Beachcomber's Booty - Updated 3/16/16

March 16, 2016--Won 3rd Place Ribbon for Canvaswork at the Rehoboth Beach Museum 6th Annual Needlework Exhibit.

March 7, 2016--Placed this project into a 6.5" box top with an antique finish white paint.  Love it.

Beachcomber's Booty Box Top

October 20, 2015--Finished this beautiful project and will now shop for a box with an insert top.   Enjoyed seeing how easy the blackwork stitches were to execute.

Beachcomber's Booty Completed

October 7, 2015--My local ANG chapter, Delaware's Seashore Chapter, was fortunate to have Ann Strite-Kurz teach us a class called Beachcomber's Booty.  It's a beautiful sand dollar design (it's our chapter's logo).

Below is a picture of my project so far.  It's fun to work these beautiful stitches and I hope to have it done this month.

There's a story behind this.  Linda,  another chapter member, and I took a class from Ann at the 2012 Philadelphia ANG Seminar.  While there, Ann told us about her beach house in Rehoboth Beach, DE.  We asked Ann if she would be willing to teach a class when in Delaware and shared contact information.  Well, earlier this year she wrote to say she would be here in October and asked if we were still interested in having her teach a class.  We answered with a resounding yes, yes, yes!

Ann brought some examples of her pieces along with anything we wanted to purchase (saving us lots of shipping costs).  We drooled over her techniques and marveled at the results.

Thank you Ann for a wonderful learning experience and we'll have a beautiful project when done.

Beachcomber's Booty in Process at 10/7/15

Hardanger Doily

January, 2012--Our local ANG chapter brought in an instructor to teach us some basic hardanger stitches on linen which would result in a small square doily.  The first step was to run basting stitches from corner to corner on our fabric.  Here was our first problem--we as a group of needlepointers didn't have a clue of what was required of the basting stitches in the center of the fabric.  We spent hours just getting this right.  Too funny.  But once we settled down, the stitches were easy with beautiful results.  I also loved the fact that I could do this type of stitching "in hand" without stretcher bars or hoops.   This proves that once again you can teach an old dog new tricks.  I now look longingly at some beautiful hardanger projects out there.

Irresistible Iridescents

August 13, 2013--Framed

May, 2013--The Seashore Chapter piloted this class for Nancy Cucci.  She is offering it at the ANG Seminar 2013, Anaheim, CA.  We loved having her for two full days while again learning many new techniques from her.  The joy of stitching never stops!

Stitches in Sterling

December, 2011--The Seashore Chapter brought in Nancy Cucci to teach this piece at a two-day class.   Learned a lot more about beading doing this project than on anything before.  Loved the technique she gave us for stitching our initials and date.  Will try to incorporate this in many more projects.

March, 2012--Framed

May, 2012--Won Third Place Ribbon for Mixed Techniques at the Rehoboth Beach Museum's Annual Needlework Exhibit.

Spa Reader Cover

August, 2010.  ANG's NoVa Chapter brought in Lynn Wilkinson to teach a two day class on her beautiful Spa Reader cover.  The silk threads were sumptuous in feel and color, and the various bargello patterns (my first time stitching bargello) throughout the piece made it very lively.  The front reminds me of floating islands moving down a river.  Plan on making it into a book cover soon.

Journey, and a grand one at that.

November, 2009.  The NoVa Chapter brought in Sue Reed, a nationally known needlepoint designer and instructor, to teach "Journey", an advanced skills project, at a 2-day class.  This was my first official class and even though I considered myself an intermediate stitcher (barely), I was greatly encouraged by chapter-mates to take the class because Sue is known for her patience and detailed explanations.   Wow--what a great class.  Sue gave tons of details regarding the stitches she used and how to execute them.  She drew wonderful diagrams and let me take pictures of those drawings using my cell phone.   They are now a part of my permanent stitching library.  An example is shown below on how to change directions of the continental stitch so the thread remains slanted on the back of the work (for better coverage and tension).

Journey Closeup

Journey Framed

Stitching Guideline