It really is! Halloween is a very favorite time of the year for me. But I have been thinking that I haven’t even been home the last few years for my celebrations. For a few Halloweens I had been in the cold and snow in Denver with the Deeva taking classes at Diversions from Tony Minieri.

Last year I was with the poodles at the Needlepoint Now studios while Jay and Elizabeth were touring through China. This year I am at home and get to enjoy a little of my own decorating! Stitching in the season too as I will work on Mrs. Cat tonight!

This Melissa canvas really puts me in the Halloween spirit… well after all doesn’t that look like AlleyCat?

Meredith was in the Halloween spirit at A Stitch in Time teaching her magic on canvas.

Mr. Boo from Melissa Shirley! This picture was from Melissa’s Halloween display at market. I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to stitch this as a model few years back.

Mooch and Earl have been having fun getting ready for Halloween too!

My style of trick or treating!

and until next time…keep on stitching

Really! and sorry I couldn’t resist that…but it really described my visit to the Pacific Northwest. I think that I have finally caught up on my sleep by now.

See I can fall asleep with no problem at all, but when I wake up during the night either by a noise, having to go to the bathroom or missing my cats…well then I can’t get back to sleep. Toss and turn, read a little, check out the iPad, email and Facebook and hope that I will be able to get some more shuteye sooner or later. I am thinking about the class…did I forget anything? will they like the stitches? will they like the piece? will they struggle with what goes in the piece? Then after class was over, it was how much work that is waiting for me when I get home!

This picture was taken at Pikes Marketplace looking through the windows loaded with raindrops onto Puget Sound. To the left is the Seattle Great Wheel or reaaly just a ferris wheel as I would call it. It rained quite a bit while I was there, and even though I would have loved to have seen blue skies and sunshine…the pitter patter of raindrops was really music to my ears. Since it really never rains in Southern California!

So why was I in Seattle? To teach Welcome by Annie Lane at My Sisters Place! Thank you to all the stitchers that took the class, to Dorothy and Tom for wining and dining me in style and especially to Donnelle and Rick for granting my wish of taking in some sights, sharing lots of laughs and a glass of wine or two.

This completes my whirlwind schedule as I traveled to the 4 corners of the US and more…lets see Chicago to Dallas to Boston to Wilton to Atlanta to Phoenix to Seattle. And the cats are still speaking to me!

The World Series is over, tomorrow is Halloween and boy do I have lots of stitching to do! Breakfast at The Cottage, a trip to see Brenda Hart at A Stitch in Time on Saturday…

AlleyCat sends her best meows! and until next time…keep on stitching

Now you didn’t think that the cats would let me forget that today is their day… now would you? well really in the scheme of things, everyday is their day!

Tonight I will be stitching on Mrs. Cat as I need to finish her fur and the hat. This picture was taken at In Stitches in Atlanta during our class for Mr. Cat. They really do need to be together and soon, soon she will be finished…

I got back last night just in time for the 3 of us to settle in and watch the baseball game.

and until next time…keep on stitching

I am home for just a few hours as I unpack and repack for my trip to Seattle Thursday morning. Seriously?! Seriously!! Sylvester is front and center as I change around my suitcases. I had all my clothes ready, so it is just moving everything. Should I bring an umbrella?

Teaching Welcome by Annie Lane at My Sister’s Place. Looking forward to seeing the beautiful Pacific Northwest and the girls are spoiling me by making time so that I will be able to get a little sight-seeing in too!

I am not taking my laptop with me this time…and even though this past week while in Phoenix I was able to blog everyday, without the laptop I will not be able to, so I will save it all for when I get back!

I will leave you with a little food for thought. There is always a new stitch out there waiting to be discovered…you just need to look your surroundings such as walls, floors in a different way. Something I learned from Brenda Hart.

and until next time…keep on stitching

This is the wonderful stitching area in the foyer of the Hohokam Ballroom that was used for Studio Time. The registration for this seminar so far surpassed the expectations that every  place was utilized! Sorta kinda reminds me of the ANG Seminar at the Hotel del Coronado when classrooms were set up in tents on the tennis courts…and yes then there were the seals. Anyone who attended this seminar, knows exactly what I am talking about!

Another wonderful day of class! it was lots of stitching on our doodle cloths and needle lace pads as we worked on her sweater and her hat. Trying to perfect braiding her hair, creating cabbages and so much more. Unfortunately for me, I will not be able to work on it anytime soon. But I learned lots, enjoyed myself and had lots of fun…isn’t that what its all about?

Lunch time found me grabbing a quick bite so I would have time to visit Susan at Quail Run. A beautiful shop and wish that I had more time to spend there, but I did make just enough for a little stash enhancement!

What a great place to stitch!

Peggi of Tapestry Fair had highly recommended Barrio Cafe and I had heard a few other ladies that had gone there and they loved it…so off I was again. Thanks to the navigation tools available on our phones, it was smooth sailing.

The food was absolutely amazing! did I say fabulous? OMG I loved every morsel. I was pretty hungry when my entree arrived and the aromas were so intoxicating, that I started eating right away before I thought of taking a picture! But you can see my dessert of churros which I just finished eating the leftovers for breakfast!

This is the outside of the building and it is painted like this all the way around. Very cool…

Time to get back to the hotel as tonight is Merchandise Night!

MaryAlice who teaches Japanese beading, Japanese Embroidery and of Blue Bonnet Retreat fame!

Barbara Elmore selling her beautiful handmade bracelets! She was very busy and I am sure that all of her amazing pieces were sold out by the end of the evening.

Alison Cole, you know of those amazing goldwork books. One of these days, I am taking a class with her!

a beautiful sunset…

Thank you Pat and Phoenix for hosting a most wonderful seminar!

and until next time…keep stitching

This is the way I walk to class! A quick elevator or walk down the stairs and I am there. Now how convenient is that?

This is my class piece; Farmer’s Market by Kim Sanders. A study in stumpwork and all that  randomness that most needlepointers think it’s a bad, bad, bad word. I have been working conquering my challenges with this kind of stitching and this is just another way for me to better my stitching and my repertoire.

Note in the background of the picture is a collection of cut-outs in assorted shapes and sizes from many colors of felt.

I really don’t have much to show for a full day of work! part of my table, her blue jeans and most of her sweater has been attached to the linen in a series of basting, couching, split backstitch and backstitch.

We worked on outline stitch, lazy daisy, bullions with that slippery Brazilian embroidery thread, cast-on bullions and all on a doodle cloth. I want to perfect my technques with these stitches before I go right to the beautiful light blue fabric.

Today we will create her sweater and I can’t wait. Never have I been in a class where the time just flew by! did I say flew by?

Pictures of the boutique that is set up in the hotel for a little retail therapy and any necessary last minute purchases needed for class!

Shop is ABC Stitch Therapy from Spring, Texas and what an awesome shop! Great service and just purr~fect! They are going to do the shop next year too when seminar moves to San Antonio.

One more day of class today and I will probably go early so that I can work on getting a few things finished up.

Tonight is merchandise night where hopefully I won’t see too much that I can’t live without!

and until next time…keep on stitching

Or is day 3? oh well, my day started out with volunteering with an assignment in the special exhibit area.

Part of this exhibit is the Dream Catcher Challenge. What is the Dream Catcher Challenge you might ask?

a dozen or so beautifully interpeted Dream Catchers… and we have the toughest job. To vote on our favorite!

we shared the room with Ruth Kern’s bookstore. It was great getting to see Ruth in person!

and the exhibit of Jan Jellins’ work. Unbelievable! Created on fabric in long and short stitches using sewing thread and floss. I kept studying and looking and looking as I marvelled at her work as she was for sure a most amazing artist.

The work of Vima Machelli… all the way from Italy!

Native Americans in their regallia!

wow look at all that eye candy through the window!

Passing by the shop on my way to the opening banquet.

A Native American blessing spoken in his tongue before we started eating. He then repeated in what he considered a foreign language…English!

Opening favors… an Ashland Sky gadget bag, an exclusive brand of Leigh Designs. Thrilled with it and the tin!

Ruth Kerns (right) and Pat Correz (left) standing at the podium as Ruth was receiving kudos for her many years of service of the bookstore at both the EGA and ANG Seminars.

My class starts in 2 hours and I can’t wait!

and until next time…keep on stitching

My EGA Seminar experience started with a tour to the Grand Canyon. Wow! Wow! Wow!

and wow is all I can say. I have lived out West for over 30 years by now and this is the first time that I have made it here. What took me so long?

Words cannot describe what it is like looking at those views and just taking it all in. A very relaxing place where you could sit for hours as you just feel closer to nature and wonder…

My classes don’t start till Monday, and with an off day today, what to do with myself? I signed up for a few volunteer shifts! and then time for the boutique, the book store and of course check out the classes for next year.

This is my class for this year…Farmers Market by Kim Sanders. Stumpwork and lots of needlweaving will be in my future! Tomorrow and Tuesday and then back home on Wednesday morning when I will unpack and repack to leave for Seattle. More about that later!

and until next time…keep on stitching

Well I’m here in the Valley of the Sun for the EGA Seminar. I drove here leaving early yesterday morning and made very good time! Reigstered for seminar, had lunch and who do I run into right away? Cassie and Nandra of Sundance Designs who was here setting up their beads and ooh so much more in the boutique. Checked into my room and quickly took off to go to Family Arts Needlepoint, visiting with Peggi and Julie and taking in all the eye candy. Thank you to Julie who saved me by lending me a sweater for the tour. Now I’ve been lugging a jacket around everywhere I’ve been going lately, but haven’t needed it, who needs a jacket in Phoenix at this time of the year? Didn’t think about the Grand Canyon with an elevation of 7000 feet.

The item that you see in the picture is a dreamcatcher and I will let Wikipedia tell you what that is:

In some Native American cultures, a dreamcatcher is a handmade object based on a willow hoop, on which is woven a loose net or web. The dreamcatcher is then decorated with sacred items such as feathers and beads.

The Ojibwe believe that a dreamcatcher changes a person’s dreams. “Only good dreams would be allowed to filter through… Bad dreams would stay in the net, disappearing with the light of day.” Good dreams would pass through and slide down the feathers to the sleeper.

Another explanation “Nightmares pass through the holes and out of the window. The good dreams are trapped in the web, and then slide down the feathers to the sleeping person.

Tomorrow is a volunteer day for me, shopping in the boutique and then our opening banquet. Monday my class start and I met my teacher last night, Kim Sanders while we were both looking for the registration area. I told her that lots of people have been telling me what a wonderful teacher she is! so I can’t wait!

and what was I thinking? we leave at 7am this morning not to return till very late tonight…but I am really looking forward to it!

Well the suticase did make it home…eventually! a very nice young man delivered it around midnight last night, yes midnight. I spent lots of time on the phone with the suitcase tracking people during the day as I followed its travels…sort of like Flat Stanley! But it’s here and its time to unpack and repack.

Sylvester is ready to assist and supurr~vise as you can see. I leave Friday morning for the Valley of the Sun. Seminar for me starts with a tour to the Grand Canyon on Saturday and I can’t wait! So much to do in these next 2 days… and I don’t want to be late for my very important date!

so until next time…keep on stitching