Friday, March 30, 2012

GREAT IDEA

When visiting Marlene's Finishing, Marlene showed various finished pieces. She pulled out Donna's tray. Donna was so excited! Donna was stitching on a belt and her shop owner suggested she have the belt made into a
My gentle Father died earlier this month. He was 2 months shy of 93. I am off to Palos Verdes this morning. My sister has flown in from Houston. We are moving Mom (91) into assisted care this weekend. Mom & Dad were married 70 years. I am so lucky to have had them so long! Tisha tray. As most of us should no longer be wearing needlepoint belts, I thought that was a great use for a useless project. (If you can still wear a belt, I salute you)

Monday, March 26, 2012

The second floor of Needlepoint Inc. (3rd floor of the building) houses the finishing business, storage for Needlepoint Inc Silk and business office. The desk is placed so one an can look out over Union Square. It's a fabulous view.
Shelves of trim.
Rows of beads & spools of thread.
Ribbons
This was my favorite. The blocking is done on perforated sheet metal. Little brass nails were hammered into the holes.
The rug had just been received for finishing. It took the owner two years to stitch.
There were rows of storage for Needlepoint Inc Silk. Each color has it's own bin. I think Diane told us there were now 460 colors. Color cards with the actual fiber are available for purchase. If you use this silk, this would be great to have as local stores don't normally stock the entire 460 colors. I have uploaded the photos. When I transfer them to the blog, I just see computer jargon. Here's hoping this works! Tisha

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

UPDATE

I am having trouble loading photos with the new blog format or maybe it's my computer. I will eventually get back to the finishing department at Needlepoint Inc. I am too busy this week to deal with it. This is Fashion Week on El Paseo (Palm Desert's boutique shopping street). Two large tents have been erected on a vacant lot. There is a fashion show every evening for 7 nights. I was gifted with four tickets for every evening. Monday night fashions were from local stores were presented. It was fun. Last night, Lloyd Klien of Beverly Hills presented his line. The collection was called Purgatory -and it was. Every single item was black. It looked like he ordered a bolt of faux black leather & a dozen bolts of black jersey. Trim looked like black duct tape. Needless to say, the collection was not well received. I'm so glad that I didn't pay $50 for a ticket. Mr Klien is having a trunk show this morning if you need a funeral outfit. Tonight's show features the designers from the Project Runway TV series. The show is sold out. Tisha

Monday, March 12, 2012

A VISIT TO NEEDLEPOINT INC.

Friday afternoon, we were off for a visit to Needlepoint Inc.  Owner Diane Nerheim was very gracious in showing us her operation.  Needlepoint Inc. encompasses 3 floors in a building boarding Union Square.  The first floor is the retail store.  The second floor is devoted to finishing & importing Needlepoint Inc. Silk.
Needlepoint Inc
275 Post Street

Every inch of space has been used.
Some of the blank spaces you can see in the ceiling contained pillows.
Note the stacks of painted canvases.  There were stacks everywhere.

Purses frame the window over looking Union Square.

Christmas/ Halloween alcove

Needlepoint Inc. Silk
460 colors
I'll show you the finishing operation tomorrow.

Tisha

Sunday, March 11, 2012

MARLENE'S FINISHING MARCH 2012

I am home from Stitch & Play.  I think we all had a wonderful time.  Need to rest from the weekend!
We actually spent a lot of time stitching.  I even took time for a Reflexology treatment  late yesterday afternoon after walking up and down the hills of San Francisco.

This is the street entrance to Marlene's upstairs studio.

Wall of hand dyed yarn used for making cording.
There is another similar area with fringes on cones.

Several rows of industrial shelving full of fabrice. 
Doesn't it make you drool.

Women at sewing machines..  They were so gracious to show us what they were doing.
There were 9 women working that day.

Finishing Melissa Shirley's Pears.

Blocking a wall hanging.
They had just finished blocking a hallway runner which took 2 weeks. 

Every woman needs power tools for making twisted cord.

A completed porject on it's way to Hong Kong.
A frame and stitching supplies fit in the portfolio.
Tisha

Friday, March 9, 2012

FRIDAY IN SAN FRANCISCO

This has been a busy day. We started off with some early morning stitching. Mid morning,we went to Marlene's Finishing. I will post the pictures when I return. We had lunch sent in from the Yank Sing restaurant as we were too busy stitching to go out. Soon it was time for our visit to Needlepoint Inc. WE saw both the store & her finishing operation. Diane has invited me back tomorrow to show my wears to her Saturday needlepoint class. She is one gracious lady. We had to hurry back to the hotel as Gail Downing provided us with a trunk show of Maggie & Ewe & Eye Canvases. I gulped a glass of wine when that was finished. Soon it was time for our dinner reservations at an Italian restaurant. Turns out the waiter lives just two blocks from one of our group. He liked us so well, he bought us a round of his home made Lemonchello. It is 10 PM; everyone has gone off to bed. Time for me to follow.

Tisha

Thursday, March 8, 2012

STITCH & PLAY IN SAN FRANCISCO

I'sitting in the creative Zone awaiting the arrival of our stitchers. It's a nice day in San Francisco, clear & 50 degrees. Several of the ladies arrived yesterday & are out playing. Lisa & Marilyn are having tea. Gina & I settled for a begal sandwich at 10:30 as we were up so early to get here. Think I will unpack my stitching & start. I limited myself to 4 projects.

Stay tuned for more excitement!
Tisha

Friday, March 2, 2012

ONE SOLUTION FOR THE VISION IMPAIRED

While attending the Patriotic Heart class, I was introduced to Susan Johnson.  Susan rides in an electric wheelchair and has Macular Dystrophy.  It is similar to Macular Degeneration in that the central vision is lost.  Susan is able to needlepoint by using a Long Arm Acrobat.  She said the most difficult adjustment was learning to look up while stitching.  Susan carries a monitor with her.  She says that the newer versions can be connected to a computer.  Susan is a fabulous example of  a courageous woman who "made lemonade".

Long Arm Acrobat
www.aboutlowvision.com

Thursday, March 1, 2012

MY PATRIOTIC HEART

Last weekend, I had the privilege of participating in the pilot class for Nancy Cucci's My Patriotic Heart.  Nancy is going to teach this piece at the ANG Seminar in Philadelphia.  Nancy's pieces are always fun and her stitch guides are excellent.  Nancy welcomes novice stitchers in this class.  This is a small enough piece that one might be able to finish is - someday.

Nancy's completed Heart

My Heart which requires more stitching and 195 red transparent beads.
I plan to someday mount this on the top of the small Sudberry
 Heart Box
Tisha