Well, I will truly be “Adorned by Orna” (which you can Google to find her) for our Friday night (5 pm) opening at the Media Arts Council (MAC) needlepoint exhibit featuring designs by Orna Willis. MAC is in Media at 11 E State St and our exhibit will run until the 31st. These earrings are her Corinthian Earrings that I bought as a kit when she opened up her new studio (December 2018). Great motivation to finish them! Six members from ANG Main Line Stitchers are exhibiting 14 pieces designed by Orna including 6 different Color Inspirations. And, Orna has at least 50 pieces, bracelets, and other small finishes. An amazing collection.
It took me 2 days at New Jersey Needle Fest to stitch these earrings on Congress Cloth though I should have been done in a day (I had to redo some because I counted incorrectly). And, it took a day to attach the ultrasuede backing, apply the beads along the bottom and top edges, and add the hardware. The beads took several attempts and rethinking because I wasn’t happy with adding the large (4 mm) round beads into the bottom edge. So, I pulled out her instructions from her Flower Cuff piece for adding a Picot bead edging (2 layers) and I switched from gold beads to a purple iridescent 11/0 seed beads. I tightened them up which is creating the buckling effect which I thought was more interesting than a very uniform appearance. All ready for Friday!!
Filed under: 2022, Corinthian Earrings by Orna Willis, General comments, Needles, New Jersey Needle Festival, Other People's Pieces, Romy's Creations, Threads
This year NJ Needle Fest was 2 days (Friday and Saturday) at the Embassy Suites in Berkeley Heights, NJ.
Buff and I drove up Friday morning. We found our table for ANG Main Line Stitchers right inside the main entrance joining Kristen, Linda, and Lori. There were dozens of other stitchers at tables in a large room and a second atrium room where the folks from ANG NJ Needle Artists sat. The rooms were not completely full which is why next year the event will be on Saturday and Sunday in April (15-16). On Saturday, Patrick and Beth joined us. Lots more people came but there were still about 30 cancellations even 3 at our table. It would have been too crowded for 10 anyway. Now we know that 8 is the maximum at a table.
There were lots of vendors and I couldn’t resist buying a piece of linen (30 count linen by The Primitive Hare), Easy Guide Ball-Tip Needles (2 each size 26 and 28 good for stitching on linen), a dozen beaded counting pins (by MyBigToeDesigns.com), beautiful hand-dyed threads (by RomysCreations.it – who is on Facebook), a 10″ x 8″ thread bag by Trish Vine Designs (who is on Facebook) and a 14″ square clear project bag by Trish who is formerly from the ANG Keystone Garden chapter. It was great to see her again and glad to hear she’s enjoying North Carolina.
Breakfast (bagels, toast, pastry type food, coffee, tea), lunch (salad, meats/cheeses/bread for sandwiches, grilled eggplant/zucchini, chips, water/soda), afternoon snack (cookies and fruit) were all very good. Friday night three Main Line Stitchers, 6 NJNA, and I met for dinner at Delicious Heights in Berkeley Heights for a wonderful evening of good food and conversation.
Besides stitching and vendors, we looked at a variety of wonderful pieces that others at the event were stitching covering a variety of categories. My favorite was the beaded piece Infinity by Tela Artis (seller is in Ukraine). The amount of beading is unbelievable but will be beautiful when finished. The shading on the fabric is pretty enough to just frame the fabric.
Dee from NJ Needle Artists shared her hand woven towels making me get more excited to learn weaving even though I am learning tapestry weaving which is different.
During the day they gave away door prizes and I won big prizes each day! On Friday, it was registration to their Summer Getaway in Radnor near Philadelphia that I can use in 2023 (I’ll be away at ANG Seminar in 2022). And on Saturday, it was registration to their Christmas in Williamsburg in Nov 30-Dec 4, 2022 which I can go to with Buff who won that prize last year! We can drive down and share a room. What are the odds of me getting both? Amazing!! Before I won the Williamsburg registration, I was paying for next year’s NJ Needle Fest and saw the Joyful box behind the counter and commented on how cute it was. Don’t you know that the certificate came in that box. It was certainly my lucky day.
Can’t forget to talk about the stitching that I did. I brought 2 projects expecting to zip right through the Corinthian Earrings by Orna Willis but between gabbing, shopping, looking around, and some frogging, it took 2 days to finish the earrings. I should have Xerox copied the pattern to highlight areas stitched as I progressed. They are on Congress Cloth and come with the materials to finish them but that will be the subject of another post.
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