That is the name of the canvas! A design by Sharon G and I especially love her canvases, and no I am not saying that just cause I know she reads the blog from time to time! I really do love them…is it the cats? or is it the colors? or both? The blocks and swatches of great hues in the design are so inviting for wonderful stitches and thread & bead combinations within each individual area.

Sharon G especially does really great cats. I would consider these a little more art deco or stylized that her more realistic cats. I have 2 of those in the stitching closet just waiting for me to pick them up and start stitching! One of these days…

Sharon gave me this canvas last year at one of the markets and I did start working on it right away. Of course I beaded the 2 main cats. I am wondering if it is those 2 that are having their Cat’s Night Out? Then this sort of fell to the back of the rotation as other canvases were being stitched. Canvases that had to be stitched, canvases that had deadlines. I was missing working on Cat’s Night Out and my reward for finishing the star for Raymond is a little stitching for me.

The purple stripe on the right side, I stitched in Bijoux, you know the one with the black core, the original stuff. I wasn’t sure if I liked it as it sort of sinks in, but seeing it in the picture, well I kind of like it.

I am working on the background behind the beaded cat in the upper right side in Kennan Stitch, using 2 strands Soie d’Alger for the Gobelin part of the stitch. Kreinik #8 in color 027 will be used for the single tent stitch. I am hoping that it will look just purr~fect!

As I continue from section to section, I will have an idea or will try something out. Allot of the what determines what stitch I select is the count of the area that I am working in. I am really precise in that the compensating stitches must flow and make sense. Otherwise I will try something else!

My brilliant idea is to have this finished for the framer when they call me and tell me that Deco Kitty is realy to be picked up. Lets hope I can pull this off. I probably too should write an preliminary stitch guide while it is fresh in my mind and I have the piece in front of me. If I wait too long the thoughts, strands, color names and stitches sort of disappear.

I came back from my morning walk to this greeting. They were both meowing at me as I came up the stairs. You would have thought that I had left them for days!

Of course the papers that I needed to take care of…guess where they were? and until next time…keep on stitching

It really is! This is a new Raymond Crawford canvas, well it was new at the January Market. I sort of fell in love with it…you know it is so sleek and elegant. Raymond pulled it off the wall at breakdown time and handed it to me to stitch it for him.

Sure! I was thrilled…but that was easier said than done. Sometime my eyes are way bigger than what my fingers can complete and I take on waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more stitching than I should. What was I thinking? I loved this design and it’s not very big…piece of cake!

I wanted to try the new Sundance Sparkles as I envisioned it in my mind as the just the right thread to use for the gold. I had my order placed with Sundance and waited patiently for the threads to arrive, which did just before I went to the Dallas market. It would have to wait till later, can’t work on it now. Where does the time go to? I decided I better get stitching on this before Raymond fires me!

I tried to empower my inner Barbara Elmore and manipulate the thread for the best effect, but it was too heavy and overpowered this delicate star. The star was shelved while I came up with something else. Robin King lays out her stitches in Photoshop to help her envision what it will look like…I actually stitch it, look at it from a distance and then photograph it. Sometimes I see something in the picture that I like or don’t like.

I auditioned beading the gold and after a few hours I am thinking “am I out of my mind or what?” so the beads came out. Staying with the beads, I then thought brick beading, where the beads nestle into a canvas hole and that didn’t look right either. Still staying with the beads, I stitched a skip tent with gold Kreinik and then filled in with beads. That wasn’t right as the swirl effect was lost and again that came out.

Now my burning question is…why do I always do reverse stitching right after I have vacummed the rug? Never seems to fail! Okay well enough with the gold beads. I then stitched a 4 way Continental over 1 and that came out…well how about a T stitch? that wasn’t it either.

Have you counted all the ways that I have started stitching this gold? After a few choice words, I decided that I am stitching this the way that I would stitch it for myself. The next stitch that I went to was skip tent, stitching in diagonal rows as I wanted to keep the open canvas holes clean. That was it! The beautiful gold shows up through the stitching and the movement of the swirls was not lost.

Raymond wanted French Knots for the holly berries, so that’s what I did there, using different sizes and shades of red Kreinik to give illusion of 3 different berries. Last but not least were the leaves and what was I missing on this piece? Beads! I used one of my favorite green beads in one of my go to stitches.

How was your Memorial Day weekend? was it a stitchy weekend? I stitched, I watched baseball, I paid my respects to the fallen brothers and sisters who payed the ultimate price for our freedom. In between all the stitching, my Navy niece and her daughters were visiting here from Northern California and we went to the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park Sunday afternoon. What a nice time we had…well I did anyway and it was great spending time with them. The favorite moment was when Bella who will be 7 years old on Thursday saw an okapi and gave it a new sort of a name which I like better…it is a zorse! Well she explained, it had the stripes of a zebra on its legs, but the rest of the animal was brown like a horse. What else could it be?

Sylvester was lending a helping paw as I was trying to finish up the stitch guide for Raymond. Why does he need to park himself right there, right now? and until next time… keep on stitching

I love this canvas! It is by Kirk & Hamilton and being from England, they do some of the best Patriotic designs I have seen. This is on my someday to stitch in this lifetime wish list.

Monday is the official start to summer, the first long weekend of the summer months, the day to plant gardens or to have a family cookout. But really Monday is Memorial Day, the day to honor our veterans…and we should not forget that.

Do you have any plans for the weekend? I see a very stitchy weekend for me, along with watching allot of baseball. I finally finished the canvas for Raymond that I came home ages ago! I was expecting him to fire me, but after I texted him the finished piece last night, he was the ultimate sweetheart he always is. So I see a stitch guide in my future. This one shouldn’t take too long…ooh I say that now, so I hope I don’t jinx myself. I will have a picture for you next week.

Guess who was up to her usual mischeviousness?

Usually after she runs out, I just leave her be for a few minutes and then as soon as I open the door, she is ready to come in…

well she was being difficult this time…

are you talking to me?

Have a great Memorail Day weekend. the kids and I are taking the weekend off. and until next time…keep on stitching

Wouldn’t you just love to join the San Diego American Needlepoint Guild and Kay Stanis for a wonderful day of stitching? Held at the beautiful Torrey Pines Christian Church on La Jolla Scenic Drive in La Jolla California on August 11, 2012.

Start your morning off with a Continental Breakfast while perusing the amazing array of opportunity prizes, stitchers baskets, silent auction and varied selection of books.

Kay will teach this beautiful piece in a choice of 5 colorways. Red with teal, black with red, navy with lavender, light turquoise with flamingo pink and then my absolute favorite…

turquoise and purple! I had originally selected the black and red as I thought it would be quite elegant, but as soon as I saw this one finished…well I had to change my colors. I just love it!

So you say you live too far away, you have have plans for the day, you have to work…well not to worry! We can or should I say I will… be very happy to send your kit to you after the stitch in is over.

Here’s a closeup of the amazing little piece. Isn’t this wonderful? For only $75, how can you say no? It is the annual fundraiser for our guild. Great stitching, a fun day with fellow needlepointers, a nice box lunch and you don’t even have to do the dishes! What could be better than that? I know I will be there…how about you?

Sandy of Sandy’s Finishing Touches found this piece of purple ultrasuede and finished it by creating this elegant stitching accessory to hold your scissors, needles and laying tool.

Visit our website for more information: www.sdang.org additional information contact: Nancy Holub [email protected]

The deadline for registration is June 29, 2012 to give Kay time to prepare our canvases and stitch guides. Threads need to be ordered and just so much more to ready for this big day. There is a little incentive to register just a bit early too… if you do register by June 17, 2012 your name will be entered into a drawing for a special gift.

I did a little stitching last night while watching lots of baseball. The original plan was to stitch all day, but I wound up doing some more spring cleaning along with a little time in my storage unit. A few trips to Goodwill and I feel so much better as I work through more than a few years of well I will just stick that in my storage unit!

It is Sylvester’s turn to tune into their favorite channel of kitty tv. and until next time…keep on stitching

It’s Fab Fir Monday! This one is called Rocky Mountain Blue Spruce and introduces some new colors of Soie d’Alger and a different Sundance gold bead so that you don’t get bored with the same ones. This one was especially enjoyable as all of the ideas and brainstorms that I envisioned worked! Don’t you love it when it all comes together?

I channelled my inner Ruth and added a special touch of bling! The shiny gems are 6mm Swarovski Marguerite’s in Peridot with an Aurora Borealis finish for that extra glint sure to catch your eye. Some bead shops might call them Margarita’s…I wonder what they are really thinking about?

The Margarite’s can be added to your canvas and held into place with a French Knot, but I was challenged with pulling the knot through…so that wasn’t going to work. A exceptionally small Charlotte bead can be used to keep the Margarite in place, but I didn’t have any in the right color…so I just used one of the Sundance clear red beads that have been appearing in some of the other trees.

This was my first time using the Rainbow Gallery Petite Silk Lame’ Braid in the background stitch. This color palette that the trees are painted in was very challenging and no matter how many times I went shopping for just that right color of Kreinik, it just wasn’t to be found.

NeedleDeeva is shipping some early preorders to your favorite needlepoint shops as we speak. So if you just have to have one now and I mean NOW and you don’t want to wait for the club to officially start, call you LNS and order one or two or…well you get the idea.

Did you have a good weekend? I did! I stitched, I read, I enjoyed allot of baseball and just chilled. Thank you to SuZy Murphy who recommended that I read Imperfect, the life of Jim Abbott. He was born with one hand and how he overcame this to become a pitcher and eventually threw a no hitter while he was with the Yankees. Great read SuZy…any more suggestions?

AlleyCat is hanging out and thinking that she is hiding behind the plants. and until next time…keep on stitching

Have you ever stitched with Bijoux? It is one of my favorites! It’s all Brenda Hart’s fault… I remember when I first started taking classes from her, she would select it for me. Bijoux at one time was known as Lacquered Jewels, which is a fine metallic thread. It would come in precut lengths and even though I loved it, the lengths were always so short and after you anchored it, there was only enough length to take about a dozen stitches. Ooh I would get so frustrated! Brenda, I can hear you laughing now…

Bijoux as it is known now, is a fine cord with rich iridescent jewel tones wrapped around a black core. It no longer comes in precut lengths, but on a spool as you see it here. It can be used as a blending filament, as a top stitch or several strands can be worked together to stitch a background!

I was thrilled to learn that there is now a new color line called Bijoux Glints! What makes this different is that it is made with a white core instead of the black. There are just 4 colors right now Silver, Diamond, Bronze and White Gold. I stitched the moon on Sharon G’s Cat’s Night Out with the White Gold color and I am thrilled with the results. I will look forward to using this great thread in more of my stitching.

The spring cacti are in full bloom and I have moved them to the coffee table where I can enjoy them while I sit and stitch. I also relocated my bronze garden cat as it was buried in between the orchids and I could hardly see him (or her as the case might be)

My snap trays are hard at work holding bead & thread possibilities for this canvas. The other snap tray has extra needles, another scissors, a pen, a pencil and just stuff.

I am settling in for a long day of stitching and watching baseball on the tv. The game last night was a good one as both teams played well to a sold out crowd at Petco Park in the heart of the historic Gaslamp Quarter in beautiful downtown San Diego.

What are you plans for today? It seems like my cats can’t get enough either of that kitty tv! now is this Sylvester or AlleyCat? and until next time…keep on stitching

Canvas by Sharon G entitled Cat’s Night Out. Sharon gave me this canvas last year at one of the shows to see what I could do with it. Yes I did say last year!

I beaded the 2 cats right away and finally added their eyes the other night. I used black beading thread with the green beads, but when working up close and staring into their eyes, it looked like they had a black eye…so out it came and I used the gray beading thread instead. Now that I see it in the picture, the eyes are too light and washed out. So guess what I am going to do? yes take it our yet again and redo with the black beading thread! I am thinking that I will not be usually looking into their eyes that close on a normal basis.

Actually when beads are not stitched twice or anchored, which is not necessary when they are in the center as these are, it is not that difficult taking them out.

The little mouse…do you see the mouse? Well he got his beady little black eye too!

The border was stitched using Kreinik 002C. That color has a great shine that I enjoy using… not my favorite to thread in the needle though. I used the same color in the outlining of the Laurel Burch Rainbow Birds.

I have been thinking up stitches and ideas as I work around the canvas. I am thinking Sprat’s Heads for the turquoise triangles, some 4 way Continental in one of the open areas and well who knows what else? I will go through Brenda Hart’s Book 1 for some inspiration for a stitch for the sky and probably will use a Bijoux in purple.

Speaking of Bijoux, there are 4 new colors out…did you know that? I used one of the new ones for the moon and I loved the way it came out! The white that I had was too white and the gold was too dark, so I thought I would give this a try.

More about the new Bijoux tomorrow as I need to shoot some pictures of it. It is way too early right now to think about taking pictures! I am sure that I will be using this new Bijoux allot in my stitching.

Are you planning on a stitchy weekend? I sure am mixed in with some baseball. I have tickets for tonight’s game against the Angels. It should be a beautiful warm night for a game.

AlleyCat got my attention when I commented to her that she was watching way too much kitty tv. and until next time…keep on stitching

Really it is! I kid you not! Today is the national day to ride your bike to work day. These days I don’t have far enough to go to ride my bike to work, but I love the idea. It is a great way to exercise, diminish the traffic and a way to help the environment by decreasing the emissions.

This new canvas by Melissa Shirley, a Mary Lake Thompson design would be a great way for me to ride my bike to work! I asbsolutely love this and would like to put this on my must need to stitch in this lifetime list. Melissa has introduced 4 of these bicycles to her line, all of which I could see myself stitching, but this one is my favorite! I think it is the watermelon with that little bird perched on top of it.

The weather has been picture perfect lately in America’s finest city. It has motivated me to spend my days doing some late spring cleaning. Well technically it is still spring, so I am not that late! but with so many college students graduating, I feel like it is really summer already.

My orchids are blooming up a storm and I still need to repot the succulents that I got the other day. They have overgrown the planter that they have been living in for the last few years, so I want to move them to something bigger and plant the smaller ones.

I am in countdown mode already for the Columbus Needlework Market which is just about a month away. I already rummaged through my stash looking for stretcher bars for my classes at market. Am I out of control or what?

I have been stitching the last few nights on my Sharon G’s Cat’s Night Out. This canvas does call for lots of beading too, which I have been enjoying. For me the beading is so relaxing as you don’t have to worry about counting, stripping and laying my threads!

AlleyCat has been quite the spoiled child the last few mornings. She has been sleeping in later than Sylvester & I, so that she is not making an appearance for her breakfast… so when she does decide to get up and stroll into the kitchen, she meows at the top of her lungs as if she is saying “feed me, feed me!” what’s a Mother to do? and until next time…keep on stitching

This is the latest in the Fab Firs Finishing! Now I have enjoyed working on these trees so much that in a way I am sorry to see them come to an end. I have been keeping all of the threads, beads and crystals together in the hopes that the Deeva just might design a few new ones for special occassions. You know maybe one that I can debut and teach at your favorite needlepoint shop…or maybe we can have a stitch~in together on the Mostly Needlepoint blog? Would you like that?

The Fab Fir that you are looking at is called Gingerbread Spice. I love the brown coloration of this one and all the beads! I really did try to stitch one or two with no beads at all, but for some reason that never did happen.

The guides have been signed, sealed and delivered to the studios of The Deeva. The Swarovski crystals have been counted and sent along with the stitch guides. Yes the rest of the crystals did arrive and I had a relaxing break sitting here and counting. It went rather quickly…even though I kept doubting my count as 20 crystals really don’t look like much of anything! I kept saying, well that can’t be 20! I should order some more of them now since it did take about 6 weeks for them to arrive from the Swarovski factories in Austria. I hate waiting to the last minute!

I started stitching again on my Sharon G’s Cats Night Out, but since it’s been awhile since I last worked on it, I had to keep getting up and look for this thread and that thread and then my favorite beading needles. I have also bought some more beads to experiment with, including the new Tila beads along with some 1.5m cubes and triangles. I am going to enjoy a few nights of stitch thinking and trying out some ideas and then it is back to what I need to be stitching for the Deeva and Raymond. Yes I am a bad girl, I haven’t finished that star yet. I think I should just call him and say Raymond, let me just pay you for this canvas.

The cats woke me up bright and early for breakfast, but both of them have now disappeared for their early morning nap. That is not like the both of them to go off into the deepest regions nestling into one of their favorite sleeping spots so early in the morning. No play time, no kitty massages…oh well. There isn’t much on kitty tv yet as the birds are very quiet this morning…not like yesterday!

AlleyCat was again busy supervising as I was replanting some of the succulents that had grown too big for their container! and until next time…keep on stitching

A little stash enhancement could be in the form of a new orchid or two or a canvas or two? They both seem to be multiplying…and as we all know that need and want are not always the one and the same.

This was the orchid that I came home with on Friday from Adelaide’s. I really do like the orchids that have the bigger blooms, but then I saw how many blooms and buds are on this one and had to look twice! I don’t have this coloration yet and I did especially love this pot with the very Asian feel. When you see AlleyCat modeling with that green colored tissue paper that looks so good against her fur, that paper comes home with me from Adelaide’s.

A few canvases added themselves to my stash enhancement. A Stitch in Time was having a sale…and who can pass up a sale? Anyhow, Meredith convinced me that I needed this one to honor my previous career of being a chef. Canvas is by Rebecca Woods.

I could pass up this kitty ornament! Canvas is by Patti Mann. Of course the candy canes are asking to be beaded!

This is to stitch a remembrance that I will be in Phildelphia later this year. Or maybe I will make it into a nametag?! Once upon a time I used to stitch a new nametag for seminar every year. Lately I just haven’t had the time!

The kids decided that they each wanted to get me an orchid! Actually this one came from an orchid farmer that was at a local farmer’s market. I had the pot already and I tied a little ribbon on it…maybe I am ready to strart working at Adelaide’s?

My house is clean, the laundry is done, the plants and orchids have been watered and tended to and have settled into their new spots…one more file to work on for the magazine. And oh did I say all the stitch guides are done? Later today I can start settling in for some serious stitching!

AlleyCat is hard at work supervising! I was getting ready to replant this container with the mini succulents that I had brought home. and until next time…keep on stitching