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

Didn’t Rosie inspire you to want to exhibit in Woodlawn as well as come to see the exhibit next year?  As you can tell, we not only had a great time but also spent time talking about how we could support this great exhibit.  All those projects waiting in the wings sent me home inspired to spend more time stitching!  When we returned to the motel yesterday afternoon, we took our stitching down to the clean breakfast area where the seating and lighting were better than the room.  Rosie was working on Tuscan Midnight which drew a great deal of attention from anyone walking through.  One man even wanted to buy it unfinished!  We went into Arlington via the Metro to meet two of Rosie’s friends for dinner.  Spring is coming; we saw cherry trees in bloom and magnolia buds ready to burst open, even while there was still snow from Tuesday on some shrubs!

When we left today we stopped first at In Stitches which is very close to Woodlawn.  I needed to get a boo boo stick to remove the light yellow fuzz from my dark green canvas for my ort box.  They did carry it so I can clean up my frog stitch area tonight.  From there we headed to “Needes and Threads of Ruxton” with Garmin directing the way…through downtown Baltimore.  We got there at lunch time and asked for a lunch suggestion before shopping.  Judy, the owner, said that with the road leading to restaurants  was closed for construction, she recommended that we pick up sandwiches at the small market in the strip mall where they were located and to come back there to eat!  The grocery store, Graul’s, was a true find!  We both loved our grilled sandwiches and found other goodies to purchase as well.  We did eat at the shop, scrubbed our hands and shopped.  This shop sells many beautiful painted canvases and some wonderful threads as well.  One of the nice things is that the small shop is bright so that seeing the colors is not difficult at all and threads are easy to locate.  Another nice thing is the friendliness of the staff.  This is a place I would love to stop in again.

Hi, Everyone!

Here it is:

Woodlawn!

Can you imagine a more elegant setting for a massive needlework display?

Sue and I had a wonderful time today!  We got to Woodlawn around 10:00 AM — it’s only a few miles down the road from our hotel.  We paid our entrance fee and started gawking!  The first room contained the White House exhibit.  A number of years ago, I saw a large rug that Barbara Bush had needlepointed — it was glorious with lots of woodland creatures on a light green background.  So I was happy to see a smaller rug that she had done on display today.  It, too, contained woodland creatures but on a white background and significantly smaller in size.  We also saw Julie Nixon Eisenhower needlepointing at the White House.  And in her official White House portrait, Eleanor Roosevelt is knitting!!

Then we moved onto the rooms displaying needlepoint.  There was a room for people, for samplers, for spring, for goldwork, for animals, for Christmas, for needlepoint and for “other”.  I’m sure the committee wouldn’t agree with my room categories, but I call them like I see them!  Probably my favorite was a piece put together by the Constellation EGA chapter from Baltimore.  This was a matrix of 8 by 7 small pieces with a curvy red line running through every piece and the words — We share a common thread — written out on 20 of the 56 pieces.  Each piece was done in a different needlework technique — blackwork, beading, Or Nue, surface embroidery, basketweave, applique, Hilton stitches, and more.  The first square contained a knot and the last one a needle!  Some pieces used the red “thread” as a prop (for example a bird sitting on a wire) and some just used it as a design feature.  A really wonderful group project!

At lunch at the Nelly Needler’s Cafe (delicious), Sue and I discussed how wonderful it would be for NJNA to put together a display for next year.  The Woodlawn property is home to a Frank Lloyd Wright prairie style home and they sell many items related to him in their gift shop.  So we thought — why not a group display of our “Frankie” pieces?  Then we learned that it is becoming harder to staff this event every year, so Sue went and talked to them about our volunteering to work the exhibit for a few days next year!  We were thinking that it could even be an NJNA community project!

So — the following designs which I have personally done — were on display by others:

• Dominoes and Squares by Jane Zimmerman
• Atlantis Rising by Ro Pace
• 2013 ANG SOTM by Debbie Steihler
• Irresistible Iridescence by Nancy Cucci
• Stella Polaris by Michael Boren and Carole Lake
• Plus a few that are still in my stash — Shhhh!

We saw a woolly lamb on display that HAD to be Susan H’s design.  I was disappointed that they only showed the name of the stitchers and not the names of the designers in the exhibit and in the program.

Rona — your Cinderella pumpkin coach was prominently displayed in a downstairs display case!

Melita — your river looked wonderful — so original!  We were proud to say that we knew you while you were creating it!

Now we are going to decide where we should stop on our way home tomorrow!

Cheers!  Rosie

Hi, Everyone —

Sue and I drove to DC today and plan to tour the Woodlawn needlepoint exhibit tomorrow.  Today, we braved the snow showers and made a side trip to Bedecked and Beadazzled in Lutherville, MD.

What a blast I had buying assorted threads and beads for Kurdy Bigg’s “A Different View”!  Our SOTM group decided to do this beautiful piece in 2014.

The Lovely Threads

Do you see those three balls of thread in the upper right hand corner?  I bought those Finca threads just because I thought they were so beautiful together.  So what could be better than to use them as the base for MY “A Different View”?  Stay tuned!

Cheers!  Rosie

Hi, Everyone —

A few months ago, I met Janis Note of Noteworthy Needle and she was stitching the lenses for a pair of her trade-marked Cross Eyes glasses.  I thought the sun glasses would make great stocking stuffers for my girls so I bought a few kits.

Today I finished the stitching on Marisa’s glasses and I wanted to share the result with you.

Cross Eyes by Janis Note

And here’s a close-up of the design.

Close-up of Lens Stitching

Janis assembles the pre-drilled glasses into a kit which also contains an eyeglass case, Size 28 Needle, Beadalon Big Eye Beading Needle, Waxer, Needle Grabber, detailed instructions, and two charts.  Marisa picked her own thread colors at JoAnn’s.

In addition to sunglasses, Janis sells magnifier glasses as well as several colors and types of sunglasses.  I think this is a way cool idea and a unique stitched gift and conversation starter!  Don’t you agree?

Cheers!  Rosie