What a weekend!  Thirty women from Rhode Island to Maryland and everywhere in between flocked to the shop for the third annual stitch in.  It was crazy!  In the best sort of way.

Old friends came together and new friends were made.

I spent Saturday upstairs teaching.  No more fear of beading around here!

Unfortuantely, it was hot . . . really hot.  Even with the air conditioning cranking and five fans going, it reached temps over 80 degrees.  I think this event might be moved to the spring next year because of the temperature.  But we’ll see.  Thank god it wasn’t 98 degrees outside like it was the weekend before.

I want to thank my unbelievable staff.  I couldn’t do any of the crazy things that I do without you.  And to make Saturday even more special, it was Linda’s birthday.  Linda joined the team about four months ago.  She is wildly creative and full of more ideas than even me!  I didn’t think that was possible.

She actually rearranged her birthday plans so that she could help out both days at the store.  I am the luckiest shop owner in the store for the lengths that my girls go to for me.

I totally missed posting about our visit with the amazing Jo Christensen.  It’s been so crazy here with Jo, Meredith and Needlepoint Nation coming tomorrow (and trying to squeeze in a quick vacation last weekend to the Jersey Shore.  More about that later.)

I will say, for those of you who are local who didn’t sign up for this class. . .you REALLY missed out.  This could have been the best class I’ve ever hosted at the store.  Maybe because it was different than any other class I’ve taken.  And, it didn’t involve stitching.

Jo taught a class she has created called “CPR”  or “Canvas Predicament Recovery.” What we did is this.  We all brought in a few canvases to analyze and try to figure out what to do with them.  We learned about the color wheel and color theory.  Fascinating!  We talked about what bothers us on the canvas and how to remedy the situation. And sometimes there wasn’t a remedy.

I brought in a very special piece to me.  There was a woman who used to own a store in my area many years ago when I first started stitching, who painted all of her own canvases.  My grandmother bought me this canvas for my 16th birthday.  Of course I started in right away.  Put it down.  Picked it up again.

Now you have to promise not to make fun of me when you see this picture.

I know. . .I know. . . she looks like a burn victim.   If I only I had known about shadow stitching at the time.  (Or basketweave for that matter.  See . . .we all start somewhere!)

After working with the color wheel and analyzing the piece, we decided that a A LOT was wrong with it.  We couldn’t believe that Renoir had this all wrong.  So, we pulled up a picture of the original artwork and it was very different.

Moral of the story . . . my piece was not salvageable.  WAY too much ripping out and correcting.  As sad as that was to hear, it finally gave me closure to this piece that I knew could never be stitched the way that it was painted.

Other people in the class had better luck than I did with this piece.  Jo suggested to stitch over something, change the colors or eliminate something entirely.

So, when she comes around again next summer (hopefully), be sure not to miss this class.  Or, if she’s teaching this at your local store, be sure to sign up.  You will learn SO much.

I just realized I forgot to post this little cutie pie.

 I finished him up a while back.  Nothing like stitching Halloween around Easter lol!

The second installment of the bunny club should be shipping out in a few weeks.  Just as soon as I get those canvases in my hot little hands.

It’s not too late to sign up.  Call the shop or sign up online.

Big news!  Carolyn Hedge Baird is coming to The Enriched Stitch!  We’re so excited!

Join her for one, two or three days of canvas embellishment classes on September 17, 18 or 19th.

Carolyn is the author of “Needlepointing in Your Nest,” “Merry Needlepoint,” “Merry Easter Eggs,” countless stitch guides and her newest book “Teeny Tiny Needlepoint Stitches.”

Carolyn is not only extremely creative but quite a character, as well.  She’s as sweet as could be.

This is one of the many Vicky Sawyer pieces that she has stitched.  

Carolyn is well know for her ribbons and finishing touches.

I hope you can join us.  Space is limited to 8 students per day.  Class is $225/day.  Don’t hesitate . . .class is filling up.

Call the shop to sign up.  203-210-5107

I’ve finally recuperated from three days of classes with the fabulous Meredith Willet.  So much fun! (So much work).  I learned SO much this past week.  And she threw every hard thing in her bag of tricks at me.

I’ve been working on learning more about ribbon work.  Even for me, it’s very daunting.  And so fussy!  But, there’s only one way to get better at anything. . . just keep working on it.

So, I’ve been saving this Amanda Lawford canvas for class with Meredith.

A perfect canvas for ribbon work.

So, on Thursday afternoon, after class, she told me to bring a candle with me to the store the next day.  I will admit, I raised an eyebrow at that.  But. . . what the heck?  I’ll try anything.

So here’s what she had me do.  I cut a bunch of little pieces of ribbon in two different sizes.  Then I rounded out the edge.  In order to seal the edges, you have to run the tip of the ribbon through a flame.  Well, the candle was throwing a lot of black smoke so that didn’t work.  So, I used a lighter.  It was quite a funny sight when a customer came walking through the door and saw me lighting ribbon on fire.

After I had all my petals, I basted them together, pushing, pulling and twisting them to get the right shape.  I did this in two layers so that the bottom layer was bigger than the top.  And voila!

Look what I made!  SOOOOOO cool!

Next up was a stem stitch flower with five or six colors of silk ribbon.  So pretty!

I can’t wait to get cranking on this piece.  If I look into my crystal ball I might see a future class.

Speaking of which, I’m working on putting together a class schedule for the fall.  Let me know if there’s something you’re interested in for a class.  I’ll see what we can do.

I just finished up the last of the chicks in our Little Chicks club!  These were SO much fun to stitch.

I’ve been playing with ribbon more these days.  I’m not very patient, so it’s hard for me to fuss with the ribbons to make them just right.  But, the upside is that ribbon covers a lot of area quickly!

We just received the canvases for the third shipment of the club.  We’ll be sending them out this week.  If you are missing any of the earlier ones, don’t worry.  We’ve got more canvases on order.  It’s not too late to join.  You can sign up online or call the store.

I’ve been stitching up a storm lately!  Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss anything.

I haven’t posted very much lately because I’ve been working on some top secret stitching for the two classes that I’m teaching at Destination Dallas in September.  I can give you a sneak peek of a new design by Amanda Lawford.

The other piece is a ribbon technique class that I will be teaching at the shop. And . . . hopefully your LNS will bring this class back to teach at your shop.

Everyone went gaga over the ruffle on the pink dress that I stitched.

But I know not everyone wants to stitch this piece.  So . . .I took this technique and applied to a basic shape of a heart.

Who wouldn’t want to stitch this?  It’s adorable!  And we can do it in any color way.  Check your email for a class near you.

Sorry I’ve been delayed getting this blog out.  I’ll admit, I’ve been enjoying a little down time now that school is out for the summer.  Way less running around all day.  It’s wonderful!

This week, all summer time canvases are 20% off.  Be sure to check back at previous blog posts, because Christmas, animals and floral canvases are still 20% off through Saturday.

Tis the season!  This week floral canvases are 20% off!

Call the shop to order!  203-210-5107

A new week . . .A new category of sale canvases.  Welcome to the jungle!

All in stock animal canvases are 20% off throughout June.  And remember, the Christmas canvases featured last week are still on sale.  Call the shop or email me for pricing or to order.

203-210-5107  enrichedstitch@gmail.com

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