Filed under: Cross Stitch Retreat
My travel buddy Linda & I headed out Thursday for Harrisburg , PA to join 145 people (including at least one male) for a 3-day event.
They handed out a nice bag full of goodies (not all the free designs are pictured).
There were about 9 vendors including 2 designers (Sue Hillis and Jean Farish) selling a nice variety of stuff. The amazing store, Needleworker’s Delight, brought a variety of fabrics in wonderful colors. They relocated since we were there. Apparently, it’s a better space for retail shopping (181 US Highway 1 South in Metuchen, NJ).
I managed to find a cute design from Sue Hillis without much difficulty and fabric from Needleworker’s Delight I’ll need for it. There are needles I never saw before. And, that’s linen lacing thread for finishing that won’t stretch like cotton. The laying tool is more substantial than the trolley needle and has a pretty celtic design.
I didn’t get a picture when all the tables were full because some people took classes.
Linda and I shopped, sat & really enjoyed stitching with our new friends Stephanie (standing right) and Patty (standing left). I enjoyed seeing all the different projects people were stitching and the various tools everyone was using.
Linda and I did get a chance to visit Debra at Half Moon Hand Werks. She is the orgainizer of the February event formerly called Festival of the Guilds (http://www.fibreworksresource.com). Linda got beautiful fabric for sewing. I found some threads and tools.
Finally, the proper weather to get back to stitching Patti Mann’s Nov Mums (9110) which I got at Rita’s Needlepoint over the summer. The stitch guide is from Betsy at Fireside Stitchery. She had that ready after I got back from seminar. Working on the background (a mosaic darning pattern) today.
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, ANG Stitch of the Month, 2012
With the new year kicking off last month, we started the 2012 Stitch of the Month from ANG’S website. That’s the 40th Anniversary Heart design. Several of us are doing it in red and one in another colorway. One person is doing a quatrafoil instead of the heart.
Here’s September’s (T-stitch) & October’s (Criss-Cross Hungarian) areas completed.
Filed under: ANG Keystone Garden Chapter, ANG Stitch of the Month Mystery Project
By adding the 2 outer rows as final borders, we are almost done with the mystery project at my ANG Keystone Garden Chapter. But, there is something mysterious that will “be revealed” next month before we finish. Hmmmm.
Wednesday night at our meeting, I got the first border done and last night I added the outermost border. And, thanks to the longest 9-inning post-season game in major league baseball history, I added beads in the 2 large diamonds. They were optional but I liked that they made the top bluer and the bottom greener than the threads alone. I was worried about the top having more beads than the bottom and being top heavy. But, the bottom green ones are larger Mill Hill Beads and the top blue ones are smaller seed beads from Beads By Blanche (via Trish V who purged her stash last year). Of course, I could always turn it upside down had it been top heavy. I think it is looking great!
Filed under: ANG Stitch of the Month, 2016
October’s portion of Susan Hoekstra’s Feuilles d’ananas (Pineapple Leaves) are Daisy eyelets, upright satin, herringbone, and more Daisy eyelets. In fact, I have 136 eyelets!
I centered the eyelet in the middle rather than starting with a complete full unit on the left. There has to be a symmetrical arrangement to please my eye!
I forget that I ordered the larger pair of scissors at seminar from Michele Roberts. So, when the package arrived, I had a double surprise! The extra tiny pair and the beaded fob! Beautiful.
I see the word “ICE” on them. Thanks to google, I see that means Ice Tempered (not a brand name). Stainless steel is regular steel with chromium added to make the steel more rust resistant, thus “stainless” steel. The disadvantage of the high content of chromium in stainless steel is that the cutting edges dull quicker. To overcome this, the steel is subjected to very low temperatures (frozen or “ice tempered”), to optimize the steel structure for hardness.
Our second year-long project at my ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter will involve each member choosing a small painted canvas and bringing it to every meeting. Each member will have an opportunity to ask the rest of the group to suggest stitches and threads for a specific area of his/her canvas. I look forward to watching and learning from each other’s canvases. Then, we can stitch the area discussed before the next meeting. At the end of the year, each member will have a completed piece based on the suggestions of the group. We’ll also explore selecting background stitches.
A review of some tips on canvas embellishment for painted canvases will be shared at October’s meeting to kick off our painted canvas project. I have Julia Snyder’s new book “Keys To Canvas Embellishment” and “Painted Canvas Embellishment: An Idea Book” by Carole Lake and Michael Boren. If you have books specific to this topic, please leave me a comment & let me know your favorite book(s). By all means, if you are in the area, please visit us! At 7:00 pm on October 10, 2016 (second Monday of the month) at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. GPS: 203 North Valley Forge Road, Devon, PA. For those who can, please join us for dinner at 5:30 pm at Minella’s (320 W Lancaster Ave).
I don’t know who the designer of this canvas – if you know, please leave me a comment. And, if it’s not a snail shell, please let me know! And, if you’d like to make suggestions for an area, please do!! I haven’t done many painted canvases (mainly do counted designs) & hope to learn a lot this year. I have a few painted canvases & want to do something nice with them.
I am reading Wicked by Gregor Maguire. And, I find a reference to trapunto! While I haven’t done any, I do know the term.
According to wiki, Trapunto is Italian for “to quilt,” ans a method of quilting that is also called “stuffed technique.” A puffy, decorative feature, trapunto utilizes at least two layers, the underside of which is slit and padded, producing a raised surface on the quilt.
Glinda approached slowly, either through age or shyness, or because her ridiculous gown weighed so much that it was hard for her to get up enough steam to stride. She looked like a huge Glindaberry bush, was all the Witch could think; under that skirt there must be a bustle the size of the dome of Saint Florix. There were sequins and furbelows and a sort of History of Oz, it seemed, stitched in trapunto in six or seven ovoid panels all around the skirting.
I had to look up furbelows. I found out that means a pleated or gathered piece of material like a ruffle.
This example of trapunto (brown puffy areas) is from Sandy Arthur’s Gated Secrets, an ANG Correspondence Course.
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