July 9, 2019 Tuesday

The First Day of My Remodeled Website

Permanent Resolutions for Stitchers

1.  Take all the pent-up anxiety about perfection and redirect that energy toward creativity. Open up your minds and think of creative  possibilities you can bring to your needlework, ways that will personalize it and make it distinctly yours.  Here are two ways to start:

Oops you made a mistake and you face a lot of ripping.

Ask yourself, is it really a mistake or a variation?

You do have to rip if you crossed most of your crosses in one direction and suddenly you started crossing them in the other direction, yep no way around that. Why? The real reason for good technique is that it allows all your attention to focus on your design (where it should be).

You don't have to rip if you made a leaf one row bigger than the design called for. This is obsessive behavior that needs redirecting.

You do need to rip if you make something so large it is out of scale with the rest of the design; you do not have to rip if it is barely noticeable.

You do not have to rip if you mixed up colors and the design is not exactly as the designer's model. For heaven's sake, if it looks OK, stop obsessing.

You do have to rip if a color or texture is not in harmony with the rest of the design.

You do not have to throw away a design if you run out of a dye lot.

If it looks like you are headed toward thread shortage, don't use the thread to the last strand, save at least 1/4 of it. Buy some more and decide where and how to introduce the new dyelot. I actually prefer to work with multiple dyelots. If you pay attention to lights and darks etc., they can bring an added depth to your design.

2. In memory of Audrey Francini, my generation's greatest needlewoman, slow down. Needlework is not a speed contest. Audrey was the slowest stitcher I have known. She was also the best. I have a couple of great stories about Audrey and her speed, I'll tell them in the next couple of mornings.

3. Forget about the Needlepoint Police. They don't exist except in their minds. You may meet people who think they know it all. Good for them, I applaude their confidence, but I don't buy into it.

I have probably told this story a dozen times but it is worth telling again and again. Years ago a friend wrote to me and asked, will this Kreinik braid look good with this silk?

I replied, beats me, try it and see.

Friend: whadaya mean you don't know, you're the teacher.

My reply: if the Immortal Artists Of The Western World don't know without trying, how would I, one mere mortal needlework teacher? (There's a bit more to thsi story too, I'll tell the rest another time).

All this goes to say once again, there is no real right and wrong, there are problems of course. The best way to find solutions is to think creatively.

Those are my New Year's Stitching Resolutions for 2021, still good for 2022, 2023 and for 2024.

Reminders for me as well as for all of you.

April 17, 2026 Friday

I will end my sale tonight or first thing tomorrow morning and it will take me another week to  finish shipping.  I started selling these designs last October and am just finishing now. Long time!

I need to finish shipping and then I need to start stitching. I have a whole box full of drawings but haven't picked up a needle for a long long time. I do better in my life when I have a nice project going, so it is time to start. For sure. Will you stitch along with me?

April 15, 2026 Wednesday

I sent off more packages yesterday afternoon and will send off more this afternoon.

I will keep my Pride and Prejudice Needlebook and  Book Mark for sale through today and tomorrow and will mail the patterns the following week.

This will close my long season of sales and it will be time to stitch! I have a box full of ideas and I want to start. One more week of shipping and I should be ready to pick up my needle.

Will you join me?

April 14, 2026 Tuesday

I didn't realize I had neglected NewsViews for so long.

I have indeed been very busy mailing packages and I have more to go today and tomorrow.

It will take me a while longer to do orders with Drawn Thread Sampler, Acorn Sampler and Pride and Prejudice Needlebook. I will let you know later about them. For now I am at work on the earlier parts of my sale.

So what comes next? Stitching time! I will try to figure out a way to use my Stitchalong Room at facebook for a casual get-together place and we will stitch together for a while.

We'll see how it goes.

April 10, 2026 Friday

Day 9 of Spring Cleaning. This morning one Echoes II kit and two Dowager in the Evening Kits, that's what I had when the dust cleared and I am nearing the end of this round of Spring Cleaning. I have two more days of offerings to go.

I added two days after today because of requests. The last day has a special story. I will write more about it.

Meanwhile, happy shopping! Is there one more person who wants Echoes II and two more people who would like Dowagers in the Evening?  I guess I'll know shortly.

Thank you one and all for coming to all my sales since last October.  I think I will have fulfilled my promise to offer almost everything in the October Sale, again in December and January, ie Wait List Sales, and now in Spring Cleaning.  

April 8, 2026 Thursday

Day 8: Downton Abbey Five Return for one last time. I didn't plan to bring them back but people asked for them, and I thought,  OK, here they are for what will likely be the last time.  I have one or two of each, plus a stack of one of them that I merrily sent off to someone who ordered one, not a dozen.

If I run out, I will leave the window opened for the day and order more from my print shop. If this happens it will take a few days and probably delay mailing for a few days.

I will keep you posted.

I am winding down. I have probably two or three more days, we'll see. I'd be interested to hear from you whether you liked this feature and/or have any suggestions for me.

Thank you to all of you who have come to my various iterations of my traditional EWEEK Sale in October. It did go on and on and on and here we are in April.

April 7, 2026 Tuesday

Day 7 of Spring Cleaning and I posted one of my favorite samplers, Cranfield House. Notice the kitties on the lawn.

I stitched this years ago, when DH and I were living in Londaon and friends took us to see the real Cranfield House which was a perfect little Georgian House. I don't know that my rendition is perfect in all Georgian features, but it does have the symmetry.

Many of these designs I'm bringing back are from years and years ago, old favorites I have sold and guess I bring back because I love visiting them again.

April 6 2026 Monday

This seems to be our era of house repairs and we had anoother one: 2 gas leaks and by the time the dust had cleared we needed a new hot water tank. All is caught up and I must say, I didn't realize how bad our old hot water tank was, the new one is worth the aggro of repairs!

So house is caught up and I am back to Cleaning. This morning one final kit for Elizabeth 1 Portrait. I thought of holding on to it for a while as the kit is quite a lot of work to assemble, but then I remembered: I'm supposed to be CLEANING....

Happy Monday. I love Mondays, the old week is gone and maybe everything this week will be better. Hope springs eternal.

April 5, 2026 Sunday

Happy Easter! I bought a small  present for DH: in our pharmacy I found a little fuzzy bunny meant to be a wrist ornament. The bunny fits perfectly around a bottle of DH's favorite wine. It will brighten his day.

One more day of Inspired by Elizabeth, still for sale till early tomorrow morning. Tomorrow I will order more copies from my print shop, but I am guessing it will take some days. I will mail some things early in the week, including the original 5 dog-eared patterns, but it will probably be the week after for the rest.  I'll see how it goes.

This coming week I have another few days of Spring Cleaning and I will post them. Then it will be time to stitch! Yay! Finally!

More about my plans next week...

April 3, 2026 Friday

Today five copies of a geometric Inspired by Elizabeth.

Some of the copies are gently dog-eared from being stored in a box since the last time I sold them, so I have reduced the price from $47.00 to $39.00. The price includes shipping and insurance.

April 2, 2026 Thursday

Yesterday I offered HENRY VIII HEARTS that I eked out of a dwindled supply of Kreinik braid 002.  I made three because I had found three Anne Boleyn Hearts mixed in with her daughter.

This morning on offer: the three Anne Boleyn Hearts.

Will there ever be more for sale? I hope to have Kreinik braid again but it won't be for a couple of months at the earliest. Sigh....

I am interested in offering these HEARTS again because I hope to add companions to them. Time will tell

April 1, 2026 Wednesday

Happy April Fool's Day. I won't write anything today because I'm not sure I'd believe whatever I wrote....

Till tomorrow... enjoy your day!

March 31, 2026, Tuesday

Surprise! For Sale this morning, scant copies of Mystery in a Corner, one here, one there, left over from the long life of my most popular Mystery.

I will leave it for sale today only, then another design tomorrow. All are limited; I will mark them SOLD when copies are gone.

For how long will I do this? It's an experiment. Let's see how the experiment goes.

t

Patriotica coming in 2026 as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S.

My Mail Jail Truck for keeping track of deadlines.