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!

Today is the last day of seminar. I will definitely miss my morning walks around the Woodly Park/Adams Morgan section of DC,.  Unlike at home where I only have 2 directions to walk, i had so many options around the seminar hotel that I was able to walk in a different direction each day.  This is one of the big differences between urban versus rural living about which I have mixed feelings.  While today was much warmer and definitely more humid, I still enjoyed the morning walk and know i need to continue it at home!

Today was day 3 of New Glory.  Since today’s stitches were the least complicated, we were able to cover the remaining 8 sections so we had touched on all the sections. If we wanted to put in the star in the top white box, we had to basketweave the 24 x 24 section last night after the banquet.  I managed to get about half done in an hour and a half since i was laying the stranded silk. Since i did have half done, i decided i could put in the gold overlay star on that half to get an idea of how it would look even though you don’t get the full idea of the star.  Here’s my progress at the end of today.  I have quite a bit to do so hopefully I’ll get back to this before too long as I really love the piece.

The camaraderie in this class was wonderful. I met many stitchers that i hope to reconnect with at future seminars.  While we all had some trouble at various times, we were all at the appropriate stitching level for this class and willingly helped each other when we couldn’t figure out something.

Since the exhibit was closing at noon today, i took a bit longer break this morning to go through it and to check out next year’s seminar offerings.  There are quite a few im very interested in taking. I did think there were less items in the exhibit so i think NJNA members need to think about submitting finished pieces for the exhibit. Perhaps we could arrange a bulk mailing next year.  I did see at least 2 possibilities for our 2019 SOTM.

After class, it was time to pack my belongings, say goodbye, and take the metro to Union Station for the train ride home.  I allowed plenty of time to figure out the metro (very easy), get a salad for dinner on the train (delicious), explore Union Station a bit (very fun), and find my train (again very easy).

I enjoyed my time at seminar even though it was very busy. I learned a lot and hope to finish both pieces in a reasonable amount of time. For now, I have several other projects with deadlines that take precedence!

#NewGlory #ToniGerdes #ANGseminar

Edited with BlogPad Pro

Hi Everyone —

Sue says it take a lot of confidence for me to post my pitiful progress of my two days in “Bunnies on Lavender Lane”.  Here it is:

As you see, I have the Momma Bunny sans ears and tail, one of nine hosta flowers, one of twelve hosta leaves, and one of three rose bush branches!

Most of you know that I chose this class so that I could experience having Jo Ippolito Christensen as a teacher.  I apparently missed the part where it said this class was stump work.  It sure stumped me!  I thoroughly enjoyed Jo’s tales of her introduction to needlepoint, her single-minded pursuit of it at the Library of Congress in the era before internet, her early publishing experience, and her later explosive success with the “Needlepoint Book”.

Today Jo started class by showing us her Vera Bradley clear bag with three zipped bags inside:  one small, one medium, and one large.  The large bag holds a light, flat iron, and the like.  The medium one holds her usual stitching supplies (which consist of a LOT more stuff that my usual supplies), and a small bag in which she keeps her thread scissors and her current project threads.  She keeps this case packed and ready to go to guild meetings, stitching events, etc.  I think I will go and check it out.

Jo is going to be staying home more and working out of Rittenhouse in Philadelphia.  Isn’t NJNA lucky to be so close by?

Cheers, Rosie

My second class at this year’s Seminar is Serenity with Margaret Kinsey. It uses the Japanese needlework technique called rozashi.

Rozashi is stitched on a specially woven silk gauze fabric called “ro” which is starched. The thread count of the ro is 37 to 40 warp threads to the inch and 14 groupings of 3 Dan weft threads. It is tiny!!

I had to go back to my room to get my high powered light and magnifier combination!

I made good progress and am enjoying the class immensely.

Final day of classes tomorrow 😦 but so great to spend time with kindred spirits

Hi Everyone —

I thoroughly enjoyed my day-off  yesterday.  I got in about two hours of stitching; two hours of volunteering at the exhibit; a long lunch in which I was able to catch-up with my good stitching friend, Ann Carol; a short swim to cool off, a quick circuit around Expo; pizza with jazz; and drinks with friends in the lobby bar!  So here is my current progress on American Plains.

The top yoke is almost done after my day-off!

As others have mentioned, the Pink and White ball made for excellent people watching last night.  Unfortunately the after ball parties resulted in a sleepless night for many of my needlepoint ladies!

Today I started a class with Jo Christensen — of the Needlepoint Book fame!  Jo is a funny, patient, and well able to hold the class’s interest.   The piece we are doing is called “Bunnies on Lavender Lane” and Jo’s main focus is to teach us four different kinds of stumpwork.   This requires a level of patience, artistic ability, and dexterity that I fear is beyond me.  Here’s my progress at the end of Day 1.

Bunnies on Lavender Lane — Day 1

So as you can see, I have one of six bunny bodies attached and one of twelve hosta leaves completed.  And I learned A LOT!  Because Jo stitched most of the bunny body for me as a sample, I have homework to stitch a second bunny after the banquet tonight!

Cheers, Rosie

Although I missed posting yesterday, I will post photos of beginning of class and end at the end. We have been working totally on buildings until break time this morning. Then we moved on to the highway below the buildings. We are saying this is Lake Shore Drive and that it is raining lightly making the roadway wet. Can you see the glistening of the road with the Neon Rays+ and the Capri threads? The lights, both headlights and brake lights, are created by the rayon floss. We lay the Neon Rays+ and couch it with the other threads. The lights are random which is not difficult in the first line of lights, but may become more difficult.

After lunch we began on the sunset. Diane had used many photos of the sunset behind the skyline. This gave her not only colors but also where the sun sets in relation to the Sears Tower so that this is realistic. To do the various sky colors, we are blending threads and using an encroaching Gobelin to make the color changes more subtle.

Two things that Diane does that I love. She writes the threads that we will be using for each am and each pm of class. So when we arrive, we can get them out and ready. When we start a new section, she tells us how long she will give us to work on this section. This means that five minutes before we move on, I am not starting a new thread with 4-6 strands of floss threaded in my needle. I use the time to work on another section where I have loose threads.

It is a great class!

Beginning of class, end of class

I neglected to post my progress on my first class, Liberty with Dawn Donnelly. So here goes – I made good progress in class and think I will be able to finish fairly quickly. I had ripped out my stitching on the white section (second from top) and did not want to put it back in until I get home.

I did buy a red, white and blue laying tool from Dawn at Expo last night. She makes them as well as jewelry and magnets in her spare time – after her full time job and needlepoint!