I have been up for hours and am raring to go! The hallways are still rather quiet, but soon there will be lots of activity as everyone will be busy with setup. No color yet to show you, no canvases in the windows to take pictures of and not much else to show.

Allot of the designers are not here yet or are checking in, so I haven’t had a chance to visit much yet. Nor have I seen what is new for Dallas, even though I am anxiously awaiting that! Most of the shoppers will be coming in later today or tomorrow.

After a day of travel you really do work up an appetite. After talking about Tilman’s Roadhouse for the last month or so, Missy, Karen of Zecca fame and myself decided to hot foot it over there. It is in a really cool eclectic part of downtown with old buildings, cobblestones sidewalks and gaslamp looking lights all that are being restored to it’s original beauty. It is such a popular dining establishment that we needed to wait for a table…so we walked around the area and supported the local economy and shopped in a few of these great boutiques.

We started off with adult beverages of blood orange margaritas and a glass of Proseco. They served popcorn infused with truffle oil and pepper as a little nosh. Tough to decide what to order and maybe we would just order one of everything! We settled on Chicken Fried Steak for a few of us and another choice was a burger served with truffled Tater Tots! Absolutely delicious…ooh did I mention that the chicken fried steak was made with tenderloin?

Okay the time was now! to order dessert as our hearts were set on their signature Tableside S’mores. Everything is made in house, the graham crackers, the chocolate, the marshmallows in 3 flavors of maple, raspberry or mint.

There serve it on this wood plank with a little pot of fire so you can toast the marshmallows!

When you put it together the heat from the marshmallow melts the chocolate and it just oozes and OMG…just a bunch of kids eating S’mores around the campfire!

I just had to order a piece of Red Velvet Cake which is served with a toy! Like I said just a bunch of kids…well we didn’t get past the ice cream and I will save the cake for a snack later today!

BTW, the maple marshmallow was our favorite…can we go back there tonight?

The cats have been quite a handful today. First of all AlleyCat sleeps in and was late for breakfast. At times she’s one her own schedule and shows up whenever and demands to be served! Okay I can deal with that.

She walked around the house most of the day sassing me and just talking up a storm. Meow this, meow that and meow, meow, meow sort of like a little whiny child. A brat which she was lovingly nicknamed when she was just a kitten. She sure lives up to the name.

I needed to rethink my packing, and instead of boxes as carry on, I thought I would get another suitcase out. Well she just wasn’t having any part of that. Sorry for the background as I really don’t have much closet space, so every inch is utilized in every way possible!

So AlleyCat parks herself and she just wasn’t moving of her own free will. I need that suitcase young lady! I eventually give up waiting for her and usually if I clap my hands loud enough, she will move on…but lets me know under no uncertain terms that she is not pleased with me!

It was time to vacuum today, that meant that the big ole mean monster was coming out of the closet and both of the kids scamper as fast as their little paws will carry them. Sylvester started out hiding in the tub and before I knew it he was on top of the refrigerator.

Felix used to sleep on top of the refrig all the time, but no one else has been up there in years! Sylvester stayed there for a few hours as he learned that it is warm up there. Smart kid.

Stitching is packed, clothes are packed, a book, a few snacks for the flight, a magazine, camera, stitch guides, threads, models and ooh my goodness, what am I forgetting? I hope nothing. Let the shopping begin! and until next time…keep on stitching

I am ready to start packing again! It is just about time for Destination Dallas, the Spring Needlework Market and the sneak peak of Needle Deeva’s newest retailer club is about ready to hit the streets.

This is a series of 9 trees in a wonderful palette of tomato red colors and leaf greens that I have been stitching on. Actually I have been living, eating, drinking and breathing these trees as I strive to have them finished for the Columbus market. They will be brought to you with the stitch guides featuring a variety of threads, beads, Swarovski Crystals and Margarites. You can actually see one that is finished peaking out from the bottom of the pile, as they are covered with some of the threads that I am using. Planet Earth Fiber Silk, Splendor, Petite Silk Lame’ Braid, Neon Rays Plus, Kreinik, Sundance Beads, Soie d’Alger and of course the beads, books, needles, glasses and snap trays are not far behind.

If you are planning to be at the Destination Dallas market, the Fabulous Firs and NeedleDeeva of course will be in room 503 and we would love to see you. Better yet, register for my class on Sunday night where I will be teaching the first one in the series. Deeva has added more canvases to the class allotment, so there may be an open spot.

Decorate your tree in style! Stitched in Planet Earth Silks, Soie d’Alger, Splendor, Mandarin Floss, Kreinik and 4 colors of beads. Basketweave, beading, combination stitches all blend together to make a statement in the debut of this new series by NeedleDeeva. If beads are not your thing, there will be alternatives ideas suggested to make this tree truly your own!

All of the trees will be traveling with me, so you can see them all in their various stages of completion. When I am doing a club project, I like to have more than one on stretcher bars as at times I can stitch them production style. For example, there is just a little touch of white Splendor on them…. so rather than stranding and threading up for a dozen or so stitches for each canvas, I will just travel from canvas to canvas to canvas with that white in my needle.

NeedleDeeva has a surprise in store for us with her newest retailer club, but shhh I can’t tell you now…but I am sure that you will love it! I will be offering an extra option for the shops if they wish me to kit the Swarovski crystals in with the stitch guides. We may have another special event planned with the Fabulous Firs, that will be announced soon and you will be the first to know about it!

Best Friends Forever? Or for me it could be Best Friends Furever? Best Fiber Friend? However you call it, Rainbow Gallery’s Petite Silk Lame’ Braid is that for me. It is really a hit to their ever growing thread line and I love it!

Silk Lame’ Braid is a wonderful mix of silk and just enough metallic to give your stitching a hint of sparkle. It has been around for a few years now, and it is great for basketweave on 18 or for some of those fancy stitches that we love so much. Rainbow then introduced a new size made for 13 mesh canvas and just recently they have added the petite line. I love the new size of the Petite which is great for lighter stitching.

One can never have too many threads or too many choices available! Stitching these trees for NeedleDeeva in the color pallette of tomato red that she has selected to paint these canvases has been a perfect project to select some of these colors. I have been using 3 colors so far, including Silk Lame’ Braid SP36 Chartreuse, Silk Lame’ Braid SP32 Coffee and Silk Lame’ Braid SP53 Crimson.

I do have another tree or two finished and soon I will share them you, I promise! I don’t have any pictures at the moment. I am on the prowl for a pot for the finishing ideas to talk over with NeedleDeeva when I see her in Dallas. I saw a container that is in these tomato red colors at Adelaide’s, so I am headed down there this morning to pick it up. Any excuse to go to La Jolla and have breakfast at The Cottage! I wonder what their special is this morning?

Well one of the finishing thoughts is to have it finished on a stick and then plant it in the pot. I can’t take credit for this as Missy is the one that suggested it. She also thought that you could have 3 finished together in a triangle! Isn’t that a clever idea? She is too smart!

Yesterday started off as a beautiful sunny day and I am thinking well there is no way that the weather man can be right and it will rain. Well I was wrong! by the time I got home mid afternoon the wind had picked up and the storm clouds rolled in. We did get quite the rainstorm. AlleyCat was glued to the kitty tv watching the rain and then the birdies. It was a great stitching night for me.

AlleyCat was at it again. Why would she pick a time with such lousy weather to make a break for it? You know I never know when she is going to do it….no rhyme or reason. I needed to back out to get something from the car and she is just sitting there waiting for me to open the door to come back into the house. As soon as she can get her face through the door, she announces in her meows that she is going out the door and you are not stopping me.

I used to chase her all around to get her back in the house…but she can’t really go anywhere. I finally learned after chasing her around all the time, that it is really just a game with her and if I just close the door and let her be, that she is usually waiting when I open the door again. This time I had her wait while she posed for her adoring fans. and until next time…keep on stitching

I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the “Sparkles” ever since Sundance debuted it at the Winter TNNA in January. I can see that a certain feline person and not mentioning any names now we will AlleyCat? that was very anxious to thoroughly inspect it herself. I was so excited to have the package arrived at my door the other day.

Sparkles is a tubular mesh embellishment trim that comes in an array of 12 wonderful colors such as gold, silver, black, turquoise, red, pink, mint, green, chartreuse, purple, yellow and orange. It can be used as is, stretched thin, stretched big, shredded, ironed flat, couched or sewn on. It could be stuffed, twisted or turned. It’s about the size of a pencil and packaged in two yard lengths. Sundance writes this about their Sparkles.

“The rich metallic luster combined with simple techniques will amaze even the most advanced needlepointer.”

 

I was able to get another picture so that you could see all the colors! I am very anxious to try it out and I have a very special canvas that I am going to use it on and will give you the full report as soon as I do. I am hoping that the ideas that I have on my head will come together as I have it envisioned on the canvas.

I am thinking with this Sparkles, you could use it to make your canvas wild and crazy, fun and funky, but yet could use it to make your stitching very elegant. I am sure that the possibilities are only limited by your own the ideas.

We are in for a day of rain and cooler temperatures again today. I am sure that soon enough the warmer temperatures will be here to stay. But in the meantime, what a great day for stitching! I am headed to La Jolla where I will join a few friends and stitch the day away. I will be working on the trees by NeedleDeeva as am trying to get a few more done for Dallas, per the Deeva’s wishes.

I would really rather curl up on the couch and go back to sleep with Sylvester, but it is time to get my stitching stuff together. Hopefully I don’t forget anything! and until next time…keep on stitching

Does it want to stick around or not? You know after you have been living here in San Diego for so many years, you get so spoiled! It really warmed up for a few days, purr~fect temperatures, blue skies and just gorgeous. Then just as quickly as the weather turned beautiful, it forgot that the date on the calendar shows that spring is supposed to be here! It has cooled way down again and there is more rain headed our way.

The lousy weather yet again made me think of spring. Opening day is just 2 weeks away… well of course I am talking baseball! Spring hopes eternal where all teams start out fresh with the dreams and inspirations that this year, well this year will be the year that you win it all.

So I am thinking more of the beautiful flowers that are blooming in the Flower Fields and of my Spring Crazy Quilt. As you can see, I did finish all the base stitching of the 21 sections, made great headway on the basket and have all my beads, needles and beading thread laid out and ready to go. Instructions in hand and I will just need to keep the cats away from the beads! I am really thrilled with the way it is coming out so far and my creative vocabulary has somewhat diminshed.

My to do list of taxes and assorted miscellaneous take me away from my stitching has been taken care of. I am thrilled! The only thing next to do from now till I get on the plane is stitch and stitch and stitch. Did I say stitch? Along with writing the stitch guides almost simultaneously. I am trying to start to do the preliminary guides on my iPad as I stitch… if I wait too long to write it down, well it seems to disappear from my memory.

AlleyCat can’t make up her mind if she really wants to get in that box… it’s like she is testing the water. She sat like that for what seemed like furever. Funny Girl! and until next time…keep on stitching

Just a week from today I will be headed to Dallas, to the Destination Dallas and The Spring Needlework Market. It is absolutely one of my most favorite shows of the year! Okay now I am sure that you are patiently waiting for me to tell you exactly why it is my fav…

Well to beging with I just love Dallas! The venue that the market is held at is in an Embassy Suites with the most amazing staff, one that remembers you from year to year. They go out of their way to accomodate you and all of our special needs to put on a successful show. Then there is the food! The restaurants that we have been enjoying the last few years with remarkable meals are always on our must go back to list…such as La Duni Latin Kitchen and then there is Rise Souffle. Oh what can I say about rise n ° 1 is that Missy could eat there every breakfast, lunch and dinner while we are there! What they do to a souffle, you have never ever had one like this. Then on my list to return to this year is Tillman’s Roadhouse where it is just good Texas cooking. Featuring tableside s’mores that are so famous that they were featured in a recent episode of “Sugar High” on the Food Network! I also hear of a Red Velvet Cake that I need to sample. So you must think that I am only going for the food?

Well there is the work of course. Setting up the room, comes up first on the list! To make it fun and inviting and eye catching. Of course I need to get ready for the almost sold out and could be by show time class.

I was assembling all the threads yesterday to make sure that everything is here. There is Planet Earth Silk, Splendor, Mandarin Floss, Kreinik, Soie d’Alger Silk, Silk Lame’ Braid and of course Sundance Beads. I need to get the needles out and also remember to bring my staple gun, staples and hammer to get the canvases ready for class. Stitch guides are printed and everything is in a nice neat little pile ready to be packed!

I will probably carry the threads and stitch guides on the plane with me as I would worry all the way there, what if they lose my suitcase? at least I will be ready! So if you are interested in the class, I would give Raymond a call as there are only a few seats left. Just show up with your usual stitching supplies and everything else is there for you!

I would like to thank the generousity of Rainbow Gallery, Kreinik, Sundance, Planet Earth Fiber for the thread donations for the class and Fleur de Paris for the stretcher bars.

Okay Miss AlleyCat has to be in the middle of it all. I was getting some things ready for the mail and of course, where does she need to sit? Would I expect anything else? and until next time…keep on stitching

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

The miracle of the “Swallows” of Capistrano takes place each year at the Mission San Juan Capistrano, on March 19th, St. Joseph’s Day.

As the little birds wing their way back to the most famous Mission in California, the village of San Juan Capistrano takes on a fiesta air and the visitors from all parts of the world, and all walks of life, gather in great numbers to witness the “miracle” of the return of the swallows.

Each year the “Scout Swallows” precede the main flock by a few days and it seems to be their chief duty to clear the way for the main flock to arrive at the “Old Mission” of Capistrano.

With the arrival of early dawn on St. Joseph’s Day, the little birds begin to arrive and begin rebuilding their mud nests, which are clinging to the ruins of the old stone church of San Juan Capistrano. The arches of the two story, high vaulted Chapel were left bare and exposed, as the roof collapsed during the earthquake of 1812.

This Chapel, said to be the largest and most ornate in any of the missions, now has a more humble destiny-that of housing the birds that St. Francis loved so well.

After the summer spent within the sheltered walls of the Old Mission in San Juan Capistrano, the swallows take flight again, and on the Day of San Juan, October 23, they leave after circling the Mission bidding farewell to the “JEWEL OF ALL MISSIONS” San Juan Capistrano, California.

I was really going to share some stitching with you today as it has been awhile hasn’t it? But after the crazy weather that we have been having the last few days and noticing that spring is supposed to be a day away, I remembered what the day is today. March 19th, the Feast of St Joseph. This is the day that the swallows are supposed to return to Capistrano, the Mission at San Juan Capistrano that is. How they know it is time, I have no idea whatsoever. I just figure that they are smarter than I.

Speaking of the weather, it has been wet and wild. A high of 44 yesterday, very windy, torrential downpours, hail and more rain. Then the sun would come out for 30 minutes and then the cycle would start all over again. I miss my 70 and blue skies…and it seems like most of you have stolen our weather! That’s okay as by Wednesday it is supposed to be warming up and with beautiful blue skies and warm temperatures.

Today is not much better in the rain department & I hope that the rains don’t keep the swallows away from their appointed flights. Rain rain go away…come back another day!

I have been to the Mission at San Juan Capistrano on March 19th more than once. And really you might see a few birds, which I believe are the harbingers of spring. The festivities are wonderful, very colorful in both the traditional clothing and the mariachi music. The food is delight and so many people come to San Juan Capistrano on this special day.

I did stitch lots and lots this weekend on it all! Raymond’s star, the NeedleDeeva Fabulous Firs and a little on Kelly Clark’s Spring Crazy Quilt. One of my plan’s for this weeks’s stitching is to work on the 2 seam treatments that will be in this next issue of Needlepoint Now to make sure that we described it to the best of our ability!

The old man is snoring! and that is the extent of my remembrance for that nursery rhyme… and in a way that old man really is snoring as Sylvester does quite well in that department.

For all of you and yes you know who you are… you who are gloating that your weather is better than it is here at the moment. That’s okay as we really need the rain. After all is said and done, I will take the weather here any time as it will usually be better than most other places most of the time.

Usually I wouldn’t budge out of the house in the rain if I didn’t have to, but I promised Michelle at Needlepoint of La Jolla that I would deliver her the exact beads that I used for the NeedleDeeva hearts. You know those Miyuki, Tohos and assorted other pieces of beads and bling. I was thrilled to hear that Needlepoint of La Jolla just happened to be the featured shop on The World Of Needlepoint. Check it out as I am sure that you will enjoy reading all about Michelle, Bill and the newest addition to the shop, Harrison.

A few other needed stops on the way home and now I am staying in till the rain goes away! I have plenty of food, cat food and adult beverages which is at the moment all of life’s necessities. I finished the last of the stitches for the guide for the NeedleDeeva Tree that I will be teaching at Destination Dallas. All my work is ready for Elizabeth, my desk is cleared, other stitch guides have been printed and mailed. I can just stitch, stitch and stitch!

Tomorrow I need to do some much needed housework, laundry and watering the plants, but for now I am going to stitch the day away. After all tomorrow is another day.

AlleyCat is hanging out on the balcony. You know it would be the end of the world if she were to get just one little tiny drop of water on her! (notice the rain drops on the railing as it is pouring out) and until next time…keep on stitching