Finally, Back to Work on Rebekkha!

Hello Everyone!  

Well Labor Day is nearly over and I was able to log some great stitching hours

over the weekend!  Below is a view of the Garland from a distance. 

I have to admit that I have been a bit stuck on the Garland, so I worked on the sky and clouds and stitching in more background.  As I worked on the repetitive stitching, I just kept looking at her Garland, and thinking about Threads, Stitches & Techniques!  What to do?  The problem was that I loved the work on the right so much, that I was worried that the left side wouldn't meet the high bar set on the other side.  Why, you might ask?

Well, here are the areas that had me stumped:

Pumpkin.  This is the apex of the Garland, and the Pumpkin just has to be spectacular! 

I am still on the fence with the current pumpkin...it is the second one.  Below is my first rejected pumpkin:

                                                         The Long & Short Satin stitches
                                                                   just were not working!

                                         This is the Trapunto Applique Wool Felt Pumpkin
                                                                             
The Little Mum Flowers posed another problem for me.  When I painted these little fleurs, I was envisioning the silk ribbon loop stitches.  When I actually stitched them, they just didn't balance well within the Garland...so out they came, and I went with the 
silk ribbon French Knots:

                    

Gourds...Well, the problem here was the Eggplant on the right turned out soooo gorgeous, how could I make these gourds even come close to that?!!!  Well, they are under way, and I am finally pleased with them:

I am still planning to add more detail stitching over the top gourd in both the orange

and the green areas of the gourd!

Well that's all for now!  Happy Stitching All...and I"ll be posting again soon!

Where Is Kelly?

Hello All!  Where Is Kelly?

Well I must admit that I am at that space where Summer is Fading and Back-to-School is just around the corner!  I can't wait!!!!  

I have been painting ALOT of new product for 2012!  Sorry, no sneak peeks, yet!   

And, although not ready for another Post, I have actually been stitching alot on background and filler stuff for Thanksgiving series. And lastly, on the stitching front, have started stitching on my newest Kelly Club which will begin in March 2012.  It's definitely not time for a reveal, but I can show a tiny sneak peak:

It's so necessary to take a break and work on something Small and Fun, 

when you are tackling a Big Series!

The end of July brought John's nieces from Ohio.  We had a wonderful visit and the little cousins were soooo delighted to hang w/ the big Cousins.  We spent a perfect day at The Beach in Galveston, and just relaxing in general!  A little taste of vacation!

John with Nieces, Aleks and Krista and the Little Cousins

My Girls with Cousin Aleks, whom they Idolize!

These last 2 weeks have been agonizing!  I LOVE,
Love, love my kiddos, but they really need to go back to school!  Olivia, my 8 year old, has taken to making 'potions' of colored water...mostly purple...and adding to her 'dead battery' collection.  There isn't a single tiny bottle in the house not filled with purple water!  Every item in the house that takes batteries has been checked twice.  Olivia doesn't necessarily replace with live batteries, but the deads are taken!  Grace, my 11 year old, spends most of her time on Facebook, or watching Disney & NICK sit-com re-runs, ad nauseam!! She watches

Olivia on Zip-line at Camp!                            Grace at Cheer Class at Camp!                                   Jack trying out his Look!

Make-up tutorials on You-Tube and then hides away in her bathroom and practices.  I got really tired of my make-up disappearing, so I broke down and got her a kit of Theater Make-up!  Also, talking on the phone with friends...when I come anywhere close, she changes rooms and slams doors!  The Tween years are not starting pretty! Jack my 14.5 year old sleeps 'til the crack of 1 in the afternoon...spends most of his time in his room, or riding his bike, or hanging at a friends.  He is actually the least trouble right                                                                                                                          Lucy, our Golden-doodle will miss her play-mates, alot!                              
now...but that will change once there are expectations...
ie: homework/schoolwork!!!!                                              

And I leave you with only one little Needlework picture taken from my Stumpwork Sampler:

Sweet Peas and Strawberries!

Happy Stitching!  I will Post more Thanksgiving Soon!

Kelly

Stumpwork Garland on Lady Rebekkha

I am soooo Excited to show the Garland:

I just Love how the Garland is coming to life!  

When I envisioned, sketched and then painted this series,

the Garland had magical qualities in my mind!  I know that sounds silly.  Yes the Characters were important.  Absolutely!  They had to be lovely, indeed.  But the Garland sets the Stage  

and brings Drama to the equation!  Bringing it to stitching life completes the circle and makes me happy!

A few Close-ups:

Acorns and Ultra-suede Applique Oak Leaves, along with the Eggplant Sepals.

Red Tipped Cabbage and Grapes...each motif took an entire night of stitching to complete!  Nearly every stitch of the cabbage is carefully laid/folded/twisted and then immediately tacked in place using a sharp needle...also the red silk ribbon is ruched before being tacked in place. Very fussy detail stitching, but worth the effort!!!

The grapes look edible!

The Sunflower in Silk Ribbon.

Such a happy flower!  Those of you following may notice that I changed the 

Picot Leaf under the Eggplant. -see post on July 30th, 2011-  The first leaf was quite sloppy and my 

tension had gotten irregular, therefore mis-shaping the wires.  This leaf makes me happy!

So now you are up-to-date with what I have been stitching!

Join us on this Stitch Along Adventure!  

Call The Needle Works to Sign Up:

1-800-851-6931

1st Lesson to ship November 1st, 2011

Stump-work Started on Lady Pilgrim!

Another Sneak Peek of Rebekkha:

The Eggplant and Acorns!

Dimension under way!!!!

Join my Stitch Along Club, sponsored by The Needle Works!!!!!

1-800-851-6931

Call today and sign up!  

1st Lesson to ship out on November 1st!  

Kelly's Stump-work Sampler

Good Morning, All!

A Few of my Favorite Things Sampler

I have posted several pics of my Stump-work Sampler piece, above, on Stitcherie, and got to thinking it's about time to blog about it.  The idea came to me last summer (August 2010, to be exact!), when doing some research on Stump-work.
Research?  That's a fancy justification for loading up on books at Amazon.com! Ha-ha! LOL!
Anyway, looking through the books, it became apparent that the majority of the work was coming out of Australia, and was worked on linen, in the form of Traditional Embroidery.  What's up with that?  Hum?
We could work the same type imagery into Needlepoint!  What about a Sampler, of sorts?  A sketch was begun with my vision starting to form.  What should I do? Paint a Canvas?  Well, maybe later...I wanted to get started, immediately!...and it was after 11 pm!
There I was pulling out a piece of Ecru 18 Mesh Canvas, drawing the outlines for the Sampler, pulling threads, figuring out some of the stitches.  Stretcher bars?  I didn't have any the right size!  AGH, Darn the luck!  Not to be stopped, I found an old plain wood frame that was roughly the same size...?  Out came the stapler gun, and I was in business! (Don't worry!  
First time Colleen Church saw the piece, she whisked it away from me and put it on a set of proper stretcher bars!!!)  
Here is the beginning with first few backgrounds started:

and then with Rooster in oval, standing in his Silk Rose Garden:

and Rooster today:

One of my goals with the Sampler was to show the same image in several different forms or stitching techniques.  Hence the Pansy in Silk Ribbon, Silk Floss and dimensionally in Needle Lace on wire!  I will continue to blog about and show different sections and why I added them to the Sampler.  Oh!  I collect Roosters, and they are all over my Kitchen and Family Room!

So, that's all for now, Folks!

Happy Stitching!

Conspicuously Absent!

Hi Everyone!  I am back!  When I signed in to Blog just now, I already had the title for this post in mind.  But, truly, I was blown away to realize it's been more than 2 weeks!!!  Yikes!!  Well, I did have a good excuse...
I have traveled to teach back-to-back weekends...July 9th in Austin...July 15 & 16 in Portland , OR at In Stitches, plus a Thursday class in Houston this week at Needle House.!!!  
FYI...That is A LOT of teaching! 
There were fabulous students in all three locations...and such gracious nice women.  Please don't ever think I am complaining. It is truly an honor to be able to travel and teach my designs.  But I am officially exhausted!

 The pictures above were taken at In Stitches, Portland, OR.  There I am looking ghastly and gray next to
cute, adorable, effervescent Lori Hennessy, owner of In Stitches.  She is a delight and a fabulous Hostess!

And This is the only picture which turned out from my class at The Needle Works

in Austin, TX.

This pic is with the lovely Colleen Church, Owner The Needle Works

So, my trip to Austin had the dual purpose of being the first official planning meeting for 

The Elegant Thanksgiving Series,  

for 

Stitch Along 

with Kelly!

Here is the Elegant Rebekkha...

just look at her gorgeous threads and a few sneak peeks at preliminary stitching!:

so join us for this fabulous series....

Call The Needle Works and sign up today!

1-800-851-6931

  

Invitation to Stitch Along!