Author Archives: suesci

2013 Woodlawn Exhibit

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I was fortunate enough to go to see the Woodlawn Exhibit on Sunday and Monday this week.  It was spectacular!  There were so many things to see that I found two visits necessary and still didn’t remember everything.  My two favorite rooms included the room of small objects and the room of the geometric framed pieces.  Of course, there were wonderful pieces throughout the other rooms as well.  I saw some pieces that I recognized from the ANG seminar in Philadelphia and some pieces that our members have stitched.  Seeing all these things is inspiring to pick up the needle and stitch.  Our two guests from the March meeting had pieces on exhibit; Rona had five pieces and Mary two.  As I was going into the exhibit, I met them coming out and chatted with them.  There pieces were all in the room of primarily geometrics.  Maybe our chapter should make an effort to exhibit  some of our pieces in the future.  I was pleased to see a bargello box stitched by a friend of mine from another group (FCE) who had taken a first place!  She had not thought of entering her box, but her daughter-in-law insisted and even brought it down to Woodlawn!  And the two women I drove down with (FCE members as well) both exhibited and one took an honorable mention for a counted thread piece.

When we were not at the exhibit, we seemed to be living in the needlework shop about a mile away called In Stitches.  It has many charts and threads, some painted canvases and some knitting.  I indulged only a little, at least it looks like a small amount, but the bill was not.  That is what you get when you buy threads galore!  I hope to return next year as it is so inspirational.

SOTM meets!

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Many of our group was away this month for the first meeting of the SOTM, but Gwen, Linda and Sue C. did meet and stitch for about 4+ hours and a short break for lunch.  We got quite a bit done leaving us with the feeling that the assignment each month will not take too many of our stitching hours!  We found that Linda’s primary color family was exactly the same as Sue’s secondary color family.  It will be interesting to see the different role the same colors will take in each design.  Gwen and Sue have very similar main colors.    Sue found with the publishing of Lesson three that the Kreinik ribbon that she chose will not work well so it will be back to the needlepoint shop for her!  (No complaints were heard about that, however!)  I am afraid that our resident photographer is away this month so that you will need to wait until the meeting to see our progress.  We hope that more of you can join us at the April gathering on April 6th.

Selecting threads at Edwardian Needle

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After news that the Edwardian Needle was closing on March 28th to relocate, I figured I had better get down there to select my threads for St. Margaret’s Star since I wanted a different color way. I wanted the look of the pink–the outline around the squares and arrows–but in blue/greens. It wasn’t as hard as I had anticipated. First I pulled the thread in the pink and matched it in an aqua. I started with the Watercolours and selected South Pacific. (Can’t you just picture it?) And then worked off that. Since there was no appropriate color canvas, I got a white with the opalescent. I am looking forward to starting this project! She had all the threads that I needed, no substitutions were needed.

I learned that Pam will be having a sale the week before closing and will be opening at her new location on April 12th. I signed up for an e-mail announcement for the opening and will be glad to share!
Sue Chadwick

How Carol saved the day!

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Yesterday afternoon I was making a dessert for a meeting today. When I took it out of the oven, I knew it was a complete flop. Carol had made a delicious fruit compote for the board meeting last Sunday. I sent her a desperate email for the recipe and she sent back in less than 30 minutes! I made it this morning, served it at lunch and it was a hit! Thanks, Carol!

Last day

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I can’t believe how quickly the week went by and yet last Saturday seems a long time ago. Has anything important happened in the world that we wouldn’t have picked up from USA Today? We haven’t had the TV on since we arrived. (I got the Yankee scores online). Today was a repeat of yesterday for me; just a wonderful class with a great teacher. We did a few of the blocks and reviewed the others. By changing the colors and rotating the canvas, it looks like a greater variety of stitches. The only problem will be to make sure that I am orienting the canvas correctly and using the right stitch and threads for each block.

Butterfly Mosaic at end of Friday!

After class, I needed to stretch out the leg muscles a bit so I walked to the LOVE square park–turned out to be a much shorter walk than I anticipated but I passed a number of interesting buildings.

City of Brotherly Love!

Tonight is the Awards Banquet. The NJNA gals, except Susan H., an award winner, will be sitting together. You can imagine the trouble we will create!
I am looking forward to our September meeting and seeing/showing our projects!
Sue

Needlework Expo!

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Last night was the event that many of the attendees were waiting all week for. In our area a needlework shop is relatively close by. (Maybe not as close as Rosie, but close enough!). Some of the women I have spoken with are hundreds of miles from a needlework shop. Just imagine being able to see so many painted canvases and charts live! There were other things there as well, including beads, jewelry, notions of all types. Susan H. found another vendor for the Needlefest next spring who has some great project bags in vinyl and at a reasonable price. (I bought one so can give you an evaluation by then!).

There were 35 vendors listed in the brochure, but since the printing the list must have grown by half again! Orna Willis was there with all the things that she has been showing on her blog and a beautiful display of her stitched pieces. There was a table of Genny Morrow designs and one of Jean Hilton. There was more magnet bling than I would know what to do with. I bumped into a number of friends–some new from this seminar and some long time.

Rosie, meanwhile was out with Meg so her inspiring writing about the event was left to me without pictures!

Sue

Butterfly Mosaic

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Today started with a 10 minute wait for the elevator along with a number of other stitchers. We did make it to class on time. And what a great class it is. Carlene Hardwick is a very relaxed teacher who is constantly on the move around the classroom helping and guiding as needed. We worked primarily on the butterflies today and have a portion of each stitch in one section or another. That will be the first part that I complete when I get home. Several women had trouble finding the correct “body part” to place the new stitch and put it in the wrong section. Instead of removing what was done, she just suggested they exchange places for the stitches. I like someone who can be flexible. I know that I will enjoy the piece!

Close-up of Butterfly Mosaic after Day 1

There was one marking on the diagram that a stitcher asked why it was there and her reply was “George forgot to remove it”.  George is her husband/editor. I am looking forward to tomorrow.
Sue

A Valentine Cupcake

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A whole new project, a whole new experience. Today I worked with the teacher that Rosie enjoyed for the past 4 days. And I DID enjoy both her and the cupcake! She has a very relaxed approach and manages to make everyone feel comfortable. I was very comfortable because her directions tell you where to put the needle for each stitch, each stitch that we did was one I was familiar with and the project made you smile just to look at it. This was a perfect break following a more exacting class.

Valentine Cupcake!

Diane was here today for a one day class, Susan’s Ben’s Kites. We got time to exchange information both at lunch–RTM–and dinner at a loud Greek restaurant, Opa,where the food was delicious, conversation difficult, but we persevered! All in all a great day.
Sue

Colors of Autumn progressing

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I am happy to report that today went much better for me. I actually was not one of the last ones done. That was probably because today’s tasks were ones that I was comfortable doing.

Day Two of Autumn Leaves

Today Susan H. joined Rosie and me at the RTM for lunch. Susan and I indulged in a dish of delicious ice cream for lunch. I left them there and came back to see the items in the silent auction. No, I did not bid on anything, but I loved seeing the different things stitched as well as the finishing techniques. I went back this evening to see the live auction items.  They were stunning! I bet that ANG made a great deal of money on the auctions. Next year maybe Heidi’s Grace will be there! Onto a new class tomorrow!

Sue

Vinyl coated Colors of Autumn

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I started my two day class this morning. You can see from the picture that it involves shading. What we had this morning and for an hour this afternoon is the extent of the shading part. I am going to need some help when I get back! Then we colored two of the blocks. It took me longer than most as I have always had trouble staying within the lines! The vinyl is a new technique to me where the canvas is covered with a light weight sheet of vinyl to protect the sections that you are not working on and to protect the thread from catching on the canvas. Clever, huh? As you come to a square to stitch, you cut a door in the plastic.

Vinyl Coated Canvas with Painted Portions!

Stitching on a shaded, autumn leaf!

I went to a CyberPointers Connection this evening (talked Rosie and Marge Kelly into joining me for a while). It was nice to put a face to the names I have “seen” at meetings on the Internet!

More tomorrow! Sue