Just got back from 4 amazing days at the Blue Bonnet Needle Arts Retreat held at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa, located in the outskirts of Austin, TX. This was the 4th year and it is growing and getting better and better!

Lots of stitching, great friends old and newly found, wonderful new stitches, lots of inspiration, delicious food, adult beverages and oooh so much more! It is held President’s Day Weekend and you can go for 2 days or 4 days. You should really look into it! There was a 24-hour stitching room this year, a little boutique where you could shop while classes are going on, a merchandise night with plenty of retail therapy, a banquet one night and so much fun that it should be considered illegal and immoral…

I figured out how to let the cats let me sleep in past 5:28am…don’t serve their dinner till around midnight! Then it’s like they don’t even want to get up at all. Lazy bones!

and until next time…keep on stitching

So you wonder what am I stitching lately? Let me introduce you to Patches…a really fun canvas by Pepperberry Designs. Now let me say that this only one canvas of many more that are in the working queue! Too many more to mention at the moment.

I really love these Pepperberry Designs and not that I am counting or anything like that, this will be the 5th canvas from their line that I am stitching or have stitched…and I have one more too that I am working on. They are fun, whimsical and ooh so well painted!

He’s looking pretty cute isn’t he? Actually I have more stitched on him that what this picture shows. The hat is finished, as is the scarf, the inner white border, the blue corners and half of the background has been stitched. I was trying to finish up on his mouth yesterday. My original idea was to string size 11 beads for the mouth, but that wasn’t working so I am beading ontop of the already stitched Flair. I was bound and determined that I wasn’t about to unstitch all of that Flair and then have to stitch it again. Whew! I said as it is working and it wasn’t necessary to double stitch the beads.

Love him? gotta have him? well I will be teaching Patches at Newport Needlepoint in Costa Mesa, CA on Friday April 25th. If you just can’t get away for the day or for a little weekend trip, Peggy (the owner) will be thrilled to send you a package full of wonderful threads, the canvas and the stitch guide. Just give her a call @ 949.650.8022…(well actually she is off today.) We don’t have a price for it yet as we are still working out a few more of the stitches, but want to make sure that we get enough canvases ordered!

Not much stitching will be going on today as I ready for my trip to the Blue Bonnet Retreat! First and foremost stitching needs to be packed, along with all the necessary paraphernalia that goes with stitching. Then I will think about clothes, checking to make sure that I have enought cat food, cat litter, maybe buy a new toy, leave a note for the cat nanny and all that stuff.

I am wishing you a Happy Valentine’s day, and I will wish us a Happy Blogoversary. I may or may not blog while I am at the retreat…depending on internet connections and time! But I will have lots and lots to share when I get back and we will have a celebration too.

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I love, love, love Mutts comics. My day is not complete if I don’t read it. As we near Valentine’s Day, the strips are about love. And how could I not notice the last name of the quoted author today as it happens to be be the same as mine. Not to say that we are related or anything like that!

Sylvester was keeping my threads for Patches well protected. Now how am I supposed to get a thread out of that bag without disturbing you?

and until next time…keep on stitching

They have been stitching so much! they are so creative! and the stitching is so motivating! It made me want to join in the Stitching Games.

and what exactly am I talking about? well check it out over on Stitcherie, a forum of stitchers that talk on line in a forum that was started by Ruth Schmuff. You know, Ruth of Bedecked and Bedazzled… did you read about it in one of the latest issues of Needlepoint Now?

I have had this piece languishing in my stash that I want to stitch. It’s a Maggie canvas. I have good intentions, I really do.

Well every month, our fearless leader K.B. posts a clue. A clue that is supposed to inspire us, give us ideas and lead us into a stitching zen. The first clue in January has come and gone and all I was able to do was get the canvas on stretcher bars. No threads, no ideas, no nothing.

Okay now this month is the second clue and I guess that I could say that I am “clueless” at the moment as to when I am going to start stitching this piece. Some of the stitchers have already finished their stitching for February…some of “them” have written clever poems and spun these great yarns…put me to shame, why don’t you?

Everybody that stitches for that month and completes their clue is entered in a drawing at Bedecked and Bedazzled as Ruth prepares the names. Sterling, the best UPS man ever, (well according to Ruth) has the honor of selecting the winner! Congratulations to Jan and to our youngest stitcher Logan for winning.

Okay it’s not that I am NOT stitching. Actually I have been stitching up a storm! Class pieces, models, Halloween, Christmas and so much more. Sunday will be a marathon of stitching for me between the Olympics, Pebble Beach and Dowton Abbey.

Okay so if you want to play along, it’s not too late. Check it out at Stitcherie and the only thing is that the canvas needs to have no stitching on it, and that there would be 10 stitchable areas for each and every clue.

AlleyCat is still having too much fun with that empty spool of Kreinik! I really shouldn’t give that to you as you want be able to tell it apart from one that has thread on it….but you are too entertaining with it!

and until next time…keep on stitching

Hari kuyo, The Festival of Broken Needles is taking place today in Shinto shrines & Buddhist temples in Japan. Embroiderers, seamstresses and needlepointers take a day of rest from their stitching and bring their used, bent and broken needles and pins to the temple or shrine. It is to honor the needles for their hard work and give thanks for their service. An old Shinto belief is that inanimate objects, as well as living beings, have a soul and a spirit. To simply discard the needles that have served you well is disrespectful and would anger the object’s soul.

Ole Man Winter is really on a tear this year. Snowing in Dallas, Oregon and just about everywhere inbetween! I do feel for you with all the snow and cold…as I have been there, done that. So I am thinking that this new canvas by Elizabeth Turner Collection might evoke thoughts of warmer weather, sunshine and ooh so much more.

snow, snow go away!

Here’s another canvas to help you think of warmer times. A new design by Needle Deeva which lives in my stitching bag right now…on bars and with some threads selected!

I fell in love with these Russian Santa’s by Leigh. This one is in my stash too! and soon I will start searching for stretcher bars, threads and stitch ideas. My intention is to do a stitch along with you sort of as Jane is doing on Chilly Hollow with her Russian Santa.

and to help me with those stitch selections is a new book by June McKnight soon to be published!

or how about this new book? It is wonderful. Check with your favorite needlepoint shop and get yours today!

AlleyCat is having a little play time with an empty spool of Kreinik.

and until next time…keep on stitching

just saying…

pitchers and catchers start reporting any day now!

and tomorrow, back to stitching! and until next time…

Too many canvases and not enough time for them all! As I work through all of the pictures that I took of the wonderful new and must have designs that debuted at the Winter Market…today’s montage is a compilation of snowy winter canvases, Christmas and Halloween ones. This is a Mary Lake Thompson design for Melissa Shirley.

This is a Kirk & Bradley design of the 12 days of Christmas. A very clever way to portray the partridge in pear tree, 2 turtle doves, 3 French hens and so forth…

As we move to Halloween, this was one of my favorites of Melissa Shirley’s new designs. Entitled Wicked and this one is on order for me to sticth and develop a stitch guide! I see so many possibilities with this one…and of course a black cat on it!

and speaking of black cats, let me introduce you to…

Mrs. & Mr. Cat by Pepperberry Designs. I love these too as they are absolutely purr~fect! Mr. Cat is a chimney sweep kinda guy and she carries her broom and a cauldron.

a new Manuel Salas design brought to life by Tapestry Fair. For the lovers of the Day of the Dead designs…this one’s for you!

This is too cute as the groundhog wants an appearance at the big game. So sorry…looks like there WILL be 6 more weeks of winter! The commercials were wonderful this year, but I can’t say that much for the game. I was thrilled that Seattle won being that they had never won a Super Bowl before and I always like to root for the underdogs or ones that had never been there before.

AlleyCat enjoyed her own Super Bowl as she seemed to have taken all of her toys out… and still nothing to play with!

and until next time…keep on stitching

Are you a football person? will you be glued to the tv today watching the game? I will have the game on, just because that it was you’re supposed to do as I enjoy a great day of stitching. May the best team win!

Or is all about the food for you? Thanks to Food & Wine for all these great ideas for football food…from burgers to chili to guacamole to Hellfire Bloody Mary’s to nachos to sliders and of course you gotta have wings. Gosh this is making me hungry!

or is all about the commercials for you?

Budweiser does not disappoint with their new commercial!

or how about the Hero’s Welcome Home?

yes, there’s no crying in football…

What are you doing on the last weekend of March? Make a date with the San Diego and Palomar Mountian Stitchers of the American Needlepoint Guild and Margaret Bendig, stitching “Oh Long May it Wave”

This is such a great deal, especially if you are a member of one of these chapters. Where are you going to find a 2 day workshop at this price?

Oh Long May It Wave is a counted canvas design. The red stripes in the flag are stitched with over- dyed red floss, 4 solid red colors and two sparkly red threads. White floss is used for the white stripes. The star field is worked with an overdyed blue thread and Petite Sparkle Rays. The stripes in the flag are composed of a variety of square stitches. The stitcher has the choice of over 125 stitches from which to select. The “sky” background is stitched with an over-dyed light blue floss with a choice of background stitches. Or the stitcher can leave the background unstitched and se- lect a sparkle canvas instead. The complete design is surrounded by a red and white striped bunt- ing with a patriotic blue interior border. The design is fun to stitch and the variety of stitches makes it interesting to stitch and to view. The solid white squares reflect the light and the combination of reds and  metallic threads make the flag wave and sparkle. The design size is 11.5 by 7.5 inches on 18 count canvas. Ghost stitchers are permitted.

Tickets are $97.00 for members of both the San Diego and Palomar Mountian Stitchers of the American Needlepoint Guild…so you could join our guild as a plural member and still save yourself money! We have some really great workshops and programs coming up that you won’t want to miss!

Tickets are $135.00 for non-members

But don’t hesitate…registration deadline is February 15th.

AlleyCat sends her best and biggest meows! she has woken me up the last 2 mornings at 3:30 and 4:30 respectively. What am I to do with her?

and until next time…keep on stitching

Just a few words to say that we experienced just a slight interuption of service yesterday… but we are back in business! so I am going to make this short and sweet as I want to make sure everything is aokay.

This is what I wake up to most mornings…the stare from Sylvester! why don’t you get up and feed me? why don’t you pet me? why don’t you feed me? why are you starving me? why are you so mean to me? well you get the idea

and until next time…keep on stitching