San Diego (CA) ANG is excited to announce a workshop by Margaret Bendig, called East Meets Southwest on 27 & 28 October 2013. The design is stunning and pictures simply do not do this stitched design justice. There are many laid and composite stitches that fully cover the 18 count canvas. The background is a subtle cream colored bamboo design that enhances the kimono perfectly. Margaret is offering 2 color choices, Turquoise/Copper or Sage Green/Copper/Cream. The workshop registration fee includes canvas, stitch guide, full skeins of silks and metallics, color photo, and 2 days of instruction. Ghost stitchers are welcome. The registration deadline is September 14, 2013.

The registration flyer and color photo are available at our website www.sdang.org. Please contact us if you have additional questions or need more information at workshop@sdang.org

The pictures do not do it justice. It is really absolutely breathtaking in person! and what am I thinking? By the time that this class starts, I have just begun stitching on 2 new large projects from seminar et al and will be in a stitching frenzy for the 2014 Winter TNNA Market held here in San Diego…again I will say, what am I thinking? Ooh, help me I have no will power. None! none! none!

The colors are on a Southwest theme and the patterns carry that out. But these colors maybe aren’t your cup of tea nor do they always go in everybody’s home. So we embarked on picking out another colorway today. It was a tough job, but someone has to do it!

Originally I was just going to go and purchase the threads for photography and for our meeting…but then, Margaret Bendig asked me to select the Kreiniks to co-ordinate to the colors that she suggested. Wow that is allot of pressure, even though I was up to the task at hand. Then I said to Nancy, well why don’t you meet me and we will make a party of it! Well she did and these are the colors that we came up with.

This is the original colorwayof Turquoise and Copper that Margaret stitched her piece in.

Sage Green is the alternate colorway with a different selection of copper silks.

So if you love this as I do and just gotta stitch it, sign up soon as the deadline is quickly approaching! You can attend class in person, attend from far away, if you are not a member of our guild…well that’s okay too! You can either join, or the price will be a little higher.

AlleyCat hanging out behind the plants. Does she think that she’s in the jungle? and until next time…keep on stitching

I will admit it…we are spoiled when it comes to our weather in San Diego! Summer temperatures really had passed us by until the last week when Mother Nature quickly reminded us that it can still get hot out! Really I have been stitching since I was home from my classes, but not the last few nights. Even the cats are melted into the carpet.

Okay back to the fun stuff! A great way that Alison had our kits ready for us at the Fab 4 was by having our stash in these bags with our names written on them. I love my yellow colored bag and if you look closely on the bag, there is a little kitty face drawn on it.

Yes I know that I have already used these pictures once, but since I was so tickled pink with our goodies…

We all had personally stitched name tags. Mine was absolutely purr~fect with the cats on them…ya think that they know me there well enough? Tony told us that one of Alison’s regular customer’s at A Stitch in Time pretty much did them all. I thank you for that labor of love! We had a little book of the stitches used on all of them included in our bags, along with pages of stitches by the Fab 4.

I pretty much worked on my Or Nué for the most of the day. I really only had 4 areas on my piece and why take precious time away from other stitchers who needed lots more stitch selections. I was just thrilled to be there with everybody and stitching!

I needed to leave early afternoon that first day to head back to the ANG Seminar in Anaheim. I had promised Mindy awhile back that I would help her at Expo Night, so since I am person of my word, I hit the freeways.

This is a look into  part of the room during setup. Mindy had all the work done by the time I got there, so all I had to do was look and think about what I was going to purchase!

A view of the opportunity baskets that were setup waiting for ticket purchases. The lucky winners would be drawn tomorrow night at the closing banquet, but I wouldn’t be there.

A very busy evening and I was back in my hotel room by 9pm to rest up for Day 2 of the Fab Four at A Stitch in Time!

Sylvester was keeping guard of the threads for the 4th of July March. and until next time…keep on stitching

A very pleasant surprise awaited for me while I was stitching with the Fab Four at A Stitch in Time! A bouquet of flowers from all of my canine and feline families. Elizabeth and Donna in the name of Reggie, Shawnee, Mabel, Ollie, the 4 poodles along with Elmore James the cat (my BFF) and Benjamin which is the chocolate lab that allows Donna to share his home with her sent me this beautiful arrangement of flowers!

Why you ask did they send me flowers? they were being very sweet and congratulating me for my ribbon winners at the ANG Seminar…and those pieces with their ribbons should be home with me next week. I was totally blown away by their thoughtfulness. Thank you!

Notice that the flowers are arranged to create a dog? darling, but eventually I will need to bring it home. Hmmm wonder what the cats will say?

and the cats are still speaking to me! can you believe it? I had a wonderful time but it was time to get home. I changed my plans and checked out of the hotel yesterday morning and drove home last night…to absolutely no traffic! Stopped for a few groceries and of course a little treat for me and my feline.

so what do you think is all I had last night? yes, AlleyCat and I shared our favorite.

Thank you to Alison of A Stitch in Time, the 4 Fabulous teachers…yes there is a reason that they are called the Fab 4! all of her wonderful crew members, Alison’s husband Dan and all the stitchers in class that made it a weekend for the memory books.

I have so much more to share, but for now I have lots of unpacking to do, plants to water, piles of laundry and oh yes lots of attention to bestow upon my cats.

and until next time…keep on stitching

I am running rather late this morning…as I went back to sleep after being up around 3am for a few hours! There is a large group of us going to Julienne’s for breakfast. So this will be very short and sweet!

This was the wonderful worrld of color that we walked into on our first day of the Fab Four class at A Stitch in Time in San Marino, CA on Thursday morning.

We had this wonderful goody bags for us! Look at this swag…a scissors fob, a needle threader, a purr~fectly thought up name tag for each and every one of us. Ya think that Alison knows me well enough? And a little box with our names on it for our thread purchases for the day.

and my first stitch of the day…a little Or Nué

and until next time…keep on stitching

and p.s. I think I am checking out tomorrow morning so that I can drive home to the cats after class, so might not be any time Sunday

I was lamenting that the week had gone by too quickly and that the party was over! Technically it was just that my class with Debbie Stiehler was over…but really there is much more fun and frivolity to be had.

Tuesday night was the silent auction that would lead up into the live auction. The silent was beautifully laid out with stitched items, canvases, books, kits and ooh so much more. The bidding was over at 6pm as everybody anxiously awaits the final results.

That leaves just enough time to preview for the live auction before the bidding would start. The live auction consists of all stitched pieces; either by an individual, a well known national teacher or a guild. Unfortunately there was no picture taking allowed of the individual pieces.

This was the first year that online bidding was introduced and it proved to be quite the hit! The auctioneer that comes every year is a Texas cattle fast speaking professional auction guy. How do they talk that fast is what I want to know? I had a nice gab with him last year in Philly as I learned that there is auctioneer school. Did you know that? Go figure!

Now it was really time for us to move onto our next adventure. Headed back to our rooms for packing and getting ready for our morning. There were 3 cars that departed for points northeast as we drove to our new hotel in Old Town Pasadena, the neighborhood where the New Years Day Rose Bowl Parade is! One car picked up a new party attendee at the airport where we all met and checked in.

Back on the road again as we headed to Aristea, which is located in Santa Monica. Two more of our group were flying into LAX would be meeting us there. See where priorties are? Fly in and travel right to the closest needlepoint shop!

A beautiful shop that I love visiting as I always feel so welcomed, inspired and then a little heavy hearted as I think of Wendy. To me this will always be her shop…

There’s my Mr. Crow that I stitched for Wendy! a Melissa Shirley canvas

Beverly Churchfield was teaching and her afternoon class was coming in. Such wonderful canvases and stitches!

Laura Taylor was kind enough to come in and meet us on her day off. We thank you Laura! She wouldn’t let us leave until she snapped this picture of us. Left to right Elizabeth, Chris, Pat, me, Kristen, Nancy and Joanne. We all did some shopping and left very happy, but very hungry…well that was hard work! There is a great little outdoor shopping center across the street with wonderful shops and even better eating. Hamburgers or Mexican food was our choice along with a little souvenir shopping.

We could have done more shopping, but really put 7 ladies together and you don’t think that there would be some serious support the local economy going on? but we have to be mindful of traffic, which really is a way of life and more so here that in San Diego.

A great day, lots of stash enhancment and there is so much more to share, so I guess you will have to come back tomorrow and the next and the next! I must admit that I am really missing my cats.

and until next time…keep on stitching

Today was our 4th and final day of our class with Debbie Stiehler of the Imari Collage. A most delightful and enjoyable class…and as always I learned lots of new things and am now rejuvenated, reinvigorated and ready to stitch!

Debbie looked absolutely stunning in her regal purple top with a Laurel Burch scarf that had a very familiar design and I said “that’s my canvas!” She replied that she had the same canvas.

I really tried to get a good picture of the scarf, but it didn’t happen…but I am sure that you get the idea.

This was a Florentine Pattern that started out our morning. It will be worked in a total of 3 colors.

Where has the last 4 or 5 days gone to? Wow, I can’t believe we have been here since Thursday and it is almost time to move on. Time sure flies when you are having fun!

Our teacher, Debbie Stiehler has been most creative, enjoyable and ooh so entertaining!

You have been seeing the teacher name tags that were stitched for them by the chapter. Here is a closeup of them!

The seminar attendees that were the lucky winners were selecting their door prizes.

A quick trip to the shop in the morning to check out what’s new and exciting! Look at all these snap trays. What a wonderful display.

A few more sections were started on our Imari Collage.

I also worked on my most favorite section of the Or Nué a bit more. I just love, love, love this section.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner out with friends. OMG too much fun to be had… and tomorrow is the last day of class at the ANG Seminar. Where has the week gone? but soon I will move onto my next adventure! A road trip to Aristea with the gang on Wednesday and then onto the Fab 4 class at A Stitch in Time on Thursday.

and until next time…keep on stitching

Now I haven’t stitched at all lately…at all! at all! at all! did I say at all? but I am sure making up for lost time as I keep that needle in my hands morning, noon and night these last few days.

The 2nd day of our class with Debbie Stiehler found us mainly working on our section of Or Nué. A few other areas on the Imari Collage took up our afternoon stitching hours. Check out the geisha magnet which was a gift from one from our little group. What a special memento to remember our time together this week!

A new way that Debbie taught us using Japan #5 Gold as the base thread. It is cut in smaller lengths and the pattern is stitched over it.

I really love, love, love…did I say love? the results! the sheen is amazing and I hope that I will still love it when I need to sink all those ends to the back of the canvas!

The laid filling stitch worked with Japan Gold, laying down the grid pattern. Couched down  with that wonderful Vicki Clayton hand dyed fibers that were in our kits.

Candy stopped by to check to make sure our class was aokay as teach was chatting away with us.

I caught Brenda Hart in a rare moment of stitching away, with Mary Alice supervising! Mary Alice was showing off her beautiful beaded purses in Japanese style beading. I look forward to taking one of her classes and soon.

Sunday sees the opening of the exhibit where most of the ribbons are awarded. I entered 2 pieces this year. Kept it quiet and under the radar. They were sent in with no expectaions, no hopes…just entered for the love of sharing my work.

Well the judge’s awarded my Sharon G piece of Cat’s Night Out with a blue ribbon! So very thrilled and excited. Sunday night will be the opening banquet where the special ribbons will be awarded.

The opening favor was quite the hit! A covered, insulated glass, which around our stitching is absolutely purr~fect.

The Wearable Art Award was given to my piece! Tiger’s Eyes, a canvas by Lee’s Needle Arts. All in basketweave with Paternayan and Kreinik. Marlen Custom Pillows did the finishing and she did not dissapoint!

All the ribbons awarded…and now it is time for me to go to class. You know I can take pictures here, but can’t take them in the exhibit! Go figure. and until next time…keep on stitching