Springtime

June, 2011--A lovely chapter class using a variety of techniques...beading, couching and "free form" design.  The latter is not my favorite.  But it didn't come out bad.  Love the beaded ribbons.

October, 2011--Framed.

Anasazi Dream

May, 2011.  This is the first of three Anasazi projects from Carole Lake taken as an online class through the Shining Needle Society.  Lots of new stitches for me, especially the Double Fan Doubled. Managed them niceley--her very detailed instructions gave me the confidence needed to move ahead.

Stash Star Ornaments - Multi and Green & Red

June, 2011.  These two colorful stars were done as a chapter project.  Some people call these types of projects "stash busters", but for me, not having much in the way of stash at the time, had to purchase lots of DMC threads.  No problem there.  Love adding to my thread collection.   These were the first ornaments finished by me personally.  Even bought a glue gun.   The back fabric has my name and that of DH (blanked out in the pictures) stitched using wash away canvas, along with the year we moved to Delaware.  The ornaments now hang on our community club house Christmas Tree along with personalized ornaments done by our neighbors.

Candy Cane Santa Ornament

March, 2011.  My first Janet Zickler Casey project.  Can now understand why people get hooked on these things.  In fact, there's a wonderful series of her santa ornaments out there to collect (up to 13 or so now).  This was offered by the ANG NoVa Chapter in February, 2011 and I was fortunate enough to ghost the class.  Isn't that beard cute?  Trying to decide to "finish" it myself or send it out to be done professionally.   Hmmm....don't have enough experience yet on finishing ornaments to tackle this one.

Frame Weight Bargello

February, 2011.  One of the members of the ANG Delaware's Seashore Chapter led this project and we had lots of discussion on what to use as a filling.  Since I wanted mine to be very heavy, I filled it with almost 5 pounds of BBs purchased at Walmart.  Perfect.  However, at that weight, I feared the BBs would stretch the canvas and backing fabric (a fake dark brown leather), so I lined both with a very strong muslim.  Worked.  All it needs now is a pretty tassel on the end (coming soon).  Also thinking of making another Ort Box to match the colors and design of this weight.

Name Tag Delaware's Seashore Chapter

December, 2010.  We move from Alexandria, VA to our retirement home in Millsboro, DE.  Imagine my delight in finding a local ANG chapter located within minutes of my home, and it's the only chapter in Delaware!  The group meets during the day and is extremely active--gotta love ladies who stitch!

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.

SOTM 2010

January, 2010.  Began my first ANG Stitch of the Month (SOTM) project.  This mystery class for 2010 was designed and instructions given by Sue Reed, a teacher from whom I had the pleasure of taking a class in November, 2009 (see Journey).    Completed this beautiful piece in January, 2011 and love the framing.  Today it hangs in my home office.

Stitches for Effect Classes

February, 2010 through April, 2013.  As a beginner in needlepoint, I signed up for stitch classes held online through the Shining Needle Society and taught by Beth Howren and Suzanne Robertson.  Each class lasted two months and consisted of 12 different stitches.  Beth and Suzanne supplied the threads, instructions and binder inserts.  Really enjoyed these classes and learned a lot about different threads, how they felt and looked using various stitches, and where to use the stitches and/or threads on convas.

Close to My Heart

March, 2010.  This delightful Nancy Cucci design was taught at a chapter meeting and took a week or two to complete.  Was the first time working with beads....oh joy.  Love, love, love beads on canvas.  Looking forward to giving this away as a Valentine's Day gift. Love the heart button in the upper right box.

Folding Ort Box Number 1, Blue and White

January, 2010.  One of my favorite projects, so much so that I've done 3 of these guys.  This folding ort box is a Chapter Project Book design by Marily Owen.  These little boxes are used to hold thread orts* and are stitched on 18 ct. "mono" canvas so they can fold into a compact design for travel.  I used threads in my stash that were given to me by my mother in the 1960's (she purchased most of those threads in the 1940's), choosing colors from a variegated blue thread consisting of light through dark blues and white.  The "blackwork", which looks the same on both sides, was done in navy.

*Orts are scraps or pieces of thread too short or frayed to use.

Purse, Japanese Design

December, 2009.  How often can a needlepointer say they have nothing to stitch and must go shopping for something new.  That's exactly what I did that December and can honestly say that was the last time I will ever make that statement.  At Waste Knot Needlepoint I found a beautiful painted canvas by Juell Designs to stitch and when completed, it folds into a beautiful evening bag.  The stitching is done, but it hasn't yet been made into a purse.

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

Constantinople (aka Mexico City)

December, 2009.  This project designed by Esthelle Kelley was part of the Chapter Project Book and taught at a NoVa Chapter meeting in October, 2009.  The colors reminded me of a Mexico City tile rather than Constantinople.

Luggage Tag Burberry Style

November, 2009.  A painted canvas luggage tag from Needlewoman East was the perfect thing to take along on a road trip.  Change a few colors and voila...a Burberry style tag.