May Thread Kit - Whirlygig

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.  Mine actually was celebrated over two days because of my daughters' work schedules.....both Saturday and Sunday.  Everyone is so busy all the time, so it was good to be able to spend time with each of them.  Now, to find time for all of us to get together is the next big challenge.  

 

Now, here it is the middle of the month already and I'm just now posting the thread kit for May:  Whirlygig!  There are only a few of the thread kits available.  Also, for those of you who have been thinking about the Winter Frost Purse, there is only one thread kit left.  Click here for more the description on Whirlygig and here for Winter Frost

I also have a problem and I'm hoping someone knows of a gray permanent marked with a fine to very fine tip suitable for marking canvases.  I currently use a Pilot SCA-UF black fine point marker for some of the canvases and a Quilter's Pencil for others.  But, during the recent Flower Diamonds pilot some students had some problems with smearing on the very light color (yellow) threads.  So I'm thinking a medium gray might be the solution.  But, I went to Dick Blick's and couldn't find anything.  I've looked online also, but no luck so far.  Any suggestions?

And thank you Jan for your ideas on wearable items.  If anyone has ideas for wearable or household items, I'd love to hear those also. 

Have a great week.

Night Poppy from the Past

Well, I have been home from my teaching trip since last Wednesday evening, and had a wonderful time, but it certainly takes several days to get all caught up.  Today is the first day things seem almost there! I finally got back to stitching on Mediterannean Squares last night.   But, even though I have stitching projects lined up through July, I need to keep thinking about future proposals, etc.

Night Poppy (above) is a design I created as part of my Master Teacher Journeyman Level at the end of the first year....way back in 2001.  It is framed and hanging in our entry hall, so I see it every day.  Some of the threads are now discontinued, but I still like it and am thinking of re-stitching it and giving it a bit more texture.  It's only 4" square so possibly it might be time for a re-visit, what with many of us looking for smaller, portable designs. 

Also, at a recent workshop the workshop chairman said guild members are looking for more wearable or household needlepoint items other than purses, belts and camera straps.  Working with linen for wearable items is one thing, but using canvas is a little more difficult.  Does any one have a specific idea or project to suggest? 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day Weekend and has something fun planned.  I say "weekend" because one of my daughters is able to come for the day on Saturday and the other on Sunday.  I don't get to see either one of them very often so really looking forward to the weekend.

Another Mediterranean Squares Update

I have been hearing about snow and lot's of rain in other parts of the country but here....today...it is beautiful.  No fog and 69 degrees.  I'm inside today but hoping for a nice today tomorrow for a trip to Stow Lake to see the baby Herons.  Stow Lake is in Golden Gate Park so it's only about 2 miles from me.  Everyone should be back in school  (after spring break) so it should be rather quiet over there.  This little lake also has pedal and electric boats or rent.....if you get out this way. 

But back to the update for the Mediterranean Squares........ I have been stitching on it most evenings but you are probably surprised at how little I have to show for it.   It seems I put in three threads and take out one, then add two more.  So things do move slowly.  I have decided the darkest red in the partial square at right is too dark, so it's coming out tonight and a slightly lighter red is going in there. I like the way the square, at the lower right, turned out....and it went pretty much according to plan. Oh, but I almost forgot, I've ordered a replacement thread for the row square single row of Mosaic stitches in the small center square....as the white just seems to bright now.  Sometimes it takes almost to the end before little items like this show up!

So, as you can see, this will almost finish up the larger squares.  Then there are three small squares to finish and the border. 

I will be away on a teaching trip from April 24 to 30th so I won't be making a blog entry during that time, nor taking my stitching with me, so will resume stitching soon after my return. 

Hope to see you here around the 1st of May.