Finishing

We were very busy in December with all the finished items coming back. We received beautiful stockings, ornaments, pillows, purses etc. I will be adding a picture of Helen's Summer Gnome in the next week. I'm sorry I didn't have my camera to catch her excitement as she opened the UPS box! It is beautiful and hanging in the store.

Christmas Cookie Recipes from Needle Arts

I participated in a posting of Christmas cookie recipes with many other Needle Arts professionals. We all submitted favorite Christmas recipes which have been posted on one of three blogs:

http://www.thearmchairchef.com

http://ilovetobakecookies.com

http://ilovetobake.com

I cheated a little and used one from my mother-in-law, Ellie Aird. She always made these meringue cookies when we went out to visit. Several times she even made them at our house for us.

It's fun to see the favorite recipes of others. Look at the blogs and try the recipes. I can highly recommend mine!

Warning about Magnifiers

At a recent class, one of our customers told of her near disaster with her magnifier. She left the magnifier uncovered by a window. While she was out, the combination of the magnifier and the sun caused her canvas to smoke. The threads were actually burned away! It was her completed Stars piece. Fortunately, she was able to rip the threads in that area and restitch the one area.

But it is a warning. Do not leave your magnifier uncovered by the window. It's a safety hazard.

L'Ete or Summer Girl

At the 2005 American Needlepoint Guild Seminar, I won a second place for L'Ete. This beautiful canvas by Birds of a Feather is one of a series of four canvases. I was asked to do a stitch guide. I finally finished it and it is now available on our website or by calling Ridgewood Needlepoint directly. I'm pleased with the stitch guide. I'm including the picture of the canvas below! It was a fun project.

Christmas Is Coming

Christmas results in seeing the work of many people finished beautifully. We've had stockings returned and ornaments. One is more beautiful than the next one. Today we also had a class on finishing. Customers learned how to finish those ornaments thatdidn't make the deadlines.

In addition, for those who missed the class, we do have several items that could still be finished before Christmas. We have some small ornaments from Lee that can be put inside gold or silver metallic leather holders. The ornaments are sweet and still doable.

In addition, we have some luggage and key fobs that are already inserted in leather cases. They would also make great Christmas or Chanakah gifts.

Pixel Stitching

I took a course a couple of years ago at TNNA on pixel shading. I am going to be teaching it at EGA today. I'm very excited about the class since I made the big jump into technology. The presentation is in powerpoint and I'm able to project it onto a screen from my computer.

Yesterday was the first time I used this technology at the store. It was a little chaotic since the screen didn't fit where I thought it would. But it was well worth it. But it was so much easier to see the charts on a screen then on a flip chart.

It's not my Grandmother's needlepoint any more!

Beautiful Christmas Stocking

Jane's finished Christmas stocking came into the shop this week. Jane stitched the stocking all in basketweave using a variety of different threads. Jane stitches beautifully. This stocking is aa perfect example of how to use basketweave and specialized threads to do the job.

Rockerfeller Center Christmas Stocking Class

The class met again last week and we worked on the sky and waterfall. Two people have started to work on the project on a cyber basis. It will be fun to see how this works out. It's so interesting to see how the different thread and stitches make each stocking different.

Pixel Stitching

Bergen County EGA has asked me to teach a class on shading. The class will be primarily about Pixel shading but we will also review other types of shading. I'm also finished with the kit project which is a pretty leaf by Beau Geste. It's so perfect for this time of year as most leaves are falling.

Laid Fillings Class

The first Laid Fillings class is finished. At least one participant has finished her project and another is one the last quadrant. The canvas is fun to do and is individualized because he member picks their colors. I'm looking forward to teaching it again in January.

Judaic Trunk Show

We finished putting up the Judaic Trunk Show this week. We had hoped to have it for October but S & S is now being distributed by Julia's. Actually, it worked out better for us since we have both designers Judaic canvases on the walls. One customer said she had never seen so many Judaic themed canvases! It's quite impressive. We have them until just before Thanksgiving.

Sharon G Kimono Class

We just finished the Kimono Class with Sharon G. It was a very relaxing but informative class. Sharon's model is even more beautiful than the picture! We had twelve stitchers, most of us local but one came from Williamsburg, VA. She and Sharon have been emailing for a while but hadn't actually met.



The stitch guide is fantastic; it included wonderful detailed pictures of the model. It will make finishing the canvas so much easier. We were also lucky enough to see some of her canvases. People loved the Tuscan Cove;the Hearts and Ribbons in the oblong and squarein either red or white. Her geometrics were also snapped up. It was a lovely day.


Sharon O brought in this great bookends that were finished locally. These were Beau Geste designs. What fun!

Marlowe, The Shop Dog

In the past two months, I've been bringing Marlowe, my standard poodle puppy to the store. He's really been pretty well behaved. In fact, he seems to love threads! I can't promise that he will always be there but he will be a frequent visitor.

Rockerfeller Center Christmas Stocking

Our class for the Rockerfeller Center Christmas Stocking has met twice and will be meeting again in two weeks. Participants are beginning to come in with their Christmas tree stitched. Its always fun to see works in progress but I am particularly enjoying seeing the same canvas stitched different ways. It clearly demonstrates what a difference threads and stitches make. I'm even thinking of doing this class as cyber class for those far away who would like to participate. Hopefully, I'll be able to get pictures of works in progress!

Finished Items

The arrival of packages filled with finished items is always one of the highpoints of any day. All of us at Ridgewood Needlepoint love seeing the finished product. In the past few weeks, I've really enjoyed seeing Ellen's framed witches, Nicky's baby cake, Judy's purse and Amanda's santa.



At this point, the vast majority of Christmas finishing has been sent off to the finishers. But we are beginning to see the finished products trickle in. We don't always have the camera at the store but sometimes we are lucky. I have included some pictures of finished items and plan to take more pictures as the holiday items come in.

We have a lot to look forward to in the next two months.

ANG Seminar

I can't believe I've been back from seminar for over a month. I did have a great time, I was particularly intrigued with Sandra Magg Reddell's class on the lynx. I learned a lot about shading!

At the seminar shop they couldn't keep stitch oriented tiles in stock. The participants lovee the handmade tiles that say: Stitch; Knit or Needlepoint. We were able to get some for the store. See them on our web site.

I missed the live auction but did manage to get some wonderful items from the silent auction. And I'm looking forward to next year's seminar in Baltimore!

New Stitch Guides

I've been promising myself that I would have stitch guides completed for several projects. Although it took longer than I thought, I'm pleased that I have completed three stitch guides for kits for Ridgewood Needlepoint.. On our website, we will be offering a Halloween Cat kit, Toes Up kit and The Stable Kit. The Halloween Cat by Amanda Lawford is charming as a candy bag. The design is on #13 mesh. We used fun threads and stitches to highlight the fuzziness of the cat. We also used composite stitches for the large pumpkin. I noticed that Jane from Chilly Hollow said that it was the right time to start for next Halloween.

In New Jersey, most beach towns require a beach tag for access. So we designed a canvas that could be framed with either cork or wire for securing the tage. The sunbathers are either watching the sailboats and motorboat go by; or in the ferryboat version, they're watching the ferry. Obviously, they've been out in the sun too long. Look at their toes. It's a fun canvas to stitch. And if people get started quickly, it could be finished for the summer.

Finally, we are offering The Stable. In Ridgewood, New Jersey, the Stable is a historic building that serves as the headquarters for the parks department. Our version is needlepointed in beautiful threads and stitches and dated. We are only going to offer this for a limited time as part of a series of sights in New Jersey.

Go to our website to see the pictures. They should be up soon!

Stars Exhibit

The Stars exhibit was great. We had ten finished Stars pieces hanging and two more in process. Tony Minieri explained how he developed the piece and shared stitching tips with the group. It's the largest number of finished pieces he has seen together since the original class. Below I have attached a picture of the class with Tony and the various Stars pieces. of the reception and the class participants.

Stars Exhibit

Above is the picture of my framed Stars piece. I am thrilled with it and am looking forward to seeing all of the pieces finished. As we were stitching, we were all aware of how different the design looked in different colorways. Now, seeing them finished, it's even more interesting. Today

In fact, three of the completed granite pieces are hanging in the store. Even they look different because of the framing. In addition, we have seven completed pieces hanging in the store and are expecting at least 5 more tomorrow.

Eileen

Tucson ANG

Eileen Aird and Cathryn Curia will both be attending the ANG in Tucson. Cathryn will be taking one of Carol Lake's classes, Eileen will be taking Sandra Magg Redell's bobcat class. They will both be in the Southwest stitches class.

Eileen has submitted several pieces for the exhibit. Two were finished just in time to send them to the finisher and get them back before the ANG deadline. I'm thrilled with both of them! I'm including a picture of each. One is a stand-up camel by Rebecca Wood and the other is a Christmas stocking,The Entourage, by Liz Dillon/Tapestry Tent.


I loved doing the camel because he had such character and I enjoyed making him look like suitable transportation for a king.



The stocking took a long time to do - I worked on it intermittently for 7 years. I would get stuck and then put it down. But I love the way it came out. I had help from lots of people including David McCaskill, Anne Strapp, Meredith Barnhill, Tony Minieri, Beth Robertson and Suzanne Howren. The finisher did an outstanding job.

Looking Forward to Stars Exhibit

We've had 14 stitchers working on Tony Minieri's Stars for over a year. Tony has graciously agreed to meet the class members on September 5. Three people have their canvases already framed and three more have finished the piece. The rest of us are frantically trying to finish our canvases before then! Ridgewood Needlepoint will be able to display the pieces for a week from September 5 - September 12th! I will try to get pictures but don't know how well they will come out.

It's been an incredible class. Virtually everyone says that their stitching has improved dramatically. Also, it's been fascinating to see how the different colors change how the squares look. Cathryn will teach the class again this year probably starting in November one Sunday a month.

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