Fall Trees on the First Day of Spring

The calendar says that today is the first day of Spring although yesterday in Augusta we had a record high temperature of 90 degrees. Seems like it should be more like the first day of summer. We even had a thunderstorm move through during the night. So with 90 degree temps here at the beginning of Spring, I am stitching away on my Fall Trees. My seasons are very confused!

Another few days of stitching and I will have finished the Fall Trees. I'll start on the Bat Band today.

My stitching friend, Linda, over at Stitching Sisters has finished her tree and posted a picture of the finished tree. It looks great, Linda!

This week I took advantage of a last minute opening for a Julia Snyder class at In Stitches in Atlanta. In Stitches is a beautiful shop located in the heart of Buckhead. It is filled with a wonderful selection of canvases and a huge array of threads and supplies. And, most importantly, it is staffed with the friendliest and most helpful staff. Many thanks to Mark and Bam for making my visit with them such a fun one!

After having worked on two of Julia's & More canvases (Merry Christmas and XOXO), it was a delight to meet her and work with her on the new canvas I purchased before the class. I chose a Melissa Shirley (naturally!) floral that features a deep orange/red parrot tulip.

After having written several books on needlepoint stitches, you can easily imagine that Julia is a walking-talking stitch dictionary. She immediately took me to the Silk n' Colors threads and selected two perfect overdyed threads for the tulip, a green Splendor for the leaves, a deep purple Flair for the tulip center, and "honeydew" Silk and Ivory for the background. From her book Categories for Needlepoint Stitches, she chose the Wilted Mosaic Flower stitch for the outer portion of the petals and the Knotted Stitch for in inner portion of the petals. The leaves will be skip tent or every other row basketweave with a mirrored version on the opposite sides of the leaves. The background will be a Cane pattern.

There were 9 other stitchers in the class all with very different projects to work on. Julia circulated around the room stopping to offer helpful suggestions or words of encouragement to each student.

That's Julia in the center of the photo. She's such a warm and friendly woman and so knowledgeable! If you ever have the opportunity to take a class from her, don't hesitate to sign up! I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and look forward to another class at In Stitches in the future.

Speaking of classes, my day with Amy Bunger in Memphis is less than a month away. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to it!

Hope it feels like Spring this week wherever you are - and not like summer or winter!