Needle Delights Originals

It's official - registration is open for my 2020 Mystery - Banded by Bargello! You can get all the details here . I used Planet Earth silks and Pepper Pot for the first time in this project. The silk is a bit thick for 18ct which made it perfect for bargello with excellent coverage. I loved the Pepper Pot so expect to see it in future projects. I also used overdyed threads from ThreadworX - pearl cotton, floss, Vineyard Silk, and metallic braid. Here's a photo of the threads I used and a couple of snippets of my stitched piece. Using all the ThreadworX was like reconnecting with an old friend - I used quite a variety! I had a great time choosing the alternate colorways - I was in one of my favorite shops, Elegant Stitch , surrounded by walls and drawers of threads. Of course, while I was there, I chose threads for a few future projects! Here are photos of the four alternate colorways - I may have to use one of them for a new design! Earthtones is based on R...

I've been home from Seminar for a week now and am almost caught up with everything. Seminar was a whirlwind - a jam packed schedule with classes, events, and squeezing in some visiting time with old and new friends. My students were especially wonderful and I've heard from a few who've finished their pieces - it gives me great joy to provide enjoyable projects people want to finish! I taught two classes - Beaded Bermuda Reef and Tranquility. Beaded Bermuda Reef is a new teaching design and I will be teaching it for ANG again at Encore in St Louis at the end of March next year. I'll also be teaching it at the Mid-Atlantic EGA Regional Seminar in Gettysburg and at a few guilds.  and a close up... The beads are fun and easy to do, even for people who've never done any beaded embroidery. This year brought the last design in my "Peace Trilogy", Tranquility, into my teaching portfolio.  Here are two of the colorways - Wood Pond and April Mai, nam...

I'm headed to Houston next week to teach at the ANG Seminar. I leave a week from today and every moment from now until then will be spent getting everything ready to load into the car. Five days of teaching, Teacher Showcase, and of course, EXPO! I'm looking forward to it all... In the meantime, registration is open for a new online class through Shining Needle Society. This design is close to my heart as my mother and I designed it together. We are as different as night and day in design style and personality so combining our talents was a fun challenge. My love of all things related to needle and thread come directly from her and I was lucky to have her to guide me into the world of teaching needlepoint at the national level. Now we want to offer this class one more time as mom is retiring from teaching. You can get all the details here  - registration ends soon. Duality is a mostly geometric design with the addition of batik fabric applique - if you've not put fabric...

It's been a busy couple of months and I can finally share the new designs I will be releasing soon. I will be heading to Nashville at the end of next week for one of the most fun weekends of the year. It's a crazy fun whirlwind connecting with old friends and shopowners from all over the country. At this point, we start keeping our fingers crossed for decent weather! Ask your LNS to pre-order for you or if you don't have a LNS, you may pre-order here .  Shops may pre-order to pickup at Nashville or have shipped when I get home from the show.  I'm enjoying my series of Holiday Delights - more whimsical than my usual designs and a great size for a quick project. The latest is St Patrick's Day . I did French knots with a Kreinik gold metallic for my gold but you could substitute beads if you wanted.  Next up is Aurora - I was inspired by the Aurora Watercolours thread from my latest Mystery class to create this new design. There's something wonderfu...

I'm excited to announce that I am offering an online Mystery Class through Shining Needle Society again. For the first time, the Mystery design is square. It's also different than my other Mysteries but does cover the canvas completely. Class will start on January 1st - I think it'll be fun to start a brand new project on New Year's Day. I've already heard of several groups of people who will get together to stitch this project - what fun!  You can see all the details here or here .  The above photo is a sneak peek of a very small portion of the design. I drew the whole design on the canvas before I began stitching and really enjoyed this new process for me.  I'm offering four different colorways for this project or you can choose your own. I will show you photos of the threads for the colorways. The Watercolours and Pearl Cottons are firm but the Vineyard Silks and Rainbow Gallery fibers may be tweaked some after I finish traveling this month. There are ...

It has been a fairly lazy summer for me - after a wildly busy spring traveling and teaching, I was happy to have a couple of months at home with a  week long vacation the middle of July to visit friends. I have used a good portion of  the summer creating next year's Mystery class - I'm almost done with the stitching and registration will begin soon - details to come after I get back from Dallas.. In the meantime... I'm heading to Dallas this weekend to exhibit at Destination Dallas. Although it's mostly a painted canvas show (so I've heard; this is my first time exhibiting), I'm hoping to introduce counted needlepoint to some shopowners. I'm thrilled to have a good friend riding along with me so I don't have to do the 10 hour drive alone. She is from Dallas and is thrilled to go along with me and visit family while I do the tradeshow! WIN/WIN! I will be releasing three new patterns. Valentine's Day is the newest addition to the Holiday Delights S...