This project, with all its little squares, is like a box of chocolates……can’t stop with just one. I have been addicted to stitching the little boxes for over a week. This is where I am today. Tuscan Midnight, a Kathy Rees Design I am so glad I took the time to draw all the grid. There is no full chart for this design. Each square (rectangles are considered a square) is individually charted and is referenced buy an alpha and numeric designation in the instructions. To attempt this without the drawn grid would be a nightmare. Here is a close-up of some of the squares….. I’m so glad the full sq ..read more

After taxing my brain with Africana I decided I wanted a fun and easy project. I have done several Kathy Rees designs and they are always very relaxing. Also all the threads are Watercolors which I like to stitch with. When doing counted designs there is usually a full color chart to work from. This design is different. Kathy suggested…in bold print, that the grid be drawn on the canvas. All the area stitch patterns are referenced by two grid coordinates. I thought I might just skip the marking…..but after reading the instructions I realized how important the grid was and how easy it would be ..read more

Africana, a Lorene Salt Design Yes, I finally completed Africana. It is a real sense of accomplishment. I set a goal of completing the class project in two months and I made it. The last few areas were a challenge…..not everything fit exactly. But it was only a thread or two so I just adjusted. I do feel good about handling the two threads error I made early on the vertical borders. It required really paying attention and planning ahead as I approached right side. I have to give a lot of “high fives” to Lorene Salt for her great charts. Some took awhile to figure out as they were Jean Hilton s ..read more

I missed a week of posting…and here’s why Walker Kate, my great-granddaughter I took a trip to North Carolina to see my new great-granddaughter. My daughter went with me and we had a wonderful weekend. Upon getting home I just rested for a few days before getting back to stitching. Africana, a Lorene Salt design As I continued along the bottom of the design I began to think about those two missing threads on the right side. The pattern on the far right did not lend itself to a re-design so I moved to examining the one next to it. It was easier to adjust one thread on each side and keep the ori ..read more

Another week has passed and much progress made. I completed the Kreinik inner borders and pray that all my checking and double counting has eliminated some future errors. I know, without a doubt, that all is not perfect but it helps me to know that areas may not come together and I can figure it out. You will notice at the top of my canvas there are two areas unfinished……. I usually complete areas before moving on BUT the chart for the Double Crescents that surround the Teardrop Jessicas just has me confused. I will have to get a practice canvas and get the flow of the chart before I go back t ..read more

I’m really liking this project. So much that I stitched on it every day and made great progress. A Lorene Salt Design NOTE: I must say now that I am stitching the with the canvas and charts turned upside down. The stretchers are 13”X18” so it would be hard on my arms and shoulders to reach up to the top. As I approached the area to the left and began the final area…..I almost cried. There is supposed to be to be 12 threads for the pattern………if you look close you can see that I have started the first part of the pattern and there is only 4 threads to the border not 6 . It turns out that I made ..read more

I attended a class taught by Lorene Salt on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was fun to be in a class again. The class was small, only 8 students. AFRICANA is a four day class that we squeezed into two days. All of the students are experienced stitchers so it worked out well. If you have ever attended a class you know that not a lot of stitching actually gets done but a lot of discussion and note taking is the rule. The first challenge was a 57 hole Jessica….just let that sink in…. Instructions called for 3 1/2 yards of Vineyard Silk….unless you wanted to stop and start on the Jessica. If you have do ..read more

After posting this project on Needlepoint Think Tank with Facebook I was advised that this could be a Melissa Shirley canvas. So pleased to have one of hers in my collection. I am really enjoying stitching on this. When I first started it I had great ideas for changing the green Santa bag to something brownish with some stitch or thread looking like burlap…. As I stitched I realized that this was a project that I just wanted to stitch. I didn’t want to make it a “thinking” project. Any one ever just wanted to stitch and not really think? Melissa Shirley Canvas The bottom of the coat and the cu ..read more

While I’m waiting for my Lorene Salt class I am playing with a canvas that I got at a stash sale. The owner had passed way and her canvas had all the threads and was partially stitched. I don’t do much Christmas but this looked like fun and it’s not real big. The border was stitched and it is the one portion of the stitching that I did not “frog” out. The boots and bag were not to my liking and it took hours to remove. The red coat was started with Impressions and the Nobuko stitch. It was nicely done so that is where I started. The direction of the stitch reverses on each side of the coat. I ..read more

Adapted from a Kathy Rees Design Miss Walker Kate is now a month old. I wish she wasn’t way across the country. I do hope to visit soon. Now on to a very exciting project. I haven’t been able to take a class in several years but my local ANG chapter has been able to get Lorene Salt, who’s from Canada, to teach her “Africana” design for our chapter in February. It will be a two day class, can’t wait. It’s a wild and crazy design that should be a challenge and lots of fun stitching. At our January meeting last week students got canvas and thread for pre stitching which is just the outside border ..read more