Tony Minieri Class at Family Arts - Day 2

LUPE is finally FINISHED!!!!  This is the canvas that I started in last year's Tony class, and I had everything finished except for the final big rose in the lower right hand corner.  I probably should have paid more attention to the demo last year, but thankfully Tony was kind enough to repeat his instructions so that I could add the final flower (which took me the entire morning to complete). 

Stitching this canvas was a big "stretch" for me technically, but well worth the effort.  Lupe will go to the framer next week, and then I can focus on Leapin' Lizards, this year's class project.

Tony Minieri Class - Day One - PM

                                          Detail of AJ-26 - Leapin' Lizards (Anne Jerlow)

After lunch it was time to get back to business.  This is a detail of one of the more exotic stitches Tony planned for the canvas I chose to stitch.  The lizard's gullet is Venetian Cloth Stitch using Balger #12 braid.  It is a detached stitch, and when the stitched area was completed I stuffed it with 1/2" pieces of the braid before tacking down the bottom.  Leave it to Tony to come up with something like this!

More fun and more photos tomorrow.

Lunchtime at the Tony Minieri Class

After a morning of intense stitching everyone was ready for this great lunch - selection of sandwiches, chips, fruit salad, Valentine cookies AND fantastic chocolate fudge.

Tony Minieri Class - First Day AM

What a great way to spend Valentine's Day!  Class at Family Arts started promptly at 9:30 AM. First, Tony gave his critique of all the canvases we were going to be stitching.  As usual, he was brilliant - how he can remember all the stitches and fibers he planned for these canvases is amazing!!! The canvas pictured above is #1063, Fantasy Flowers, which will be stitched by Sylvia Yoder.Then everyone proceded to look at their stitch guides to determine which stitches they knew , or needed Tony to demonstrate.  There were some really exotic stitches planned for some of the canvases, so everyone learned a lot from Tony's demo.

After a few hours of concentrated stitching and demos - time for lunch.

Meet "Maria" and Kelly

"Maria" is the first of a new series of six Talavera angels that will be introduced at Sample It.  She is stitched in a combination of fibers and comes packaged with a full-color stitch guide and a beaded red chili pepper embellishment from One World Buttons.

The stitch guide was written by Kelly Doyle, who picked up and finished this project after MaryLu Leger's untimely death.  She has included stitches such as Diagonal Burden, Amadeus, and a Hedabo Ring.

Kelly has taught needlepoint embellishment for A Needlework Place in Mesa, Arizona and Phoenix Needlepoint Co. before relocating to Houston. She has also taught classes at previous TNNA markets for Anne Jerlow's geisha series and Garden Cat Square.  Kelly stitched several ornaments for the White House Christmas tree during the Clinton reign, and her Sandy Jenkins Sunflower Girl appears in the revised edition of Jo Christensen's The Needlepoint Book.  She is available to travel and teach classes.

Kelly will be helping me at the Sample It table and is bringing along "Consuela", the next angel in the series, so please stop by and say hi!

Happy New Year!

                                                 New Years Eve - From our Perpetual Calendar

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2012.

Merry Christmas - A Sneak Peek

One of the items we will be offering at TNNA for Sample It is this little penguin ornament "topper".

He and his friends (he's one of a series) can be stitched and added to the top of amost any Christmas ball.  Rather than just using him on an ornament that I already had, I indulged in a shopping spree .  There are some gorgeous ornaments in the stores this year - jeweled, velvet, glittered - you name it!

Next will be a set of ornament toppers for Halloween if I can find some ornaments in the appropriate colors.  Has anyone seen these in orange, black, purple or lime green?