A day of pranks and frivolities! I Googled the origins of the day, which seems to be uncertain… anyway, I was and still am not into being mischevious as Mooch is here.

Not too often do I see these kids curled up together. Actually Sylvester was sleeping in their favorite corner of the couch first, when AlleyCat decided in was time to get close.

It was very sweet to see them together, when all of a sudden she realized oh no you’re touching me! and she chased him off. Now you know who is the boss around here! or maybe she was pulling her April Fools’ a few days early?

and until next time…keep on touching

All good things must come to an end. As I have said before I have taken this class with the The Embellishment Squad more times than I can count and if I could, I would follow them across the US to make sure that I don’t miss one…they are that special together!

Suzanne was working her magic today!

Judy and Pat must have gotten the memo to wear leopard print! They were kind enough to pose for us.

BTW this was Pat’s canvas. Makes me want to go out and order this canvas from my LNS so I could stitch this. The ball of cotton is my fav!

I believe Tony was demonstrating repoussé to Carol, while Anne was watching.

Jeanene would sneak off for some retail therapy and come back with these amazing feathers! The girls were very happy with them.

I hope by the end of the 4-day class, they really don’t want to strangle each other! or us for that matter. Again Tony, Suzanne and Meredith thanks for another great class and see you again soon…

I have been stitching away these days, and not not on the Zecca canvas that I took with The Embellishment Squad! I finished my first magazine deadline which you will see in Needlepoint Now in the July/August issue and it was a fun! fun! fun! stitch. My next deadline is almost done and these 2 are no small canvases, each coming in at about 10″ x 10″ design area, then I have 2 small canvases to finish up and then 1 more for the magazine. Whew!

my kids…

and until next time…keep on stitching

Day Two and Tony was our fearless leader at The Embellishment Squad Class at In Stitches in Atlanta. He was working on a Point de Tresse stitch which was creating one of her bangle bracelets.

Tony is offering some words of wisdom…

Now he is working on a stitch for Nancy’s canvas, and she sat on the other side of me. I had the best group I could have hoped for at my table… while making some wonderful new friends and building more sisters in stitching. I will get to see most of them in August when they travel west and so looking forward to it!

Here’s a closer shot of Nancy’s happy piece, another canvas by Zecca! Note the colors of her needle minder and her canvas…

In case you forgot, this is my Zecca canvas and I am stitching one of my flowers. I am sad to say that I have not had time to work on this since I came back as my stitching time is being used on other must do pieces.

Class was over and Jeanene decorated in the spirit of Chinese New Year. A delicious spread of munchies and more. As we needed to build up our strength for what was ahead!

Origami or the art of paper folding as we made Ort containers. A fun night!

I texted this picture to Elizabeth at The Needlepoint Now Studios the other day and told her that if I was running a little behind (no pun intended) that it wasn’t my fault.

In case some of you wonder why I have a laptop sitting in front of a big monitor… that gets used when I am working on stitch charts, as you see here. Luckily there was no supurr~visor in the way!

and until next time…keep on stitching

Last I left you and we were talking about REAL stitching, we were in Atlanta talking about the amazing class at In Stitches with the Embellishment Squad…

I thought that I would go back to the first day. This beautiful canvas by Colors of Praise was being stitched by the Niedra (and excuse me if the spelling is not correct!) who was sitting next to me. Now notice…as I did, how the personalized magnets that they made for us just blend into the canvas. This first day Meredith was at our fearless leader and she was helping her create these beautiful earrings! A special stitch was created to follow the turn of her sleeve.

Another amazing stitch that was just dreamed up for this Zecca canvas by The Embellishment Squad that was being stitched by Linda.

Note the perfectly matched frameweight designed by Carol Eix that was holding down Elizabeth Hurd’s canvas!

Look at that most amazing mushroom that Meredith demonstrated in an Elizabeth Trellis Stitch and ruched Sparkle Rays!

We had a visit from Lou, Tony’s husband, as he came by to teach how to make some  amazing ribbon roses. I was so thrilled to meet Lou as all these years I have known Tony and heard him talke about Louis, I had never I met him. Lou you need to come to the West Coast when Tony is out here teaching!

Look at those beautiful roses!

Okay I am off at 0dark30 Saturday morning to visit with Brenda at A Stitch in Time…no class, just sit and stitch and visit with everybody, so I will see you in a few days. I am going to keep on this thread about The Embellishment Squad until all the pictures that I took are shared with you!

My kids…

and until next time…keep on stitching

We no, not you, but me! As much as I love getting email… there is nothing like coming home and finding a letter, a card or a package waiting in your mailbox.

Yesterday was twice as nice for me as I had not one, but two packages delivered! First were my baseball tickets…not a full season of tickets, but a mini package. I had season tickets for 17 years previously and fell off the wagon last year. But now I am back and my first game is just 2 weeks away. I can’t wait!

and she’s here too! AlleyCat on canvas, by Labors of Love. I will be bringing this next month to my sistah in black cats, Meredith when she teaches at A Stitch in Time. To help me pull colors and I am sure, no I know that she will come up with some amazing ideas for those geometric patterns.

Speaking of AlleyCat, my silly girl, she was still having a great time with that piece of paper!

and until next time…keep on stitching

Speak Meow? It is spoken to me all the time! I have read where the meows are saved for humans as the kitties are trying to tell you something. Do you get it?

I was feeling pretty good about where I was with my deadlines and it was such a beautiful day that I didn’t want to just stay home and work all day long…so I took a little trip downtown to The Cat Cafe. Where I could speak lots of meow!

A place where local roasted coffee is served while you are making friends with said felines.

The trouble is I want to take them all home with me! Cat Cafes started in Japan where feline residents in apartments are not allowed, so it was a way to get your feline fix. So now we have one in San Diego!

So famous already that they had a visit by the Cat Channel!

They work in conjunction with the San Diego Human Society…

and these cats find their furever homes! Isn’t that wonderful?

and this canvas is finding it’s furever home! AlleyCat on canvas by Labors of Love.

and until next time…keep on stitching

about Peeps! Wow I don’t think you expected this now did you? Are you a fan of Peeps? I know I am, even though I don’t buy them as I would rather enjoy some sinful handmade pastry instead. Don’t get me wrong, I do love them, but… I hear that some Peeps fans let them get stale before enjoying them.

Here are 20 delicious facts about Peeps… those crispy sugary marshmallowy treats, manufactured in Pennsylvania that seem to be everywhere this time of year!

They can be found any place you shop as we ready for Easter, to stuff in baskets, for decorating the house and everything else in between. I remember as a kid that there were just the original yellow chicks, but now they come in lots of colors and even bunnies and more…oh my!

How about an ode penned to Peeps?

Do you know that there is an official on-line Peeps store and…and… and a Peeps store in Washington DC, where there is everything Peeps?

Even though there were approximately 2 billion Peeps made last year, that number was surpassed by other candies made by their parent company such as Mike and Ike and Hot Tamales!

and how about Peeps in needlepoint? These canvases have been quite popular this year as I see lots of talk about them on Facebook. A great way to enjoy Peeps calorie free!

All Peeps aside, I am looking forward to a day of stitching and watching spring training baseball… all I know that it is 2 weeks and counting!

Play time continues! I wonder if she is thinking if I can’t see you, does that mean that you can’t see me?

and until next time…keep on stitching

Really? Seriously! last Saturday was our class with Diane Hermann for her outlandishly popular Walking the Waters Edge. We couldn’t have had a more perfect venue, literally stitching by the dock of the bay!

Here’s the piece and really it is all floss, a little pearl cotton and some beads!

and no I didn’t get this much done in class…see my wave count was off in the last few repeats and even though no one would ever know that, it was driving me absolutely craaaaaaaaaaaaaazy! So I had to figure it out, which I did and stitching this piece is sorta kinda like eating potato chips…you just want another.

This was my latest and newest magnet from my sistah Meredith! I really should’ve had a starfish or something like that, but this will do just fine. I was also practicing my bullion knots which create the starfish.

Well it’s Saturday morning and you know what that means…breakfast at The Cottage! But no wait, we are trying a new place this morning, Sugar and Scribe that opened across the street from The Cottage. Gosh I feel like a traitor….shhh, please don’t tell them.

some play time yesterday with that silly girl.

and until next time…keep on stitching

Spring has sprung! and even though I hear that it is snowing in some areas, and Southern California has been enjoying summerlike temperatures…the calendar does say Spring!

The vernal equinox is the time that the sun crosses the celestial equator (amazing what you can learn when you Google) on it’s way north. Speaking in English, this means warmer days, more hours of sunlight, baseball and so much more!

Just to help you think of flowers and spring and warmer temperatures, here are a couple of canvases that should do that! The old fashioned bicycle is finished and does need to go to the framers.

This one still waits patiently to be worked into the queue. One of these days! See sometimes it is becomes daunting to stitch on what you need to be stitching on, not what you want to.

Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do, just sometimes I want to stitch something for me!

Sylvester is patiently waiting for me to turn the water on in the sink. Even though there is a bowl of water right behind him, he prefers to drink from the faucet getting his face and whiskers all wet in the mean time. Silly kitty!

and until next time…keep on stitching

Are you a basketball fan? I am not, but I do follow this madness with the bracket selections and the teams that move on. I have read where the day that the selecting all of the winning teams in your brackets is the least productive day in the workplace! I will pay attention to the travels of our home team the Aztecs and of course Kentucky who was not yet lost a game yet this year, am I right about the latter my sistah Meredith? I know that she is crazy about her home team!

and speaking of Meredith and wasn’t that was a great segue to continue telling you about The Embellishment Squad?

Today I sorta kinda wanted to share with you inside this most amazing shop, In Stitches, which is where this class was this time.

Tony and Meredith are dancing up a storm here and so much a part of this class is their comaraderie amongst them.

This is the Rainbow Room with a center table for taping canvases and pulling threads.

Now why the Rainbow Room? well it is mostly Rainbow Gallery Threads!

The shop is located in Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia…notice the bucks on the wall? Clever isnt’t that? and more about those one of these days!

Located in an older home in Buckhead and each room is filled with threads and beads and canvases…oh my!

Defintely a stitcher’s paradise!

Thank you Jeanene for creating the stitchers heaven! Sign me up for the next Embellishment Squad as I’ll be back!

AlleyCat is ready to go to work!

and until next time…keep on stitching