Thot I'd drop in and say 'h'!

Wow. I was just thinking about you a few days ago and wondering what you? ??ve been up to. I know Kathy Dyer has given up on needlework because s he?s so busy (she gave me all her Kreinik threads when she traveled to North Dakota a number of years ago). She?s apparently the kind that has to stay very busy, while I?m happy to sit back and enjoy m y retirement.

I?ve kind of lost my stitching mojo but hope to get it back. I have too many WIP but might need to start something new, just to get me going a gain.

Happy to see you back, MB

Arliss

?ve been up to. I know Kathy Dyer has given up on needlework becaus e she?s so busy (she gave me all her Kreinik threads when she trave led to North Dakota a number of years ago). She?s apparently the ki nd that has to stay very busy, while I?m happy to sit back and enjo y my retirement.

ve too many WIP but might need to start something new, just to get me going again.

I retired and left California. I have 187 pcs of needlework to hang and ha ve "lost walls" to an open floor plan. (And I also have all of my mother's framed pieces and pillows.)

A well-known nwk shop is about 15 minutes from my new place, so I'm in no d anger of being without supplies. Hah! Especially since my mother gave me her ENTIRE stash because she can't see well enough, anymore (she's 96); and a friend gave me all of hers (including her UFOs - as tho I need more of t hose!). I'm trying to organize my office, which now doubles as a pattern-f iling room. As with anyone else, my fabric and thread and goodies stash is distributed in...um...several places.

Right now I'm trying to finish a set of 5 Scots angels. They were designed to be Chr ornaments, but I decided to make them into a sampler so I could e njoy all of them year 'round. Naturally, I made them much more complex tha n needed, including researching tartan patterns and translating them to a m uch-smaller scale. That was a challenge!

I'm not teaching at festivals - I'm not sure there even ARE any, anymore! Not writing for magazines, either, but I am contemplating starting that aga in.

~~

So, Kathy retired?

~~

Arliss, thank you for your welcoming words! Good to hear from you again! mb

?ve been up to. I know Kathy Dyer has given up on needlework becaus e she?s so busy (she gave me all her Kreinik threads when she trave led to North Dakota a number of years ago). She?s apparently the ki nd that has to stay very busy, while I?m happy to sit back and enjo y my retirement.

ve too many WIP but might need to start something new, just to get me going again.

I believe that Celebrations in NH is still going on each spring, but otherwise, I haven't heard of anything similar to SOCS still active.

I haven't been doing much stitching lately and no designing, although every once in awhile I feel the urge to complete "The Gatherings" since I had only published Spring and Fall back in the day.

Lots of stash, so that's not a problem. I've loaned out a number of patterns (mostly ML-I) to a friend since she got the stitching urge again.

More knitting, occasionally a sewing project, most most of my time is taken up by reading. Love my Kindles! Once the weather improves, I'll probably be out trying yet again to outwit the deer and other critters who think my vegetable garden is an all you can eat buffet.

Nyssa, who also needs to reinstall her design software on a computer that can actually run it

We wouldn?t want to be without supplies! I have been ordering from around the country, but mostly from Needle in a Haystack. I was frustrated with the way things were changing at Nordic Needle - and then they went ou t of business. Well, the bricks and mortar store is closed. I think they ha d hoped to maintain an online presence, but they don?t seem to be g etting in new things, and their emails are all pointing to a complete shutd own. I can?t imagine how Roz and Sue must feel - but they did sell it, so it?s not on them.

There apparently are only very small needlework festivals left, with most b eing just a weekend or so. Even ANG has dropped its annual seminar from 8 d ays to 5. Very disappointing. But there are cruises, including river and se a, around the UK and Europe. Very expensive cruises!

Kathy is semi-retired from Livermore Labs. Her acting, dancing, church choi r, and volunteering with the Livermore Police Department seem to take up a lot of her time. I haven?t seen her for probably 3 years. She was i n ND and Montana while I was enjoying a trip to the UK with my sister, her husband (and 44 others) in 2016.

oir, and volunteering with the Livermore Police Department seem to take up a lot of her time. I haven?t seen her for probably 3 years. She was in ND and Montana while I was enjoying a trip to the UK with my sister, he r husband (and 44 others) in 2016.

I knew she was singing in the Livermore Opera Com; guess she still is - but I didn't know she'd branched out into dancing and acting, too! Go, girl!

She does fabulous needlework. One day she was over stitching with me, and my ex said to me as he was passing by where we were sitting, "Why is her [M L-I] angel facing a different way [from the pattern]?" Guess what? He was looking at the *back* of her work. Sigh....... mb

Your post prompted me to come out of lurking. I remember your articles on knot stitches in Just Cross Stitch mag. being a big help to me at the time.

I am no longer doing cross stitch, having branched into various types of surface stitching. I think doing knots prompted me to get into embroidery with textures.

However it is nice to see an old-fashioned chat group continuing. Discussions about our stitching interest without advertisements, pop up stuff or trolls.

Sad to hear stitching festivals are declining in the USA. In July the New Zealand national embroidery school is happening in my town and we are all looking forward to it. We are expecting about 400 attendees so it will be great fun.