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

Reminders for me as well as for all of you.

April 19, 2024, Friday          

In the last three days I have posted my Red White and Blue Patritotic Hearts, the first from 2001, the second about 2010 and from 2019 US UK Heart which I just posted this morning.

I have gathered together the photos of the Hearts but which can I bring back? I have to check supplies and see what I have to order and whether I can get the supplies in time. Happily I have 2 months to go till the sale.

I finished writing my new needle book; now I have to finish assembling and writing the two fobs and then put together kits for proofing. In short, I am working ahead for my October Sale so that there is time for proofing the instructions.

At the same time I am watching the clock and calendar for my promised Patriotica Sale planned for the latter part of June.

Soon as I finish writing the designs for October and send them for proofing, I will turn my attention to making kits for June's Sale.

I was checking dates this morning and I am thinking  June 20 for my Patriotica Sale.

It's still early to decide on the dates for my October Sale but I peeked at that month too: it is still early  but I'm thinking of October 17. I won't fix that date in cement yet.

April 18, 2024, Thursday          

Yesterday I started posting Patriotic Hearts and Smalls I've made, beginning with my original Patriotic Heart from 2001.

This morning I added Peace Heart, a pair to my original Patriotic Heart that a good friend and adviser asked me to make.

I know some of you who have followed me will know that this is the tip of the iceberg and sometimes I wonder, how many hearts can I make? Reply from a friend, 'infinite' to which I often think, 'I'm near infinite now.'

But I'm sure there will be more. I love to make them -- one side, small, yet with enough room to have some substance. Each isn't a lifetime's hours to stitch.

I wish I had Jan's tree which is metal, hangs on the wall, is flat like a picture and holds a lot of hearts.

And some people have framed them too, and they look elegant that way also.

So in the following days I hope you will follow along as I post my collection.

April 17, 2024, Wednesday          

This morning I begin the second half of possibilities for my Patriotica Sale in late June. My earlier half included Betsy Ross and her sewing case, plus Betsy Ross Scissors Heart and a geometric called Fireworks that I had all but forgotten about.

This half is all about Hearts and Smalls I've made over the years. I begin with the very first Patriotic Heart I made back in 2001. People asked and asked me to make something related to 2001 and I made this heart.

In the years since, it has gathered friends and now I have the task of deciding which ones to bring back.

I hope you will help me decide.

It is also a nice trot down memory lane for me. I have made ever so many hearts and I suspect there will be more. I know there will be: I just sent two off to be finished.

My task today: writing instructions once again. Happily I should finish by April 30; then I will begin deciding on kits for Patriotica Sale.

April 16, 2024, Tuesday          

Great morning of productivity this morning, I got through all the beading instructions on the Sewing Case! Yay!

I am starting to think beyond this set of instructionsl. Yes, starting to think what should I include in my Patriotica Sale?

I've displayed a lot of it, certainly my two big pieces, but I have a lot of smalls still to come.

If you have ones you wish would show up in the sale would you let me know? I will likely post Patriotica for the rest of April, then come May 1 I have to start kits.

For once, although pushed for time, I am relatively right on schedule. YAY!