Looking back and Happy New Year

I always look forward to the time between Christmas and New Year’s…it is MY time or so I like to think. I usually spend time organizing my calendar for the following year (birthdays and such), reading my Christmas books (always make sure Santa leaves a couple of these) and generally just reflecting on the past year.

My mother was the epitome of organization for her day. In my basement are notebooks of old photo of the generations gone by; sorted by person. This year, DH and I bought a scanner as a present to ourselves…we have promised ourselves to organize all the slides and pictures we have accumulated in 45+ years (we did come to the marriage with some of our own pictures.) So this week we have been scanning boxes of slides into our computer. This has been a true trip down memory lane…now we are deciding how to get these pictures to all those people who are featured in our archive of memories.

I also have been a very good girl about taking pictures of whatever creations I have made.

I went through a wood cut out period when country decorating was big. This was one of my favotires…tulips

I also did cross stitch and made them into aprons for everyone I knew.

I made vestments for a local Catholic high school…these were reversible green and purple or gold and red.

And this led to making banners for Mary for a local church.

But my real love has always been needlepoint and I even painted a few canvases.

 

Hope everyone has time to reflection 2011 and the hope of 2012. My wish for everyone is much happiness, peace and lots of stitching time…Happy 2012!

Until next year…I hope everyone has time to stitch!  ttfn…sue

Daphne’s Needlepoint

You have to see this! I wrote Daphne to get her permission to share her websites and she graciously agreed.  Thank you Daphne, you efforts should be shared with anyone who needlepoints. You are an inspiration to all of us.

Saturday Jane over at Chilly Hollow (http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2011/11/daphne-goodyear-and-friends.html ) suggested a visit to Daphne Goodyear’s website: http://needleartartistry.org/home.html

Saturday evening, instead of watching TV or stitching, I spent the evening looking at Daphne’s website. What a treat this is! I was just amazed at all the
needlepoint, not only Daphne’s needlepoint, but her friends too. It was just
eye candy for the imagination. I can’t tell you what I liked best, it was all
beautiful. I was so impressed that I sent Daphne an email to let her know that
her efforts at sharing her needlepoint with the world had not gone unnoticed.

I wrote; “… your needlework and web site are incredible. I think you must have been born with a needle and thread in your hands and a head full of great imagination. Thank you for sharing with us…”

 Daphne wrote me back and graciously sent me a link to a book about her needlepoint: “You may be interested in a book I published with pictures and
descriptions of my needlepoint over the years. It is called Dancing With  Stitches. The following is a link. http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2210157. “

Talk about a history of her stitching, this is something to see! Grab yourself a POT of chosen beverage  and settle in for a great morning of eye candy! I spent a wonderful Sunday  morning reading Daphne’s book(s); they are wonderful.

Then if you have ever wanted to go  on Pat Daltons’s Textile trip to China, fix another pot of your chosen beverage  and look at this book. The link is here: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2000280 or you can just click on the tab “Author’s Bookstore” And  if after looking at this book, you decide this trip is for you Daphne wrote me  that she is planning to go again in the Fall of 2012. Contact Daphne, or Pat  Dalton  (http://www.daltontours.com/index.html ) if interested.

There are teachers who inspire us and  teach us new techniques in needlework; there are authors who write and also  teach us about needlework; but the true artists of needlepoint are those people  who take those classes, read those books and then with their own threads,  colors and ideas produce works of art that reflect their personality and love  of the art. Daphne is one of those artists, truly one of the great  needlepointer’s of our day…what a treasure.

I don’t think Daphne and I have  ever met but I am sure we have mutual friends (I do know Pat, we took our first  class together at ANG…no year mentioned, it was a while ago and have run into  each other at several other ANG seminars.) And the other thing I know is I  would want to be Daphne’s friend; I am in awe of her talent and creativity. Just  visiting her website and book has made me want to stitch more and more.

Let your fingers walk over to  Daphne’s web pages and books…you will not believe this.

And  after looking at these links you will  make time to stitch today!
ttfn…sue

 

Bunny two and ditto snow

Tangent 1…The last two sentences about snow at the end of the last blog are being repeated here; I really should just say “ditto.” … “2-4 inches as of noon weather report. I have enough snow on the ground …this is getting old and cold!”  Last night 2 more inches and so it is getting really OLD and is really COLD. Enough already! For an area that was supposed to get only 13 inches of snow, we are already well above 26 inches. I heard the weatherman (same one that predicted 13 inches for the season) say this was the last significant snowfall of the season…don’t think I’ll be putting the snow shovel away too soon on his forecasting abilities.

Tangent 2…Last November I won the drawing from Jane at Chilly Hollow for the Brenda Hart book Stitches for the Millennium. (http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2010/11/and-winner-is.html ). I set it aside during the holidays and between Christmas and New Year I spent some quality time with, hot tea or chocolate and my new book acquisitions (http://sudukc.wordpress.com/2010/12/26/naughty-or-nice-must-have-been-really-good/ ).  I really like this book and will use it often. Thank you Jane for picking my name. I made a few mental notes about canvases in my stash where certain stitches might work well… BUT I have a question about drawings and contests: Do you enter contests just to be entering a contest or does the contest have to be something you want; would like to try; or would use? If you have won a contest, do you use what you won, how?  I try not to enter contest just for the sake of wining something. I hope the people who enter and win contests/drawings intend to use what they win or really love what they win if it is something already completed.

Meat of the blog…

I thought I’d look in The Brenda Hart book for stitches. So with book in hand, a cup of hot chocolate and my canvas I set down and picked stitches I though could be used for the bunny: Nobuko, Mosaic variation, Slanted Brick, Scotch variations, Hungarian with tent, Scalloped Diamonds, Double Brick, Ming variation, and Slanting Rhodes. I felt like I really only needed 6 stitches at the most for the larger areas. I thought the white areas needed straight stitches and the black areas slanting stitches, slanted in different directions. I am using 1 strand of Appleton wool for the white and black and my old Orchidee for the gray outlines.

The white areas were easy; I decided that the Double Brick over 4 would work for the front and back body of the bunny. The front will have more compensation than the back but I am going to stitch over the green carrot tops as I am going to stitch them later. His head needed to be a simple stitch that would fit into the narrow area without compensation (see red stitches in picture); a simple Parisian stitch would work best here.  I have already started the white areas and about done…what can I say but “cold & snow make for great stitching time!”

His eyes are tent stitches stitched with floss, his mouth a Horizontal Gobelin stitches with floss and I think I will try plaited stitches in floss for his nose but if all else fails a padded Gobelin will work too.

The head did not have a good place to reverse diagonal stitches and so I decided a simple Mosaic stitch would work for both the front and back of the head. It will give the slant of the other black stitches; but is small enough that the one directional slant will not detract from the reversing slants of the other areas. I started this area on the front to make sure I liked it and to fit the Mosaic stitch (see purple stitch) around the Parisian stitch without a lot of compensation. The purple stitch was the first Mosaic stitched I placed and then stitched the remaining stitches using the diagonal method of placement. This will help minimize the distortion caused by the straight stitches. If I had stitched the Mosaic stitch in either horizontal of vertical rows there would have been even more distortion. I always try to stitch on the diagonal when possible.

The bottom of his feet I would like to do in directional Slanted Bick stitches and compensate stitches for color changes, keeping compensation to a minimum if possible. His front paws, and the areas on the back bunny piece (excluding the head) will also be Nobuko. The carrot I plan to slightly pad and use Epic wool in oranges for the body. The tops are going to be Cast-on Bullions using overdyed green perle cotton. And of course his tail is going to be uncut Turkey Work, but I may do this without the tinker toy and allow random lengths. I have not given much thought to his ears yet but I’m sure something will click.

I think that’s about it for now and until the thaw I will be stitching…this year appears to be making significant dents in my “round toit” canvas stash…another good thing…room for more shopping.

Stay warm and safe… AND I hope everyone will have time to stitch today!  ttfn…sue

Snow & Bunny

It’s snowed again in the Midwest; we got 6 ½ inches in my yard. Today it is suppose to give another dusting and Sunday another accumulation. Don’t know why this is such a big deal to everyone (especially the news media…must have nothing else to report)…But here’s a newsflash for everyone…

It is January in the Midwest!

Kids love snow and snowdays, parents hate snow and snowdays, and we stitchers don’t care as long as we have something to stitch. 

This week I spent some time looking though my stash, I was looking to see if there were any canvases I wanted to reconsider as my favorites. My local needlework shop is sponsoring a sell your stash. You pay $5 per item (2.50 goes to the American Heart Association), register each needlepoint canvas, set a price and if and when it sells you will receive a store credit to purchase whatever you like. If you purchase someone else’s canvas you can also purchase threads at a discount. So I headed to my canvas stash box to make some choices and soon realized I will not be parting with my stash. As I was perusing the canvases, so many memories came flooding back…oh I bought that canvas when…and this canvas always reminds me of…

So after about and hour tripping down memory lane I realized I have this thing about painted canvases (I am really a geometric person or a chart stitcher; so when I purchase a painted canvas it really has spoken to my heart.  I seldom stop to think about threads and stitches at the time I purchase the canvas. I think you have to live with a canvas to decide what it will become. Ornaments can become pillow inserts; some canvases need to have a portion omitted or changed; and colors are not written in stone. But one thing is common among all my painted canvases…I love them!

I found an old Sharon G canvas that I know I will never stitch BUT I love the canvas; All Eyes-Keyhole. I know stitching this canvas would never do it justice it is a work of art as is, so I’m taking it to the framer to have a mat cut and I am just going to frame it. I do have a question if anyone would like to weight in on this. The left picture was taken on a black background, the right on a white background. I’m going to use a black mat and frame but which background do you prefer or will it matter?

 

Periodically when I look through this stash box a canvas will jump out at me and say, “It’s my turn!” That happened when I found the bunny with a basket; the canvas was panted by Barbara & Charlotte and has the #bss 4. I don’t know if they still paint canvases or not but this one is sure cute. I collect Peter Rabbits (my Peter Rabbit has to have a blue coat and carrots to be in my collection), so this one will fill the bill if I stitch his coat predominately blue. In my minds eye I could actually see the canvas stitched and finished. I measured it, pulled the stretcher bars, and started to pull the threads…All of a sudden I noticed this canvas was unusual…What size is this canvas mesh? I was thinking 14 but my mind was telling me ???…it is 10 mesh! Oh my gosh I would have never guessed, I’m not sure I have threads to stitch this canvas…Oh good, a justified trip to the LNS (not that I need an excuse or justification)! Off I went, and then I hit a roadblock. I had decided on threads for everything but the rabbit and he was proving to be a real challenge. The gray threads available at my LNS were either to blue gray or too brown gray…not a neutral gray in the bunch.  Someone suggested trying knitting wool and so off I headed to a knit shop. I even took a needle to check that the yarn would cover well… I found a gray that will be great.

So now I have the threads and I have begun to stitch… I’m stitching this canvas front the back to the front. So even though this canvas may not still be available I will keep you posted on the stitches and techniques as I move along.

The background stitch is a woven stitch using #3 DMC pearl cotton. In one book it is called a T-Stitch another Woven Stitch. I stitch it diagonally so I guess the T-stitch would be the name using these two references: T Stitch from June McKnight; Decorative Backgrounds  For Needlepoint; Self Published; 1992. Woven Stitch from Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson; Stitches for Effect; Self Published; 1996. As soon as I get the background and I’m going to cover the green carrot tops, I am going to baste the carrot tops placement on the background for later stitching.

Hope everyone stays warm and has time to stitch everyday. ttfn…sue

Naughty or Nice…must have been REALLY good

I must have been a good girl this year because Santa was really nice to me this year (not that he isn’t always nice to me.) This year I received all the Helen Stevens books I was missing (I had two, now I have all 12.)

I had purchased two of the Helen Stevens books (The Myth & Magic of Embroidery and The Timeless Art of Embroidery) before I took the class, Floral Fantasy from Dorothy Lesher. I really liked this class and loved the idea of needlepainting on canvas but put the class away when life seemed to be getting too hectic and serious stitching needed to be put on hold. I hope to get the piece back out after I put the Christmas decorations away and life seems to slow down for the cold winter months. Spring flowers should keep my spirits up during the cold gray days of January, February and March.

I’m going to spend the rest of the afternoon editing some pictures I want to show you all…If I get them finished I’ll post twice today.

Hope everyone has time to stitch today!  ttfn…sue

Week-end Stitching

Friday I was looking for something in my den and found “Lucy.” I had not forgotten about her…hard to do since she is at my feet all the time…but her needlepoint had just gotten put aside …out of site out of mind. All that was left to stitch was Lucy’s fur…so this weekend I stitched lots of Lucy.

 I am one of those people who like to do “Long & Short” stitch. Some stitchers are put-off by the term “Long and Short” Stitch, others go into stitching shock at the mere mention of this stitch…the only thing worse would be to tell these stitchers to use Marlitt. I learned very quickly to avoid the L&S words whenever possible, instead I prefer “Random Stitching or Directional Stitching.” These terms do not seem to strike terror in the eyes of stitchers; their eyes do not glaze over and sometimes you can even get them to try the stitch before they realize that this might be the dreaded L&S.

I also think that Random Stitching is one of those stitches you have to be in the mood to stitch. If you are up tight (been there) or tired (been there too), you may not be open to the creative free spirit needed to stitch Random Stitch freely.

One of the best books in my library about creative free stitching  is Robert Cates’ book: Creative Needlepoint.  I bought this book many years ago at an ANG Bookstore but I have seen it on Amazon at different times.  I loved the way he stitched his designs freely and experimented with threads, textures and stitches. He bent the rules and colored outside the lines!

So this week I am going to blog about Random Stitching. I’ll show you my method of stitching,  how I decide where to begin and  I’ll also show you some of the different pieces I have stitched.

ttfn…sue

Books are Friends

I was cleaning up my computer this week end and came across the article I had written for one of the needlework magazines. It has never been published, so I decided to share it with anyone who reads my blog. Enjoy!

I cannot live without books.

Thomas Jefferson
3rd president of US (1743 – 1826)

 

I agree. I love all my books but I am especially fond of my needlework library. Over the years I have amassed many lovely books on needlework, and color & design. These books are like friends, some you know better than others but you like them all.  Like my real friends, I have treated my needlework library with care and respect but some of my books have gotten older and require some TLC (tender loving care) to insure they will be around for many years. I have one friend with coffee stains on her pages; she reminds me that coffee, computers, needlework and books are not always compatible. I know each book and have sometimes made personal notes on their pages…some are old dear friends others are acquaintances.

 

Let me tell you about one of my oldest book friends. She is A Pageant of Pattern for Needlework Canvas by Sherlee Lantz.  My mother gave me her and Jo Bucher’s book Creative Needlepoint as a Christmas gift in the mid 1970’s.  I remember asking her, “Why me?”  Her reply is still with me today;

 

“I got the Jo Bucher book by mistake from my book club and didn’t want to return it. And I got A Pageant of Pattern for Needlework Canvas at the bookstore on sale. You did this with Grandma when you were young and I thought it was something you might do again some day.”

 

I remember thinking, “Thanks Mother, but with three sons (all under 10 years of age at the time) I should live so long to have time to needlepoint.” The rest is history, over eight hundred books later these books are still two of my very best friends. I have made notes in their margins, flagged their pages, used and loved them; they have more sentimental value to me than monetary value.

 

My first needlepoint seminar I was asked to bring my favorite needlepoint stitch books, so off to seminar went A Pageant of Pattern for Needlework Canvas and Creative Needlepoint. I remember everyone else in the room had brought one book, a much lighter, black book. But by the time I left seminar, the black book and many other new friends were coming home with me. Over the years some of my needlework books I use regularly have become weathered and worn. They have begun to show their age. The binding separates from the pages, pages come loose, covers became torn or lost, and any number of ailments befalls some of my old friends. They are the foundation of my needlepoint library. The books I turn to instinctively were literally falling apart, but most of all, they are like my friends and some were in need of help, repair or replacement. I have a second copy of A Pageant of Pattern for Needlework Canvas given to me by a needlepoint friend. The pages are numbered the same, the pictures are identical; but something is missing.  I could give up the original but she is a special friend. She holds many significant memories for me and was a wonderful gift from my Mother. A Pageant of Pattern for Needlework Canvas originally sold for Fifteen dollars and ninety-five cents, in the 80-90’s it sold for about five-hundred dollars. Today on the internet you can purchase the book in a range from two dollars to two hundred and fifty dollars. If you wish to replace most books there is an ample supply, but some books can not be replaced and of course the sentimental value can never be replaced

 

At an ANG seminar in Detroit an idea was born. I remember most everyone who purchased a copy of A Stitch Book ( it as sold in a loose page format) took it to the printing shop in the hotel complex and had the book comb bound. This was a popular idea and when the book was re-issued in 2000, it was sold comb bound. One day last year, at the office supply store, the salesperson asked the person next to me if he wanted his materials comb-bound or spiral-bound. I looked at the spiral binding, remembered the books in Detroit, and knew I had found away to give new life to my old worn friends. One by one I took them to the office supply store and had them spiral bound. The first book I rescued was the The Needlepoint Book by Christensen, Jo Ippolito. I had it spiral-bound with heavy lamination on the covers and light lamination to the section dividers. I liked it so well I also had The Open Canvas by Carolyn Ambuter done the same way.  97 Alphabets by B. Borssuck, Darning Patterns and Laid Fillings for Evenweave Fabrics by Jean Taggart; were just spiral bound to save them. 

 

           

 

Bargello by Elsa Williams had been a library edition hard back book but was in much need of repair. Her pages were falling out, the front and back plates had been removed and she was re-taped into her hard cover; yet she still had her dust jacket. I took her to the store, had her dust jacket cut to fit, used the inside flaps of the dust jacket for the back cover of the book and had these laminated. She was spiral bound and Bargello is a new book, in much better condition than she had come to me.

 

The most recent book I have helped is my beloved A Pageant of Pattern for Needlework Canvas. She was a very old and dear friend, but was in terrible shape. Her pages were loose, she had separated from her binding and her dust jacket was becoming tattered and torn but she was my first needlepoint book. I knew she had to be saved. I took her to the store and had her spiral bound with a laminated front and back cover. Today she is a new grand lady in my library.

 

These books also lay flat on my work surface and are easier to use when stitching, most will fold back on themselves. I have several self published books that are either comb or spiral bound so this was not an original idea. I do not believe in defacing or destroying a book just to make them more to my liking, but rather am trying to preserve them for my personal enjoyment. I know that these books will never have the value they possessed when new, but in truth how many books have retained their original value?  Not only have these books been given new life but in many cases saved from the trash and land fills. I have found a wonderful way to protect and preserve the friendship and knowledge some of these books have afforded me. And who knows, maybe the next generation will love them as much as I do.

 

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A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever.

Martin Tupper, English writer 1810-1889

 

TIF project

I have been working on the TIF project this week between other non stitch related things. I have gotten some computer work done but haven’t spent any time learning more about how to blog.  I could use a month of uninterrupted time to myself and I still would be so-o-o-o behind I’d look like I was winning the race.

It’s been a long time since I stitched a Temari, probably a couple years…But like riding a bike you don’t forget how. I learned how to make Temari Balls from Betty Kernaghan in 1990. She had learned the art when she had lived in the Orient. She was a master of Temari art, but I don’t think she had any official certification. I took a beginning class from her and then purchases books written in Japanese and taught myself the rest. You can learn a lot from looking at pictures!

 When I first started making Temari there was very little information about them available and any books written about these balls were written in Japanese. Today there have been several magazine articles and books written and some of those books have even been written in English. I own most of the Japanese written books and I think I have all the English written books and they are all great references. I think the best English book written is Japanese Temariby Barbara Suess. You can find the book on Amazon or Barb’s web site: http://www.japanesetemari.com/.  I have known Barb several years and she is a very talented Temari artist. She is a member of the Japan Temari Association  and has passed the Advanced level for Temari. She will be teaching a Temari class this fall for the Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA): www.egausa.org.

Another equally great Temari person  is Ginny Thompson and her web site is: http://www.temarikai.com/. Ginny is a member of the Japan Temari Associationand has a Shihan/Master (L3) Certificate in Temari. I’ve known Ginny through her web site for many years . This web site has been around a long time and is very good.

Since both Ginny and Barb’ s websites give a lot of information about Temari, not only the history but the basic how to-s as well as some of the more advanced instructions I won’t go into that here, but I do suggest you take a look at both websites. Both these ladies are well informed in their art and have willingly shared it. Please remember to share your knowledge with someone willingly, otherwise your art will die. Temari was all but a lost art several years ago and there have been a handful of ladies who have willingly shared their knowledge and ideas to keep this art alive. Thank you ladies! I would be remiss if I did not at least mention S. Ozaki. She wrote or edited books written in Japanese for Cosmo books. Cosmos is a Japanese thread company like out DMC or Anchor. There are other Temari web sites and all are fun to look at (check out the links on the Ginny and Barb’s web pages. One other site you might want to check out: http://www.temarimath.info/default.htm Debi Abolt likes to look at Temari from the mathematical side. All the web sites are fun to visit, there are many talented people out there.

Temari means “hand ball” and I make all my balls from scratch. Briefly and simply … I use a piece of cotton for the core and wrap knitting yarn around this core to almost the desired size. I then add a layer of crochet cotton (like twine ) over the yarn and then over this I wrap at last one spool ( 250 – 300 yards) of sewing thread. The wrapping is done in a random, criss cross method turning the ball in different directions while keeping a steady even tension on the yarn or thread. The real secret to this wrapping is to keep turning the ball , shape the ball with palms of your hands as you are wrapping and keep an even tension. It really is not as difficult as it sounds, just takes some practice.  

I think the difficult part is choosing a design there are endless possibilities. After the design is chosen, placing the pins for the marking/guidelines on the ball is the next challenge. But once all this is accomplished then the fun begins…stitching on the guidelines and watching the design grow.  This first picture shows a simple temari with pins marking the north and south pole and the equator. There is always a north pole (NP) and south pole (SP) and equator points. The equater  points determine the divisions of the ball, there can be 3-6-12-24… ; 4-8-16-32…; 5-10-20…. How you use these points and others placed on the ball determine whether the ball is a simple division or a complex division temari.

 This first Temari is a simple 4 (S4) division wrapped. The first picture is a composite picture of the NP, 3 of the 4 equator points and SP. (Someday I’ll learn how to put a 3-d picture on a blog…for now my composites will have to do.) The second picture is the NP or SP design, and the third picture is the equator design.  The marking thread for this design, Kreinik 1/16th ribbon was incorporated into the design (not always the case). After the ball was marked I wrapped #5 pearl cotton in consecutive order: blue, cream, purple and Kreinik ribbon around the ball. I finished by securing the NP, SP and equator points with a large cross stitch over the wrapped threads. At the NP and SP I added some straight stitches using Kreinik ribbon, notice these are not added at the equator points.

  This was really the first temari I made for the TIF project and as you can see from the pictures intended to walk step by step through the design but somehow forgot and so you have the beginning and the end result. If I do another Temari I will try and be more diligent in my photo taking (remember I never have enough time). The first photo were the supplies I chose for this project, but in the end I eliminated the overdye. The second picture is the pin and marking thread placement for this simple 16 (S16) division temari. Notice I used a thin silver thread as the marking thread, it is only a guide line and is not used as part of the design. Next I wrapped each color in a sequence pattern: medium green, dark green, light purple, dark purple. If you look closely at the third and forth pictures you can see that each color is wrapped at 90 degree angles to itself at the north and south poles and again at the equator. The real emphasis of this temari is the “obi ” band at the equator. “Obi” is from Japanese clothing, it is the sash wrapped around the waist over a kimono. These obi sashs are sometimes quite elaborate and are also family keepsakes passed from one generation to the next. In the fourth and fifth pictures you can see the obi and the weaving pattern developed while wrapping the colors in a consecutive order. Over the equator points I stitched a herringbone stitch to secure the threads and develop the obi band more. At the north and south pole I stitches a straight stitches over the poles and then secured them with a spider web stitch. The spider web stitch is really a western addition to the temari, most of the Japanese temari are secured with a simple wrapping stitch.

I need to finish one more temari and then I will post again. I really wish I were better at this than I am, it seems to take me a couple days to get one blog posted. Maybe with practice I will get better, or maybe I’ll win a big lottery (guess I’ll need to play first..but that is just one more thing to do in a day) and have more time to do the things I want. Off to see if I can find more time laying around somewhere. As Tigger from Pooh would say..”TTFN (ta-ta for now)!”

Sidetracked but productive

Friday I got completely sidetracked. Decided to go with husband and grandson to Hutchinson Kansas and then on to Wichita Kansas to visit friends.

Grandson and husband were on a trip to the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas with the Boy Scouts. Imagine a space museum in the middle of Kansas, but truthfully it was just wonderful!  It was the dream of Patrica Carey and she started with a used telescope at the state fair and the museum has grown from there.  A woman with a vision,  the ability to dream; envision the improbable and make it possible. They have Programs for people of all ages, summer camping programs for young people Grades 7-10; merit badge classes for scouts, and even a Elder-hostel. So if you every thought you wanted to be an astronaut there is a place for you. It was worth the trip. Visit their web site:

http://www.cosmo.org/museum/

But I did take my work with me and I did get something accomplished. I read one of the books on Goldwork I purchased that arrived before we left. Beginner’s Guide to Goldwork by Ruth Chamberline is a good book for beginning goldwork.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0855329548

For Christmas 2007 I make over 100 of these bookmarks to give friends and family. I used Needle Necessities overdyed Kreinik thread and stitched darning patterns on black 18 count canvas to make these. After I had stitched all the canvases, I made the ultra suede bookmarks. I decided to use up the remaining threads on a temari ball. I had one marked to make one type ball,  but somehow did not follow the markings correctly and ended up with a Simple 4 division ball stitched in squares, similar to God’s Eyes. The remaining areas are filled with straight stitches sometimes called the “Pine Needle filling” and I added some French Knots. It’s pretty and one of the simplest designs to make so it was a good choice to work on in the car. One of the pictures I put together a composit of all sides, so you can see the design of the ball.

I also did some planning of the Take It Further Challenge but didn’t do any work on these.

We came home yesterday since the weather here is cold and  we were suppose to have snow and ice today. Luckily no snow and ice but it is cold…I think my temperature gauge is 33 degrees and this is the warmest part of the day. So now I am really off to the fireplace, blanket, hot tea and stitching the TIF challenge.