Jan5

Alternative Seminar – Class III

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As I was writing the previous blogs it dawned on me that I never posted about the third class I started last Fall.  So, here’s progress on another project – Background Sampler I designed by David McCaskill.  The class is being taught by our own Cathryn C at Ridgewood Needlepoint.

This piece is being stitched in Anchor pearl cotton and floss, with a Threadworx overdye thrown in for some interest.  I am stitching in the gray colorway although there are several other colorways available.

There is a back story to this project.  I had originally seen it on a Facebook post and contacted David about getting the instructions for both samplers, choosing the gray canvas.  I then sort of forgot about it.  Fast forward a month or so – Ridgewood Needlepoint posted that they were offering the class.  I signed up for the class although they did not offer the gray colorway (I chose lavender instead).  A few weeks later I got a call from the shop that my kit was ready for pick-up (had to do some pre-work before class).  Wouldn’t you know – that same day I got home to find a package from David with the instructions and gray canvas for both samplers!

I apologize for the picture; I just couldn’t get a good angle on the lighting so it looks a bit washed-out.  We have our third class on Sunday so I’ll try to get a better photo for next time.

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Jan5

The Wright Friends – Finished

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Technically I didn’t finish this piece during my holiday vacation; I completed it last night after having time on vacation to stitch.  This is, of course, The Wright Friends, designed and taught by Tony Minieri.  You may recall that I was able to take this two-day workshop through the ANG Central Jersey Chapter (CJCANG).  Many of you have seen the finished piece at NeedleFest or one of our monthly meetings since the original “Wright Friends” are local to our area.

It is a stunning piece and the colors are luscious.  I just love the pinwheel effect.  It’s off to the framer this weekend.  I’m not sure yet what mats will be used – Cathryn C used the turquoise and a hint of purple on her framed piece.  I was thinking of purple with a hint of the chartreuse/green since those are my daughter’s favorite colors (and that’s why it’s oriented that way in the photo).  Tony’s model used all four colors with the pink on top.  I may just have to play a bit when I’m at the framer.

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Dec27

Thank You Jean Complete

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Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. I decided to take some time off this week to relax and get caught up on my needlework projects before starting some major projects for next year.

This past weekend I was able to finish Thank You Jean by Karen Garinger, the class I ghosted through the ANG Mt. Rainier Chapter.  I thoroughly enjoyed this project and I think it is just a great piece.  It will be an ANG Cyberclass in 2018 for anyone interested.

Over the rest of my week off I hope to finish a few more pieces that were started this year.

I hope you all have a very Happy New Year – best wishes for 2017!

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Dec15

December SOTM

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Hi Everyone —

I think December is my favorite SOTM month since we end the year with stitching and a pot-luck luncheon!  We had appetizers, salads, soups, casseroles, fruit, and (of course) dessert!  What a wonderful tradition!

In addition to stitching, December is the month where we start to discuss our plans for next year.  I think I’ll be continuing on Ruby Razzle Dazzle again, but with all of the wonderful suggestions, I may get sucked into something new!  HA!

Here’s our progress on this year’s ANG project:

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Don’t these look wonderful?  Kudos to all for the great progress!

Happy New Year to all!

Cheers, Rosie

Nov6

EGA Seminar next year in Asheville, NC

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On Friday I drove down to Alexandria, VA, with friend Barbara K. to see the classes that would be offered in Asheville next year as well as to go to the boutique and Merchandise Night.  I was hoping that there would be classes for the 2017 EGA Seminar that I would like because I really wanted an excuse to return to Asheville.  There are and I will register this month during early registration!  To tempt you to log on to the EGA website–egausa.org–to see the classes, let me tell you a bit about some of them.  Ann Strite-Kurz will be teaching the hedgehog Rosie has been talking about, Happy Hedgie, as well as Loon Tunes, that we have seen stitched by Rosie in a pilot class.  Ann also has a one day class, Leaf Luster.   Another teacher we are familiar with is Gail Stafford.  She is teaching Fog in the Mountains which Jill took at the ANG seminar in Myrtle Beach last year.  Gail’s second class is A Dusting of Snow showing a gazebo in the snow. Kurdy Biggs has a one day class of a three dimensional ornament and a four day class reminiscent of A Different View in that the canvas is covered with many different stitches that all fit together–how does she do that?  Gail Sirna has two offerings, Rosalie’s Roof Garden and Lily of the Lake, both beautiful designs.  Joan Thomasson has a one day class with another of her Santas, this one called Medieval Santa Ornament and a four day class, Bavarian Wedding.  Janet Zickler Casey has a two day class stitching a “minaudiére” which by the class description is a small purse.  Janet is also teaching another two day class with two of her Santas, Christmas Light Santa and Candy Swirls Santa.  Jeanette Rees has a four day class, Feeding Frenzy.  This is described as a mixed media class and is not as canvas.  All of these classes as well as the rest of the offerings should be online this evening or tomorrow morning.  Early registration runs through the end of November.

Asheville has other draws as well.  The famous Biltmore Estate is located there as well as the well known Southern Highland Craft Guild located on the Blue Ridge Parkway on the outskirts of Asheville.  If you are going to Asheville, the Grove Park Inn is well worth a visit just to see the lobby and walk around the public areas reading a bit of the history of the building.  One of the women working the area showing next year’s classes told me that the day following the last day of classes there will be a total eclipse of the sun visible in this area of North Carolina making it worthwhile to stay an extra day before coming home.  You can see I am excited about visiting Asheville next summer!  If you are not currently a member of EGA check to see if there is a chapter near you!

Sue

Oct12

The Real SOTM!

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Hi Everyone —

With so many people away this month and the last two posts about Alternative SOTMs and Alternative Seminars, I felt the need to represent the real, true NJNA SOTM.  Wish you were here!

Last Saturday, seven of us met at Sue’s house for stitching and conversation.  Five of us are working on the ANG SOTM by Susan Hoekstra and two of us are working on 2014 and 2015 SOTM projects.  (The only exception to attending and NOT working on the current project is if you are working on an older SOTM project!)

So here are the results at the end of the day:

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Clockwise from the top:  Nancy W, Barbara L, Joan, Sue C, and Carol.

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Rosie’s “Razzle Dazzle” on the left and Dee’s “A Different View” on the right.  Slow but steady progress!

Aren’t all the color choices awesome?  A good time was had by all!

Rosie

Oct8

Alternative SOTM

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Although I am missing the actual get-together today for this month’s SOTM, it doesn’t mean I haven’t been working on the piece.

I was somewhat surprised when I saw the instructions — “daisies” seem pretty far afield from the all the other very geometric stitches. And I have to say, I’m not sure that I like them. And I admit to finding them pretty boring to stitch. But I’ve finished two sides, and here they are:

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And a close-up:

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And in case you’re wondering where I am, it’s here:

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Oct1

Alternative Seminar – Class II

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This past week I started the second class in what I’m calling my “Alternative Seminar”. I am ghosting a class through the ANG Mt. Rainier Chapter – Thank You Jean, which is a study of Jean Hilton stitches.  The designer is Karen Garinger, a member of that chapter. We have a Facebook page so that we can ask questions, share photos, and get advice from Karen.  She told us that the piece was originally intended as Frank Lloyd Wright-inspried but as the design evolved it was clearly using the stitches devised by Jean.

I originally saw the piece on Facebook and signed up immediately.  I am stitching it on black 18-count canvas although it was also available with red and green canvas.  The threads are all silver/gray.  Interestingly, the project also includes a piece of chiffon which is mounted between the canvas and the stretcher bars.  When we first got the kit (which was beautifully shipped, by the way, and included a project bag), I assumed the chiffon was provided to give the piece some “texture”.  kitHowever, Karen explained that when she stitched the piece she found  some of the threads showed through the canvas and, since there was no way to avoid some dragging, the chiffon provides backing to help hide those threads.  I have heard of stitchers who mount felt or other material behind their canvases so that they don’t have to worry about dragging threads, but have not done so myself before now.

The threads include Shimmer Ribbon , Silk Lame Braid, Kreinik, Neon Rays and DMC rayon floss and perle cotton, and Sulky Metallic. The first step was to complete the outer and inner borders which are stitched in #8 perle cotton in satin stitch. I started stitching last weekend and was able to do only an hour or two a day during the week. It was a very stressful week at work so those few hours in the evening were therapeutic for me. I managed to finish the borders on Thursday night.

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Step 2 is to place Waffle Stitches along the long side between the inner and outer borders. The Waffles are stitched in two colors of the Shimmer Ribbon. I did get a few of those done last night and will continue with the Waffles today. Here you can see the placement of the Waffles. These are done in a silver Shimmer Ribbon and the stitches in between will be done in a darker gray Shimmer Ribbon.  border-waffles-093016

I am looking forward to sitting down later today to complete the areas between the borders.  I’ll post progress in a few days.

Happy Stitching!

 

Sep27

The Wright Friends Part II

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I continued to work on The Wright Friends through the past week. I have other classes lined up (more later) so I wanted to get to a good stopping point. I mentioned in my previous post that we worked on the fuchsia window in class. We also started on the center square in the class. I finished that center square and started/completed the lime green window. I’ve declared myself half complete since I still have to fill in some beads on the first two windows as well as stitch the remaining two windows.

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The remaining windows are purple and turquoise which I’m planning to complete in the next month but I’m off to start another project. I’m hoping to post about that class later this week.

I usually watch DVDs while I’m stitching – I rarely watch shows when they’re actually on tv and prefer to “binge watch” several episodes at once.  I couldn’t make up my mind what to watch so I listened to an audiobook recommended by a friend:  The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.  It is the story of two sisters in occupied France during WWII and how the choices they make in reaction to the events affect their lives.  I enjoyed the story thoroughly and I thought the narrator, Polly Stone, was excellent. I recommend it highly.

Happy Stitching!