Home Again (For a Little While Anyway!)

I had a fantastic time in Glen Rose, Texas at the annual Fancy Stitches Retreat (which has been going on since the late 1980's, making it one of the most long-running retreats of it's kind in the country!) I even finished two things, but I can't show them off here yet, sorry!  Great company, great food and great stitching, what could be better?  Thanks so much to both Fancy Stitches and my retreat buddies for all the gifts and goodies that they showered us with all weekend too!

Here is a photo of the 300+ year old Live Oak outside our stitching room:

I do have some stitching to show off though, since I haven't had time to stitch on Mod Ornaments lately, I have a couple of photos from Mary Ann who has done a great job stitching two of her ornaments:

I'm off to Charleston, SC this weekend for a little trip with my hubby, (who I have barely seen this month), but I'll have some new finishing pictures to share next week!

A Week of Retreats!

I went to two needlepoint retreats in one week and now I need a vacation! Needlepoint Nation Austin 2015 overlapped with a trip to Memphis to Rent Amy, so what was I to do?  I managed to do a bit of both.  Wednesday and Thursday was spent in Austin visiting with that great group of gals, who I did not get nearly enough time with.  Here is a couple of shots of the host shop, The Needle Works--  not great pictures but you sure can tell how big and well stocked it is!

Friday through Monday found me in Memphis with the gang from Needlepoint Now, taking a weekend of classes with Amy Bunger.  Amy's shop is fabulous too, both inside and out.

First of all, what could be better than a needlepoint shop with a Sonic next door?

The neon "Amy's" sign is pretty spiffy too, I think.  Amy's is actually a small compound of buildings consisting of the store, classroom and the wholesale business.  Amy's very sweet husband, Bob, has decorated the inner courtyard with his collection of farm antiques and signs:

I think Bob's courtyard may be the best classroom view of any shop, any where!

And yes, Amy's has tons of threads and models too:

As I said, now that I'm back, I'm pooped!  Even so, I've got one more retreat left, this weekend I take off towards north Texas to Glen Rose for the Fancy Stitches retreat.  Stay tuned for those photos next week! 

Sandy's Finished Mod Ornaments!

Mod Ornaments Mystery Class came to an end this month with lesson 6 and Sandra Arthur has treated us with a photo of the finished design, complete with a really inspired background stitch!  I am still trying to finish Lesson 3, so don't worry, you'll still be seeing updates from me as I continue to work on mine.  Also I'm happy to share that Sandy is keeping the Facebook group page open for all of us stragglers as well!  

Hot Off the Press!

I was so surprised and happy when I received an advance preview copy of the new edition of Jo Ippolito Christensen's The Needlepoint Book direct from the publisher, Simon & Schuster!  It's called the Needlepoint Bible for a reason, as this is one big and seriously heavy book, printed on beautiful paper in hardcover.  This new edition has a much larger section of color photos than ever before, plus is fully updated to cover all the new advances in needlepoint (including an app, of course!) since the last edition.  It could not have come out at a better time either, as it seems that needlepoint is on the cusp of a serious revival.

  

This book has made me even more enthused to see what excitement this year will bring the needlepoint world!

Happy Easter!

It's not too late to sign up (or just order a kit) for my Easter Collage canvas at Fancy Stitches on May 6th.  Have a great weekend!