We're Here

We've arrived safely in Long Beach California last night. Not much to report on the drive here. Each day I was tossed into the back of the truck and handed a Starbucks to keep me quiet. Occasionally Steve would stop and announce that I had 5 minutes for a potty break. Good thing I can pee really really fast. The first day we crossed through west Texas and spent the night just across the border in New Mexico. The second day we stopped in Phoenix Arizona. I must say that driving through Los Angeles is rather scary. Nobody goes the speed limit and they are all on their cell phones which makes you wonder how much they are paying attention to the other drivers. But we made it and have a really nice place to stay. There is an RV place here down by the water and just a short distance from the convention center. They even have a free shuttle service, how nice is that? Today was a free day for us to just unwind so we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific. Wow, what a great place. There is so much to see and do there. We even fed some of the birds they had. I'll share the pictures later. After lunch we found the closest grocery store and of course, the nearest Starbucks. Those of us who are addicted will understand my obsession. We thought it would be good to make a run past the convention center to see where the loading docks are and when we should arrive tomorrow morning.

We also wanted to check out Howard Hughes, Spruce Goose. When we finally navigated our way over there we were told that the exhibit had been moved......15 years ago. Well I guess we're just a bit on the slow side. Tomorrow is set up day. It's always fun to see old friends and get a early look at all the new designs. I'll try to take notes on all the new trends and then share them with you on another post.

Are We There Yet?

My dear husband has decided that we will leave for our trip at the crack of dawn. Now to me "the crack of dawn" comes sometime after I've had my Star Bucks for the morning. Not so my dear husband! He actually went to the Star Bucks near our house and asked them what time they would be ready to serve in the morning- 6:00am! 6:00am! I'm supposed to be up and ready to greet the day at 6:00am. Now that means you have to go backwards for the amount of time it takes me to wake up, shower, dress, make the bed and get my last few things down to the RV. Then run back inside and love on the puppy, who isn't getting to go on this trip, wake up the child who is also staying behind to tell her good bye and oh yes, one last thing..... This will never do! It's not happening! He's made a pallet up for me in the back of his truck and he thinks he is going to roll me in there, toss me a pillow, hand me my Star Bucks and hit the road.
I'm supposed to wake up 11 hours later and find myself somewhere in west Texas.
Obviously I'm not the best of travellers....are we there yet??? And no, there will not be a picture of me at 6:00am driving down the highway.

Pre Trip Madness

I spent the day carefully packing all my stitched models for the TNNA show. I have found that having models really generates interest and sales so I take as many as possible. In the picture above you can see them on my work table awaiting packing. Naturally I never have the right sized boxes so that means at least one trip to the box store. And of course the box store never has exactly the size I want....hummm, I'm beginning to see a pattern here. I make my selection and then manage to get the flatten boxes inside my little PT Cruiser and race for home. Some of my models have wooden bases and those have to be carefully cushioned and placed upright so that they don't break. Heavier pieces on the bottom, lighter on top, everything wrapped and then placed inside a plastic bag and then put inside the box. Whew! All my canvases are stacked, larger on the bottom and working up to the smaller designs. I place these inside of a Space Bag and then using my vacuum cleaner I suck the air out of the bag. This keeps the pieces from shifting around and being damaged. Now in case this sounds like a bit much to any one of you let me tell you the story of our return trip from the summer show held in Ohio one year.

We had just bought our RV and we decided to take it to the show. The idea being that this would save us lots of money on hotel rooms and food. We also decided to make a family vacation out of the trip and show. My daughter came along with us and helped out in our booth. We drove slowly up to Ohio stopping in Memphis to see Elvis and we spending several days in beautiful Kentucky. We explored all the caves and got friendly with some fainting goats. I never could get them to faint but I really tried and we've have the pictures to prove it. The trip was fun and the show was successful, now we were ready to drive home. We headed straight down south and then my daughter said that she wanted to stop in Biloxi to spend the day at the beach. We had a lot of fun playing tourist for the day and were ready for the last leg home to Texas. I-10 takes you across several bridges in Louisianna. By the time we reached Whiskey Bay it was raining pretty hard. Just as we topped the bridge and left the protection of the surrounding trees a huge hurricane strength gust of wind hit us. The wind was so strong that it tipped our new RV over on its side, ripping the back end of our truck off as it tore free. My husband managed to keep his cool and kept us and the truck from plunging over the edge of the bridge into the bay below. And it wasn't just us, an 18 wheeler behind us was also turned over on that bridge.

Naturally this all happened during rush hour and it took forever for emergency crews to reach us. My husband was allowed to climb inside our destroyed RV and remove the few remaining items that were still good. Being the smart man he was the first things he went for were my needlepoint canvases and models which were stored under the bed. Because, and only because, we had vacuumed sealed everything inside of the Space Bags, absolutely nothing was ruined from the rain pouring inside the gaping hole in the side of our RV. Not a single piece. Lessons learned: always double wrap your canvases and models using Space Bags and always get replacement insurance for your new RV. Within 2 weeks of returning to Houston we had a check for a brand new RV in our hands. The End.

Mermaid Finished

This afternoon, instead of doing what I needed to do, I finished my mermaid. I can always pack my stitched models and drapes for the show tomorrow. At the end of the first mermaid post I was having a hard time deciding what stitch and thread to use for her tail/body. After much thought I decided on using two threads by Renaissance Designs. I started with a Diagonal Mosaic stitch at the end of her tail and then finished the body part with Basketweave. I began stitching at the wide end of her tail using Shimmer #58, a light yellow-green shade with a bit of sparkle. Naturally I didn't have enough in my stash to do the whold body so just below the first pink dot I had to switch to Sprinkles #27. The second color is a darker shade but it worked out nicely as it looks like shading on her tail. I also wanted to add some interest to her hair so I worked in a few brown beads in the darker sections of hair. Then I felt like the end of her tail was rather plain, so more beads. This time I used some emerald green beads and I also added a few around the edge of her waist. I'll have to wait until I return from Long Beach to have her finished but when I do I'll share the final result. You can click on the picture for an enlarged view that will help you see it better.

Neptune's Daughter

I'm not sure what made me think of starting this piece, maybe the thought of our upcoming trip to Long Beach, California. This poor little canvas was tucked away after being returned by a sales rep who thought nothing of folding it in half for return shipping. By the time I got it a nasty fold was across the middle and the canvas was now unsaleable. I trimmed the canvas, taped the edges and mounted it on stretcher boards.....good as new, well almost.

This is one of my twelve Door Tassel designs, #84, Neptune's Daughter. The shape looks like it might be a scissor holder but no, it's really much larger. The painted area is 4 x 7.5 inches. They are meant to be a decorative piece to hang inside your home. I like to hang mine from the grandfather clock that is in my entry. Being on the small size, this is perfect for using threads from your ever growing stash. So far I've done her hair in a chain stitch using two different shades of brown Splendor. Her necklace is a row of small French knots and her body is stitched with two shades of Kreinik Silk Mori. I had a hard time deciding on the background stitch, going through several trials ( stitch and rip ) before settling on a scallop stitch that reminds me of small waves. I used a thread I haven't tried before, Gloriana #068, in Caribbean Sea. Even the name was perfect. This stitch worked up quickly and it was easy to count around the design. Usually I have a hard and fast rule of doing the background first, but since I couldn't decide on the stitch I wanted to use I worked other areas while I thought about the background.

I find that stitching the background first before the canvas is covered with other threads makes it easier to count across non background areas. Now I'm having a hard time deciding on a thread and stitch for the mermaids body/tail. I wanted something shiny but not too shiny and I was thinking of adding beads in the tail area. All the threads I have are too shiny, I need something more subtle especially since I stitched the pink spots in Tiara. While I think on that I might work on the kelp. Sometimes the solution comes to you when you are not even thinking about it. So stay tuned for updates.

IN MY GARDEN

I just got back the finished models of my new series: In My Garden. I've found, as have many designers, that a lot of stitchers enjoy a monthly project that's not too overwhelming. Some stitchers even do several at a time. The shops like them too because it keeps customers coming in and then there are always the thread and embellishment sales, not to mention the finishing.

Coming up with a new series is a long process. Not only do you have to come up with the designs and paint them but then you have to stitch each one as well. Unfortunately, I let things go until the last minute so I was stitching under the threat of the Christmas finishing deadline. Next year I've promised myself to be more organized.

The idea for this new series started with my Beginner's Line. A few of the flowers are based on those designs, slightly changed and painted on 18 count canvas instead of the larger count that is easier for a beginner to use. I also removed any leaves and added shading to the new designs. My own garden was my inspiration for the twelve pieces. I used the flowers I grow as well as the critters I encourage to share my garden. The pieces are small so they can be stitched quickly making this a very relaxing project. A variety of threads and beads can be used to make each design uniquely yours. No garden looks alike which is what makes them so wonderful. I've stitch only a small amount of background around each piece and then had them finished as flat padded ornaments with a tiny pocket on the back. A narrow wooded dowel slips inside of the pocket.

When the pieces are finished they can be arranged in a container filled with greenery. Shop owners can kit these up with all the necessary threads and sell them as a monthly series. An alternative is to let the stitcher decide what they want in their own garden. One person might only want flowers and a butterfly, another might want several of one flower type and a third person might prefer lots of garden creatures and only a few flowers. Each garden is different and can suit the stitcher. Even one design would look lovely in a potted plant and would make a nice gift for Mother's Day, a birthday or to welcome someone to their new home.

You can click on the picture for a larger image.

Beginner Pieces

Over the past few months Judy Harper and I have been discussing the importance of introducing new people to needlepoint. There are very few designs that make it easy to teach the basic stitches to a new stitcher. Most designs are on 18 ct. canvas or are very detailed and not at all suitable. I came up with 12 designs that I hope will appeal to young stitchers as well as those who are older but still new to needlepoint.

For the very young, inexperienced stitcher I paint the designs on 10 ct. canvas. This makes it easy for them to work with the thread and follow the stitch patterns. They can also finish the piece fairly quickly without getting bored or tired. My hope is that shop owners will offer small classes to teach the basics of needlepoint to their future customers. This would be great to do over the summer when so many parents are looking for things to fill the long summer hours. Classes however, could be offered during any school break such as Christmas or Spring Break.

The designs are also available on 13 ct. canvas for someone who may have a bit of experience but is lacking in confidence. On 13 ct. canvas the thread choices are much wider. This ups the "fun factor" considerably. Beads and embellishments can also be added.

Sometimes it's not just a beginner who is looking for a simple design on which to practice new stitches or try out new threads. Judy took two of my designs (#177 Pink Flower and #178 Blue Flower) stitched them up beautifully, added beads and a border. Both of these would make beautiful pillow or purse insets. The unstitched canvases are shown above and you can see Judy's finished work on her blog. http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-zHt5mt0wdajKHEZwLnZIZgo-;_ylt=Al.WYjTU25lbomwZ6TZrhrq_AOJ3?cq=1

Scroll down the page past the Bead Tutorial and you will see her two stitched pieces. I think she did a wonderful job on them.

Judy is also a popular feature writer for Needlepoint Now. Her article is titled Possibilities. In the January 2008 issue she discusses this very subject. Don't miss it.

The smaller picture above is of design #173 Ladybug. This one is worked on the 10 ct. canvas. I had it simply finished on a small tote bag. Just because it's a beginners design, it doesn't mean that the finished piece is useless...far from it.