May 2, 2022
A Wee Blog Break!
Things never quite go the way I plan, no matter how hard I plan on them going the way I plan!
Just a short note to let you know that I’m taking a short break this week.
April 29, 2022
Cotton Quartet 1: Preliminaries & First Stitches
Welcome to the first installment of Cotton Quartet: A Sampler Tool Case! I’m excited to get going, and I hope you are, too!
This project is part of the Stitch Snippets Series for 2022 here on Needle ‘n Thread. In this series, we’ll explore several projects from start to finish, so that you can recreate the project at home, at your own pace. We’ve already completed one project – the Bee-Jeweled Pincushion – and we have more coming up!
When possible, Stitch Snippet kits or partial kits will be available to purchase, so that you don’t have to source supplies from all over the place. We’ll do that for you, and put them all together in a tidy package.
Even if you’re not stitching along with this project, you’ll find tips and techniques along the way that you can apply to your own needlework adventures, so please feel free to read along!
April 27, 2022
A Meditation in Silk & Gold: Online Presentation
If you’ve been hanging about here with me at Needle ‘n Thread, you already know that I’m almost giddy with excitement over the fact that two of the panels of the Loreto Embroideries from the Royal School of Needlework are here in the US on exhibit.
They can be found at the Marian Library at the University of Dayton through August 26, as part of their Vision of Art and Faith exhibition, focusing on the works of Italian artist Ezio Annichini.
April 25, 2022
Reticello Windows: Snipping Threads & Thinking Thoughts
I’m still plugging away on this reticello sampler that I started several weeks ago. It’s not a formal piece of embroidery by a long shot – I’m just testing techniques, ideas, and the like – which is the exact purpose of a sampler.
April 22, 2022
Cotton Quartet – Kit News & Updates
Thanks so much for all of you who purchased the materials kit for Cotton Quartet earlier this week!
For those who want the kit, never fear – we are frantically making more!
I’m afraid I upset some of you by selling out of kits again. You’d think, after the Bee-Jeweled Pincushion kits, I would have figured it out.
In fact, we prepared twice as many kits for Cotton Quartet.
And yet it was still another epic fail in gauging the level of interest in the kits and preparing enough in advance! (I’m getting very good at getting it wrong, anyway…)
April 20, 2022
Cotton Quartet Materials Kit – Launching Tomorrow!
Good morning!
I hope you had an enjoyable weekend and a happy Easter!
Here in Kansas, we celebrated Easter with family and friends, lots of good conversation and fun. Other than that, it was a fairly low key weekend, which worked out well. It’s always nice to have some quiet time!
And I didn’t get any stitching done, except on my hexie quilt, here and there. I had reticella plans, but alas, they did not materialize – too many other little things to do!
Today, I’m very excited to tell you about the materials kit for Cotton Quartet, the new Stitch Snippets project coming up, which will be available very, very soon!
April 13, 2022
The Great Framing Project of 2022
Yet another project underway in the Needle ‘n Thread studio this year is one instigated by my rather brilliant sidekick Anna. It’s being completely managed by her as well. It’s one of those projects that has hung over my head for years, that just keeps growing… and growing… and growing.
When I work up embroidered samples of things to demonstrate techniques or to illustrate ideas for the blog, normally, those embroidered pieces end up relegated to a box or a folder. I pull them out when I have classes, or when someone wants to see some work up close.
When it comes to my home, I’m always of a mind that there is such a thing as Too Many Framed Pieces, but at work, it’s a little different. We have a good bit of wall space in the studio, and it’s pretty much blank! Plus, it’s a working studio, not a home.
A Wall (or two) of Inspiration seems to be a good idea.
