Needle Delights Originals

Tangello is the newest release in my Double Delights series, studying combinations of color. Tangerine plus yellow equals Tangello - say it out loud (tan-jello) - it's just fun! On the way to auto shops and distributors tomorrow - look for it in your local shop soon! It's the last day of July so the next installment of the Mystery is being emailed tonight. Only one more month to go and then the entire piece can be revealed. Here's parts 1-7... it may look a little funny because I had to crop out the parts I've stitched (mine is 100% complete!).  If you didn't get in on the Mystery, this design will be published as "Pandora's Boxes" later this year. All the different colorways will be included in the pattern. I'm headed out of town again this weekend for my nephew's wedding - if I'm lucky, another trip to The Needle Bug and Kudzu Blossom Quilt Shop is on the agenda for Friday! I'll also get my monthly visit with my mom. It...

Here's another sneak peek of the piece I've been working on - the stitching is complete and now the fun begins. I have to name it and write the instructions. It will be released in September, which is rapidly approaching. Time really does fly! I'm still working on clearing out the old inventory and posted more on the website yesterday ( www.needledelights.com ). I'm going over to my storage unit this afternoon to get a few more boxes - it's been months since I packed it all up so it's a little like Christmas opening the packages! I'm shipping models and patterns to Fireside Stitchery in Pennsylvania - they will be hosting my Trunk Show during the month of August, including the time when ANG Seminar is in Philadelphia. I understand they'll be offering transportation to their shop for attendees - I wish I could be there but it didn't work with the schedule this year. I am looking forward to going to EGA National in Santa Fe though!

  My "Tropical Bag" is in the latest Needlepoint Now magazine - here's my photo - the photo in the magazine is lots better! There's also a great star design from Michael Boren and Carole Lake. The bag is from Stirling and I used Threadworx Overdyed Vineyard Silk (you know I love it!). I also used one of their Overdyed Merino Wools and Overdyed Kreinik Braid (both the color called "Bradley's Balloons" - it ties all the silk colors together!). It was a fun and quick piece to stitch and the perfect summer purse! I'm on a mission to get the rest of my shop inventory gone. I want to park in my garage again and get rid of my storage unit. I'll be adding stuff to the "Close-Out" section of my website over the next few weeks. First up is the painted needlepoint canvases. I've got a few more to photograph but this is the bulk of them.

It was wonderful to wake up in my own bed this morning! I'd been gone a week and it's always good to come home. It's a rainy, cloudy day so I've been stitching with a cat on my lap this afternoon. Here's a peek at what I'm working on right now - I'm using the threads from the Summer Colorway I did for Rainforest Crunch. This is part of the middle and I'm working on the backgrounds and border now. It's really fun... I stopped at a great needlepoint shop in Montgomery, Alabama on the way home from TN & NC -   The Needle Bug . I walked in, said hello to Leigh, and then basked in the glory of being surrounded with well organized walls and racks of fibers and canvases, and every gadget you can imagine! Of course, I bought threads for future designs... This was my second trip - I went last December when I went to my brother's for Christmas. I get to go back in three weeks as my nephew is getting married and I'll be spending a few days up th...

Earlier this week I had the privilege to teach a two day class in Knoxville, TN. I also had the opportunity to give a lecture on "Color" at their quarterly Guild meeting  - they have a fabulous guild there with a number of different "Interest Groups" that meet often and then the whole guild meets quarterly. They were celebrating their birthday as a guild and had potluck so of course, the food was yummy and it was great fun to be among so many wonderful stitchers! 20 ladies from the Knoxville EGA group were in my class stitching Rainforest Crunch. I developed three additional colorways for them to choose from and loosely based them on the four seasons, calling the original colorway "Autumn". It's really fun to see the different colors emerge on the canvas and and how different they all are. Even within the same colorway, the pieces all look different because all of the threads are overdyed (Caron Watercolours). Here's their progress: "Sum...