To Market, To Market to buy lots of charts!!

Hello Stitching Friends,

July and August flew by without my posting the news.  Of course there wasn't much to post as I was very busy with work related tasks...one of which is coming in just a few days.  The St. Charles Market is a week away and I am tying up loose ends so that I can hit the road on Wednesday the 22nd of September.  Much still to do, but I wanted to take just a second and give you a couple of sneak peeks at what will soon arrive at your local needlework shop.

The first sneak perk is of the new Yuletide Hornbooks design which is kitted with two designs, silks, fabric and hornbook.  You will get full view of this pattern after market on this blog.   I really enjoyed designing these and hope you will like them too. 

The second sneak peek is of my second reproduction sampler.  It is an American Quaker Sampler stitched by Margaret Brown and dated 1838.  Included with the pattern is a brief history of Margaret's life and pictures of the original sampler by Margaret.  Also included is a picture of Margaret's sister Sara's original sampler, which may or may not also be reproduced in the future. 

How many of you out there would actually stitch a second sampler by a sister of the first sampler maker which is very similar to the one already published?  If there is enough interest I will reproduce Sara's Sampler. 

Here is the sneak peek.

There are two more designs which will be debuted at the St. Charles Market, but they are out being framed as I type and I don't have a sneak peek for you right now. 

The Bird's & The Bees is a part of the Sampler Motifs and Meanings series with motifs starting with the letter B.  The meaning of the motifs is stitched into the sampler. 

Faithful Friends is a sampler which could be used as a memorial sampler for pets.  It's a cute sampler with a nice verse, so you don't need to include the name of your pet if you don't want to.  I put the name of a friend's pet that recently passed away on the model.  The verse on the sampler is part of a poem called "The Rainbow Bridge" written by an unknown author.  The poem is often used in reference to beloved animals who have left their owners all too soon.

I am looking forward to the market as I always do, despite the craziness before every market.  I will post more pictures after I return home.

Until after the market,

Gloria

What lovely work all of you do!!

Hi All,

I have been receiving pictures from some of you who have stitched Milady's Needle Designs.  I wanted to post some of these so that others can see your beautiful work.

Peta from New Zealand stitched up the Quaker Christmas Smalls and finished them as small booklets.  What a very unique idea!!  Aren't they sweet!

Annemiek Koning from the Netherlands finished Christmas Elegance as a gift for her parents.  The frame accents this piece quite nicely!

Gabi stitched up Christmas Blessings adding some metallics in the border for a very nice effect.

Karen changed the color on her Quaker Christmas Ornament so that it complements her pink Christmas Tree.

Carol finished her Quaker Christmas Ornaments in a very unique way.  How cute is that!!

Andrea from the UK stitched Christmas Blessings for a friend.  Look at her gorgeous finishing.

Finally Sabo from Japan has a lovely finish of the Needles & Pin design.  What a great idea!!

Please send me your pictures of your finished work!  I love to see what you have done with Milady's Needle designs. 

Keep those needles swiftly moving in and out of your linen.  Enjoy each moment of the time you have to stitch!

Gloria

Update on Weeks Dye Works Retirement of Colors

Thanks to you Anne for clearing up the information that I received from a needlework news source regarding WDW color retirement.  If you read Anne's response to the last post, she indicated that WDW responded to her email and informed her that colors are never discontinued.  Apparently they retire colors and move them to the back of the order form in an attempt to keep their order forms to one page.  Colors are still available for order even if they are retired.  Very interesting.... but that's good news!!  In the past I have pieces that were designed with particular colors of overdyed floss and now those particular colors are no longer being dyed by that company.  That can be frustrating for a designer as well as the stitcher.

Sorry if I posted this information incorrectly.  The information I received was from a source that I thought was reliable.

Have a wonderful day full of stitching!

Gloria

  

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