Author Archives: rosielunde

Aug23

Chicago Blues!

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Hi, Everyone —

Before Meg can get the idea that I’ll be woeing through this post, I need to say that “Chicago Blues” is the name of the project I am doing today and tomorrow and not my state of mind!

I didn’t make a blog post last night because I wanted to focus on getting the Meeting Summary out from Wednesday’s NJNA monthly meeting.  The notes went out just before classes started this morning and new blog followers can check it out by clicking the link.

Chicago Blues is being taught by the designer, Joni Stevenson.  I saw the finished canvas on display in Anaheim and I knew that this would be my first choice piece for Chicago.

The threads in this kit are more beautiful that you can imagine.  We got 20 inches of the most wonderful knitting yarn called Dune and 10 inches of a French scallop ribbon in sorbet!  Plus several colors of Kreinik and two colors of Bijoux to give the canvas lots of bling power!  We also have organza and denim and sequins, so just WOW!

Now I have to admit that the class started on a low point — ironing!  Not one of my finer domestic skills….

But then we started stitching and voila!

Chicago Blues -- Day 1

Chicago Blues — Day 1

Sue, Jill, Carol, and I walked about a block from the hotel to the “Corner Bakery Cafe” for lunch.  It was fabulous — all fresh baked bread, homemade soup and lovely sandwiches.  Panera but better!

Carol and I did about 45 minutes of aquacise after class and it worked wonders at stretching those stitching kinks out of our backs!

For dinner, the four of us from lunch walked to an Italian cafe called Quartino’s where we sat outside and had a ringside seat to all the bachelorette, birthday, and other miscellaneous Saturday night celebrations.  What fun!  Jill has the picture so I am counting on her to post it for you.

Cheers!  Rosie

Aug10

August 2014 SOTM

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Hi, Everyone —

Six of us met at Sue’s on Saturday to continue with our 2014 Stitch of the Month!  Summer has taken its toll on some of our stitching goals.  A few of us are on schedule and started working on the third octagon.  The rest of us are playing “catch up”.

Top Row: Mary, Linda, Carol Bottom Row: Robin, Sue, Rosie

Top Row: Mary, Linda, Carol
Bottom Row: Robin, Sue, Rosie

One thing that we can all agree on is that this has been a great piece for the SOTM group — we are all learning from each other (and from our sister group, San Bernardino Chapter ANG).

Already we are wondering what we should do for next year!

Cheers, Rosie

Aug8

Peanuts and Crackerjack!

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Hi, Everyone!

Last night, a small contingent from NJNA elected to participate in “Stitch and Pitch” night with the Somerset Patriots!

Only Dee and Heidi were brave enough to stitch!

Only Dee and Heidi were brave enough to stitch!

What a lovely night we had!  First of all, the weather was perfect:  not too hot, hot too cold, clear and dry with a beautiful full moon.

Howl at that Moon!

Howl at that Moon!

Secondly, our seats were directly behind home plate.  Who could have imagined what a dangerous location this could be?  I swear that these guys are compensated for how many balls they hit into the stands!  Third, it was hat night!  Fourth, they announced “NJNA’s presence” at the top of the sixth inning!  Fifth, the food was plentiful.  Sixth, the company couldn’t have been better.  Seventh, as honored guests, some of us got scratch-off lottery tickets (no one won more than $3.)  Did I mention that the Patriot’s won — in overtime?!

It’s one, two, three strikes you’re out….

Cheers, Rosie

Jun16

June Stitch of the Month Group

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Hi Everyone!

The NJNA SOTM group met on Saturday to continue with “A Different View” by Kurdy Biggs.  In June we are working on completing our first octagon in the design.  The pattern comes with six options for four octagons, so we were not all working on the same stitches this month.  Between different threads and unique stitches — we were awfully glad that we were doing this in a group!  Linda wasn’t able to join us this month, so she sent us a photo of her finished octagon — isn’t it beautiful?

lindasotmoctagon 1

Linda’s Octagon Detail

The rest of us will tell you that we didn’t get nearly so much done on Saturday — as the following photo will attest:

SOTM Progress for June

SOTM Progress for June

All of the different colorways and choices are making this a fun project! Stay tuned for more close-ups as the various octagons are completed!

Since the NJ Needlefest in November will occur on our regular SOTM date, we have decided to reserve a table for our whole group!  We’ll be adding the finishing touches of beads then!

Cheers!

Rosie

May20

NJNA Pilot Class and Mansion in May

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Hi, Everyone —

Last Sunday, Susan Hoekstra conducted a pilot class for NJNA for her piece “A Color Interaction Study — A Thread for All Seasons.”  Each of the participants had signed up for either a Pastel, Seasons, Brights, or Jewel Tones colorway.  Our kits were elegantly appointed  — A+ for presentation!  One interesting aspect of the kits was that NOT everybody doing the same colorway had the same threads!

Since this was a pilot class, Susan asked us to stitch either by quadrant or by stitch so that she could see which worked better!  Additionally, yours truly didn’t follow the oral instructions and started my stitching from the center instead of from the top.  This resulted in my having different compensation than everyone else, but Susan said she was happy to see how my starting point would affect the final product!

About twenty minutes before our lunch break, and again about twenty minutes before the end of the day, Susan requested “needles down” so that we could each observe the different effects of colors and stitch order had on the various colorways.   Amazing!   I learned a lot about contrasting color values as well as complimentary colors.  Susan certainly proved herself to be an excellent teacher  and we all learned a lot.

Pilot Stitchers for "A Thread for All Seasons"

Pilot Stitchers for “A Thread for All Seasons”

Sorry, I won’t post a close-up of the design since Susan hopes to teach this at a future ANG seminar.

Every other year, the Morristown Hospital Auxiliary does an enormous fundraiser called “Mansion in May”.  So today, our NJNA President, Diane, and I met to tour the mansion in Peapack-Gladstone and to enjoy the onsite cafe for lunch!  It was a beautiful sunny day and the estate was incredible.  The way that this works is that various decorators vie for the opportunity to decorate a room in the mansion.  The winners have to create their room in a few months and ultimately put the room back to its original condition — unless the owner decides to “buy” the room.  The house, Blairsden, was awesome and Diane and I saw many wondrous things, but apart from a few rooms, the decor was decidedly modern for the house.

Diane poses in front of the reflecting pool!

Diane poses in front of the reflecting pool!

Here’s a close-up of the house:

Blairsden!

Blairsden!

Our lunch was delicious and I forgot to mention that several of the NJNA members have been volunteering to help at the cafe or as docents in some of the rooms!  It was quite an experience — but apart from a needlepoint rug, not much needlework.  But I think we have a new idea for organizing our stash!

It’s always fun to stitch  (or to tour mansions) with friends!

Cheers, Rosie

May10

May 2014 Stitch of the Month

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Hi, Everyone —

Today the SOTM group met at our new recurring day to stitch “A Different View” by Kurdy Biggs.  We are working on the borders and hope to have them done and be ready to start on our first octagons next month!  Two of our stitchers were out with health issues, but hopefully we will ALL be together next month.

Here’s our progress at the end of today.  Unfortunately, Robin had to leave before we remembered to take a picture.

A Different View

A Different View

Diane:  Coral
Dee:  Black
Sue C:  Aqua
Mary: White
Rosie: Yellow

I hope some of the participants will chime in with information about their “View”.  Mine is the one on yellow canvas.  You can see my color assortment in my earlier post about my shopping spree on the way to Woodlawn!  You can tell that I am the only one who had to get all her jessicas done before moving on to the rest of the border stitches.  I have not used any metallic thread yet — so it’s not as bling-y as the others.

We have very much enjoyed seeing the stitching of A Different View in the SBANG May meeting notes.  Dottie’s hints in their newsletter are helpful and we all made sure we saw them before we got started.  We also think that Belle was so clever to use the canvas samples to make ornaments with the different octagons.  We also found a beautiful, completed “View” at needleartnut.

Sue introduced us to Trader Joe’s brownie mix which was a perfect complement to her snickerdoodles and chocolate chip cookies!

What a great way to spend a rainy afternoon!

Cheers, Rosie

Apr22

Atlantis Rising — Framed

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Hi Everyone!

I’m very excited because today I picked up “Atlantis Rising” from the framer!

Atlantis Rising!

Atlantis Rising!

The last time I posted, I indicated that I needed to find a pendant for the top of the mountain.  Many of you have asked what I decided to do.

I hate to shop, so I shopped my jewelry box.  It’s just a different kind of stash!  I found a pendant that I didn’t want to use for this because I really liked wearing it.  But, it went so well — right size, color, etc.  It is a piece of ancient sea glass, so it even fit with the theme of the project!  Now what should I do with the matching earrings??

Kudos to Diane and CarolAnn for helping pick the matting and frame!  I am so glad that we went with the pinkish mat!

Cheers!  Rosie

Apr14

April SOTM Group — A Different View

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Hi, Everyone —

The SOTM group within NJNA has decided to stitch “A Different View” by Kurdy Biggs for the remainder of the year.  This project is also being done as the year-long chapter project by San Bernardino ANG (SBANG) — so we hope to develop a sister chapter mentality by sharing hints, progress, and pictures!  We have eight stitchers in our New Jersey group!

We met last Saturday to work out a plan of action for the rest of 2014.  This month we will work on getting most of our supplies and having the Smyrna crosses done for the border.  Next month we will finish the border and then the real fun will begin.  One Octagon a month for the next four months, then a month for the small squares and a month for the beading!  It sounds ambitious, but it’s great how much you get done when each month is treated as a mini-project all by itself!  The unusual beads in this project appear to be the most difficult item of procurement (but at least we have until November!).

After planning, we had our lunch and then stitched whatever we wanted for the rest of our day.  Three of us were working on “Frankie” and one was working on the “Ort Box with a Twist”, our NJNA chapter workshop and chapter program, respectively.  Only one, Robin, had her supplies and could start on her Smyrna stitches!  Dee was stitching our state mantra “Jersey Girls Don’t Pump Gas!”

IMG_3338

April SOTM!

A fun time was had by all!

Cheers!  Rosie

Mar31

Frankie!

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Hi Everyone!

What a great time we had at our final session of the “Frankie” workshop over the weekend.  I just created a page on the NJNA website under workshops that shows all of our work in progress!  I’ll be updating the gallery as each of us finishes our stitching.  Enjoy!

Cheers, Rosie