Hi Everyone —

Harold and I flew to Paris yesterday.  Our hotel room was not ready when we arrived, so we decided to do a walkabout with our traveling friends.  With no definite plans in mind, I suggested that we hunt up the needlepoint shops that I had garnered from various Facebook postings.

The first and most famous of these is only about 100 steps from our hotel!

Tapisseries de la Bucherie is a small, brightly lit shop.  One woman was painting canvases by hand while we were there!

I did purchase a few items — and was given permission to take a photo of the shop.

The non-stitchers in our group were fascinated by this spiral staircase inside the shop:

So — that was quick!  We next decided to walk to the other shop which we were told was about a 30 minute walk.  So we crossed the river and walked past Notre Dame cathedral and crossed a second river.  It was difficult to follow the map that the hotel had given us because of lack of detail, and after several map consultations and man-on-the-street interviews, we ultimately got our google maps to direct us.

After a nice lunch (I was starving) which had us straying from our direct route, we made our way to Sajou, known for its scissors.

I also asked if I could take photos of this shop — it was also brightly lit and beautiful.  When I went to take a photo of the scissors, I had to wait while they fixed the display that I had disturbed while making my selection!

You can see that it is a beautiful shop.

It was a long walk back and although the men weren’t too interested in the shops, it did give some structure to our “wandering about”.

Cheers, Rosie

 

 

Before the ANG Seminar began in Washington, DC, last month, I was working on a piece called Two Haunted Houses. Just before it was time to get ready for seminar, I realized that I had made a major counting error and a big section needed to be taken out. I put it aside. Today I knew it was time to take out that section so I could work on it again.

When I had removed the completed house and fence posts, there were some fuzzies that stayed behind.

Note the orange and dark blue fuzzies.

And after I had used a sewing tool often used by quilters called Seam Fix, you can see the canvas is clean.

Now I am back on track with a clean canvas. I bought my Seam Fix in the quilting section at JoAnns. I believe that it could be found in any quilt shop.

Sue

Every other month, I go to the Bay area in CA for an a couple of weeks to spend time with my daughter, son-in-law and my “little people”  There are three of the latter, ages 7, 5, and 1.  As you can imagine, it’s a very busy household, so that is why I go so frequently.

Sometimes it is a little difficult (notice the little – after all I’m with the “little people”) being away from my normal routine, which includes hanging out with my stitching friends at Edwardian Needle.  However, I am really a lucky stitching soul.  I have found a home away from home.

Located about a half an hour’s drive north from where my daughter lives in san Mateo, is a gem of a shop called, Luv2Stitch.  It is owned by Dale Lenci, who is also the owner and creative designer behind DJ Designs.  His canvases are really beautiful.  At any rate, the retail shop has been quite warm and welcoming, as are the “regulars”.  I have been made to feel at home.  So every Wednesday when I am in the Bay area, I declare it my day off and I go and stitch.  Luv2Stitch is open late on Wednesday evening, so if you have the stamina, one could stitch from 10 AM to 8 PM if they like.  I’ve gotten close a couple of times, but I usually can’t last that long!

The shop has such a nice aesthetic.  It is filled with beautiful antique furniture as well as practical  furniture.  There is a stitching room with bright light and large tables.  In the next room there is a bead bar and some cushy sofas as well as a break front featuring finished samples of stitched boxes and picture frames.  The third room is the thread room.  There is a lot of eye candy on the walls and always so many canvases from which to choose.  There are many classes that are offered with national teachers.  I’ve arranged my west coast visits around some of those.  I’ve had classes with Meredith Hahn Willet and Susan Portra.  They were wonderful and I learned so much.

The staff of Rhonda, Irene and Sarah are always so helpful. Dale is extremely knowledgable and of  course if you need a bit of redesigning done on your canvas, he is your man!

I encourage you to visit Luv2Stitch when you find yourself in the San Fransisco area.  Here is their info:

715 Bermuda Dr
San Mateo CA 94403

‭(650) 571-9999‬

https://luv2stitch.com

So, I was one of the lucky ones who was able to register for the Canvas Investigations Class with the Embellishment Squad, Tony Minieri, Meredith Hahn Willet and Debbie Stiehler.  Usually they are joined by Suzanne Howren, but unfortunately, she was ill and could not attend.  Previously, I’ve had classes with Tony and Meredith, but never together.  What fun!

There were four of us at a table with about 50 stitchers in the room.  We were each given a very extensive handout with diagrams of all the stitches to be used by students in the class, added to the stitch diagrams from other classes.  That plus the required “Stitches to Go” book by Suzanne Howren were all that was needed to execute the stitch plan.  The teachers rotated among groups of tables, but switched after lunch which tables they were servicing.  Each of us had previously selected our canvases and we were given some stitches and areas on which to stitch.  As the teachers went from student to student, they helped with the execution of stitches, but also designing stitches for the other areas.  I send a huge shout out to Lori, the owner of Waste Knot for supplying us with needed thread for the next day for the areas that had newly been covered.  She did a great job!

One fun part of having so many multiple teacher perspectives, is that you can learn different ways to execute a stitch.  I learned three different ways of approaching Or n’ue. By George, I think I’ve (finally) got it!  Here are some progress photos of my canvas.

 

As many of my local fellow needle enthusiasts know, I travel a lot.  Seminar weekend proved to be no exception.  I had to leave the seminar for a short period of time to attend a wedding.  I’ve known the bride since before she was born, so I really wanted to be there.  However, since I was missing Vendor night, I was a bit bummed.  So, of course, when my hubby said he was going to take a nap before we got ready for the wedding, I took off.  Just a mere five miles away from our hotel was a shop in Merrick, NY called Needlepoint Nook.  The owner of the shop is good friends with the aunt of the bride.  So, we had a great time chatting.  I indulged and bought a Funda Scully canvas for one of the little hinged boxes.  So now I was a little less bummed about having to leave the seminar for that short period of time.

Thanks to hubby’s vacation that week and him usually being a pretty good guy, we drove back to DC in time for the afternoon class session on Sunday and both sessions on Monday.  Since the instruction is so individualized in my class, it felt like I didn’t really miss that much for my class.  The teachers were able to finish giving me ideas for the canvas and I have enough information to finish, when I get more time to stitch!

All in all, I had a great time with all that I did.  Sigh – a really happy one.

 

This has been a wonderful Seminar, giving me a chance to connect with old friends and, I hope, make some new ones. It has been busy since the five day format compressed activities that used to take place over seven days.

Last night, Jill, Sue, Rosie, Heidi, Robin and I had dinner at the Lebanese Taverna which is a couple of blocks from the hotel. I will miss them when I go home to South Carolina.

Just a quick update on my second day of Serenity (the rozashi not the state of mind!).

We worked on the water, did a bit of background to get the feel of the stitch and continued to work on the flowers. Margaret Kinsey , our teacher, also showed us how to prepare our pieces once the stitching is finished. I think I am hooked!

Below is my progress as I head home. Happy stitching! See you next year in Houston!