Weeks Retires Some Colors

Hi Stitching Friends,

I just wanted to let you know that Weeks Dye Works is discontinuing some of their colors and one of them on the list is used for a couple of Milady's Needle Patterns.  Both Sampler Bands Rule and Beauty From My Needle use the color Okefenokee #3940.  So, if you have one of these patterns, you might want to obtain this color from your local needlework shop before their supplies are gone.  There is no match for this color in DMC or Anchor, so you will need this color for this design.  

 Beauty From My Needle          

                                           

                                  

Sampler  Bands Rule

 

As a precaution, you might want to check their website at http://www.weeksdyeworks.com/store/storefront.cfm for colors that have been discontinued and inventory your patterns that use these colors.

Have a great stitching weekend.

Gloria

Winners of The Online Needlework Show Drawing

The Online Needlework Show is over now and almost all the orders went out to the shops this week.  So, if you asked your local needlework shop to order something for you, thank-you!  Contact them later next week and they should have it in stock.

Now...drum roll...the winners of the consumer drawing are as follows:

Barb (omashee aka Barb)
Marjorie
Kathy

I have emailed a couple of you, but don't have access to an email address for the third.  Please email me and let me know you have received your email notifying you that you won the drawing.  Congratulations to all of you!!  The next drawing will be at the Online Needlework Show in October.

Thanks too for all your wish lists.  It looks as though I am on track in designing what you seem to like to stitch.  That's good news as am working on some new designs for the St. Charles Show.  I am making some changes in how my business is run, and hopefully that result in more designs throughout the year, rather than just at major shows. 

I hope you have been getting in some quality stitching time.  There are always so many wonderful designs out there to stitch.  I wish I had more time to stitch on designs that are not my own.  This year I finally decided that I would set aside some personal stitching time on the weekends and it has been very relaxing to not worry about a deadline or correcting mistakes on a chart.  I signed up for my sampler guild's MAGIC program...which for those of you who don't know stands for My Anual Good Intentions Contract.  I chose a couple of things I would like to get done before the end of the year and if all goes well, I think I might just make it. 

That's all the news this time around.  Take time to stitch and enjoy the coming summer months.

Gloria 

Check out Milady's Needle Designs at the Online Needlework Show

Hello All,

The online needlework show starts on Thursday April 15th so be sure to visit: http://www.needleworkshow.com/ to view Milady's Needle Designs.  Let your local needlework shop know which designs you would like to purchase and if they don't carry them, ask them to contact Milady's Needle to order charts.  Also...Take time to check out the instructions for entering the drawing during the show.  When  you post your reply tell me your favorite Milady's Needle Designs in the form of a wish list.  If  you are one of the lucky winners of the drawing, I will try to make a wish or two from your list come true.  Your lists will also tell me which types of designs I need to do more of in the future, so help me out and enter the drawing.

In other news...I will not be attending the summer trade show in Columbus this year.  Fewer and fewer cross stitch shops are attending that market, so I will focus my energies on the Nashville and St. Charles Markets.  With that in mind...you need to know that due to a number of issues related to the production of our pin cushions, we are currently not taking orders for these.  They will primarily be available at trade shows.  If you want a pin cushion base, be sure to visit your local needlework store.  If they do not have them ask them to pick some up at one of the trade shows. 

Spring is near it's end and summer has already come to Texas.  Opening the windows is something I don't do as the wind here is pretty strong and the dust just goes everywhere.  Makes me wish I was back up North again where I can open the windows and let the breeze come in.  

My local sampler guild (Tudor Rose Sampler Guild) is celebrating it's 10th anniversary this next Saturday and we are having a tea party at the Dallas Arboretum.  The goody bags are already filled with fun items made by various guild members and many designers have generously donated wonderful door prizes.  It will be a wonderful celebration and I am looking forward to spending time with friends whose love is also samplers.

I hope you have a great day and take time to stitch!

Gloria  

Back from Nashville

Hello Friends,

Whew!  What a whirlwind of fun and work this year's Nashville market was during the last week.  Of course 10 hours of driving both ways is very tiring, but made more fun with my two market helpers and friends Sylvia and Michelle.  I couldn't have made it through my preparations with out the many friends I have and I wouldn't have been able to go to the market without my market helpers.  Thanks so much to all of you who helped to bring this off!!  And special thanks to Sylvia and Michelle for their unending patience and support while at the show!

Now, on to the news.  I took pictures of the suite before we took everything down at the end of the show and when I went to download them found that I didn't have a card in the camera to record the pictures.  Great!!  So, sorry I don't have a picture of the suite for you to see.  Though the suite was small, we did fit everything in.  From Thursday to Monday we really worked and played hard.  We saw old friends and met new ones.  I hope that Sylvia and Michelle will tell you about their market experience in their blogs.

There were five new releases at the market...so let's get started.  The first one was My Little Bees Ruler Pocket which includes the gold ruler.  The design matches the Bees' Rule and the Bee's Rule Accoutrements.  Now the only thing left to do is the matching basket. 

Bee's Ruler Pocket

Bee's Rule Accoutrements

The second one is ABC Come Stitch With Me and includes patterns for a ruler, floss tag, sewing pocket, needlebook and scissors fob.  A pretty two color sceme with Crescent Colours was used, but I would love to see your work if you do it other colors. 

ABC Come Stitch With Me

The third and 4th releases are Milady's Quaker Pendants I & II.  You get enough fabric and silks to do all four patterns.  One pendant is included in the kit and you can get extra pendants from your local needlework store. 

Milady's Quaker Pendants I

Milady's Quaker Pendants II

The last release is A Schoolroom Primer and it's a small hornbook design.  The kit includs the fabric, floss, a parchment alphabet and the hornbook.  One of the parchment alphabets is in the photo.  It is attached to the back of the hornbook with glue and then covered with a matte finish.  

A Schoolroom Primer

All of these were well received at Nashville and should be at your local shop this week.  I hope you like the new things as much as the shops did.  Let me know what you think. 

Also...as a reminder...please send me photos of any finished Milady's Needle Design.  I plan to post them to my blog eventually.  It's late here and I should sign off.  

Hope you all have a wonderful day stitching to your hearts content.

Gloria

Market is Approaching

Hello All,

Well, the holidays are over, although you can't tell it by my living room. Here is a picture of my Milady's Needle Ornament Tree. We are just now taking down the Christmas decorations. There is never enough time. My husband says we should just leave them up all year since we don't seem to be able to get them up until the week of Christmas.


I am working away on several new things for the upcoming market. Finally My Little Bees Ruler Pocket is finished and ready to make the trip to Nashville. Yeah!!

Now all that is left of these series are the baskets for the Acorn, Quaker and Bees. There is alot of stitching on them, so I have very few volunteers to stitch these models. I stitched the Strawberries basket and it did take me awhile. Anyone interested in stitching any of the baskets? Here is a picture of the Strawberries basket and accessories. As you can see the basket is stitched on both top and bottom. But I think it's so pretty when it's done. I will probably end up stitching them myself.


I have also finished a stitcher's pocket, needlebook and scissors fob to go with the ABC Come Stitch With Me series that was released in the December 2008 Just Cross Stitch Magazine. So the charts for the ruler, floss tag, stitcher's pocket, needlebook and scissors fob will be all in one pattern. The picture is of the ruler and floss tag that was pictured in the JCS magazine. So, this pattern will also be on it's way to Nashville.


Two new releases will introduce Milady's Needle Pendants. The first two patterns will be quaker designs. They will be stitched over one on 36 count Luna from Lakeside Linens and will be kitted with fabric, silk floss and a jewlery frame. I think these will look quite nice with any clothing you wear as you can purchase extra frames to do more of the designs in any fabric and fibers you like. Accessorize your wardrobe with matching stitched jewelry.

The last of the five new releases will be Milady's Schoolroom Primer. It is stitched on 4o Count Vintage Buttercream by Lakeside Linens. The kit will come with a hornbook, fabric, silks, parchment Alphabets, charted design and finishing directions. Both sides of the hornbook will be used for finishing. When you see the final design I think you will be pleased.

Well, that's all the news from the castle. I hope you are getting many long days of stitching this winter.

Gloria

Twas the night before Christmas!

Merry Christmas,

Here it is 5 minutes before midnight and I am getting ready to hit the hay. Santa had to deliver some stuff first and eat cookies & milk before she could go to bed. :)

I am thinking back on a wonderfully full year with many surprises, challenges and joyful times with friends, family and my extended needlework family. I am grateful for the new friends I have met this year. One can never have too many friends. My thanks go to those of you who have been a great support to me and you know who you are!! I feel very blessed to have you in my life.

Christmas is a time of celebration. Celebration of new life and the possibility of rebirth. I am grateful for the many gifts that have been given to me this year. Besides the many gifts of time, patience, support and love that I have received from friends and family there is the gift of learning that comes with facing new challenges and doing the best that I can to overcome obstacles in my path. Though sometimes the learning can be difficult, I know that in the end it will be for the greater good.

So, with best wishes for a happy and healthy 2010 I bid you goodnight as the clock strikes midnight and Christmas is here!

Keep warm and get some stitching time during the holidays.

Gloria

Time Seems To Fly

Hello Stitching Friends,

As I grow older it seems as though time just slips away and suddenly it's the end of the year or the beginning of a new one. Why is it that when I was young I couldn't wait for time to fly and now that I am older it's "hey...slow down"!! Guess it's that sense of my own mortality that makes me want to have the days go slower. Maybe it's the time of year. The seasons draw the earth cycle to a close and it's always so beautiful as it ends with the glorious colors of fall. Texas is usually slower than the rest of the country when it comes to fall colors. Although they aren't as brilliant as the northern fall colors, they do change and there are bright spots if you only pause to look at them. So, the last two weeks I have noticed the beauty of the season. Of course the season in Texas is short, so don't blink or you will miss the colors.

This is the ornament I designed for my home guild (Tudor Rose Sampler Guild). I was able to teach the stitches at our November Guild meeting. I think I may offer it as a kit for guilds to use as a teaching piece. It would be a good piece for those in sampler guilds to learn a lot of new stitches. The stitches include: Rice Stitch, Diamond Eyelet, Smyrna Cross, Long-Arm Cross, Alternating Double Back Stitch, Satin Stitch Variations, Montenegrin Stitch, Queen Stitch, Four-sided Stitch, Lora Standish Stitch, Two-Sided Italian Stitch, Ray Stitch, Double Herringbone Stitch, Rhodes Star Stitch, Alternating Mosaic Stitch and Cross Stitch. Stitchers will learn 15 sampler stitches. I received some very nice feedback from guild members and I am grateful for the chance to participate in guild functions with so many wonderful sampler stitchers.

I finally got the printer fixed. It only took a month for the parts to come in! I am finishing up the printing of the final pattern of the year. Of course looking at works in progress for the Nashville Market keeps my designing hat on. However, it's good to feel like I can breathe again as the pin cushions production list is winding down and the final orders are going out within the next few weeks.

I am working on my ornament for our guild Christmas ornament exchange. It's nice to stitch on something other than my own designs. There is so much out there to stitch and I have so little time to stitch on the many beautiful patterns in my stash. I am look forward to the weekly stitching time with friends on Thursday evenings. Stitching friends are really forever friends. We will be losing one of our stitching friends to Germany for two years. Although, she will be missed a great deal, I know that our friendship is strong enough to bridge the distance. Who knows, maybe I will finally get to Europe!!

I hope all of you have had some days or at least a few hours to stitch on your favority projects during the last few weeks of the year. Enjoy those hours of solitude with needle and thread!

Happy Stitching,
Gloria