Does everyone know we have a Face Book Page????? There is actually 2 with our name but one is no longer being used so the place to be on Face Book is “New Jersey Needle Artists”. Come join the fun as we are starting something new there – Work In Progress Wednesday’s. Everyone is invited to upload a picture of what they are working on each Wednesday. Ask a question, look for a stitch or just bask in the glory of everyone ooohing and aaahing at your work so far. We all love a good Show and Tell !!

Get your TV dinner and glass of wine ready – tonight is another needlepoint show starting at 6pm on Face Book courtesy of the lovely owners of Needleworker’s Delight in Metuchen NJ. They are once again putting up canvases for sale, one by one during their live event. On the side is a chat that you can claim that canvas as your own or ask a question. https://www.facebook.com/events/869382217187527

I have a correction from last week – The new store Needlepoint By The Bay is actually in Rhode Island. This makes it an even better road trip !!

One of our very favorite people is Trish Vine. You know her from those wonderful project bags she makes for our works of art. She recently moved and is in the process of unpacking BUT she is putting together a video tour of her “amazing new sewing space”. She has some new items and is updating the Pop up tray, Carry All case, Booklet Pouch and Needle Keeper. She also will be announcing a contest as soon as she gets the details together. Trish says that she will be at Needlefest this year ! We all look forward to seeing her.

Have you seen Raymond Crawford’s new web site? Home – Raymond Crawford Designs – needlepoint, where imagination lives! Very easy to navigate with nice clear pictures of his beautiful designs. The S’Mores and Berry Tart gives me cravings for summer time. If you watched New Stitch Monday by Stephanie at Ridgewood Needlepoint – she did his “Needlepoint” canvas, what a challenge !

Did you see all the contestants for the sweater contest going on at House of Needlepoint in Darien CT ? One was better than the next. Everyone must have had a fun time doing these as they had everything from the Grinch to Bernie Sanders sitting in a chair with his mittens. Can’t wait to see who is the winner as it was a hard choice.

The next meeting of NJNA – everyone will be Irish as it falls on St. Patrick’s Day ! Bring all things Irish to the meeting which this month will be a stitch in.

I read Brenda’s Blog today and she came up with an interesting gadget called a Graph Gripper. I have been doing a complicated background stitch and I’m referring back to the diagram often. This handy little gadget allows it to sit on my canvas so it’s easier to look at. Of course I had FOMO and it should be here in a day or so !! Thank you Brenda !!

Another favorite blog, The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure let us know that we have another new shop opening in our area. Needlepoint By The Bay is opening on 4/1 in East Greenwich CT – sounds like a spring road trip to me ! Thank you Jane !!!

If you like music and musical instruments have a look at Robbyn’s Nest Designs. Very interesting and rich colored canvases of instruments. They have lots of other subjects as well just as colorful and detailed but the instruments are eye catching.

So – how many ways can you use a belt canvas other than as a belt??? This week, everywhere I looked I saw another interesting idea. I read about someone using a belt canvas as the straps to a tote bag. Then you can have flip flops made with one as a friend of mind did. How about a tray made with one or 3 !! Wrap a fun hat for the sun or to hold your sun glasses. You can also have it framed and hang it over a doorway. A perfect stitch for traveling and using up stash. The uses seem to be endless ! Have you got one I didn’t think of? Comment and let me know !

Needlepoint – Yoga for the Mind !!

Members of NJNA are showing off their talents again – this time in Needle Pointers Magazine. First, an article on the Community Service Project done in memory of Pam Granick. Beautiful stitching of the Alice Peterson canvas “Children’s Classic Books” was donated to the Bernards Township Library. Then, Noelle was one of the stitchers in a “Tale of Two Stitchers” with “What R U Looking At III” – She did a magnificent job !!

Congrats to the ANG Auction – their goal amount was $11,000 and they collected $15,000 – looking forward to see what is up for bid in the next one in August.

Have you lost your MOJO to stitch? Did you fall into a needlepoint rut ? Try some of these suggestions in an article from Lycette Designs and maybe you will be back to full speed ! WWW.Lycettedesigns.com/blogs/news/stuck-in-a-needlepoint-rut

So, you have the desire back – now what? Need an idea to stitch something different? How about an Apple watch band? Bestitched Needlepoint is having a trunk show from Point 2 Pointe and they have multiple bands at 20% off. Need a gift – how about self finishing napkin holders? Quick and easy. What about a head band? Check out Stitch By Stitch for plaids and cute designs – let’s start an old is new again trend !

What about the canvases you have stitched already and are undecided what to do with them. What do you do ?!?!? Your already out of wall space and you look like the woman in the commercial that can’t sit on her couch because she has so many pillows !! We need some new and innovative ways to use all this stitching !! My contribution – sew together several stitched canvases and use them to cover a bench at the foot of your bed. Makes putting your shoes on so much nicer. You can also take those small words and hang them on a jewelry carousel or string them together into a banner. I know someone that rotates canvases based on season and holiday. If you give them as gifts how do you have them finished ? Let me hear from you if you have an idea as to what we can do with all this stitching. You may have an idea that we may not have thought of. I will put in the blog all your innovative ideas!!

It’s that time of year – time to get ready for the Woodlawn needlework show !! Everything is being done online, just go to the web site: Home | 2021 Woodlawn Needlework Show (artcall.org) and it will explain it all. NJNA is always a large exhibitor of our talents so come join in and have your work on display.

BEAD ALERT !! Swarovski will no longer be making crystals and beads for our use and others. It’s estimated that shipments will be stopped around Sept of this year. Hopefully another manufacturer will step in with a similar product but if you need any of their beads you better get them now.

A store that has been around for quite some time, Amy’s Golden Strand is going out of business. Amy Bunger is retiring from having a brick and mortar shop and everything as of now is 35% off. Hopefully she will have an online presence in the future.

Inevitably, a discussion always seems to become part of the conversation – What is your floor stand of choice? Is it the Lowery, System 4, K’s Creation … There are always opinions as to which is the better one. What is your choice? Let me know what you can’t live without. Oh, and – FOMO Alert – Lowery has a new toy, a carousel thread organizer !!

Our meeting in March will be a Stitch In. Come join the fun and see what everyone is working on. We will have our March meeting on Zoom in the comfort of your own home and you don’t have to take off your slippers ! You need to be a member for the fun so come join us. Don’t miss the discussion of upcoming chapter projects or make a suggestion. We are always looking for suggestions.

The Shining Needle Society has a new project coming up by Patricia Hartman called Magic Moments. With the colorway they show it looks south western but I can’t imagine the endless possibilities with a change of color. It’s a counted piece with all kinds of stitches like waffle, double sprat’s head, mirrored crescents, triangle Jessica’s and lots more. If you like a counted piece this sounds and looks like a very interesting piece to stitch.

BTW – I was asked if we still have some stretcher bars and the answer is – yes we do. Contact us for the sizes remaining.

The only good thing about snow is it gives you more stitching time !! I need less snow and more sunshine at this point ! Please throw in some warmer weather to top off my wish list !

Big Congratulations to Mally Becker of NJNA – she just had her historical suspense novel published “The Turncoat’s Widow” It’s the story of General Washington’s most reluctant spy, a fiercely independent young woman who races time and traitors to uncover a plot that threatens the new nation. We all wish Mally good luck with her book and hope it makes the best seller list.

It’s finally here – the ANG auction starts tomorrow. I looked thru the endless list of items and was happy to see so many great choices. Lots of Little Shoppe of Needlepoint pastries, Laurel Burch, Kathy Reese, Gay Ann Rogers – it’s dangerous !! AND for those that are Penguin lovers – some of the most adorable designs by Pepperberry and others !!

If you want to just smile, then look on BeStitched’s web site – they have a monthly club by Patti Mann of — Food Trucks !! There are 9 in total and yes – one is an ice cream truck !!!

Who doesn’t like Mary Legallet’s Whimsical Stitches books? She has a 32 page guide to update her 2 books and best of all it’s free. Go to: http://www.whimsicalstitch.com/marys-whimsical-stitches this link and download it. She is planning on updating more in the future.

I am sure that most of you know about Toni Randall the owner of Whimsy and Grace being forced from her home with the wild fires out west and losing everything. She is getting back on her feet and is having an extended stay trunk show in Chandail Needlework which is in Houston TX. This poor woman can’t catch a break! If you want to help support her you can buy her canvases from them at 20% off.

One of our favorite thread lines, Rainbow Gallery has added 8 new colors to the Fyre Werks line. With names like wild magenta, plum perfect and chocolate kiss I can’t wait to see them in person – bring on the bling!

Our next meeting will be a zoom stitch in – can’t wait to see what everyone is working on!

This Wednesday is our Virtual Monthly Meeting and we have Ann Strite-Kurz with us to talk about Creative Adaptations for Canvas Embroidery. Let’s not forget about the “Show and Tell” portion of the evening – our idea of desert !!

Welcome to Esther our new member from Liberty MO!! Looking forward to meeting you at the Monthly Meeting !!!

Has anyone been to the new needlepoint shop in NJ? Bay Head Needlepoint is on the Jersey Shore and from their web site it looks bright and colorful. When it warms up a bit – sounds like a Road Trip to me !!

When we heard that Tacky Bob was no longer being made many of us were very disappointed. It’s such a handy item for beading. Have no fear, there is something new called The Bead Bed out there so you will not have to experience FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)!! It’s just like the Tacky Bob but also has a magnet inside for your needle. What will they think of next?

See you at the meeting on Wednesday.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Valentine’s Day !

This month we are looking forward to hearing from Ann Strite-Kurz on “Creative Adaptations for Canvas Embroidery” She will be showing us a number of her canvas designs and how she developed them. Also, guidelines for handling color, curves on canvas and more.

Hopefully today the Kreinik Factory has again opened. For the second time they have had to close due to the pandemic. We all love their product and are looking for it in our LNS as fast as they can produce it.

Keep Feb 21 thru 28 on your calendars for the ANG Auction – you never know what you will find that you can’t live without – and the money goes to support the organization we enjoy being members of. Remember – you have to be in it to buy it !

If you liked the first one – for sure you will like the 2nd Mary’s Whimsical Stitches book that is just out. More great stitch combo’s on a single page like the first book. You can read it over and over and still find something you didn’t see the first time. I want to try them all !

Hope to see some new faces on the zoom meetings – always a nice time.

Last night we had a great meeting. The highlight was a talk given by Toni Gerdes. You may know her from her spectacular projects such as Fire & Ice, Autumn 3 Ways, Golden Ginkgo Kimono, Under a Copper Moon, Abyss and so many more.

Her talk was fascinating. She spoke about newer threads detailing the good the bad and they ugly. She had several tips and tricks that you would not have thought to use to make using certain threads more enjoyable to stitch with. Toni uses many items to create her pieces with and spoke about how she did it. I was blown away by the copper pot scrubber ! Thank you to Toni for such a fun evening.

The woman in charge of work shops made sure to ask her if she would be willing to do a work shop with us. Keep watching to see if that can be arranged.

Next month we are lucky enough to meet Ann Strite-Kurz. She has published 6 books and is a master of open patterning. She will be speaking about how her designs evolved and so much more.

Come join the party at NJNA – we have a full program for the year thanks to Cathryn and the work shop group is busy putting together many group projects for our members.