these by signing up with Ruth at Bedecked and Beadazzled or your favorite needlework shop by saying I want the Silly, Sassy, Sparkly Sock Club! I enjoyed doing these so much that I might need to sign up myself so that I can stitch them for my very own Christmas tree! Can I sign up Ruth?

Ruth teases me with canvases every once in a while by sending me pictures to see if something makes my heart jump a beat. Well we had been exchanging e-mails for a bit while she was trying so very hard to tempt me with something that I just had to stitch. As soon as I saw the pictures of these socks, I knew this was it!

The first two stitched up so quickly, as the needlepoint gods were smiling down on me as the stitches worked, the ideas worked, well it just all came together. The third one started to be a little challenge and the other 3, well I was at a loss. This was just before the holidays, so thought it was time to take a break from stitching. Anyway it was almost to time to go back east to spend the holidays with my family, then it would be off to the Winter TNNA Market in Long Beach and soon after that I would actually be at Ruth’s shop Bedecked and Beadazzled where we could brainstorm on finishing them up.

I am thrilled with the way that they were finished and the photography of them, none of which I can take credit for! It is really exciting for me to see them all together. Even AlleyCat got into the picture, and until next time…keep on stitching

Well not really…but it never rains in San Diego at this time of the year! This is America’s Finest City with picture “purrfect” weather, blue skies and well you get the idea. I woke up very early this morning to the meows of hunger from the feline kids and the sound of raindrops hitting the windows. It will be great stitching day for sure as the rainy weather gives you a great excuse to stay in all day, with a little baseball and lots of threads and stitches.

Here is my trusty stitching assistant, Sylvester! just making himself comfortable among my bags of threads, assorted beads and the necessary stitchy things. I have a package of Boho Beads from Sundance Designs, pearls, Flair and my trusty straw to try the pearl bubbles in the Dishwashing Pixie later today. I am hoping that it will come together as easy as Sharon G makes it sound! and until next time…keep on stitching

A dishwashing pixie? A girl can dream can’t she? this pixie can do your dishes while you are doing something more enjoyable, such as stitching or out for lunch with the girls or just about anything else! This is one of the 8 pixies from Ruth Schmuff as she introduces her new summer line of canvases. Please drop in for a visit and see the rest of the pixies and all her other new canvases http://www.bedeckedandbeadazzled.com

Okay back to the stitching! Her boots, gloves and apron have been stitched and I added a row of French Knots around the apron as I was thinking ruffles. I selected some silk ribbon to match the green and my vision is to give her some apron strings. Sometimes the problem is that my vision looks wonderful in my mind, but then when I stitch it, it no longer looks that great. I started on the background with a stitch that I was trying to mimic some of the soap bubbles. I wanted something smaller as to be able to transition smoothly around all of the details on the canvas.

I have been experimenting with the soap bubbles, notably the one where Sharon G suggested that I drop a pearl inside Flair. Okay that was much easier said that done. I did get a few of them in and didn’t really care for it as the pearl that I was using was way too big. So out it came. I haven’t totally given up and I will try again with some Swarovski #6 pearls that I found in the stash. I might even try stitching over the pearl with the Flair as it is somewhat challenging getting that pearl inside the Flair!

I will stitch the weekend away while watching baseball and remembering what Memorial Day is really all about. It is not to kick off the start of summer, but it is to honor our fallen heroes, the ones that have given their lives so that we can have our freedom. I salute you and I thank you for your ultimate sacrifice. and until next time…keep on stitching

okay so you ask, who is Team Deeva? well let me introduce you! Team Deeva is the moniker dreamed up by Robin that introduces to you Judee, which is of course The “Deeva” herself , Robin the masterful stitcher of the Creepy Characters and resident technical guru and myself, Vicky stitcher of lots of Judee’s canvases and cohort of thread shopping trips! The three of us make up Team Deeva. Of course there are many more behind the scenes persona that help make the team, “Team Deeva” so very special.

We have all been busy working to make the Summer TNNA show a very successful one. Of course first and foremost “Deeva” has been designing her wonderful canvases for us, to inspire us to say I want to stitch that one! No I want that one! and that one and that one…well you get the idea.

Robin’s flying fingers have been working nonstop as she stitches the 9 Creepy Characters to get them ready for the their debut in Columbus. I have stitched the hearts that I have been sharing with you lately. They all have stitch guides for them and and a big thank you to Robin for “photo shopping” my pictures for the covers! The hearts too will make their debut in Columbus and a trio of hearts will be available at Sample It! Sample It is an hour of fast and furious shopping of the very newest of the new which gives shop owners the availability of taking a few things back to their shops.We will be at table #74 with our “Team Deeva” smile and a small teaser “item” that will get you excited about visiting our booth during the show! Ticket holders to get into the Sample It event normally start lining up a few hours before the doors open.

The Creepy Characters will see their first glimpse of daylight while showing off those glow in the dark teeth at the Needlepoint Showcase. This is located in the Ballroom Foyer Friday Night from 5-7pm. We hope to see you at the show and come visit the “Deeva” and all her canvases in booth #1820!

AlleyCat was waiting for me to come home from one of my thread shopping trips while sunning herself. and until next time… keep on stitching

Now I really thought when I got a phone call the other day about the framing for the panda, it was to tell me that the framing was done. Noooooooooo it’s not and now I am on a new adventure!

What you see here is what I selected at the framers. Dark green silk matting that compliments the green beads, a little touch of black under it and this really great frame that matches the gold beads. That green! ooh that green! Needlepoint Inc Silk which I say is a celadon green is actually tagged in the mint green range…okay so what do I know? Well there isn’t much available in that green, so this is what I came up with. God bless both Susan and Peggy, the owner of Newport Needlepoint as they have both gone way over and above the call of duty to make sure that this gets the best framing humanly possible. The phone call was to tell me that the mat color was too dark, too nubby and that I needed to go fabric shopping for a lighter colored silk and with less nubs.

So hence the panda prowl as now I am looking for fabric. I went to Needlepoint of La Jolla yesterday and Michelle poured through the fabric samples with me from Marlene and I think that we found one. Another idea was to take a road trip to Britex Fabrics and that would be quite a trip being that it is in San Francisco! If you are ever there, it is a must stop destination! Four floors packed floor to ceiling with every fabric, button and sewing accessory you could ever think of. I have a dear friend who works a few doors away from Britex and she becane my designated shopper! There is some fabric on the way to me now and I will hope its the right one!

Sylvester is giving me the look yesterday “Feed me Mom” and yes the cats do eat on the counter. First of all as soon as I move the dry food to the floor, ants show up for dinner! and secondy I don’t cook! and if I do break down and spend some time cooking, they know at that time to stay out of the kitchen! and until next time…keep on stitching

Not I must apologize for my spelling, my assault on the English language or whatever! I did look this “patutie” word up in Wikipedia, Wiktionary and ran a thorough spell check and this word seems to elude me. We have since changed the spelling to “Patootie” thanks to herself, Ruth! This is a darling canvas by her entitled “Dishwashing Pixie” that I was stitching on yesterday for her. It will eventually reside in her wonderful shop “Bedecked and Beadazzled.”

I have been beading some of the soap bubbles, stitching her boots and gloves, the soapy water under the dishes, the borders and working away on the foundation for the fun, wild and crazy stitching that will follow! This is a challenging style of canvas as this is so not like me! I it really makes me think outside the box and look at things in a different way, which is great as it is a new learning adventure. I have some pearls and Flair selected to try that idea that Sharon G shared with us about the pearls inside the Flair…but I need some stitching around those bubbles to anchor the Flair as we could never have our unwanted thread ends showing through the canvas!

I see a road trip in the horizon for a few more threads for this canvas. I need one more purple, the middle shade that is in the bowl and an additional skein or two of the background silk which is Soie d’Alger 114. Of course in my thread stash I have 115 & 116, but no more 114 to be found! I may combine that with a trip to my favorite bead store which is San Gabriel Bead Co for some #8 beads for a new project on the horizon.

Hey Mom, I am working on my suntan! and I am sure you will notice how the blinds are positioned and how well trained they have me. and until next time…keep on stitching

I was in a meowy kind of mood yesterday as I looked at my naked table without the glass…looked at Sylvester and realized how much fuller he makes my life. How much they both mean to me and I can’t even begin to imagine my life with a feline child in the house, their unconditional love, their purring and of course those eyes!

Even though I know I should be stitching on the Dishwashing Pixie for Ruth Schmuff or the Easter Egg House for Needle Deeva, I needed something comforting. I decided that Cat’s Night Out by Sharon G was the canvas that I needed to make my heart sing, my fingers fly and my mind relaxed. As I look at this canvas I see 5 cats here and realize that symbolically they are for my 5 cats that have touched my life. The 3 black ones are AlleyCat, Sylvester and Felix the Cat who went to kitty heaven about 6 months ago. The gray cat is for Peanut, a gray tabby striped who turned out to be not such a peanut! The rust kitty is Sneezy who was an Abyssinian mix who really would sneeze 20-30 times in a row and these 2 are with Felix catching birds and chasing mice!

I have almost finished beading the cats, well except for their eyes. I really wasn’t in the mood to get up and search for the green beads. Even though I have a wonderful translucent olive green bead for the eyes, I know that it won’t work and I really need to look for the Sundance green bead #14 which is “purrfect!” There is a little mouse to the far right and he too has been beaded with a silver lined gray bead and is just waiting for his eye.

I will stitch the day away today while watching a baseball game or two or three. I think that I will start off my day with the Reds & Indians, both who have been playing some exciting ball! I especially enjoy listening to the Reds announcers too as they have great pipes. and until next time…keep on stitching…and ooh Alleycat sends her meowy best

no not this one, which is AlleyCat…that darn cat is the other one, not mentioning any names, will we Sylvester? Now you are saying to yourself, exactly what does this have to do with my stitching? Well enough, as finishing up the panda canvas over the last few weeks had really consumed my life and my house really went to hell in hand-basket. Not really sure exactly what that means, but I could not handle seeing the dust bunnies, the orts on the rug and all the other stuff a moment longer!

Well we started dusting and cleaning and just working up a storm while I was being well supervised by Miss AlleyCat. I have or should I say I had a glass top coffee table which is my lifeline while I am stitching. I often lift off the top of the table and set it off to the side so I can really clean…and out comes the vacuum cleaner and out goes the cats, well at least I thought they both went into the bedroom to hide from that big monster. Sylvester is the bigger scaredy cat and I can only think that he learned that from big brother Felix as Felix would run and hide if I even sneezed! I started up the vacuum cleaner and out of nowhere comes Sylvester flying round the corner and I see the glass top falling…falling…falling, but I am too far away to catch it in time. Needless to say the glass top did not survive the mishap, but Sylvester was safely hidden away, not to be seen for hours!

Nobody was hurt, not even the felines and I had quite a mess to clean up. I swept and picked up shards and swept and vacuumed and vacuumed some more. Of course I worry most about the glass getting into feline tummies and maybe cutting their paws and I never ever have anything on my feet in the house. The mess is cleaned up, the glass was recycled and the table was measured for a new top which has been ordered. Hopefully this won’t put too much of a cramp into my stitching life… so just maybe I might take a few days of from stitching.

Sylvester is giving me that look “ooh please don’t be mad at me Mom!” now how could you get mad at that face? and until next time…keep on stitching

and ready for what you are thinking? well he is ready for his debut as he is finished! well not exactly quite finished as he is currently living with the framer, but he is finished being stitched. He looks allot different from the last time you saw him, as Susan had me do allot of restitching and restitching…and ooh I shudder at the thought of taking out and stitching yet again and again!

The bag as Brenda Stofft the designer tells me, is really a basket and it was originally being stitched in an off canvas needle weaving. The effect was impressive, but I really never got it quite right and I never ever have I struggled so much with one stitch as I did with “THAT” bag. I literally jumped for joy when Susan said lets take this out and try something else! So instead this is a woven plait with ThreadworX overdyed floss and pearl cotton. Each stitch with the ThreadworX was stitched twice to give it some volume, the pearl was only a single stitch and then finished off with hand made cording using the ThreadworX floss, pearl cotton and floche. Santa’s bag was stitched in the floche. The cording was painstakingly couched into place with a milner’s needle and one ply of the thread. I even plied the floche to get the right color couching thread!

Once the bag was finished and the cording couched into place, I could finish the fringe on his blanket. On the fringe alone, I used over 2 tubes of Sundance beads, with each tube having about 1100 beads, so I will let you do that math. The background was next, a little more cording for the handle on the lantern and around Santa’s bag, the bows on the baby panda and bunny, a little stitch here and a little stitch there and Santa was even given an eyelash!

Last but not least was the parting words from Susan of you need to take that hat out! What are you crazy? I am not ripping out that hat! well the purple, it just doesn’t go with Santa’s overall look and I do apologize to the designer Brenda Stofft. Even though I was not thrilled with restitching the hat, I knew that if I didn’t that THAT purple hat would drive me absolutely crazy for the rest of my life. So I did relent and it was restitched in red.

I really did enjoy the roller coaster ride of working on this canvas, the ups and downs of not getting a stitch, the resticthing of sections, the ultimate thrill of understanding a new stitch or technique right away and the relationships that developed between Susan, myself and this wonderful canvas. Already I am thinking of what canvas to start for next years ANG exhibit!

My faithful stitching assistant, Sylvester as he was supervising the final stitches going in. He is of course guarding my threads! and until next time…keep on stitching

Am too! Am not! and this is how the conversation goes on with Miss AlleyCat as she looks at me with those eyes. Those eyes, which proportional to their size, cats have the largest eyes of all mammals. She knows that I don’t like her on my dresser, but of course she insists from time to time. What’s a mother to do?

I am also having the same conversation with blog, as it too has been misbehaving lately. Thank you very much for acting up! Hopefully we can get this remedied in the next day or so…until we do, I will keep the blog short and sweet. But for now it is raining and what a wonderful excuse to stay in and stitch the day away. and until next time…keep on stitching