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  Countdown to Christmas! Do you do that? I seem to be surprised by Christmas every year. I know it’s coming, I always resolve to get ready for it earlier, but then I look up and it’s here. I come from a generation that had an orderly progression of the holidays – we observed Halloween, […]

A little early to be thinking about Christmas, isn’t it? Actually, stitchers probably think about Christmas and the holidays, or at least holiday stitching, a good part of the year. If we don’t, it’s on us and we haven’t gotten our stitching done! In the last week, I’ve stitched 8 Christmas ornaments. Yes, 8! This

“Stitch when you’re young and poor, frame when you’re old and rich!” I saw this line once and thought how true! We can stitch like crazy, finish all sorts of projects, but when we get to the framers – yowza! I can still remember the first really big framing job I had done, and how

I posed a question on my Facebook page, asking which challenges face stitchers. A few have responded, and believe it or not, I have the same challenges. The challenge I’ll address today is “finding time to stitch”. Stitchers tell me it must be nice to sit at home all day and stitch, because I’m a

I’m just back from the 9th annual Needle Arts Mystery Retreat weekend. This fun retreat is a collaboration with my partners, Linda Reinmiller, Patricia Hartman and Mary Knapp. The four of us invite stitchers to join us every July for a counted canvas project that we’ve designed together, but the stitchers don’t see the project

In several earlier posts I discussed my thread choices for my designs. Sometimes I use threads that are not readily available in every local needlework shop, and I’m asked, “is there a conversion for that?” Sometimes I’ve worked out a conversion, sometimes I haven’t, but this post today is about conversions. Under the “About” tab,

  Today I’m asking your indulgence as I depart somewhat from stitching subjects, and share something strictly personal. This week we made the devastating decision to put our dog to sleep, after she lost the use of her back legs in what was probably a neurological incident last weekend. Those of you who are owned

The relationship between a designer and a stitcher is a somewhat anonymous one. I design, write the instructions, and send them out to the shops. I almost never know who buys the design, or stitches it, unless someone sends me an email or a picture (which I love, by the way!). I get to meet

Recently I found a “new” thread line, one that has actually been in business for more than 30 years, Treenway Silks. I had first heard of Treenway Silks when a stitcher had used them for a different colorway for Diamond Delight 4, and her rendition won a prize at the prestigious Woodlawn competition. I was

I got a bit side-tracked with show preparation, but I have a few more things to say about thread selection. When I go to the trade shows I’m bombarded with new threads. Sometimes it’s a bit of overload! The colors, the textures – I’d love to design with all of them. I’ve had to impose