Tag Archives: Tony Minieri

Jun11

Stitch of the Month – June

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Eight of the SOTM group gathered on Saturday to once again enjoy a day of stitching. The weather was warm and sunny but we did have some nice breezes and our stitching afternoon was quite enjoyable.

We had a small stitching crisis at the beginning of our session. Jill came prepared to start on Stars this month and had basted the outlines of the squares. She noticed that the basting just didn’t seem quite right. Margaret checked to make sure that the basting lines were all correct (how easy it is to jump over a thread or two). We made sure the stretcher bars were at right angles (they were). Jill tried remounting the canvas, which didn’t work. Finally, we got out a t-square, a drafter’s triangle, and a quilter’s cutting mat and lined up the basting lines. Lo and behold, the canvas was warped and there was a 1/2 inch difference in the line over the length of the project!

Jill was prepared to make a run over to The Edwardian Needle to get another canvas so that she could start her stitching. Fortunately, we were able to find a piece of blank canvas (and luckily it was the right size); Jill re-basted her piece and was able to start her stitching.

The rest of us continued our work on Stars and we all commented on how the individual squares look so different depending on which colorway we used. All of the pieces are just beautiful.

Dee, who is working on A Different View, completed the third octagon yesterday. It is stunning in those colors on the black canvas. She is now deciding on which design to stitch for the fourth octagon.

With apologies to Sylvia and Margaret, who left before I remembered to take a picture of our pieces, here is our progress on these pieces. Top row is Nancy’s in Granite and Jill’s just-started piece in her own colorway (which will be spectacular). Middle row left is mine in Egyptian Nights and Joan’s in Plum Honey (notice Joan is almost finished!). Bottom row is Mally’s, also in Granite. Sylvia sent a picture of hers later that day; she is stitching the Royalty colorway. (And many apologies if I got the colorway or attribution incorrect.)

Do not think that Jill has been slacking off this year, as she completed My Way and brought it along with her yesterday to share.  Isn’t it colorful?  And look at how Dee’s piece sparkles even without all those beads!

Jill & Dee 2 - June

I will remember to take pictures of all the pieces together next month!

We are all having a great time at these monthly sessions and seeing how everyone’s pieces are evolving.  Until next time …

Happy Stitching!

 

 

May16

Stars for a New Milennium

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I had decided to do Stars for a New Milennuim for our 2017 Stitch of the Month but was still (and still am!) working on the 2016 SOTM and had not had a chance to get my threads for Stars. I finally decided to do the Jelly Bean colorway after looking at all the overdyes at The Gazebo outside New Hope. I was passing The Gazebo again and only had my thread list (without colors) on my phone so I bought what I could but decided the Tangerine threads listed were too brown for my liking.

Since I had the overdye and my canvas mounted, I decided to start stitching the middle border to see how it would look. I then took a trip to The Edwardian to finish picking my threads since I knew they’d have a better selection of threads and be easier to spread out and decide what I wanted to do. After about 3 hours and with much help from Catherine Curia and one of the workers at the shop (sorry I don’t remember her name), I picked out the rest of my threads.

I had done the center of the first block before our May SOTM and only had a short time available to stitch on Saturday but enjoyed seeing epwhat others were doing and how far they had gotten. I did get one of the squares started around the center of block 1. I was enjoying stitching it so much, I decided to try to finish block 1 this week and did as you can see.

I’m finding this a fun piece to stitch that works up quickly. I’m loving my colors, which are way outside my comfort zone! I hoping the rest of the piece is as much fun and goes as quickly. It’s amazing how different each of the color ways look. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone pieces throughout the year.

 

Mar11

SOTM – March Meeting

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Friday’s snow did not deter our Stitch of the Month group from gathering today.  Ten stitchers met at Linda’s house this month to work on our 2017  projects – My Way by Carolyn Mitchell and Stars for a New Millennium by Tony Minieri – or to complete work on an older project.  As always, we enjoyed the camaraderie and the opportunity to get advice about the stitching.  And, we celebrated Jill’s birthday with a delicious German Chocolate Cake from Sue.

We are working at our own pace so we stitch what we can each month.  Here  is our progress this month from Margaret, Mally, Nancy, Sylvia, Joan, Linda, Jill, Sue, Robin, and Barbara.

 

Our April meeting is the same day as the NJ NeedleFest so we will be taking our stitching on the road.  I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s progress!

Happy stitching …

Linda

 

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.

the-wright-friends-unframed

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.

progress-halfway

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!

Sep12

Alternative Seminar – Class 1

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I’ve probably mentioned this in the past but  my bucket list includes attending an ANG (and an EGA) National Seminar. I can only imagine the thrill of being able to take a few classes, chat with fellow stitchers, shop, and retire to a room that has been prepared by someone else. It sounds like heaven. Alas, I am resigned to waiting a few more years to experience that pleasure. It just won’t happen with college move-in occurring at the same time as ANG Seminar and having to budget vacation days for all those other college-oriented events. However, I do keep my eyes open for classes offered locally (and those held on weekends are an added bonus) or by mail/on-line.

This weekend I was able to attend a two-day workshop organized by the ANG Central Jersey Chapter: The Wright Friends designed and taught by Tony Minieri. You can read about the piece on Tony’s website. As many of you know I have taken more than a few of his classes and always learn so much.

The workshop was held at the Colts Neck Library and the venue was just amazing. The room was large enough to provide ample room for about 15 stitchers at tables and we were all able to spread out comfortably. Although plenty of extension cords were provided for additional lighting not many of us needed it; the overhead lighting was sufficient for stitching. Additional tables were set up to allow us to enjoy bagels and other goodies before the class as well as our lunches and more goodies during breaks.

Stitching started promptly at 9:30 a.m. and we worked one of the four windows. The windows are stitched alike but with variation on the four colors – fuchsia, turquoise, purple, and lime green. As always, Tony’s designs feature unique stitches as well as familiar stitches used in unique ways. Those of you who attended our August meeting saw Cathryn’s beautifully stitched and finished piece up close.

At the end of the two days my first window was about 95 percent complete, although I do have to admit that I found a few mistakes that needed to be ripped out before I could complete the window. Here is what the fuchsia window looked like at the end of the second day. You’ll note that there are accents of turquoise to the right and lime green to the left –  the adjacent windows will be turquoise and lime green.

progress-day-2-horizontal

I am planning to work on The Wright Friends this week before starting on Class 2, which will be the subject of another post.

Kudos to ANG CJC for organizing a fantastic workshop. I enjoyed stitching with this group and hope to participate in other programs with them.

Happy Stitching!