Have Needlepoint, Will Travel

Needlepoint Spring Break 2011

Last Sunday was a real treat - getting to needlepoint poolside! No drinks with little umbrellas but a nice way to spend an early April afternoon in Jacksonville, FL.  I visited Andrew and Anna last weekend and we spent part of our Sunday afternoon at the pool.  Fortunately I carried a small project with me last weekend. I'm still working on the Melissa Shirley golden pear ornament - it doesn't see the light of day very often but makes for a nice small project when I'm on the road. I will finish it this year, however!

My needlepoint Spring Break really kicks into gear this week as I prepare for my drive to Memphis to spend the day with Amy on Monday the 18th. Do you think I might be a little excited? This morning I brought out the canvases that I will be taking with me and spread them out on the dining room table and made my notes on what I need help with on each one. These are three of the canvases that are making the trip with me. I like the variety.

                                  

As you might expect, they are all Melissa Shirley designs. The first one with the two women is my favorite. It is a design by Linda Carter Holman and I think it might be called "This Fine Day". This canvas has been hanging near my stitching chair for the last two years waiting for its turn to be stitched. I have been happy just to look at it all that time but now I am ready to stitch it. It has really led me to being a fan of Linda's work. I now have several small poster prints of her work hanging over my desk.

The second canvas is a lovely antique rose floral in shades of blues and peaches. I had started this a while back and had planned to just stitch it in basketweave. This was before I had been exposed to the amazing variety of stitches and threads that are available. Luckily I had only stitched a little of this piece and it will be easy to rip it out and get a little more creative with it.  I love the delicate background on this one.

The third canvas I bought on my last trip to San Francisco - quite a few years ago. The trip happened to coincide with the Chinese New Year and this seemed like a very appropriate canvas to commemorate that trip. I have stitched several other canvases from this collection and I love the bright colors and the Asian theme. It will be a nice to add this to the three other pieces I have already stitched.

Also accompanying me to Memphis is The Queen. I didn't work on her this week as much as I would have liked but I did a little shopping for her wardrobe. I found several ruffled white ribbons at Hobby Lobby that just might work for her ruffled collar. I'll look to Amy for her suggestions as this collar will be a major feature of this piece. There is also some ribbon work around the Rhodes stitches in the "batwing" areas on either side of her head that I need help with and also the ribbon to stitch it with. Last night I started work on her vest only to find that I was not happy with my work by the end of the evening. I'm not sure that the Kreinik 1/16" ribbon is not too heavy for this area. I'll see what Amy has to say about it.

The other area I worked on yesterday was the Queen's chest. I had to laugh out loud when I read the stitch guide for this area. Amy's directions read as follows:  "Basketweave the areas above the impressive cleavage....." I hope I did the "impressive cleavage" justice with my stitching! I've never stitched cleavage before!

Here in Augusta, we're coming to the close of Masters week. I hope you have seen some pictures or watched a little of the coverage on television. It has been a spectacular week weather-wise for us although the last two days have been more like June or July than April. We had a 90 degree day on Saturday and are looking for the same today. The azaleas and dogwoods have been at their peak this week. It is always an exciting week for Augustans but I won't be sorry to see things get back to normal tomorrow. I miss "my" grocery store which is just a block from Augusta National and difficult to get to for this one week during the year. I will always be a Tiger and Phil Mickelson fan but would be happy to see Rory McIlroy win, too. If you don't follow golf, the saying goes that the Masters really doesn't start until the back 9 on Sunday afternoon. I hope you'll watch and see how beautiful Augusta National is. I'll be waving at you from my house less than two miles away!

Have a good week!