Well not THAT Prince Harry! THIS Prince Harry! This gorgeous Maine Coon cat that I fell in love with. I could have easily been taken away for cat napping as I thought what would Sylvester & AlleyCat would think if I actually did bring him home?

So in case you are still wondering where I was…I just happened to whisk myself away to Atlanta. Not like I had nothing else to do, you know. I went to In Stitches, Atlanta’s premier needlepoint destination for a class, ’cause as you know too, I have nothing to stitch either!

Sunflowers & Berries, a NeedleDeeva canvas which was stitched and brought to life by Robin King. Oh what fun we had! Robin taught to a sold out crowd all her tips and techniques for stump work, laid filling stitches and stacked beads! The latter being my absolute favorite new stitch.

In Stitches; A Needlepoint Boutique is located in Buckhead section of Atlanta. A gorgeous older home that has been renovated and turned into this amazing needlepoint destination. Bam, the owner of In Stitches, is just a spitfire full of energy and just oozes with Southern charm & hospitality, making it so welcoming the moment you walk in the shop.

Harry was charming as a Prince should be, with this cutest little chirping meow. As he made his rounds in the early morning hours looking for lots of love and attention, he would announce his impending arrival.

Thank you to Bam and Harry for your southern hospitality and for making the weekend truly memorable…and please don’t tell Sylvester & AlleyCat that I was hanging out with that cat. and until next time…keep on stitching

Hmmm…the cats are wondering and I am just saying… I just can’t seem to sit still for very long! The bags are packed and I am ready to go.

So I am headed out on a little trip, not too far, not too close. Maybe you can guess? A little hint…where I am going I don’t need a passport. Only a few people know. It will be a fun time I am positive of that!

Another little hint is that it is stitching related! I need to get the rest of my needlepoint stuff packed and ready to go, if I can get Sylvester to move himself. He looks so comfy that I hate to disturb him.

So I may not see you for four or five days as I am not sure of what my internet connections will be. I need to learn to blog from my iPad one of these days!

I am still trying to get these cactus to open all their wonderful buds. I have moved them under the lamp, where the heat might coax them to awaken. I sure hope that they don’t bloom while I am gone! I think that I will move them back outside. and until next time…keep on stitching

This is World Penguin Day! Did you know? I didn’t, but I found that fascinating that there is a day dedicated to these great animals. I absolutely love watching penguins as they can be so very entertaining!

“Our flightless, flippered friends of the Southern Hemisphere have just one request today. They ask simply that we express our admiration for them, maybe “ooh and ahh” a bit—oh, yeah, and while we’re at it, just for today, they would like us to not imitate their goofy ever-so-graceful manner of waddling. Also, you know, belly sliding is perfectly normal. Thank you. (Statement made on behalf of the Concerned Penguin Waddlers and Belly Sliders Society of the Southern Hemisphere.)

To that, we here at Britannica can only say that we’ll do our best, and in honor of World Penguin Day, we’ve gathered a selection of photos that may (or may not) support the cause of the Concerned Penguin Waddlers and Belly Sliders Society of the Southern Hemisphere. (For effect, we recommend imagining Morgan Freeman’s voice for narration.)” Thank you to Britannica for this eloquence about penguins.

Pick up a penguin today and stitch one! Now not a real one, but a beautifully painted one… on a canvas such as the these that can be found in the Leigh Designs. Now you will see a few puffins mixed in, but you get the idea. I’ve seen a few of the penguins being stitched in Brenda Hart classes. Just stunning!

Or pick one up and eat one on April 25th - “World Penguin Day is a great opportunity to learn about and appreciate one of the few natives of Antarctica. This day coincides with the annual northward migration as theses flightless friends waddle their way to and fro on their journey home.” Well not eating a real one, but a chocolate one from my favorite place to order chocolates from!

So what is the appropriate attire for celebrating? perhaps wearing black and white… and tuxedos would always be nice. Speaking of tuxedos! and until next time…keep on stitching

 

 

Now say that fast 5 or 6 times! This one is called Jack Pine and will be the last one in the Fab Firs series of trees. Remember I said that I wasn’t necessarily stitching them in order? Did I say that this is my favorite one so far?

These canvases are by NeedleDeeva, stitched by moi and it will be the next retailers club available for your stitching pleasure through your favorite needlepoint shop. They will be starting later this year in August/September.

Remember this pile of threads from the other day? well you can see this canvas right on top. Some of the the trees are headed their way to the finishers so that they will be ready for the their debut at the Columbus TNNA market. We are talking finishing them as standups, maybe in different heights so that they would make a wonderful display on your mantel or a side table.

The weekend weather report was sunny and beautiful on Saturday, and Sunday the sun never showed its face until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I watched allot of baseball, did a little stitching and worked for hours and hours on the computer. Between stitch guides and getting the writing for Needlepoint Now ready to go to Elizabeth…where did the time go to? She then needs to send it all out to the proofers so that they can begin their work. I have one stitch guide for the magazine to finish up and then it will be time for drawing the stitches mixed in with writing a few reviews of my latest finds in the needlepoint world.

Then its time for the stitch guides for the trees, sometimes they can take hours and hours, making sure everything is just purr~fect! I too am not one who like to wait till the last minute as I don’t do my best work that way.

AlleyCat & Sylvester were letting me know that I was on the computer too long and ignoring them way too much yesterday! I have this big porcelain urn on the hearth of the fireplace and it is their toy box. When they want a toy to amuse themselves with or to get me to play with them, they go fishing for one or two or three…well you get the idea.

I knew that they were taking out a few toys as I can hear them…and when I did give in to go and get it up, this is what I found!

These kids, what am I going to do with them? and until next time…keep on stitching

Earth Day is a special day on which events are held to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earth’s natural environment. Earth Day is now global and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year.

Earth Day celebrates the planet we live on and it vows to make the earth a better place to live in. It makes us more earth conscious for all we have been given.

Mutts, my must read each and every day is in the Earth Day Celebration mood as Mooch and Earl remind us of it. Living here in San Diego, there are allot of goings on today to celebrate this special day. Balboa Park, a favorite respite of mine, will be the place to be today!

Think of all the wonderful threads that you use in your needlepoint that are made from silks, wools and cottons…where would we be without them?

Many retailers are offering a little something free today to help celebrate the day. Such as a free reusable bag or a free refill of coffee with a reusable cup…now what about us who don’t drink coffee?

Even though I would enjoy going to Balboa Park and take in all the festivities, I think instead that I will celebrate the day by not driving anywhere and staying home and communing with nature…the cats, the plants and my stitching.

AlleyCat is giving us a Kodak moment as she poses in front of some of the orchids. and until next time…keep on stitching

Earth Day is tomorrow and thinking along the lines that we should “green our world”… so I am thinking green in my stitching world!

This was the latest snap tray that I got while I was at the Dallas Market. I really love using these and there are always more than one on my coffee table. It is nice to use it to hold the threads that you are working with for that evening. When you are ready to call it a night, just pick it up and put it away to keep certain little paws and noses out of it. These kids of mine are pretty good and normally don’t bother the threads, but why tempt fate? The other snap tray holds another pair of scissors, extra packs of needles, a laying tool, a pen or a pencil or just whatever! And besides that it has cats…so it had to come home with me. I do need to get the frameweight made of the same fabric one of these days. She had already sold out of that one by the time I got a chance to shop.

A few of the newest colors of Hyla’s High Cotton! These are called Acid and Sprouts. Some great greens, don’t you think? I will look forward to using them in some wonderful project.

Speaking of being green and green threads and beads, another Fab Fir is about ready to show its self. Stay tuned!

AlleyCat is turned into her favorite channel of kitty tv. It is like a summer yesterday and the windows were open. The birds are very active today and really teasing her, poor kid! and until next time…keep on stitching

I just needed a little stitching on something for myself…you know, you get it! It is tough at times to be working on canvases for someone else, canvas that you will just hand over… no longer to be in your possession.

I was rummaging around in my needlepoint closet the other day, yes I do have a closet! It is really not very big, but it keeps me organized. I was looking for 2 roles of tape that I bought in Dallas, brought home, unpacked it and now what did I do with it? When I took it out of my suitcase, I should have put it where I keep my tape while it was in my hands, rather than set it down somewhere. Where or where could it be? It is driving me crazy!

So while in the closet, I came across this canvas of Sharon G’s that I started last year. I thought that maybe I could just sneak in a little stitching time on this, something to make my heart sing and dance! Of course my notes of ideas that I had have long since disappeared, so I have started in again. Of course too I realized that I don’t have the purr~fect color of turquoise Soie d’Alger. I found that this partial skein of Soie Cristale that is in “the stash” was the one. That’s ordered. The possibilities of gold Kreinik are endless and I settled on 002C. OF course I didn’t have enough on hand of that color in size 8, so thread shopping I went. I needed to add just the right magnet..the black kitty cat really goes with this canvas, don’t you think?

I have the border figured out and the vertical stripes counted out. They are different widths and the lengths are in odd canvas threads…a challenge but I am sure I will come up with something. I am thinking that the triangles will be Sprat’s Head and there will be more beads along the way. The 2 beaded cats and the little mouse still need their eyes. You do see the mouse? It is on the right hand side of the canvas along the black and gold squares.

A little white Accentuate for the moon and some Kreinik in turquoise and purple is next on the search for list. By the time I get this all together, it will be time to put this away and stitch what I should be stitching. Oh well!

While I wasn’t looking my orchids have been blooming away. This are located in what I consider “the prime orchid real estate window” which seems to have just the right amount of light and a little sunshine. I just water them and this is what I get. Every 4-6 weeks I take them all over to the sink and check them out, dust the leaves and talk to them. I have 2 on this shelf that have never given me new bloom stems in a few years, so they may loose their spot here!

AlleyCat and I were playing away yesterday and all of a sudden she says “game over!” as she laid down on the toy. Funny girl! and until next time…keep on stitching

Not just any alley cat, my AlleyCat. Everybody is thinking that cats have a boring life as all they do is sleep, sleep and sleep some more. While she does her fair amount of sleeping, she is quite the busy body, a very good supervisor and is very involved with what I am doing most of the time.

Here she is checking out the plants being watered and moved around. I am thinking that she is just hanging out in the jungle.

I am trying to get some work done on the computer and what is she doing? Do you notice where her behind is parked? Sitting on the paper that I need to see and with her tail draped over my wrist!

Okay now she is so tired from all her busy bodiness, that she stopped to take a little rest… showing me that position is everything in life! I have no idea why she lays on her back like that, so unlady like. When she lays around the house like this, I will say to her “look at you” and the tail goes at a mile a minute, then stops. I will say it again and there goes the tail, so I am convinced that she understands what I am saying.

Where or where can my AlleyCat be? well I knew she was curled up sleeping somewhere as she did have a very busy day. I was looking for something and all of a sudden I hear a little “meow” as if to say “you woke me up!” and this is what I see. Now you wonder how do I know who it is? well a mother does know her children, doesn’t she? and until next time…keep on stitching

Emerges the next Fab Fir! and this one is called “Blue Fir.” I auditioned many different threads and stitches, beads and crystals and I tried everything under the sun to make it fun, enjoyable and a little challenging to stitch! I have not been stitching them in order, just picking up the next one as the mood strikes me.

I was thrilled with the final result! I hope you will be too. When I pick “stitches” I take into consideration the compensation stitches and how those will look. For instance this tree narrows down to a single thread in more than one spot, so I knew that a vertical stitch would not work…well in my eyes it wouldn’t. I have been trying not to duplicate stitches in the trees and the backgrounds, which in small areas gets very challenging. Some of them, the stars have not been beaded, but rather done in French Knots.

So how many is this finished now that I have shown you? Three? Well I better get my myself in gear as we want to have these finished and back from the finishers in time for their debut at the Summer TNNA Market in Columbus.

The Fab Firs from NeedleDeeva will be available at your favorite needlepoint shop in late August or early September. Just give them a call and order yours now!

I had a wonderful day today as I enjoyed a nice ride, well 2 hours worth each way with no traffic to Aristea in Santa Monica. Wendy and I visited and talked threads and stitches while Laura Taylor was teaching her class of the Melissa Shirley SeaSide Compotier. What a beautifully stitched piece and what a great teacher Laura is! So many great techniques in this piece and if I only had the time. The pictures don’t do this justice and if you just have to have this…just give Aristea a call 1-310-476-6977 and I am sure that they will be happy to get one on it’s way to you!

Sylvester is giving me this pitiful look as to “okay Mom, when are you going to sit on the couch with me and stitch?” and until next time…keep on stitching

Well you should be! you need to be! and if you have been watching the Voice… you know that Chris Mann has been quite the singing sensation. He is the son of a needlepoint designer extraordinaire, Patti Mann.

Now this is a note from Chris himself as it seems like they are adding some intrigue and interest to the elimination rounds…

“Mann Fans! I need your help!

We have a Voice plot twist….It was just announced that this Monday will be an elimination round! This means one artist will be sent packing BEFORE the votes are counted!

Here’s how to help: Go to The Voice and Christina Aguilera‘s Facebook page and ask them to Save Chris Mann!”

Thank u MannFans

How can you say no to a face like that? I will have to ask Patti the next time I see her, “do we get a chance to meet this handsome son of yours?” so get busy and vote! Vote now, vote later and vote often!

Yesterday’s weather report was cold, rainy, windy and overcast. It was actually warmer in NY than it was here. What’s the deal with that? We had a little time in the afternoon when the sun did peak out and the kids took advantage of getting a little fresh air. and until next time…keep on stitching