Okay remember this canvas as Tony is going to do something really wonderful with it!

The canvas is by AGA and is called Post People. A rather daunting size canvas at 26″ in length. But it is on 13 mesh and with fun stitches, it moves right along. I was surprised to see how much Wendy had finished on this piece by the time the 4 days were over. Wendy, is it finished yet?

Suzanne was working with our group on the last day. I believe that she saved the best for last!

see I told you! we were having way too much fun…

It was a wonderful class, can’t you tell? as I said I have not been able to work on my piece, even though I have been stitching up a storm! I do have a little line up as I rotate through my pieces.

So a stitching friend asked the other day and said “well what are you stitching for yourself?” and I answered “Nothing right now!” and well why not? when I know I have stitching that has deadlines that should be met, I don’t enjoy stitching for myself quite as much.

I split my day today between proofing for Needlepoint Now… and do I have some exciting news! The November/December issue will be the biggest one ever at a whopping 72 pages. Just like you, I can’t wait to see it in my mailbox and even though I see parts of it now, I still have the anticipation of seeing it all together with the ads and all the pictures.

Last month at our ANG meeting, I had an extra copy that I brought as a give away just in case some silly person doesn’t get the magazine. Do you know that the members did not want a sneak peak! They didn’t want to ruin the anticipation of waiting for it to show up in your mailbox.

The rest of my day I stitched and started sorting some threads. Wow do I have a big job ahead of me! Monday morning will find me buying more threads and a little retail therapy too.

AlleyCat is rearranging her kitty furniture. and until next time…keep on stitching

You know the class with the Fab Four, that being Suzanne Howren, Tony Minieri, Beth Robertson and Meredith Willett is so packed full of canvases and stitch ideas…that it seems like the pictures that I took will never end!

Do you remember this picture of the Christmas March waaaaaaaaaaay back when? Well it has been awhile, so I thought I would jog your memory a bit

Well this is the tree all finished. It was created with River Silk that was actually sewn in a gathering stitch and than placed onto the canvas. Doesn’t that drive you craaaaaaaaaazy when people call our needlepoint SEWING?! well this time she actually was!

Now these 2 ladies were sitting next to each other…was it co-incidence that they were both using River Silks and in the same color?

A beautiful canvas that I am thinking was a custom paint as I have never seen this one before!

Now I haven’t talked about my own canvas in a while. A beautiful red orchid by Kirk and Bradley. The stitch for the orchid would be simple and elegant using Gloriana and Kreinik in varying lengths of brick stitch. There was just something that wasn’t coming out right on this one? was it me?

well Miss Meredith agreed! I walked into class the next morning to find her working on my canvas. Instead of stitching it over 4 straight up and down, I should have been working it up 4 and over 1. Much better we agreed.

Now I have been stitching up a storm lately, but do you think that it has been on this piece? I wish…but NO! I am stitching for the January market right now.

Just a few overall pictures of our wonderful class.

It was Suzanne’s turn to help Maryellen with her Melissa Shirley Halloween Stitching Witches.

Now I haven’t been back to A Stitch in Time since class has been over…but I feel a trip coming up this weekend. After all Brenda Hart will be teaching and even though the class is filled, I might need a trip just because. Besides I need to do some serious bead shopping and Brenda and I always go to the bead shop when she is in town. The class from the Fab Four had a road trip to the San Gabriel Bead Shop, but that was the night I headed back to seminar to help out at Expo Night. The reports were that they loved the shop…well if you have ever been there, you will agree what’s not to love about that place?

Baseball was great yesterday and the stitching even better. How about you?

AlleyCat was hanging out in one of her favorite spots. and until next time…keep on stitching

October 4th is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. This canvas by Patty Paints recognizes St. Francis… and our current Pope has taken his name as his own.

Many will bring their cats and dogs, rabbits, goats and more to the church to be blessed on St. Francis’ Feast Day because of his love for animals as expressed in his Canticle of Creatures. Here in San Diego there will be blessings at the Humane Society and at least one of the missions, which will be celebrated on Saturday. I always love going to the Blessings as I enjoy being around all those animals and especially when they are dressed up! Scratch those heads, get a little kiss and feel those cold noses…

Speaking of our best friends…have you seen these new canvases by Unique New Zealand? Entitled Cat Love and

Dog Love. Great canvases! If you just have to have one of these, I am sure that your favorite needlepoint shop can get it ordered for you.

Do you think that St. Francis will bless this cast of characters that I have? I was sitting on the floor the other day watering plants and turned around to find Sylvester taking a little drink. Not that he doesn’t have his own water bowl and not that I don’t turn on the faucet for him at every possible meow!

and then there’s this one saying this is the way I wash my face!

and until next time…keep on stitching

Guess. What. Day. It. Is. I just love, love, love that Geico commercial when the camel asks what day it is? Even though today is not hump day as the camel answers, instead it’s National Vodka Day…

I am really not a drinker, but do enjoy the adult beverages or big girl drinks, (as Missy would say) when I am in the company of others..whether it be at a baseball game or with friends and family. You know sort of in a celabratory mood.

Speaking of vodka, I still want to stitch this canvas by Unique New Zealand. I do like a good vodka martini from time to time. The word vodka stems from the Russian language meaning water. Years ago there were a few kinds of vodka…well not any more!

How about this canvas by Lee Designs…I wonder what kind of vodka they used?

I really hope that the rest of the the playoffs between the Pirates/Cardinals and the Dodgers/Braves will prove to be a little better baseball than Thursday as I really don’t enjoy watching a 1-sided game! Hopefully today will be a great day with 4 games on which will provide lots of stitching time.

AlleyCat has never really paid much attention to the printer before, but for some reason she was having a stare down with the machine the other day.

and until next time…keep on stitching

Not mine…Meredith’s! See her hands are moving so fast, that all you see is a blur. One of the best parts of the Fab Four class is learning all of these new and wonderful stitches. When they are doing that, it is an instant crowd gathering moment!

Meredith is demonstrating one of Tony’s techniques called “repoussé” and even though the Wikipedia definition refers to raised metal work…I believe it is the raised part of it that fits the bill! This is Kristen’s Zecca canvas that has a big worm at the bottom of the canvas and by stitching this in the repoussé style; it really brings it up off the canvas as if that worm is saying, “hey, look at me!”

A close-up of that awesome fish by Amanda Lawford.

These are just some overall pictures of the class and the stitchers. Now the rest of the pictures that I have left from the Fab Four are in no special order as I methodically go through them and make sure I share them all with you!

It was an amazing class as always. This was my 4th time with the Fab Four and I am already looking forward to next year in Chicago…

The baseball has been wonderful the last few nights. And even though I was sorry to see the Cincinnati Reds bow out of October baseball, I am thrilled that the Pirates move on! Tonight I will be rooting for the Cleveland Indians in their Wild Card playoff game.

AlleyCat was watching a different channel of kitty tv! and until next time…keep on stitching

You know why I named the blog Mostly Needlepoint? because most of the time I would talk needlepoint, but then there would be other times when I wouldn’t.

A great baseball season (well for me it is always a great baseball season) was supposed to end yesterday. We saw many greats say goodbye to this great game, the players that I grew to know and love as my passion for the game magnified. Thank you for all the wonderful memories.

A no hitter won in the most improbable way by a young pitcher for the Miami Marlins and the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays that played their hearts out inorder to play yet another day. So tonight, yes tonight we will have what they call a play~in game, which the winner of this game will keep their season alive for yet one more day!

So basically in comes down to a playoff game before the playoffs start…

I may need to stop by Costco for a hot dog or two to enjoy while I am watching the game. To really put me in the spirit.

Promise to be back to needlepoint stuff this week with more from the goings on from the Fab Four class and stitching…really!

It’s amazing how they seek out the sunshine no matter where it is!

and until next time…keep on stitching

This canvas is a Linda Carter Holman for Melissa Shirley Designs CH116 “Chuck Wagon Coffee.” For many of us coffee is a natural part of our day to day ritual. Mornings are powered by a cuppa, whether it be brewed at home, Starbucks, Pete’s, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf or at any other of your favorite coffee spot’s.

You know come to think of it, I think the Italian’s were way ahead of this coffee thing. Growing up I remember the corner coffee hang out with the fancy imported steaming espresso machines spouting out delicious cappucino’s and enjoying that with some pastries.

This canvas is by Maggie and it would be a fun stitch for your coffee corner!

Another Maggie canvas! Come to find out that the Cuban Coffee that I fell in love with when I was in Miami starts out with espresso. My gracious hosts told me how to order it at Starbucks…now if they will understand “solo wet macchiato” here in San Diego, I will be all set! If not I might just order the Salted Carmel Macchiato instead….but I will wait till the weather cools down a bit.

Ronda Ahrens canvas with a more colorful interpretation! Coffee derives from Arabic word meaning to “to put one off” or as if you are putting off sleep. Legend has it that a shepherd noticed that his goats experienced a higher level of energy after getting into the wild coffee berries. He sampled the berries himself with the same stimulating effects and word of it quickly spread to Arab regions. Coffee became a popular import in Europe and slowly made its way to the US. It didn’t experience much success until the Boston Tea Party, when colonists rebelling against the tea taxes, developed a taste for the coffee. Consuming close to 400 million cups of coffee daily, America now consumes the most coffee in the world. How many cups of that do you account for? Are you the type that absolutely has to have a cup as soon as your feet hit the floor?

I am not one that needs coffee or caffeine that soon in the am….but sooner or later. I am a tea drinker and most of the time it is iced variety. I do enjoy a hot cup of tea in the colder weather or after a wonderful dinner out and with a delicious dessert. How about you?

After my morning tea, it will be a day of stitching and baseball. Afterall, today is the last day of the regular season…and how did they play 162 games so quickly? Goodbye to Andy Pettite who also is retiring, and I knew that I was forgetting somebody the other day. Thanks for the memories.

AlleyCat’s most favorite nap spot! It used to be a skinny box, but not so much anymore. and until next time keep on stitching

Have you ever taken a class with Susan Portra? Well you don’t know what you are missing! She is beautiful both inside and out and here you see her with one of the loves of her life, Kody…oh and did I mention talented too?

Bring Your Canvas to Life is her mantra and it has been for years…not canvas enhancement, not canvas embellishment, but Bring Your Canvas to Life. I had taken classes with her years ago when she owned her shop in Huntington Beach, which you probably don’t remember me do you Susan? She taught how to make “The Perfect French Knot” and so much more. To this day I still make them the way she taught me and people always compliment me on my knots and I say, “I learned from Susan Portra!” I lost track of her for years as life got in the way. I started taking from her again a few years ago. I am pretty lucky that she is close by…well if you consider 90 miles close by? In California standards a 90-mile drive is really nothing.

This was the first piece that I worked on with Susan…and yes she really did bring my canvas to life. Santa Riding the Panda by Brenda Stofft. I learned so much from stitching this piece and I just love it. Susan even helped me selected the framing, mat and the cut of the mat.

I was with Susan the other day as we finished up a few things…I think! and boy does 2 hours fly by as we talk about all things stitching, while I try to hang onto every word she says.

We started to work on a new piece that I want to start stitching. A beautiful piece by Katie Molineux of Shorebirds. Susan has some amazing ideas for this one, but first I need to do some serious bead shopping! I don’t go see her again until mid December and I tried to schedule some more time BEFORE that…do you know that she is totally sold out for the REST of the year? OMG! tell me that isn’t so?!

If you have a chance, you should try and take some privates with Susan…if you are a shop owner you should try and schedule this lady for a class or two or three. Well you get the idea… Do you want to see some more of her work?

Now I did not stitch this…this amazing canvas Viola and Martini by Leigh Designs but after seeing this I want to! Make sure to look at the original canvas and see how Susan really brought it to life.

Okay time for some thread shopping and home to stitch for the day.

I sat on the floor the other day to water some plants and look who I found? and until next time…keep on stitching

How fun is this? a color party put on by Bedecked and Bedazzled. So what’s a color party all about?

A fun selection of threads, crystals and beads that arrive in your mailbox every month. New threads, exciting threads and beads that are brought together by color. This was our first month…pink, and look at those wonderful Miyuki beads!

We’ve had pink, green, purple, yellow, blue, orange, red and now white with such wonderful choices as Miyuki drop beads, Gloriana, Belle Soie, Gumnuts, rhinestones, Swarovski crystals, sequins, Treenway Silks, Soie d’Alger, Rainbow Threads, Soie Perlee and so much more.

Ruth always adds her special touches, such as the threads presented in a color co-ordinated draw string bag and a crossword puzzled written around our threads. I was thinking that this was our last month, but there is 1 more yet! She is talking about continuing this into a new “seasonal” color party. You know, Halloween, Fall, etc…

It’s been a good baseball week, but on the other hand, yet a tough baseball week. Great ball as teams try to win those last few wild card spots and that might not be decided up until the last minute…or they might even need a playoff game (or what they call a play in game) to determine who gets to go to the playoffs.

The tough part has been saying goodbye to great players that are retiring such as Mark Kotsay of the San Diego Padres, Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies and of course as the Sandman, Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees, exits. Quite a sendoff last night at Yankee stadium and I guarantee you, there was not a dry eye in the house…in any house, including mine.

One of my favorite movies A League of Their Own, Tom Hanks has this great scene “There’s no crying in baseball” but for this night, just this once…there can be crying in baseball.

This is what I go through more often than not…

Somebody’s keeping my spot warm! and until next time…keep on stitching

Last I left you Meredith was modeling that great witch’s hat while inspiring our stitching repetroire at the Fab Four class at A Stitch in Time in San Marino, CA.

Meredith is helping Maryellen who is working the on the 5 stitching witches by Melissa Shirley Designs. Each teacher was asked to work and design on their own witch and you will see soon or later that Meredith sure added her own special touch to hers!

I know that she was explaining something very wonderful here…excpet that I can’t remember what it was!

Meredith was working with Elizabeth on her Winter Tree of LIfe by Zecca. Meredith’s nametag had a background stitch of little wine glasses!

Another Melissa Shirley Halloween canvas that Meredith is working on with Nancy!

Kristen is praying to the stitching gods as she hopes for that perfect stitch. oh please, oh please, give me a great stitch!

Notice the Charley Harper canvases that someone is “thinking about?” and that my sistah Meredith has taken her shoes off. A girl after my own heart, as that is usually me.

Meredith is working the room as she helps Pat with her peach on her Valentina Heishman canvas. I seem to remember that the peach was my favorite fruit on that canvas!

She is working with Liz on the cat canvas by Maggie…you know the one that I swear Liz is stitching for moi?

Check those flowers out! Just wonderful…

I love what they have been doing on this Amanda Lawford fish canvas. Wrapped spider for the gills and off canvas needle weaving is really bringing this piece to life.

Did you know what yesterday was?

Happy National Punctuation Day!

In honor of this very important holiday, we (Huffinton Post) decided there’s no better time to reveal our biggest pet peeves when it comes to society’s lack of proper, well, punctuation.

I know that I fall into one of those groups by using way too many exclaimation points. I have been trying to curtail the use of them. Writing for the magazine has helped me too and even though it goes through many edits, I try, I try, I really do! See there I go again.

Now is she sticking her tongue out at me? and until next time…keep on stitching