THE NEEDLE WORKS

The boy is back in town......

Tony is back in town for 4 days to teach "Footsteps of the Pharaohs", the 3rd in the series of fabric collages. Almost finished the pre-work last night, just way too much going on.

Twice now I have come home and the threads next to my stitching area where gone, can anyone guess who is the culprit. Can anyone say "RHETTTTTTTT!" What a mess. He is finally settling in except for Cassie following him into the laundry room when he is going to kitty box and then trapping him in the kitty box.

I will post some pictures tonight.

Have a great day!

How could this be...

Tony is coming in August for his annual marathon stay for Canvas Enhancement and we received the thread list for the canvas yesterday. I went over the list to see what surprises he had given me, keeping my fingers crossed that I carried everything, no such luck. So, after a few choice words and a call to Tony for a little ribbing, my next call was to Tillie of Planet Earth to talk about her fibers. She was so accommodating. She is going to allow me to order just the threads we need for Tony and she is sending the color rings for her stranded silk and the single strand spun silk. Great call and then reality set in. Where on earth, no pun intended, are we going to put this fiber? The new store needs to be done now.

I am meeting John, my builder, at the floor shop on Monday to look at flooring and we are going to try and come up with a good floor for us to be on all day. The concrete on the floor now is just killing my feet.

I got an email from Kelly Clark yesterday and she has updated her website with the new items for Columbus. I am so disappointed that I didn't go to Market. Won't make that mistake again. http://www.kellyclarkneedlepoint.com/new. I immediately called and ordered the canvas I needed. I also ordered the new 12 Days series from Betsy B Originals. It is just adorable. http://www.betsyboriginals.com/Betsy_B._Originals/Whats_New!.html.

Well, off to the shop!

Wildflower Boot

Friday I got an e-mail from Bonnie Dietering, the framer we HIGHLY recommend, saying that the Texas Wildflower Boot that Kathy Kulesza stitched was ready for pick up. I couldn't wait to see it, so yesterday I drove down to San Antonio to pick it up. I called Jane from Stitching up a Storm in San Antonio to see if she wanted to meet me there and I ended up going to her house first (it is absolutely beautiful by the way) and she drove me over since I really don't know S.A.

Anyway, the piece is amazing and Bonnie is so talented. San Antonio is VERY lucky.

I found a piece of barbed wire trim in Dallas not too long ago and took that to her and she painted it so it would look like it had a bit of patina to it. The mat has the texture of cowhide. Bonnie works at Art, inc. in San Antonio and if you want your needlework showcased she is your gal. You can contact her at: http://www.artincorporated.com/index.htm. She recently won an International award for her framing: http://www.pmai.org/content.aspx?id=10614

While in S.A. Jane took me to this wonderful Glass Gallery called Works of the Hand. It was really hard to resist. I know where I am going for Christmas shopping.
http://www.worksofthehand.com/

By the way, Kathy will be teaching the piece but not until next year, sorry. Too much on the schedule between the shop and Kathy traveling. We decided this would be a great Spring project, so it is scheduled for April 10 and 11, 2010 (Saturday and Sunday). You can call the shop to sign up!

Making Progress

I am making progress on my Brenda Stoftt Santa. I haven't been able to work on him like I would have liked so my deadline of May 31st got blown out of the water. New completionn date is July 15th. Assuming Rhett lets me stitch, I should be able to make that one.

We now have the Petit Sparkle Rays in the store, so I am going to using a bit of that on him and I really want to use a Dinky Dye Ribbon somewhere. Not sure where though. Decisions,decisions.

Meet Rhett!

I got my new kitten on Saturday and he is adapting somewhat. The girls are coming around, slowly. Stitching was very interesting this morning. I may need to keep the squirt bottle close at hand for the next
couple of weeks.

We almost have approval on the building. I met with the Architect Monday and we came up with a new front for the store. The city is making us have an entrance on the street side and I think it looks more inviting.

While I was there I noticed that he had peacocks
that lived next door to his  building, so I grabbed
my camera. I was hoping they would display their
tails but no such luck.

 

A new day

We got some wonderful rain last night, which we really needed, and everything is so happy.

I was cruising around on some websites last night and noticed that Ruth Schmuff has a new Artist, Shelly Comiskey and she hasa couple of really cute Snowmen in Mini-socks. I have already ordered so watch the web store for them or you can always call and reserve yours now. She also has posted some new designs.

http://www.tistheseason.org/ptdproducts.php?catid=216

http://www.tistheseason.org/whatsNew.php

The more and more I use them, I really love the Jane Zimmerman stitch books. The graphs are easy to follow and the books are laid out very well.

Hope everyone  has a great day!

Colleen

What's been going on!

We have been busy at the store moving threads around and making room for new fibers. We have brought in the 7mm and 4mm silk ribbon from Dinky Dyes. The colors are so intense and match the beautiful stranded silk. They have about 25 colors now and will be coming out with 20 more soon. It is very durable and can be basketwoven on 18ct. without shredding.

We will also be adding Petit Sparkle Rays, hopefully in the next couple of weeks and are thinking about adding Panache.

Unfortuneately I won't be going to Columbus Market this year and I am really disappointed but I just can't seem to fit it in.

Lani enterprises now has a website. If you haven't checked it out yet, it is great and well worth the visit. http://www.lanienterprises.com/needlepoint_designs.html.

I was messing around with stitches resently and created this stitch that I am calling Austin Stitch. Try is with the same value of of a color but in differant textures. You could use a Gloriana Silk, Lorikeet and Princess Perle in the same color and then find a Kreinik to go with it.

Projects Finished!

   I can't believe that I have not posted since March. This will be a long post to get caught up.

More customers have finished some great projects. Margarite completed a "ABC" wall hanging from Patty Mann and had it put into a table top for her Granddaughter. It turned out great.

    Barb finished her Elephant Pillow from Melissa Shirley.

Kathy Kulesza finished the Peppermint Packages Pillow that will be offered as a classin October. You can get details from the website about the class. http://www.theneedleworks.com//classes.html

 

 

Sandra Gilmore from "Once in A Blue Moon" designs was in town for SXSW and came into the store to work on the Hill Country Santa that she will be teaching in September. He is going to be adorable and Sandra is so talented. This class will be great fun.

 

Jane from "Stitching Up a Storm in San Anontio" asked me if I would answer a couple of questions that had been sent to her by a fellow stitcher.

1.     When and how did you start stitching?

I started stitching in 1984 when I moved to Austin. I took classes at a store called “StitchCraft Plus” to meet people.

2.     What's the most fun stitching event you've ever participated in?

The most fun I have had at a stitching event was taking a class in Memphis from Amy Bunger. What a treat to take a class from a close friend who is so amazingly talented.

3.     What made you decide to buy your shop and what has been the biggest surprise about owning your shop?

In 1995 I quit my job and took a 2 year sabbatical. The Needle Works came up for sale about 2 years later and I always wanted to own my own business. The biggest surprise was how much like my Dad I was. He was an amazing businessman and helped me a lot in the beginning.

4.     Which finished piece that you've stitched is your most favorite?

 My favorite piece is probably my first piece that I ever finished. It was a Southwest Pot that I gave to my Mother for Mothers Day long ago. It was simple Basketweave and a T-stitch for the background.

5.     What is your needlepoint fantasy?

To finish my stash!  This would be so awesome to finish some items that I have in the wings that are for my house. I have a great Sunflower Lady from Needle Passion that Tony Minieri did the stitch guide for and I am just dying to finish her.

 

Margaret Bendig gets into town on Wednesday and will be at the store for 4 days to teach her "Potpourri on Canvas". I'll post pictures of the class later this week.

 

Have a great week.

 

 

What a wild couple of weeks.....

  In the midst of the store being torn up because of the flood, Tony kept a going and everyone had a great time. During 4 days of him being here we did a great class called "Path of Embellishment". Tony took us step by step through his process of interpreting a canvas and how to create stitches, not just look in books. It was great fun and very educational. Below is the canvas that I did and will be teaching as a class. It is an exclusive that Brenda Stofft did for us and I am having a great time stitching him.

We also had a period of "Show and Tell". Ladies from Houston came in for there annual class and brought in completed projects.

 

   

 

 

When I got the girls (Cassandra and Brooke Lynn) several years ago, I loaded them up in the car when the Bluebonnets where out and took some great pictures. It was time again for the Bluebonnets, so I loaded them up and we took off in search of the Bluebonnets.

 

 

 

  

 

That's it for now... 

 

Tony Minieri is in town for the next 2 weeks

and so far everyone is having a great time and stitching very hard. We have some wonderful canvas in the class, Melissa Shirleys Armadillo and Egret, Brenda Stoffts' Santa on Bear, Amanda Lawfords' Texas Santa and Seaside Santa just to name a few.

 

   

  We also had some people finish a couple of pieces in the past weeks. Michelle Berger stitched the Center Panel of Sharon G's Italian series in Tony's Canvas Enhancement Class last August and used the guide to stitch the side panels. She had them framed in one frame and it is amazing.

Martha Cass finished another Sharon G canvas with a great Butterfly Darning Pattern for the background.

 

Kathy Kulesza finished a piece that she will teach in October. This is going to be great fun. It will be October 10th and 11th, 2009. I will be posting the details on the class as soon as I get the thred list to price.

 

Update on the store:

The Civil Engineer is taking the plans to the City of Austin tomorrow. They will review and get back to us with any changes. This should take 2 weeks. I have hired the Landscape Architect and will begin working with her. As soon as we get the approval from the City we start the fun stuff. Picking out the finishings.