The Quail has landed!

This weekend I finished sending out the last of the new Cyberworkshop kits, completed two small stitched pieces that accompany my new series on color in Needlepoint Now, (I decided to spill the beans),and completed the stitch guide for Painted Quail!  I feel so good about these accomplishments.

The stitch guide is available in the shop, right here. To make the process of writing the guide more enjoyable for me, I worked on a beautiful layout with tons of photos and illustrations.

Our place is moving forward. I did take photos but all of them were very out of focus. I'll try again later.

Does anyone own an iPad? What do you use it for? Please talk me out of one!

Read more...

Beginning of the week photos and news.

I took these photos on Friday but didn't post them since the focus isn't sharp. I thought I'd take better photos over the weekend, but never did get to it. So better out of focus than no focus at all.

Do you see the little squares of color on the floor at the bottom left side of the short wall? That's just one example of where the floor was sanded and sample stains were applied. There are probably 12-15 such squares and we still don't know which stain to use.

The first of my studio cabinets going up!

My studio wall from the other side.

The kitchen cabinets are going up, slowly, very slowly.

And the big "if" is... if the double oven fits into the cabinet space, I won't need to buy a new double oven and sell this one. If... wish me luck!

and, on another note: there is a great needlepoint magazine, can't tell you which but there is  "Now" in it's name, and it will have a new regular column on color. Hmmm, now who could be writing that column?...

More photos later this week.

Read more...

Help.

I need your help. 

But before that, I'll give you a quick update on "Renovation Willis".

I need to choose colors for the walls and for some of the kitchen cabinets. I think it's still really early for that, but my architect has found a way to keep me happy. He gives me little projects that won't be needed for a long time, and thus gives me the illusion that we are really moving along! 
Smart boy!

Colors for the walls, already? Yes!!

About 16 years ago we bought a dining set at Ethan Allen. Great quality! I had the chairs reupholstered along the way, and I kept the table in near perfect shape with table pads. The chairs still sturdy, hardly any scratches, upholstery still stain free. The only problem was that I was sick, sick, sick of the set. So I went a-looking for a new set for all the upcoming dinners in the newly renovated space. 

Anything I saw was either really cheap looking, or really expensively priced.  I came back home, looked at my near perfect table and chairs and decided to have the top stripped and refinished and the chairs painted. Yesterday my set came back home to mama and I LOVE the results!!! 

And now for the help.

In my old studio I hung all my fibers like this...

In the new studio I will have one entire wall for hanging all my fibers. I'm looking for a hanging system. I want something easy to use, a system that displays the threads well and allows for shifting them around when I need to add new threads, reasonably priced, but more than anything I want this something to be very good looking! What do you do with your threads? Have you seen something at a shop, at a friend, in a magazine, that you think is really attractive and, yes, practical too?

Can you help me?

Thank you.

Read more...

oh where, oh where did my camera go?

So, today I finally found the camera and here is another peek into our place.

Here you are looking at the wall of my new studio.  

 

 This was my studio and will now be our TV room.

Our kitchen. . .

and our new entry.

still a long long way to go!

Read more...

Look what I found...

I knew it would be out sometime soon, after all I did answer the questions.  I just wasn't expecting to come across it accidentally...   You can accidentally find it here.

Renovation? The dry wall is up, still a mess but I'm going to take some photos today and share with you.

I'll be back a little later...      Have a great Monday!

Read more...

It's dusty over here.

You must be tired of my whining and moaning over the renovation, (which was my idea in the first place).  I think I sound like a spoiled New Jersey Housewife. In my defense, I want to show you a few glimpses of our place as of this morning.  You can't feel the dust or smell the glue .  I must admit, I love seeing the place change but at the same time I get very nervous about the mess, (which is a whole other hang up I have).

Spring Arts Benefit on May 1

I will be participating in an art show here in Philly.  There will be about 10-12 artists from different genres and media. The fun part is that all the artists will be doing their work at the exhibit so that the guests can see how and what we do. I believe I'm the only fiber artist participating. I'll make sure to post more information soon. If you are local, come say hello!

Roses from my birthday (04.04.1957...you do the math)

Read more...

Wishing you a breath of fresh air!

We are leaving today, driving up to a house we rented in the Catskills, to spend Passover with our family. 

I wish you all a beautiful season of Spring Holidays.  Passover symbolizing freedom, Easter symbolizing rebirth, both give a feeling of a deep breath of freshness. I love this time. 

We'll meet here again soon...

Read more...

Needlepoint Now and other stuff

I'm still in boxes, only this time in our temp housing. It's actually not that bad of a place and being that it's smaller, less housekeeping to do, big plus!  Our internet connections, have been a nightmare. Just can't get my two computers to talk and since I have all my design instructions on one and my PDF files on another, I can't keep my precious cyber students happy. However, I'm staying positive and working on getting things up and running!

FIERCE, my new design for Needlepoint Now, is out!  Thank you all for the lovely comments you send me everyday. It means so much to hear from you and know you are enjoying my work. 

If you'd like to try the design with a different color scheme, we can try something fun... send me a photo of an overdye you love and would like to use as a base for your colorway, (it will be stitched in the center box and the boxes in the two bottom corners). Your overdye should be a stranded fiber such as Watercolours, or Silk n' Colors, or any other similar fiber. Based on your photo I will send you recommendations for the other fibers you may want to use for the other elements of the design. You can also send me the name and number of the overdye, however, bear in mind, dye lots change, sometimes a new dye lot can make a fiber look completely different! At times it may clash with the same fiber of a different dye lot, therefore my recommendation may be off if I can't see your actual choice.

We will be offering a second Cirque de Fleur Cyberclass beginning May 12th. You can sign up here.

We will be taking sign ups until April 26th. We are in the midst of the first session of this piece and it's been so much fun!

Many of you have asked about stitch guides for Painted Birds. I hope to complete my dear quail friend very soon and write up the guide for this proud little one. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Have you checked out the listing for future ANG Cyberworkshops lately? You will find SQUARE DANCE on that list. Class starts January 2011 and sign up is September-October 2010. Put it on your calendar, it will be a fantastic class!

Today I'm waiting for a visit from my friend and student, Diane. She has been asking to learn how to needlepoint and after a one on one lesson, a few tips along the way, and lots of enthusiasm, this is what she has done so far! 

First project after one lesson. Isn't she amazing? It's students like Diane that make me look good!

Off to get some work done.

Have a wonderful day!!

Read more...

This is why...

 

Tomorrow we will be moving into a one bedroom apartment, for three months, (famous last words?), so that the contractor can lead his people in the creation of a new studio, a new music room, a separate family area and a new kitchen. The photos you see here were taken a week ago.  Today I can't even find the camera to take a photo. 

I have tried to think of everything I may need for the next 90 days, packed those separately  and labeled them as best I can. Seasons will change meaning more clothing, books and toys for Nina, food and toys for Lola, pots and pans and food and coffee maker and toaster, it goes on and on. 

And my studio! How do I begin to prepare for three months away? The hundreds and hundreds of threads, beads, frames, instruction books. It's a nightmare! One day I decide that I can't possibly offer my designs for sale during these months, I can't possibly move all the inventory I need to a one bedroom apartment, but the next day my heart breaks thinking I want to stay in touch with you all, I want to continue supplying you with all the new designs I'm working on, I don't want to turn anyone away. So I've been agonizing over this, tomorrow morning we move, and I still don't know what to do!

 

Anyway, that's why I've been away, and it may take a few more days to resume a normal pattern of life. I do look forward to having much more time to stitch. There should be much less to do in a small space, therefore much more stitching. Less cleaning, therefore much more blogging, less entertaining, therefore much more designing. That's the positive side of this situation, and I will continue to remind myself of this. Also of the new studio I will move into when all this is over.

The weather is finally gorgeous and I'm trying to work hard at staying upbeat. I think it will be OK. I think.

SO enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll be back when I plug my dear Mac back in.

All my best for now,

Me

Read more...