Sunday, May 18, 2014

Some pics of the goodies from Nashua

I don't know about you but time seems to pass very fast these days.  It seems like yesterday that I was still working and looking forward to retirement and now... well, it has been 2 years already... oops, its 3 years!!  I retired in 2011, oh my goodness, I must be having a lot of fun because I really don't see the days flying by.  So I promised you some pics of the goodies from Nashua, sorry to be so late in posting them, we had some very cloudy days which is not good for my picture taking.  Ah, enough with the excuses, without further adieu, here they are, enjoy.
 
   



 


 


Sunday, May 11, 2014

Some wonderful new designers that I met in Nashua

Hello everyone, may I start out by saying Happy Mothers Day to all of the wonderful Moms out there.  Well as I mentioned in the previous post, I met some wonderful designers at the show.  Now some of them you might have heard of already, like Karen Kluba of Rosewood Manor or Jeannette Douglas of Jeannette Douglas Designs but I had never heard of Julie Norton of J.Designs.  What a lovely lady, she has gone through a lot in the past year but her smiling face was right there to greet you.  She taught a couple of courses on Hardanger... oh my, they were lovely pieces.  Before I go any further, I have to tell you that it was a difficult decision trying to decide what courses I wanted to take because some of them were a bit pricey (for me).  I really would have liked to take her hardanger courses, her designs were very pretty... but I did manage to spend a few pennies in her booth.  I will have to take pictures of all the different patterns/kits I bought from everyone and then you can all drool.... lol.... I also met Beth Seal of Summer House Stitche Works  (I had never heard of her or her company before), what a delightful lady with some beautiful designs and yes, you guessed it - I spent some money there as well.  Then during a round robin, (4 designers came in with kits for us), I met Maureen Sorenson of The Heart's Content - she does beautiful work on 40 count over one!!  hmmm, while I can admire the beauty of it, over one on 40 count fabric is not really for me. I also met Jackie du Plessis of It's Fine-ally Finished, she was so embarrassed because she had forgotten the fabric for our kit so she had to run out and buy some envelopes so that she could mail us the fabric.  I can certainly understand why she forgot, she was a very busy lady at this show.  Tracy Horner from Ink Circles was also part of the Round Robin and I must apologize to the other designer because I can't remember who it was.... I must be getting old (ha ha).  Well wonderful friends, I am going to sign off, go take some pictures (it is a gorgeous day here in Ottawa) and find out who that other designer was - it will bug me until I figure it out.  Until the next time, Hugs, big hugs from Louise

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Back from the Celebration of Needlework in Nashua, New Hampshire

Hello wonderful people, I'm back..... I know, I know, I just got back from Branson and then took off to go to Nashua.  Well, to be honest, I did unpack part of the suitcase, did the laundry and then re-packed it!  I had a wonderful time there, it was great meeting some designers, meeting new people.  My friend Janice and I had wanted to go to the Needlework show but every time we checked it out, there was anything that interested me.  I didn't realize it but you don't have to take any classes (I thought you did) and you can just go and stitch and meet up with some friends or do as I did and make new friends.  I have to tell you this story, I was coming back from my room and as I stepped out of the elevator I saw a lady who was pushing an elderly lady in her walker.  I just stood there, kind of laughed to myself and saw my mother and I.  When Mom and I used to go shopping, she would use her walker to get around and when she got tired, she would sit on the seat and hold her feet off the ground and I would push her around.  So being the nosy person that I am, I had to go over and introduce myself and find out if they were mother and daughter.  Betty (the daughter) and her Mom were laughing when I told them that they were a familiar sight and the wave of love that I felt when I saw them was wonderful.  Betty, I apologize but I can't remember your Mom's name.  These ladies were great, every time I ran into them (not literally), we would share a smile and a laugh.  Betty was also in one of the courses with me so that was great.   So what courses did I take, well.... I had to take the course on the History of Perforated Paper by Claudia Dutcher of Dutch Treat Designs.  I had met Claudia on the stitching cruise I took a couple of years ago and she is one heck of a designer and teacher.  She had brought with her some of her pieces from her collection of perforated paper, it was fascinating, some of these pieces dated back to the 1840's!!  Simply stunning and before you go thinking perforated paper ... that's not stitching... you might want to do some research and check it out.   I also took a course on Colour Play with Tracy Horner of Ink Circles designs. That was so neat, this lady is an engineer and likes things symmetrical (so do I) and she was showing us how to use some really wild coloured floss, and the way to stitch the design so that it appears as if you are changing colours but you aren't.  If you ever get a chance to take a course with either one of these ladies, Claudia or Tracy, I highly recommend it.  Both were informative as well as making the classes fun and interesting.  Tomorrow I will tell you about the other designers that I met.  Until then, take care, and remember that you are loved.  Louise