A Blue Ribbon Winner!!!

What a thrill it was to learn that Cynthia T., who lives in Connecticut, won a blue ribbon at the Orange Country Fair for her completed Miss Trenner's Needlework Academy!  As you can see, Cynthia did a beautiful job not only with stitching this project but also with assembling the pieces.

 Isn't it wonderful when other people recognize a job well done?

Thanks, Cynthia, for sharing this photo!  I was so excited to receive it!

Stasi's Needlework Boxes

I first met Stasi B. years ago when she worked for a local needlework shop. (She was actually the shop manager.)  A lot has transpired since then.  Our children are now grown, married, and with children of their own.  The needlework shop has closed, and Stasi and her husband moved to West Virginia.

Stasi has two daughters, both of whom she taught to stitch.  When she saw the design for Miss Trenner's Needlework Academy it reminded her of her daughters.  Stasi wrote, I stitched this piece with my daughters in mind as the two figures reminded me of a Joan Walsh Anglund pin I had from when they were little. (I attached a photo of the pin--it almost looks as if it were stitched itself). It's something about the hair!!!!

Stasi also wrote,  I tend to love boxes, so that was also a draw! And luckily I was able to get the kit with the boxes from my needlework shop.

I did make some changes to the design. I used a 36 count R&R Light Espresso linen since I had that in my stash. And I'd always wanted to try the Vicki Clayton silks, so I converted the DMC to those. They gave it a little more pastel touch!

I added some cording to the bases of the boxes--no matter how hard I try, I can never cut the ovals to fit perfectly, so that was a good compromise.  Otherwise, I stitched and finished as called for. The finishing directions were great and all in all it was quite an enjoyable stitch!





paper mache boxes

   

smaller box bottom with stitched panel



larger box bottom with stitched panel

 

smaller box lid with stitched panel



inside of needleroll and scissors weight

 

outside of needleroll



detail of the needleroll, closed

Stasi, thank you for sharing these photos.  As usual, you did a terrific job with your stitching and finishing.  I hope that when you look at your completed project it will bring back wonderful memories of your daughters.

I wonder if like Stasi  you've ever chosen a project because of memories it evoked.

Another feast for your eyes from Chizue!

Chizue, who is from Japan, stitches (and finishes) so many wonderful projects!  I'm always excited when she sends me photos of some of her beautiful needlework.

Here are photos of her Miss Trenner's Needlework Academy. Look what she did to the lid!  Instead of putting the design on the inside of the small box lid like I did on my model, she put it on the outside where it could be more easily seen.  What a great idea!

Chizue, I hope that you are finding your needlework boxes and the accessories very useful as well as decorative. 

Thank you for once again sharing photos of your lovely needlework. Your photos show what a truly talented needleworker you are!  I'm looking forward to seeing what masterpieces you create next!

Miss Trenner's Needlework Academy

Over the past couple of months I've been delighted to see a couple of stitched Miss Trenner's Needlework Academy, but Dee L.'s is the first one I've seen assembled. As you can imagine, I was particularly excited to receive her photos.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you have become well aware of Dee's beautiful stitching and assembly.  Her Miss Trenner's Needlework Academy is no exception!

The first photo shows the inside of Dee's large box as well as her needleroll and scissors weight.

Next is the inside of her smaller box.  You can see the stitched designs in the box bottom and the lid.  You can also see Dee's needleroll opened up so you can see her embroidery.

Now here are all of Dee's pieces in a single photo.  Wonderful, Dee!!

Dee told me how much she enjoyed stitching this project with its variety of stitches.  I think she also got a kick out of the fact that she knows the real Miss Trenner for whom I named the project.  They both live in Canton, Ohio.

Thank you so much, Dee, for sharing another of your fantastic needlework projects!!  I'm now busily working on my new teaching project that will premier in Canton next May. I know I'll see you there.

It was reassuring to read that some of you too have been plaqued by those pesky stitching frogs.  What a pain they can be!  Lori wrote me that she has tree frogs.  I wish I could send me frogs outside to live in trees, but they seem to prefer my stitching instead.

By now, most of you are very familiar with Chizue of Japan and her incredible needlework. Recently Chizue sent me photos of her completed Mrs. Waddelow's Needlework Basket and also showed me her progress on Miss Trenner's Needlework Academy. 

Here are Chizue's button bag, ruler, threadwinders, and scissors case that are part of the Mrs.  Waddelow's Needlework Basket project.

Here is the reverse side of the needlework accessories.

Now look inside Chizue's basket to see the embroidered bottom panel.

But wait until you see what is next! Chizue made her own basket!!  Wow!! Isn't her basket wonderful? What an incredibly talented needleworker and basket maker Chizue is!



And wait...there's still more! Chizue also sent me photos of her Miss Trenner's Needlework Academy in progress. I bet before too much longer we'll be seeing photos of the assembled project.

If you want to see more of  Chizue's beautiful needlework that has been featured on this blog, just type "Chizue" in the Google search engine on the left sidebar.  You can also try looking under her nickname "Chi".

Chizue, thank you for sharing your work with us.  You are truly amazing!!

Time is ticking away...

Just a reminder that time is ticking away to sign up for both the With My Needle (WMN)  Facebook giveaway and also for  the Long May She Wave class in Cincinnati on Saturday, June 18, 2011.

To sign-up for the Facebook giveaway  of a set of lightly distressed boxes for Miss Trenner's Needlework Academy, first go to the WMN Facebook posting mentioned a few days ago here on my blog.  Then go to the WMN Facebook page--make sure that your comment is left on the correct Facebook post.

The deadline for registering for the Long May She Wave class is this Monday.  Photos and a detailed description of the project are on the teaching page of my website.  You must be present in class to get the kit for the cute little needlebook.  For more information, please contact Christie at cmock@cinci.rr.com.

Welcome to Miss Trenner's Needlework Academy

I thought you might enjoy seeing photos of my other Nashville Tradeshow release, Miss Trenner’s Needlework Academy. This needlework academy, named after a friend, is a fictitious school in Ohio.

This product will be available in two versions. Both include charts and detailed instructions for three stitched panels, a needleroll, a scissors weight, and very detailed instructions for finishing oval boxes. A special edition also includes two painted papier-mâché boxes, lining fabric for the boxes and the needleroll, a wooden 4-inch ruler/threadholder, and a sheep waxer.

Here are some photos.

The first one shows the painted boxes with embroidered panels in the bottom of each and on the inside of the small box lid. The folded needleroll and the scissors weight are in the large box lid.

Here’s a better view of the stitched panels. A stitched sign reading Needlework Academy appears on all three panels and on the needleroll and the front of the scissors weight.

Next is the needleroll, opened.  First is the outside view

and next is a view of the inside.   Note the sections marked for sorting your needles by size.

And here are the extra “goodies” in the special edition:

• a 4-inch wooden ruler/threadholder

• a sheep waxer

• lining fabric for your boxes and needleroll

• two painted papier-mâché boxes

These boxes measure 8-1/2 x 6-1/2 x 3-3/4 inches
 and 7 x 4-3/4 x 2-3/4 inches.

Here’s what the project looks like with papier-mâché boxes that have just been painted black.

Your project would also be gorgeous using Shaker-style wooden oval boxes.

Whether you use the painted boxes I did or choose your own, I think you’ll find them a perfect place for storing your precious needlework tools.

Yes, I'm still around

Earlier today I got a sweet note from someone checking to make sure I'm okay. Yes, everything is okay, but my stamina is still not very good. There are so many things that I want to do each day, but I barely seem to scratch the surface. For example, all that I've done with Christmas decorating is to pull out our Christmas china and have Tom put up the tree. We still have a "naked" tree. Thankfully it is pre-lit. I wonder if anyone will notice if this year I don't put on any ornaments--I could say that this year I'm doing minimalism, right? (Don't worry--I'm sure we'll get the tree decorated soon and a wreath on the door.)

Right now we're expecting a HP serviceman to arrive. We're continuing to have issues with my new work desktop computer that we bought earlier this year. Tom has already had to replace the hard drive once. Yes, right in the middle of all my back problems, he was doing multiple backups of all my business files and installing a new hard drive. Would you believe that the new hard drive is now having issues? Have you ever heard of anyone having such problems so soon?

Tom spent yesterday once again making multiple backups of all my files. He found out that since the computer is under warranty, HP will send out someone to install the new hard drive. Tom has told me that it may be several days before I'll have access again to my desktop computer so we've been copying some files to my laptop so that I can do at least a few things. Please keep your fingers crossed that things work this time. After things are once again running smoothly, Tom will gradually start converting all his wonderful stitch diagrams and my product covers to Illustrator. They were all originally done using Designer which the new computer doesn't support. Yikes!! What a job!!

I've been working hard on getting some projects ready for the Nashville tradeshow in February. Last year I bought some wonderful paper mache boxes. There are two boxes in each set. I'm planning on lining them with a sweet cotton fabric, and then putting a stitched panel in the bottom.

I've stitched the panels. I'll show a photo of the boxes and the interiors in a few weeks. For now I'll tell you that the larger box has a large 3-story yellow house and the letters "A B C" painted on the front. For the interior bottom linen panel, I've stitched the same yellow house, some sheep, and a few more things. I decided that the house is too large to be a typical home, so I'm calling it a "Needlework Academy". The smaller box has numbers on the front. For it I've stitched two girls holding their embroidery. Of course, there are a few more things, but I don't want to tell you too much now. I will tell you that I've decided to name this project Miss Trenner's Needlework Academy.

I bought all the boxes the company had. Therefore this will be a limited edition project with shops going to Nashville getting the first chance at them. I need to count the boxes, but I think there are between 155 and 165. I'm hoping to come up with some special goodies to go in the boxes.

I'm also working on a companion project with a needleroll and scissors weight. The designs are coordinated to go with the boxes, but you don't need the boxes to enjoy this set of needlework necessities. There will not be a limit on these charts like there will be on the ones for the boxes.

I have temporarily put the wonderful Elizabeth Mears sampler aside as I get ready for Nashville. Thought that you might like to see an updated photo that we took last weekend. You can click on the photo for a better view.

Need to run---I'm off to physical therapy!