Monday, September 23, 2013

What's Up?

Hello Friends in Stitches,

A lot of posts on how to blog say not to start out by saying how long it's been since you posted as people know how long it's been since you posted.  Hmmm...but somehow it's always a good way to start a post.  However, since I just stated the above, I guess I have already done the deed.  :)

What's up with me

The summer heat here in Arizona has simply encouraged me to do as little as possible and that's what I have been doing.  Reading, stitching, thinking about designing, eating and watching Korean Dramas on T.V. 

That's right!!  :)  Korean Dramas, which are actually comedy and drama mixed together, are great fun to watch.  A lot like our romantic sitcoms.  If you haven't seen one...you should try the drama "You Are Beautiful".   Yep, you do have to read subtitles, but the effort to do that goes away once you have tried a few of these.  I can even stitch now while watching.  I just glance up when they start to speak and the entire speech is up there ready to read.  Sometimes you have to be quick, but that's what the rewind button is for on your remote.  Sometimes you may have to look up a word or two, but that's easy to do.  If you have Netflix streaming you can watch a lot of these dramas.  I have been laughing my way through the week watching these at night.  How did I get started on this....well, my sister started to watch them when her daughter mentioned watching them on Netflix and then she got me hooked.  She adopted two Korean children at birth and they are now 18 & 20 years of age.  Even now Katie is in Seoul Korea helping school age children with their English.  She is accomplished in both Korean and Japanese Languages.   

Now an update on what's happening with Milady's Needle. 

I participated in the Attic Summer School in August and had a wonderful time with several other desert designers who also taught at this seminar.  These included Tanya Brockmeyer from Scarlet House, Linda Danielson from Samplers Remembered, Meagan & Vickie Jennett from Needlework Press, Apryl Southmayd & Bunny Smith from Priscilla's Pocket, and Linda Vinson from Needlemade Designs.  We all had a great time together and the attendees were very excited about all the projects.  We even finished one of the projects from Needlework Press.  I designed a scissors keep which I call Top Hat Scissors Keep.  It was fun designing this and coming up with a unique finish.  I can teach this at other guilds or shops after August of 2014. 

 
Top Hat Scissors Keep and Fob 
 
I am beginning to teach a bit more and have one a class scheduled at the Orange Coast Sampler Guild on October 12th.  I am teaching the Garden Delight Pin Cushion and Scissors Fob which was taught at the Attic Seminar last year. 
 

Garden Delight Pin Cushion
and Scissors Fob
 
I think I am going to enjoy teaching and hope to do more of it in the future.  I just have to design more projects that call for interesting finishing.  I also can teach advanced sampler stitches, but there doesn't seem to be much call for that out there right now.  A lot of sampler guilds have many members who are advanced in their stitching skills.  Guilds and shops seem to either want interesting finishing techniques or needlework designers who have a very large following.  If you have a guild or know of a shop who might be interested in having Milady's Needle come and teach please let them know of your interest in one of these projects.
 
Last of all, I want to thank all of you who take the time to comment on my blog.  I always read the comments, but I don't always respond to each comment.  I really appreciate your feedback and love to hear your experiences stitching my designs.  It was great to hear of your interest in the M. Woods sampler.  It has been very popular and I enjoy seeing how different she looks when you change the colors or the fabric.  It's amazing how different the end result looks just by making these simple changes. 
 
Until Next Time,
 
Gloria