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.

May 13, 2026 Wednesday

Two days of company and then I will be back to work again and promise, yes promise, I will finish soon after.

Meantime I finished stitching my heart. I had no business doing so, but I stole the time. I forget how much holding a needle does to make life better. But for now I am off to do errands for my company.

May 12, 2026 Tuesday

I am back at work for most of today and I will try to catch up. Remember to check your packages as they arrive, make sure you have what you need.  As I have written, you have a month from the date I mailed your package to report shortages and mistakes.

I am down to a handful of packages. I am hoping t send them soon.

May 10, 2026 Sunday

Happy Mother's Day to one and all!

I've been working away this morning, will go back to regular shipping work tomorrow morning.

Enjoy the day!

May 8, 2026 Friday

I am back at work now and I should finish by early next week. I don't need 4 days, but I am leaving time to wait for answers to emails. With each package I have left, I need an answer and/or a confirmation.

Meanwhile as I wait, I have had some stitching time, not large blocks of it, but 10 min snatched here or there. I am hopeful for much more time starting next week.

May 5, 2026 Tuesday

I am postponing everything for 2 days, due to unexpected company. I am usually good about deadlines but this last 7 or so months -- I don't think I've met a single deadline and I apologize.

I will just postpone everything till May 11. If this is a hardship for anyone, please let me know.

May 4, 2026 Monday

I am stitching for two hours this morning, then I will write emails and wait for answers to my questions. We had company yesterday and I am a bit behind, but I will catch up today.

May 2, 2026 Saturday

Happy May Day a day late. I like that May 1 is a celebration of workers, but I miss the old idea of dancing around a May Pole. As children, we collected flowers in rolled cones and hung them on door knobs. And my mother always had small May Day presents, usually with flower themes, for each of us, often beautiful Madeira hankies with applied flowers.

But yesterday I spent the day working from 6:00 a.m. on. I packed packages and yesterday took down a load of them to the post office, as many as I think I have ever done in a single day.

I still have a few to do. They are ones I want to double-check questions/addresses etc. I will email people today and tomorrow and by Monday I should finish.

This set a record for the length of a sale: I started last September 1 preparing for EWeek in October -- and here it is, early May and I am just now finishing patterns I started selling in October.

April 29, 2026 Wednesday

I am still waiting for the print shop to finish my orders. I have been going to them for years and I know they will finish soon as they can.  Thx for patience. I know I've had a year of being behind schedule, usually not like me but so it be.

I have been stitching while I am waiting. I'm rusty and it has taken me a while to get up to speed. Doesn't matter, I'm just enjoying stitching. But I will stop and pack as soon as I have the instructions. Hopefully won't be too long now.

April 27, 2026 Monday

As I've reported, I am waiting for copies of instructions. My print shop has had people out of the office and they are behind. I will start shipping as soon as I have the copies of instructions in hand. It shouldn't take too long.

Meanwhile, I am scrapping my heart and starting over again. If it were a big piece, I would frog, but a heart is easier just to start again. First I have to figure out where I went wrong and what too do about it.

I don't mind -- I have often said, I rip and rip and riip all the time. In fact I like the challenge of seeing where I went wrong. It's part of the

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

My Mail Jail Truck for keeping track of deadlines.