Just Call Me Rumpelstiltskin

Sorry I haven't been blogging much this month. I've been soooo busy on a variety of fronts that I just haven't had time to sit down, draw a deep breath, and think about stitching - let alone DO some stitching. Whew. It's been that crazy (but in a good way - grin)....

My latest preoccupation is getting ready for the EGA National Seminar, being held in San Francisco next week. I've signed up for a table at their Wednesday Merchandise Event, which is a fun-filled day of stitchy shopping heaven for all those Seminar attendees.

I've been busy printing lots of patterns. And I also spent some time hand-dying some thread (three different weights of pearl cottons) - which is something I do occasionally. (And before you all ask: unfortunately I'm NOT selling any of my thread on my website. It's just too much work to get into the thread-dying business full-time and it would take me away from my designing work - which is my TRUE passion. And besides, there are already lots of different thread companies out there that provide us with plenty of hand-dyed threads.) Anyway, it's really messy, back-breaking work, but as you might imagine, having lots of luscious thread at the end is well worth all the effort.

I feel like the girl in the old fairy tale that is stuck in a room with pile of straw and told to weave it into gold. Here's what my boring "pile of straw" looked like before I started:


At this point, I get into my old paint-spattered clothes, slip on some plastic gloves and start painting thread....

And here's what it looks like after it has been rinsed and is drying on the line:


Then it needs to be twisted back into skeins and labeled, but here's what all the hard work is about:


My straw has been turned into stitching GOLD: lots and lots of gorgeous thread to play with....dream with...and ultimately -- stitch with!

So, if you're lucky enough to be going to the EGA Seminar in September, please stop by and say "Hi" ... and check out all my treasure!

Pssst....

If you've been wondering what I've been stitching on this month, I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone: I've been busy marathon stitching on two projects I'm planning to submit as proposals for the 2010 EGA Seminar in San Francisco, which has a theme of "stitching on the Barbary Coast."

I've been thinking about this theme for many months now, and finally got down to stitching. I've spent the whole month of January working on two TOP SECRET projects that I hope will be accepted for the big 2010 event.

I finally finished both stitchery projects last week - WOO HOO, HOORAY FOR ME!!!

The only thing I'm going to show you is the color palette I used for both projects:


I decided to settle on this particular palette of reds, greens, golds and browns because it seemed so evocative of that opulent Victorian-era style that must have been so prevalent in circa-1850 Barbary Coast San Francisco....

But that's all you get to see. The finished projects are hidden in my studio, not to be revealed until 2010.... and my lips are sealed.