Monday, November 30, 2009

Schanuzer update and PFOS

This Thanksgiving, as is the case for every Thanksgiving, there was lots to be thankful for. I am thankful for my husband, my dog, my health, etc. Normally, Travis and I spend Thanksgiving with my family, but this Thanksgiving we spent our holiday in Amarillo with Travis' family. In Amarillo, besides all of the feasting, Travis, his mom, and I were able to take a great trip to Lubbock on Wednesday. Lubbock is the home of Texas Tech University (hissss) and a great needlepoint shop named Pocket Full of Stitches. It was AMAZING!

PFOS was not the only reason to go to Lubbock. We left Amarillo at 7am and drove two hours so my day could start by going to the week's Bible Study Fellowship class that I missed because we were traveling to Amarillo on Tuesday. (Bible Study Fellowship is an international organization that teaches the same class with the same materials all throughout the world, so it is really easy to go to a class as a guest if you are visiting.) During BSF, Travis and his mom went to Starbucks and bonded a bit until they picked me up. After BSF, we went to PFOS. I thought we had some great shops here in Houston, but honestly the thread selection in Lubbock was out of this world. They had threads that were not being carried in Houston anymore, such as Felicity's Garden and Oriental Linen. Also, they had a lot of Access Commodities threads like Au Ver A Soie and Trezibond. The canvas selection, I believe, is better in Houston, but the thread selection definitely beats all the shops. The only shop that would come close is Chandail.

I think I am a needlepointer who is in love with threads and a variety of them too. I like the different textures and looks you get with each kind. I have a few of my favorites like Burmilana, Bella Lusso, and Splendor, but I do love to try new ones. At PFOS, only with the help of the nice ladies, I was finally able to settle on threads for my boy Schnauzer canvas. I also picked up some threads for my O Come canvas: vineyard merino and watercolors. I think I was walking around the store like a chicken with my head cut off because there was so much to see, but I loved every minute of it.

This is a picture of my threads for the boy schnauzer: Panache, Petit Very Velvet, Baroque Silk, Bella Lusso, Oriental Linen, Sheep's Silk, and Felicity' Garden.


The O Come threads:


After PFOS, we all had lunch at McAllister's Deli, home of the most amazing sweet tea and a favorite when I lived in College Station for college. On the way back to Amarillo, we stopped at the JCPenny outlet for my mother-in-law, and we made it home by 4.

I will leave you with a picture of the "boy schnauzer".

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Finished!

I've been busy the past few weeks!! Lots of finished pieces! and lots of news! For the news part, I am going to be moving from Houston to Columbia, SC. My husband got a job with a company who is providing us with great health insurance, a paycheck, and other great benefits. We are going to be renting a house, and Molly will get a great back yard. Needlepoint wise, I am not excited about this because there are no shops and no ANG guild in Columbia!!! But South Carolina is small, relative to Texas, great shops are only a few hours away. (2 or 3 hours is no big deal to drive here in Texas.) I will continue to frequent the shops here in Houston, and help plan Seminar 2011 for ANG. Also, I hope to start the Kelly Clark Twelve Days of Christmas series from Pocket Full of Stitches in Lubbock.

http://www.pfos.com/ChristmasClubs/Kelly%20Clarks%2012%20Days/KellyClarkTwelveDays1.HTM

Although, I am a licensed attorney here in Texas, it has been really hard for me to find a job. The oil and gas market collapsed in March, so I lost the job I did have and have not found another one. I am hoping that in the early part of 2010, my boss will have more work for me to do, and that way I can help my family financially and support my needlepoint addiction on my own again!! I will be taking the SC bar in July 2010 to hopefully gain full time lawyer employment in there. Please pray for my husband and me for a smooth transition to South Carolina.

As for needlepoint finishes, I've done a lot!!!

I've finally finished my name tag for the Lone Star chapter of the American Needlepoint Guild. (I know, I know, as I am leaving)


My next finish is the girl-themed schnauzer canvas for my mother-in-law. She has two schnauzers, a boy and a girl, and this is supposed to represent the girl. It has very girlie pink sparkle neon rays! It is one of the two schnauzer canvases I got from eBay for $15 total.


This is the second Schnauzer canvas, more boy themed, that I am going to start next.


This next canvas, the "O Come", is a great Christmas piece I got at Chandail Needlework here in Houston. It is a Prairie Schooler design that was originally part of a cross stitched series, but I suppose they turned the series into needlepoint canvases. This is the canvas for which I got the Planet Earth Threads from the Quilt Festival. I am very excited to start this one too. And it's a great Christmas themed piece.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Molly's Halloween Picture

I'm a bit late on this post, but I'd rather post this now than never. My dog Molly is such an inspiration to me and I love her very much. We rescued her on February 10, 2007, and she has been with us ever since. When we got her, she was underweight, scared of men, and was abandoned in a shelter with her young puppy in Bay City, Texas. It was obvious that she had been abused because she had scars on her face. We adopted her from a breed specific rescue, the Southeast Texas Labrador Retriever Rescue, in Houston. They are wonderful! I completely recommend breed specific rescues because they foster their dogs and learn their temperaments. They interviewed us and learned about our lifestyle, two law students are not very active, and then we were matched with Molly. She was and is perfect for us, and as she learned we would love her unconditionally, her confidence and self-esteem grew. This Halloween, she was a bumble bee, and I could not have been more proud of her.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Texas A&M Corps of Cadets Sq-16 "Falcon Sixteen" Crest

My husband and I went to Texas A&M University (both class of '05- Whoop!), and a big part of A&M both currently and in the past is the Corps of Cadets. It's optional to join the Corps now, for both men and women, but it used to be the case that all of the men in the all-male school had to join the Corps. (Women were not admitted to A&M until the 1970's, and the University used to be all-male and all-military.) My husband chose to join the Corps, and the outfit he chose to join was Squadron 16. When we were about to graduate, I visited Aggieland Depot, an A&M themed store with T-shirts, etc, and found a cross stitch pattern for the crest of his outfit. That was in 2005. I started this piece originally in cross stitch on aida cloth, but once I discovered needlepoint, that quickly changed.

The final piece is on 18 count canvas with Silk and Ivory threads. The pattern is by Pam Johnson. The whole piece is tent stitched, which took FOREVER. But I think it looks good now, so it was worth it! In retrospect, I probably should have chosen a 13 count canvas for Silk and Ivory threads because the holes filled up quickly and it was sometimes hard to pull the thread through. But I still love it and he does too and that is all that counts!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Quilt Festival!

In Houston, we are really lucky. Despite the hurricane threats and the heat, the largest convention here is the International Quilt Festival. It has lots of quilts and quilting supplies, of course, but it also has a variety of things to be used in needlepoint. Some booths have buttons, punch needle, cross stitch kits, felt, beads, needles, trim, thread, etc. It's a place to find new things to use in your projects that you might not find elsewhere. I mostly, except for a Christmas present for my mother-in-law, purchased needlepoint related items. The punch needle, felting, and cross stitch supplies were REALLY tempting, but I know that I would not be that interested in the projects once I brought them home.

What I did find though, I loved. Here are some pictures of my haul.







I brought home Planet Earth Silk Threads for my "O Come All Ye Faithful" canvas.






I adore Bohin Needles, so at the Bohin booth, I bought some 20 Tapestry needles and two sets of beading needles. At the Silver Needle booth, a cross stitch store in Tulsa, I bought a Klemscott Needleminder. I have had my eye on those for a really long time- ever since they appeared in Needlepointer magazine, but none of the shops here in Houston carried them. Low and behold, I found out that the Chaparral carries them and I did not know it! My last purchase, although not really needlepoint related, is the green vintage button. It was something that just struck me. Now where I use it will be the question. Maybe for the end of a scissor fob or maybe a center button on a pillow for my new craft room? Either way, I'm glad I got it.

That's it for now. I've done a lot of needlepointing since my last post, so I will be posting pics soon.

Casey

Sunday, August 23, 2009

EBay

I have been bidding on a few canvases on EBay, and I won! My mom is really interested in having me do as many basset hound pillows as possible. I have one basset canvas that I showed you in my first post- with the rust orange background. (I will never call it Burnt Orange! Gig 'em). The canvas that I won on EBay is from Liz (Tapestry Tent). I love it!! When it arrived in the mail, I was surprised to see how large it really is and how rich the detail is. I'm sooo excited to stitch it!

The next auction that I won is for two schnauzer canvases. My in- laws have two rescued schnauzers who have replaced my husband and his brother as their "children". One schnauzer canvas is a Barbara Russell design, which looks more masculine, and the other canvas, which looks more feminine, is from a designer with whom I am not familiar. I will post pictures when they arrive.

I am in a bit of a dilemma with my eBay purchases however. I told my needlepoint teacher this Saturday during class that I purchased my basset on EBay. Then I told her I purchased the schnauzer canvases, and the tape on the edges said the canvases came from Chaparral. She looked very unhappy. Apparently at one of the seminars she has been to, one of the speakers said that EBay has caused some shops to go out of business. I am not so sure that I really buy this argument. When you look at EBay, most of the canvases are not the hand-painted by a known designer variety, they are plastic. Also, if the shops were so upset about people who over buy their canvases taking them to an online store to consign them, as was the case with the schnauzer canvases, why don't they offer some sort of consignment program? I think, personally, that EBay would help shops that would embrace it. EBay would allow shops to sell their "unwanted" inventory to a wider audience. Tell me what you think about EBay and its affect on needlework shops.

Casey

Saturday, August 22, 2009

The Cow Came Back from the Finisher!

Lots has happened since my last post. The Cow Jumping Over the Moon came back from the finisher in record time. It had to be done and sent to New York, where my cousin lives, by September 27. I have to show it to a few family members in Houston now, but it will be shipped soon!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

George and Martha

I have started the George and Martha canvases that I purchased from the Petei trunk show at Chaparral in Houston. These two are part of the Petei "Patriotic" category. Last September, during Hurricane Ike, while the whole city of Houston was out of power, I finished working on Uncle Sam and I started- and almost completed- Betsy Ross. What not having power will do for your stitching progress! These are pictures of Unlce Sam and Betsy followed by pictures of George and Martha.


I've finished George's pants and socks, and now I'm working on his coat. His socks are done in Impressions and his coat will be stitched in Very Velvet. George's pants are stitche in Au Ver A Soie, which is a new thread to me. The only shop in Houston that carries it is Chandail on West Gray. It is sooo easy to stitch with and has a really lovely sheen- just perfect for the britches of our first president!

Sorry for the unrotated image! I don't know how to rotate them on blogspot!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Cow Jumping Over The Moon

Hi! Sorry it's taken me so long to post! My cousin-in-law's baby shower is coming up and I wanted to finish the Cow jumping over the moon/"baby sleeping" door hanger for her. It's a Mary Lake Thompson canvas with a lovely purple background. I finally finished it today after working on it on and off since March. On Saturday, I, along with my awesome needlepoint teacher, picked out ribbons for the finished piece.

Here is a picture of the Cow in progress.


The background is a milanese stitch composed of Gloriana Lorikeet and Kreinik braid.

This is a picture of the finished piece



This is a picture of the cow with the ribbons on top ready to go to the finisher.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Greetings!!!

Hi! I'm Casey, a young needlepointer in Houston. I have been stitching for a smidge over three years. I consider myself "young" both in age and in my needlepoint life, but I love everything about needlepointing! The purpose of this blog is to show my works in progress and any new needlepoint related items that I discover.

This is my newest project! A DJ Designs Basset Hound canvas. I'm turning this into a pillow for my mom and dad, who have a sweet basset named Daisy.



This picture is a close up of the background. It has a cross stitch around the intersection of the laid threads.




The last picture is a photo of the whole canvas with my threads. Most of the threads for the basset are burmilana, the peach branches are threadworks, and the background is silk and ivory and sparkle braid.




I hope you enjoy my blog!!