2023 Year in Review & A Look Forward

January 1, 2024, 11:50 am
Filed under: General comments

Thanks once again for your interest in my needlepoint. It’s always fun to look back at what I stitched and framed or finished myself, what classes I took, and what road trips I took. As I look back over 2023, I surpassed 1,000 posts since I started in 2010.

My main accomplishments this past year included:

finishing the six steps of the EGA Master Craftsman in Canvas (Step 5, Night Owl, was awarded 2nd Place at Woodlawn; Step 6, Fireside Sampler will go there in March 2024)
beginning a series of articles dubbed Timeless Treasures from the Archives in Needle Pointers (started with the July/Aug 2023 issue). I am really enjoying going back through old issues of Needle Pointers looking for interesting articles that remain relevant today.

I’ve enjoyed my classes and amazing teachers including:

Learn to Weave with Daryl Lancaster (sponsored by Jockey Hollow Weavers Guild)
Finishing with Kelly Starke (sponsored by ANG NJNA)
Pomegranate Heart with Melissa Sebring (EGA Seminar)
Draw & Paint with Laura Smith (EGA Correspondence Course)
Shading with Crewel with Judy Jerow (EGA Mid-Atlantic Region THaP)

The pieces that I finished and framed (either by myself, Frames Plus, or Repenning Fine Arts) were:

Dawn by Textured Treasures
Autumn 3-Ways by Toni Gerdes
Finnegan by Melita
Lady Sybil by Melita (won a 2nd place at EGA Seminar)

I finished stitching these in 2022 but the finishing was done in 2023:

Blue Hills by Dawn Donnelly (framed)
Mesa Triangle by Kath Rees (framed)
JP canvases, Bird of Paradise with Bamboo and Orchid with Bamboo (pillows)

This year I embraced “finishing” in a big way by doing these (I got my finishing supplies organized, improved efficiency, and no longer dread it):

24 bulbs for a Christmas Lights Garland
4 Gold n Cross Stitch ornaments (no actual finishing required)
3 Or Nue Flag Magnets (I designed it for the Needlework and Fiber Guild of Media but the ANG Central Jersey Chapter also enjoyed doing it.)
2 Chottie’s Plaid bookmarks
2 Bargello Flag ornaments (published in the July/August 2023 issue of Needle Pointers)
1 each of these into ornaments (except the last one):
Amadeus motif (from 2011 SOTM)
Chilly Hollow motif (from 2011 SOTM)
Waffle motif (from 2011 SOTM)
Bells of Scotch (I designed this – watch for it coming to Needle Pointers in 2024)
50th Anniversary Round (from Sundance Beads)
Dawn motif (from Textured Treasures)
Crewel Wreath (from EGA Petite Projects)
Circles (made into a basket lid; from 2008 SOTM)

Next year, new projects I have plans to stitch include:

Landscape Features with Gail Stafford (ANG Cyberpointers Workshop)
Byzantium with Lorene Salt and Treasures from the Great Lakes with Dawn Donnelly (at ANG’s Seminar in Kansas City, MO; registration opens March 4 for ANG members, March 18 for non-members, and closes May 17, 2024; Seminar runs from August 30 – September 6, 2024)
Rainbow Butterfly, a Laurel Burch design by Danji (with Kristen for ANG Main Line Stitchers)
Fibonaci by Olivia Hartshorn (March/April 2022 issue of Needle Pointers with ANG Main Line Stitchers)
Ort Box with a Twist by Marilyn Owen (with ANG Main Line Stitchers)

The current projects that I will continue to work on include:

Imperial Topaz by Sue Reed
Amanda Lawford’s Christmas Angel
A Spring Sampler in Cinnamon
Medusa Sea Jelly
Mary Maxim Quilt Magic Kit of a Poinsettia

The oldest 2 projects that I have high hopes of finishing include:

Stitches in Sterling by Nancy Cucci (began in Oct 2011)
Tar River Trail by Gail Stafford (began in Aug 2012; hoping more years of experience and the Landscape Features Workshop will allow me to finish it)

Last but not least, I look forward to leading A Stash Sampler for the ANG Cyberpointers May 2-6, 2024 meeting program (registration is April 15 – May 6).