Tag Archives: Gail Stafford

Aug31

Seminar – Days 4 and 5

Posted on August 31, 2016 by carolkingbarrow

On Tuesday, Jill, Sue and I did not have class. So we went to the WW II Museum. My dad fought in the Second World War (as well as Korea) so I wanted to see how the museum treated the European Theatre.

The exhibits were wonderful but I felt that there was much more in the Pacific section, perhaps because the overall battle was longer and more extensive geographically. At any rate, the museum tells a very moving story of the courage and fortitude of the men and women of the Greatest Generation.

Last night, we had dinner at Commander’s Palace. Best shrimp remoulade ever! When we left, they took us though the kitchen to see behind the scenes.

Today, I had a one day class, Swirling Tulips by Gail Stafford. Below is one quadrant of the design. Tomorrow, we start Beets so I will have another root vegetable piece!

Aug31

Commander’s Palace!

Posted on August 31, 2016 by rosielunde

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Hi Everyone!

I’m a day late in writing this post, but yesterday was a bad computer day when two of my three accounts stopped working. By some miracle of cyberspace, they are all happy today!

So yesterday was my second day in “At the Beach” with Gail Stafford. Despite missing two hours of class for conference calls, I think I made pretty good progress. Gail was very understanding and walked me through what I missed. If I hadn’t had the calls, at least part of the beach towel thrown over the left chair would have been stitched!

So this post gets its name from the restaurant where Carol made reservations for our whole NJNA contingent. Cathryn had told Carol that this was one of the best restaurants in NOLA.

Carol heard that the shrimp remoulade was awesome, but it was only available on the tasting menu. So, Carol asked and the chef agreed to make an exception; so three of our group ordered that. I had a heirloom tomato salad with local ricotta and a basil sauce — it was so good that I used my bread to sop up every last drop! For dinner I had the pecan crusted local gulf fish (sheepshead) in a saffron sauce with champagne-poached crab on top!

Is your mouth watering yet?

As we were getting into our taxi, a parade of lighted bicycles went by! It was highly reminiscent of our first seminar in Philadelphia when we had the naked bicycle parade! Apparently this is an every Tuesday and Thursday night occurrence in NOLA. The picture is a bit blurry, but you get the idea!

Tomorrow is tour day — always my favorite day at seminar! Sue and I have signed up for a tour of two plantations. Stay tuned!

Cheers, Rosie

Aug29

At the Beach!

Posted on August 29, 2016 by rosielunde

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Hi Everyone!

Today I started a new piece called “At the Beach!” with Gail Stafford. Wouldn’t you know that I had to paint again? This time it was with acrylic paint and brushes. Luckily, I tom-sawyered the teacher into using my canvas as an example. It looked gorgeous until I took over to finish it.

You will see that tonight I have many loose threads on my canvas — also known as spaghetti. I think I’ll try to tackle some of that before morning.

Sue, Heidi, and I had a delicious lunch at Cafe Allegro — directly across the street from the hotel. Tonight, most of my peeps will be attending the Cyberpointer Chapter meeting and I’ll be on my own.

I don’t think anyone wrote about last night’s opening banquet. It definitely had a New Orleans flavor to it. During happy hour, we were serenaded by a jazz band who then led the “Parade of Stitches” into the banquet hall. Dinner was Chicken Gumbo with Louisiana Rice, Smoked Chicken, Sweet Potatoes and Roasted Squash, and King Cake Ice Cream.

I got separated from the NJNA group and ended up sitting with Tina, Melita, and Brenda. Both Brenda and Melita won awards in the judged exhibit pieces. Melita won a first prize in the Original, Non-Professional category for “Festive Fireworks”. Brenda received second place in the Independent, Non-Professional category for her “Rose Swirls”! Pamela Harding, designer of Serengeti, was also at our table — so I am convinced that I stumbled onto the Rock Star table!

Next year’s Stitch of the Month project is on display in the exhibit and I’d say that it is another winner!

Cheers, Rosie

Oct3

Fog in the Mountains

Posted on October 3, 2015 by jawilliams4

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And fog at the beach! After a lot of heavy rain yesterday and last night, the view is very foggy this morning. Allegedly my flight status is still “on time,” but we will see. Carol started her drive home at 4am, so she is well with on her way by now.

Morning, October 3.

View from our hotel room without fog!

But I know what you are really interested in seeing is my progress on “Fog in the Mountains” by Gail Stafford. Well, here it is:

Day two progress.

Each section is at least partially stitched. Gail showed us how to ravel the Flair and attach it for the fog — yes, you PURPOSELY ravel the Flair! I can’t wait to get home and finish this really lovely piece. Gail talked about how she designed it, and made decisions about the design, threads, and stitches, and showed us photographs of her doodle cloth and notes, all of which I found immensely interesting and inspiring.

Oct2

Fog in the Mountains, Day One

Posted on October 2, 2015 by jawilliams4

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My third class at seminar this year is “Fog in the Mountains,” a wonderful jewel of a piece taught by Gail Stafford.

Day one progress

The piece is on Congress cloth, and much of what we’ve stitched so far has been with a single strand of overdyed floss. So the stitching is delicate, much of it over painted areas. Gail painted a couple of sections for us in advance, but we had to paint the others — after having two separate classes that involved painting, any intimidation I might have felt about it is gone. I’m hoping that this means that I will try my hand at designing and painting my own canvas at some point during the upcoming year. I already have a couple of ideas!