Three Quick Things

Today's posting has three quick things for you: a peek, a snip, and a ring.

THE PEEK is of a new quilt design I just started this weekend. It came from out of nowhere, but after I did a bit of doodling, pulled some jazzy thread colors, I just couldn't wait to start stitching it up. It's a fun one, I've got to admit! I think I'm gonna call it RED HOT PEPPERS (since it uses Watercolours' 277 - Hot Peppers and besides, the new outer border technique reminds me of chili peppers...I also think I'll include a color option for using oranges, so it could also be stitched as a Halloweeny project and hopefully, I'll have the pattern finished and available in October, but we'll see how it goes!)


THE SNIP is an efficient way to cut your #5 pearl cotton skeins so you can keep the thread inside the paper cuffs and have your skeins stay neat and labeled. In the above photo, see the two loops at the end of each skein? They look like bunny ears to me, and you need to open the loops up, then CUT AT THE TIPS of each loop. All your thread pieces will now be accessible to pull from the OTHER end of the skein without taking off the paper cuffs.


THE RING is a new technique I'm trying with this project. I had all my thread skeins loose in a box, but it occured to me that after I "bunny cut" all my skeins, I could slip them on a single binder ring so they could hang from my floor stand or wherever I happen to be stitching. We'll see how well this technique works to keep all my threads from getting tangled up, falling on the floor, slipping down the sofa cushions, etc., etc., etc... as they usually do as I stitch along.

Anyway, I thought I'd share these little things with you just for fun today. Hope you get to do some stitching!

Lightning Strikes!

Once upon a time, when I started out designing my first needlepoint quilts, I stitched up a small one that I thought of as my "Lightning Bolt" design. It was a very basic layout, using only one variegated thread and one background thread. I never developed it further than a sample model, and over the years, it got buried in my piles of projects.


Recently, while rummaging thru my stuff, I came across this little sample again. I always wanted to do a lighning bolt pattern, so I decided now was the time to do it. After all, this year has been rather crazy in the weather department, hasn't it? So what better way to acknowledge the fact than by stitching up a new design!

Here's what I came up with for my "new and improved" LIGHTNING BOLT:


In the original model, all the lightning blocks are going in the same direction. In the new version, I decided to change stitch direction on every block down the row. It creates a crazy zig zag line AND it makes the light changes more dramatic when you tilt the piece in the light (which doesn't show up in the photos - alas.)

I also jazzed up the outer borders by turning the single zig zag border into a triple zig zag border. AND I added two metallic ribbons - one purple and one silver - so there's plenty of sparkle thruout the whole piece. Here's a close-up of the new pattern:


Truthfully, one of the reasons I never developed the original design was it seemed too plain. And I couldn't figure out what color to use. Both of those problems were solved by waiting a bit before proceeding. Now that there are sooooo many more variegated colors on the market and sooooo many more metallics available, I had many more options to consider.

Ultimately, I chose Watercolours' 259, "Garden Path", because it had purples, yellows and greens, all the colors of a dark stormy sky. And I decided to use a bruised purple background (DMC #5 3042) to mimic all those threatening thundery skies we've seen. In the corners are a row of squares, that I like think of as a string of raindrops - or hail, if you prefer!

And you know what? After I had the model stitched and photographed, it suddenly struck me how Art Deco this piece looks - something I hadn't really noticed while stitching it up.

Anyway, this is my latest design for this month: LIGHTNING BOLT. If you're interested in adding it to your stash, please visit my website for ordering details.

I Maintain The Fantasy

While working madly last month to get ready for the San Francisco EGA Seminar, I maintained the fantasy in my mind that when I returned I would reward myself by sitting all day in my stitchy chair and working leisurely on project after project, sipping tea and munching on chocolate for sustenance.

Well, I have returned from the Seminar and alas, my cherished fantasy
Is Not To Be.
Too much work has piled up. Orders have flooded in. And oh, how had I forgotten? I have trunk shows and lots of other October events to prepare for!

So I've been back at work, frantically printing and collating and packaging for these up-coming events:

A trunk show of my designs at Kelsey's Needle Krafts in Placerville, CA. If you're up in the Gold Country in October (or even down in the Sacramento Valley and want a day trip up into the Sierra foothills) why not check out Kelsey's new shop in the lovely gold town of Placerville?

And if you're going to the ANG Seminar in Columbus, OH through October 1-8th, be sure to visit the ANG Boutique, run by M's Canvashouse (from Lexington, KY). They'll have a bunch of my latest designs in their shop.

And I also got a call from Louise's Needleworks in Powell, Ohio. They are located a short distance away from the ANG Seminar and will be running a shuttle back and forth to their shop during the week-long event. AND, they're planning to feature all sorts of counted canvaswork designers - including my work. So I've sent another box of assorted patterns to Louise's so shoppers can have even MORE stuff to oogle!

And October is the time my stitching friends in El Paso, Texas have their annual mountain retreat, run by Nancy Wahler of The Counted Thread. I certainly wish I could join them at their stitching retreat, but instead I'm sending a box of goodies for the fun stitching ladies of El Paso.

So all you travelling stitchers out there....have fun stitching and shopping. Just spare a kind thought for me, maintaining my fantasy about sitting down and stitching some time soon... and oh, yes, Katie is fantasizing too -- about somebody having time to stop and play fetch with her!

My Big City Adventure

Last week I travelled to San Francisco (about an hour south of Cloverdale) to attend the Merchandise Event at the EGA National Seminar. I picked up my stitching friend, Gauri, on the way (she helped me at my table with all the stitching customers). Here we are in the heart of The City, heading straight for the Marriott Marquis:


Isn't this a great shot of the old and new combined? The famous modern Pyramid Building is on the left, the old wedge-shaped Flat Iron Building on the right.

We got to the hotel in plenty of time to enjoy the SF sites, as well as a delicious dinner in a restaurant in a famous old domed SF building that's been converted to stores:


Then the next day we quickly set up my table before the shoppers entered. Here's a shot of the merchandise room (during a rare afternoon lull) and the view I had from my table:


And finally, here's a shot of me at my table, looking a little bleary-eyed after a long day of meeting and greeting lots of happy stitchers:


Behind me, you can just see the back of fellow designer and teacher Joan Thomasson. Over on the left (out of the picture) was Ann Strite-Kurz (who I finally got to meet after enjoying her books and projects for many years. I took the opportunity to get a copy of her latest stitching book to add to my collection.)

It was great fun to be a part of this seminar - even if it was only for a day. I really enjoyed seeing lots and lots of familiar faces and friends from past stitching events. Thank you, EGA Stitchers, for stopping and shopping at my table!

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!

Time to Cool Off!

I thought I'd show you some more of my designs that feature blues and greens. On a hot summer day there's nothing cooler than stitching on a cool new project that has lots of blues and greens.... aquas and purples are pretty cool too, don't you think?

Anyway here's some more coolness for you to savor. And if they inspire you to take a big splashy leap into a cool new project -- all the better!

Reflecting Pools (the ultimate cool design!)

Sapphire Star

Pacific Coast Collage

Nature Sampler (a blackwork design)

Koi Pond (a blackwork design)

Malachite Maze(totally green, but still cool!)

Polaris

Turquoise Trail

And I'll close with a very cool Blue Hydrangeas

and the bluest of blue flowers, Bluebonnet Collage

Pages of Inspiration

A non-stitcher friend of mine recently asked me where I get my inspiration from (something lots of people have asked me over the years), and if I ever run out of ideas. OH CONTRAIRE!! I told her that my problem is having TOO MANY IDEAS and consequently having to tell them all to quit crowding me, and to take a number and I'll get around to them eventually!

Case in point: this morning I took the time to browse through some home design magazines. In a spring issue of Traditional Home I came across several intriguing possibilities for future designs and I thought I'd share them with you, to show you how my "designing mind" works....


This is a large Henry Moore lithograph that caught my eye. I immediately translated this composition to squares of stitchy patterns and abstracted shapes. Can you see how well this might be adapted as an abstract canvaswork design? It could be large or small, monochromatic or multi-colored too....


Okay, focus on the wallpaper in this photo.It's a Victorian-looking wallpaper that struck me as an excellent format for a geometric canvaswork piece. Picture a large diamond shape, made up of four of the smaller diamond shapes (with the medallions at each intersection). That creates four diamond boxes to fill with something or other -- blackwork? flowers? intricate geometrics?? Hmmmmmm...lots of in-ter-est-ing poss-i-bil-i-ties.


Now this photo caught my eye because of the large floral painting on the wall. It reminds me of some of the happy, graphic, floral painted canvases we stitchers are seeing more and more of in the needlepoint market. Just imagine what a big stitched floral canvas would look like in place of this painting. And why don't these interior designers use some needlepoint on their walls? Hey, You Guys, NEEDLEWORK IS ART TOO!!!


Is this a happy room or what?!? My eye was immediately drawn to the big square canvases of color cubes. I'M SEEIN' BLOCKS OF STITCHING HERE - each done in a different color and stitch pattern. Picture a series of canvases (12" x 12"? 16 x 16"? or even larger? whoa, how about stitching these on 13 ct canvas?) with these same collections of colors, but stitched! They could be monochromatic, as stitch or color studies; or they could be color family studies. Either way, a stitcher could have a really great time working on a series like this.

Sooooo, you see my dilemma as a designer? I'm equally intrigued by all of those pictures. Which of these ideas do I pursue first? Because, trust me, I wanna try ALL of them! And eventually I will, but for now I'll dog-ear the pages in the magazines, scribble some notes to myself in my little notebook, and then get back to stitching on the projects I have going now. If I stitch a little bit faster, maybe I can get those done and then start designing something new next week....Stay tuned, Stitchers!!