Point Breeze is a residential neighborhood on the eastern edge of Pittsburgh.  Our destination, Needle Point Breeze, is nestled on a quiet tree-lined street with other local shops and restaurants.  The lower level is dedicated to canvases and threads while the upper floor (which we didn’t see) is dedicated to office and classroom space.  We didn’t make it much past the front door before we started to pick out some items of interest!  There is an entire room devoted to Christmas items (with some Halloween thrown in as well).  One of my objectives for this trip was to start collecting UPitt canvases and I was able to find a few. I did pass on the University seal (for now – I think it would make a great pillow).

The shop was holding a Zecca trunk show; not really my style but I did pick up one of the canvases.  The manager, Lorraine, was very helpful as were the other ladies in the shop.  I even ordered a canvas because they had one I was looking for but in the wrong color.  Depending on when it arrives, they will either mail it to me or I’ll pick it up when we return in August to move Nora into the dorm (and that’s my excuse for returning to the store).

Needle Point Breeze is located at 6734 Reynolds Street in Pittsburgh and on Facebook.  They are open Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

And here are my souvenirs …

The baby block is a gift for one of Nora’s long-time dance teachers who is expecting twin boys in August (I ordered &More’s baby dreaming canvas in blue as well).  Kennywood is an amusement park in the Pittsburgh suburb of West Mifflin.  It opened in 1899 and is still in operation today with some rides and structures dating from its early days.  Nora and Steve had been there on previous trips to Pittsburgh.  Nora would like the Pitt Panthers finished as a “stand up” for her dorm room.  And, by the way, I searched for the Pantone numbers for the UPitt colors and then found a conversion chart to DMC colors so that the UPitt canvases will be accurate (or as close to accurate as I can approximate).

I’m not quite sure how I am going to have this Zecca piece finished but it is in Nora’s colors so I just had to bring it home.

Happy Stitching!

The family and I traveled down to Alexandria this weekend to visit the Woodlawn Needlework Exhibition.  We left on Friday afternoon after the roads had started getting slushy so it was a slow go all the way through New Jersey.  The posted speed on the NJ Turnpike was 35 mph and traffic was traveling that slowly.  By the time we got to Delaware the snow had changed to rain and had stopped entirely once we got through Maryland.  We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Old Town Alexandria along with an untold number of school groups, including several competition cheerleading teams. I’m not sure who were more boisterous – the kids or the chaperones!

Saturday started out quite gray and a bit chilly.  We decided to get to Woodlawn (about 20 minutes from our hotel) about 10:00 a.m. when the exhibit first opened.  My husband insisted it was 50 degrees but I seriously doubted that.  We did decide that it was a big mistake getting there first thing – the line getting into the exhibit actually had to be metered and once in the rooms it was difficult to see the pieces because of the crowds.  I had of course forgotten that ladies of a certain age (I keep thinking back to my mother but of course realize it now means me) generally get up early and like to be places early!

Fortunately, we made a second circuit through the rooms and found that the crowds had actually thinned out so that we could linger a bit more.  This was my/our first visit to the Woodlawn exhibit and I was awestruck at the number of stitched pieces and the beauty of them all.  And the arrangement of the pieces by the organizers was outstanding.  I particularly liked the samplers as did my husband although Nora was not quite as impressed.  She was taken by the fairies and mermaids in several rooms.

I also really liked the Japanese embroideries, including several kimonos.  There was a demonstration of Japanese embroidery (so detailed) as well as goldwork during the time that we visited.

Our jaws dropped when we reached the geometrics and the display of all of our Frankies.  It was really quite a showing! And the fact that there were awards just made it more fun!  I can see a display of A Different View next year!

I was told by two other visitors that this year’s exhibit was not as large as in previous years nor were there as many different states/countries represented as in the past.  It seemed like a goodly number of pieces to me although it is (as one would expect) heavily oriented to Virginia and Maryland.  Maybe next year we can have a larger showing from New Jersey!

On our way out the sun started to shine and the day got warmer.  We did actually see some signs of Spring.

Of course, after visiting the exhibit we had to stop at In Stitches, which is conveniently located just a mile up the road from Woodlawn on the way back to Old Town Alexandria.  They were doing a brisk business and quite a few customers were either coming from or heading to the exhibit.  The shop is heavily stocked with cross stitch charts but also carries needlepoint canvases and charts.  I purchased a few more charts for both cross stitch and needlepoint to add to my collection!  Nora has volunteered to start cataloging my charts over the summer since I have long past the point where I remember whether I already have a chart or just recognize it from various magazines and internet posts.

We did spend Saturday afternoon walking around Old Town Alexandria and visiting the Torpedo Factory Art Center. Nora and I had discovered this gem a few years ago when we were in Alexandria for Spring Break.  It is located on the waterfront and houses more than 75 artists’ studios and galleries.  Dinner last night was at Gadsby’s Tavern, which has been serving meals since 1770.  We thoroughly enjoyed the “historic” experience.  We drove back today which was a more enjoyable experience (if a more than four hour drive can be termed enjoyable) than the trip on Friday.  It was nice to pull into the driveway and see the asphalt surface again.

We are already planning to return to the exhibit next year – at least Mr. Mosch and I will since Nora will be off at college.

By the way, for those who are still planning to attend, I just received a message that the exhibit will be open on Tuesday, March 24 and March 31, since they had to close other days due to snow.

On Friday I had the opportunity to take an embellishment class with Julia Snyder.  You may know Julia from her wonderful stitch books – Just Stitches I Use, iBargello, and Have Stitch Will Travel to name just a few.  I had been told that taking a class with Julia is not to be missed so I ventured to The Enriched Stitch in Wilton, CT, for this class.  I did drive up on Thursday night so that I would not have to contend with Friday morning rush hour traffic between New Jersey and Connecticut. Fortunately there were no major traffic problems and the only slowdown was the last four miles on the Merritt Parkway.

I chose a canvas from Ewe and Eye and Friends, Funky Flowers, for this class.  I wanted something small since I have so many other projects in the works, yet with enough variety to experiment.  The actual design size is about 8″ x 10″ on 12″ x 14″ stretcher bars so it is a nice size.

In this class format Julia spends time with each student going over the canvas, discussing the areas that should be emphasized, and selecting threads and stitches.  Half the fun of the class is wandering around the shop (which, by the way, has a terrific selection of threads) picking out threads – like a candy store without the calories!  As you can see, I have a lot of Weeks Dye Works threads for this canvas.  I am also using Silk Wrapped Purl, a new thread for me, for the very light flowers as well as the ribbon around the flower stems.  This “thread” is silk wrapped over copper wire so it can be formed into shapes.

Julia suggested a few new stitches that are just fabulous (at least I think so) for this piece.  The brown leaves are Raised Closed Herringbone and the light orange flowers are French Basketweave which is a row of basketweave with a row of French knots.  I did not stitch the French knots quite right so I will probably restitch that one flower.  The green flowers are Rhodes Within a Jessica Within a Jessica and the Burnt Orange Flowers are Staggered Crosses.  The stems will alternate Palestrina Knot, Peruvian Loop, and Wrapped Chain.  There are more stitches for the other flowers but I’ll leave that for another post!

So at the end of the class, this is what I had accomplished.

The class was thoroughly enjoyable and Julia is a sweetheart with a wealth of knowledge.  I would definitely take another class with her if given the opportunity.  You can follow her at Have Stitch Will Travel.

I did come home with one of her books to add to my library.

And, I would be remiss in not saying “Thanks” to Suzie Vallerie and the wonderful women at The Enriched Stitch for hosting and facilitating this class.  It was a fun day with a good mix of canvases.  I think we all learned so much from Julia and from each other.

Happy Stitching!

I managed two finishes this week in between wrapping presents and generally getting ready for the holidays.  Fortunately, Nora has taken over the responsibility for much of the decorating around the house so I didn’t have as much to do this year.  I did get to bake some cookies this year – probably the first time in at least a dozen years.  I did also manage some stitching in between the festivities!  As a result I have two finishes under my belt.

The first is A Different View, our 2014 Stitch-of-the-Month project, by Kurdy Biggs.  I added Swarovski crystal bicones and Mill Hill crystal bugle beads.  I opted for the crystal as I really didn’t want to try to figure out how to distribute various colored beads in the design.  I am pleased with the outcome – just enough bling without being too overwhelming.

This is the overall result followed by some close-ups of the individual octagons.

I had a great time stitching this piece – the stitches were challenging and picking my own colors was a great experience.

My second finish was Alicia, a Tony Minieri design, that Gone Stitching in Bergenfield offered as a class entitled “Time to Make the Donuts”.  I didn’t get the connection until it was pointed out that the colorway designated as the original reminded everyone of Dunkin Donuts (duh!).  It reminds me of Rainbow Sherbet and so the piece will be designated for summer display.  I did not manipulate the Watercolours too much – just a bit around the outside row so that I got a pretty good distribution of colors.

I am now trying to get my temporary stitching room (aka the guest bedroom) somewhat organized.  I will be starting a new class at The Edwardian Needle in early January – Tony Minieri’s Out of Africa as well as our Serengeti project later in the month.  And I have a large project for a gift in late May that I must finish.  So I need to get canvases, threads and instructions into project bags so that I can easily find them.  I think that will occupy me for the next few days.

I wish you all a very happy and healthy new year!

I really must apologize … I meant to blog about my class at The Enriched Stitch in Wilton, CT over the weekend.  But, as usual, I got involved in other things.

Saturday, if you remember, was a horribly rainy day.  Driving up to Wilton was something of a challenge but the class at the end of the trip was well worth it.  The shop is on two floors with downstairs for canvases, threads and all of the accessories you can imagine while upstairs is devoted to classroom space.   I of course didn’t take pictures of the shop (I seem to have some sort of phobia about taking shop pictures), but you can view some photos on the shop’s website www.enrichedstitch.com.

Once we all dried out, the fun began.  Mary Susan is a wonderfully patient teacher not only sharing her thought process in picking the stitches and threads, but demonstrating stitches as we went along.  We started on the door wreath, which is stitched in Colonial Knots with Painters Thread.  My knots are generally somewhat haphazard – sometimes beautiful and sometimes pretty pathetic.  Mary Susan demonstrated (repeatedly) how to make perfect Colonial Knots and then we practiced with some embroidery floss before tackling the actual wreath.  Painters Thread is also something I’ve never used, so right out of the box I learned a new technique and used a new thread.  Painters Thread has gorgeous names – we are using Turner for the wreath and Kandinsky for the sky – the package says it is a YLI Ribbon Floss Shimmer dyed thread.

Here you can see the beginnings of my wreath.  We jumped around with the Colonial knots so that the color would be more random.

We then moved on to the moon which is stitched with a Threadworx Fine Braid.  The stitch is very interesting – eyelet stitches of different shapes and sizes.  We all thought the eyelets looked like the craters of the moon; it’s a very interesting effect. Next up was the snow on the roof.  I posted the full canvas picture on Facebook and the stitch for the snow got a number of comments.  It is a Diamond Pavilion Stitch in Silk N Colors Mint Frost with a Walnetto in Sparkle Braid (thank you, Michael Boren and Carole Lake!) in between and a Myuki Bead in the center of the Walnetto.  Absolutely fabulous!

We talked about the various other stitches and then wrapped up the afternoon working on the sky.  It is a Bargello pattern done in five different threads as well as an empty row.  The order of the threads varies throughout the sky.  Some of my fellow stitchers do not care for empty canvas so they will eliminate the empty row.  We were given a pattern to follow but I went out on a limb and actually developed a random pattern.  The compensation around the lettering was discussed at length and I will approach it with caution.

Here you can see my roof snow and the sky pattern as well as the canvas at the end of the class.

Mary Susan had her canvas finished as a stand-up music box.  The finished product is gorgeous and such a clever way to finish a piece.  I am probably going to have mine finished similar to an ornament so that it can be displayed on an easel. I know you are all shocked that I’m not thinking about framing it!

Here are pictures of the music box.  Isn’t that finishing just fabulous?  You can buy the music box through the internet so you get whatever music you like.

I am taking some time off over the holidays and I hope to catch up on some of my in-progress projects before I get started on more new projects in the New Year.  And so maybe you will see some progress on this (and other) projects in 2015. Until then …

I know it’s taken a few days to post about the second day of The Enriched Stitch retreat. Unfortunately, work got in the way!

We spent Day 2 on some of the other buildings in the piece. You’ll notice that these buildings are covered more fully since they are in the foreground. I love the tied stitch on the large red building.

I had a wonderful time stitching Winter Farm Fun. The class was very enjoyable and the venue couldn’t have been nicer. And the weather was just glorious! I am looking forward to finishing this piece. I hope that my schedule allows me to attend next year’s retreat.

Happy Stitching!

The weather was much better today than yesterday.  A beautiful blue sky and bright sunshine …  Even though we were indoors, the beautiful autumn weather was still uplifting.

Upon arriving at the class this morning I was delighted to see that the canvas Winter Farm Fun is even more gorgeous than the picture I had seen.  This is the type of canvas that has intimidated me for many years – beautifully painted with stunning shading.

Winter Farm Fun – Karen Cruden for Ewe and Eye

Although i have one or two in my stash, I have hesitated to try to stitch them as I thought the stitching would actually detract from the piece.  I could never imagine how to recreate all that shading.  Well, now I know.  The coverage is very light on this canvas with lots of open stitches so that the painted canvas shows through!

Suzie Vallerie, the owner of The Enriched Stitch, is teaching the class along with two assistants.  The class is very relaxed and no one from the needlework police is in attendance.  Today we worked on the sky, which is stitched with Accentuate (not an easy thread to manipulate) as well as the snow (done in a darning pattern), some of the trees, and the red house on the left side.  Here you can see my progress on the house – the exterior walls are done in Weeks Dye Works and the roof in Kreinik.  Tonight I am going to try to finish some of the threads that have been started, just so I can start off tomorrow without a lot of spaghetti.

Red House

The hotel facilities are terrific and the grounds are stunning.  After we finished stitching for the day I took a walk around and even visited the beach.  Then I had a massage which I really needed after a day of stitching.

Long Island Sound

My Room

Rear of Water’s Edge Resort and Spa

And I was remiss in not posting that we each received a lovely “goody bag” upon check-in at the hotel.  All the necessities – a bottle of water, a needle magnet, a very cute little accessories bag, and chocolate!

Day 2 tomorrow after which I will be heading home.  Please keep your fingers crossed that I-95 through Connecticut is moving smoothly!

Happy stitching!