Mother's Day

We can keep a list of items you want for Mother's Day. In addition to gift certificates, our suggestions would include books, laying tools and organizational tools such as tool kits by Yazzi and the Handy Caddy.

We have Gail Sirna's new book -

In Praise of the Needlewoman

. Gail's book focuses on paintings that focus on women stitching. It's beautiful.

We have Linda Corriosi's embellishment books

Canvas Embellishment

and

Canvas Embellishment-The Sequel.

Do you have

Amy's Cookbook for Stitchers

or

Celebrity Chefs

These books are among my favorites. Each book has a binder. Then chapters can be added over time. The chapters are arranged by a type of stitch or technique. There are great charts and suggestions of how to use.Your kids can even buy you a chapter at a time.

Amy Bunger also has a new DVD which shows how to do certain techniques.

How'd You Do That? Tips Hints + Knots

You could also get a gift certificate for a class. We are planning our classes for the summer. We plan to do City Snow (known at the store as the Coat Ladies) and a class on the stadiums.

Candy Village

The Candy Village class meets again this Sunday after a two month interval. I am stitching the sky so that I can do one more roof before the class.

It does look great.

The Princess and Me Trunk Show

Helen finished hanging up the Princess and Me Designs yesterday. They look great. Each ornament comes with a stitch guide and a picture of a finished sample. They are so small that they make great projects to take along with you- as you travel, sit at the baseball game etc.

We have them until May 19th. Come in and see the great samples.

I'm going to try to take pictures and add them to the web site so that our far away customers can also participate in the trunk show. Remember all the Princess and Me designs are 10% off during the trunk show.

Summer Purses

After the cold and wet weather of the last week, it was great to have some sunny and warm weather. Both customers and the staff are proudly wearing their new summer purses.

Lynn's purse is a great summer fabric bag with a John Johannsen needlepoint attached to it.

Sally stitched a floral square for her canvas tote bag.

Donna has started to stitch a Cooper Oaks canvas that is a picture of a canvas tote bag with flowers. She's planning on putting it on her tote!

I'll be adding pictures as they become availabe.

NAN HEMPEL

An email customer inquired about what Nan Hempel canvases we have in stock. I then pulled out all her canvases. Nan is a wonderful designer. She has an identifiable style. Her colors are beautiful. Her #13 mesh designs are great for stitches.

One of my favorite canvases is her Renaissance Bunny who is playing an accordian. He is typical of a Nan because his colors are luminous. Marcia did the companion to the Renaissance Bunny at a David McCaskill embellishment class. It is just fantastic. I just wish I had done it.

I also love her Christmas stockings. The Santa and the Angel are both so grown-up and yet so evocative of Christmas. I also love her Boy in the Moon Christmas Stocking!

She also has a great series of flowers with borders. They would make a great grouping of pillows!

The customer asked if we had pictures. Since I had pulled out all her canvases, I decided to take photos. I missed two canvases and will take those tomorrow. Then I will either add them to the website or the blog.

Keep checking back for her pictures.



Keep checking back for her pictures.

Needlepoint collars and cuffs.

At the TNNA show in January, L'Esprit de France had a brand new item: collars and cuffs in zebra, leopard, and plaid patterns (there are actually other patterns but I liked these the best). You stitch the cuffs and/or collar. Then just have it finished with velcro so you can attach it to your favorite jacket!

I particularly loved the collars (Everybody knows I don't like to stitch too much of the same thing). Anyway, I asked for just the collars and they have just come in. I think it will be fun.

Summer Purse

It's almost summer but there is still time to stitch a small canvas and add it to a bag.This customer did just that. She used a Silver Needle ornament and then had us add it to a summer purse. It looks great and will be a wonderful summer bag.

Renovation

The HVAC guys finished a little later than planned. That meant the painter didn't get in until today. Unfortunately, we can't start truly putting things back together until tomorrow night because the paint has to dry. We will be open on Tuesday but may be slightly disorganized.

The best laid plans of mice and men and needlepoint stores.

Jersey Girls Don't Pump Gas

We got our finished pillow back. I love the way it looks! It's so much fun. We have it in the store and the picture is below. If you have to do it for someone or yourself, it comes in the pink and green and yellow and black (because of the NJ license plate!). In addition, it comes on #18 mesh but we will also be able to get it in #13 mesh. It look great as you can see.


It was stitched using Trio and Vineyard silk. The background is done in a Nobuko stitch. It was fun to stitch but even more stitch to have.

Girl Scout Troop Pictures

This past week the store has been closed due to the addition of a new heating and air conditioning system. I finally got around to emptying the pictures on my camera and found the pictures of the Girl Scout Troop. These pictures show Helen Haydon teaching this group of 5th grade girls. On Monday, April 9 we will teaching a second Scout Troop.

We now have a slightly smaller project so that there is more of a possiblity they will finish once they get home.

Hearts

We will be teaching a girl scout troop on April 9. The girls will be working on a small heart. We enjoyed working with the last troop. It's wonderful to be teaching kids how to stitch! Hopefully, I'll be able to do the pictures this time.

Getting Ready for a New HVAC System

We will be closed for a week starting on Monday. It's a first for us but we really needed a new heating and air conditioning unit. We were lucky to make it through the winter but want to make sure the summer will be tolerable.

To prepare, we've taken things off the walls. But tomorrow will be the big put away and cover up day!

I'm hoping to use the week to get more pictures up, to work on Stitch guides and to work on my projects for Nan Certification. I also want to do some stitching!

I'm looking forward to the stitching time. I'm still working on the Rockerfeller Center Christmas Tree Stocking and I also have to work on Candy Village. I've also started to work on the May paper doll with a stitch guide by David McCaskill! It's been fun and I hope to get it done soon.

National Assembly of NeedleArts

Helen and I enjoyed the Natioanl Assembly of NeedleArts. We both learned lots of techniques for teaching and are excited to learn more. Helen took a class with Debbie Stiehler and I took two days of a class with Shay Pendray. I got to work on the canvas from Shay's "Stitching Towards Perfection" while learning a little about Japanese embroidery.

Kansas City was lovely.

Of course, I now have lots of work to do. But I am looking forward to expanding the stitching == and teaching it.

David McCaskill's Visit

We've just finished four great days of classes. David McCaskill did three canvas enhancement classes and one thread program. He came up with fabulous stitches for at least 24 canvases using great threads. I was particularly impressed with his approach to Susan B's roosters. His treatment of the sun was fantastic.

Thirteen people were able to attend his Thread Program Class. He addressed overdyes and how to work with different threads. It was amazing what he did with the threads. I can't wait to try them on my own canvases!

National Assembly of Needlearts

Helen and I are leaving on Wednesday to attend the National Assembly of Needlearts. We have both been accepted in the teacher certification program. On Thursday and Friday we will be immersed in sessions on teaching. On Saturday and Sunday, we are each taking a class.

Rockerfeller Center Stocking

On Sunday, the class met again. We had the opportunity to discuss possible stitches for the buildings. In addition, we had the chance to admire the progress people have made on the stocking. Gretchen V. has done some of the buildings with a burden stitch. Diane B. has done the sky, the moon, many buildings, santa and his sleigh and the bridge and the trees. It looks great. Her trees were stunning and she used basketweave for the blue building behind the trees so that it does recede.

Next month we will be doing a work session to give us time to stitch.

Circle of Hearts

I taught the Circle of Hearts Class today. It was fun to see the piece come to life with other people stitching it. I had finished the background last week using a heart pattern from Dede's chapter in Amy Bunger's Celebrity Chefs. I used Designer's Dream and 1/16 Kreinik ribbon.

The backgrouns really made the circle stand out. I promise I will take a picture.

I was lucky to have that canvas for the class without restitching the whole thing. About three weeks ago, I realized that I couldn't find the canvas. I searched the store and home. Finally, I drove out to Shelter Island to look again. I still couldn't find the canvas so I had to ask my husband to look again at home. He couldn't find it either but did find all my works in progress! Finally I found the canvas tucked in the back of another canvas on a frame.

Then on Saturday, one of our customers accidentally took the canvas home! Fortunately I had it back later that day so I could do prepare for class.

I definitely will teach this class again but might split it into two sessions.

Circle of Hearts

The first Circle of Hearts class meets in less than two weeks. I still have to stitch the background! It is a very pretty piece and ideal for learning shadow stitching. We hope to repeat it again, perhaps as another one day class and also as a multiple session class.

Trunk Shows

We are taking down the Kathy Schenkel trunk show today. I'm sorry to see it go because it is such a great line for learning new stitches. The pieces are not overwhelming so you can actually see yourself finishing it. I'm always amazed at how interesting it is to have many of a designers canvases up on the walls. Kathy's work is fabulous to learn new stitches because she has large blocks of colors.

Rockerfeller Center Christmas Stocking

This weekend I saw several stokcings. Karen P. is doing her tree in French knots but has combined 4 or 5 different kreiniks. The tree is beautiful. Ellen B. has almost finished her sky. Gretchen V. has completed her sky, her tree, and her rink. She did a burden stitch on the blue buildings which looks great. Our class meets on March 11th -- I can't wait to see the progress everyone has made.