Home at last...

I'm almost done unpacking from my epic trip up north and still trying to catch up with all that happened in the two plus weeks I was gone. That accompanied by many breaks to pet cats who nudge me and jump in my lap constantly no matter what I'm doing, and wanting to have time to write about EVERYTHING fun on my trip has delayed the blog post I wanted to write so I decided to break it into chunks over the next few days!

First, market was great fun - seems like it was ages ago! I had missed a couple of markets so it was wonderful to see old friends and catch up with my designer and shopowner friends. I was also lucky to have a non-stitching (GASP!) friend who lives close to St Charles to help me with my booth - we had a blast just hanging out together and she commented that she'd seen a whole different side of me. She lived in Pensacola when I was starting to design and as an artist, she viewed the evolution of my design work and it made for some very interesting conversation. Although she doesn't stitch, she draws fabulously and I only wish I had her talent!

Next up was a few days off exploring the Chicago suburbs - I'll write more about that later...

Then I was on to teach at Tomorrow's Heirlooms in Glen Ellyn. It was a really fun two days with a wonderful group of ladies who were shall I say, very familiar with my designs! They brought finished pieces with them and Pam hung them on the walls of the vacant space she'd got for the class - what a delight to see a "gallery" of my work all around the classroom!

 

They've done several stitch-a-longs with my former Mystery designs (Galaxy & Pandora's Boxes) and it was especially wonderful for me to get to see some of the alternate colorways stitched up. Above, you can see two different versions of Galaxy (Kelp on the left and Tahiti on the right).

 

 Most amazing to me was the four different versions of Pandora's Boxes - I'd never seen any of them stitched in person before so it's especially gratifying to see that my color choices for the alternate colorways work! In fact, I like every one of these versions better than the original colors I used! From left to right, they are Ethiopia, Monsoon, Appalachia, and Kelp. They were all perfectly framed and all so different. I spent a lot of time just looking at them! Here's my original version for reference!

 

For the class I got them started on the Mystery project I'm currently working on...no photos for you but the Mystery Class will be available to anyone in the new year - it's early yet so there's nothing to report but watch the blog for future announcements. I've got it all designed but still have to finish stitching to be sure about thread quantities. I was able to get the last few "very light" colors I needed while I was exploring the thread walls in the shop! How fortunate people in the Chicago area are to have such a great shop to call their LNS! I have to drive 3 hours to visit that much thread in person!!

Next up on the blog will be about ANG Seminar!

Kathy