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!