Needle Delights Originals

I've made a lot of progress this week on the Closeouts (still have a few to mail out!) and now I've moved on to Preparations. I leave for market next Sunday and just finished the instructions for the last pattern and sent it to the printer. Now there's all the administrative details to take care of, my class instructions to prepare, displays to plan, and oh yeah, Hurricane Isaac looks like it's headed this way. That adds a whole new set of To Do items to my already long list. It doesn't look like stitching will be happening any time soon. I'm hoping for just rain, wind, and no loss of electricity! I got a photo from Jana earlier this week with this gem attached! I love what she's doing with the Color Delights. She's made a few color changes to make the colors flow better as a color wheel.

I've been posting Closeouts on my website this week ( www.needledelights.com ) and have created organized chaos in my living room, dining room, and kitchen. Mass amounts of inventory are leaving my house tomorrow! I'm exhausted & happy...the storage unit is getting cleared out. See the little white thing on the rug in the middle of the photo? It's one of the cat toys - the babies are a little disturbed that I'm taking up their running room and one of them abandoned the mouse. This is just one pile of orders waiting to be finalized - guess what I'll be doing this weekend?! I have a kitchen counter and stove somewhere in this photo - good thing I didn't have to cook tonight - Friday is always dinner out with friends! And yet, I did take a few minutes to stitch this week. I'm working on a new Color Delights for Baltimore (I hope) - it'll either be Cardinal or Candy Cane. Here's my progress - it was somewhat dismaying when I realiz...

I went out of town for a few days for my nephew's wedding this past weekend and all of a sudden, it seems like I'm running out of time to prepare for market in Baltimore next month. How did I already lose a week of August?! I'm madly stitching a few small designs in my Double Delights series so I can have the covers printed at the same time as the new releases for September. I have four more to complete for the series of 12 and I like to stay a few months ahead. I did finish one I'm calling Chaqua (cha-kwa) with bold brown and blue colors. I also sent one to a friend to stitch and it's peach and green - no name yet. Here's a sneak peek of the one I'm currently working on. I don't have a name for it yet but I'm sure it will come to me. I like the colors so much I wish it was a bigger design! The overdye is Bravo from Rainbow Gallery. I prefer stitching with Watercolours because of the feel of the thread but there are some great colors in the Bravo, En...

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...