Market is always such fun in the fall, and this year the designers really took off with the Halloween theme. I collect vintage Halloween items, so there were plenty of designs that were must-haves. I loved The Book of Spells from the Goode Houswif, and Primitive Needle’s Witches Hollow is going to be a fun one to stitch. The Jenny Bean Halloween sampler seemed to be a popular choice with everyone, as it has a more classic sampler look to it.

    Another popular design this year is birds…all types! One of my favorite designs of all was from Blackbird Designs Joyeaux Noel called Tis the Season with a French message of joy and a lovely cardinal. Just Nan had a lovely limited edition enameled bird, and a fun Hootzi Humbug owl design with special owl pin. Rosewood Manor had a very different Victorian looking sampler with a bluebird, though her Quaker Diamonds seems to be especially popular!

    The Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow is a stunning piece and is my favorite of the series. And I am always drawn to the little JBW designs…they are fun and easy to stitch, and make lovely ornaments!

    Overall, I sensed a lot of excitement in the stitching community for all the new designs and great support for all the designers. There were many more wonderful designs too numerous to mention (or stitch…but that doesn’t stop me from trying!) There really looked to be a little something for everyone.

Karen

We are now on Facebook and LinkedIn.  We have started a discussion group on Facebook on our customers’ favorite designers.  Please join us in this!  Susie

I just returned from St. Charles’ market.  As usual I am always amazed at the new designs that our wonderful designers have come out with.  The Embassy Suites had five full floors of rooms of designs.  It is really a treat to have the opportunity to meet these designers.  I am in the process of updating our gallery with new designs pictures, so keep checking for updates. 

Halloween designs were really big this year.  One of my favorites was Shakespeare’s Peddler with her new Jenny Bean Sampler and Pin Cushion( an alter ego of the designer or so she says).  She plans to do several more of these.  Primitive Needle also has several new designs and they are awesome.  My “to dos” have grown tremendously! 

Also I loved The Prairie Moon’s new Crypt Club.  It is not really a club, but I think I will collect them like they are.  Each design is wonderful – very cryptic!  Lizzie Kate did not disappoint me either.  I love her new Christmas ABC’s. 

 I also have a few limited edition Lizzie Kate Halloween designs but not many so come in soon.  I won’t be able to hold these – so first come, first serve.  The same with Just Nan.  I don’t really like that the designers are doing these.  They are wonderful designs and I know customers are disappointed when they are gone.  Actually sometimes it is the designers’ suppliers that only produce a limited number of special accessories so it is a trickle down theory.   

We have filled over 2 new baskets of charts and kits and I won’t even try to list them all.  Stop by the store – soon, very soon!  Susie

PS -Jenifer and Karen joined me on Saturday and hopefully they will post their experiences soon too!

We are now offering Amy Bunger’s Home Study of Kelly Clark’s Nativity through Stitches From the Heart.  Please let us known if you would like to join our shop stitching group on this wonderful navitity.  I have shown the first group of canvases we are offering.  Please call us at 812-437-1320 to join us.  The store will pay all shipping costs on this series.

The Columbus TNNA Market was fabulous as usual!  I love taking classes and meeting and talking to the designers in person.  I took 5 classes this year to make up for not taking any last year due to my nephew’s wedding.  My first class was with Laurie Wathen from Chandail in Texas.  The canvas was a lovely floral design from Ann Wheat-Pace.  I ordered several of her designs but my favorite piece is an Easter tree shirt that Laurie is doing a stitch guide on.  The class used several different stitches I had not used before including a cast-on stitch similar to a bullion but with a side seam to add another dimension plus it was a little easier than a regular bullion when pulling it off the needle.

The second class was from Julia Snyder from Dallas on a Raymond Crawford canvas called The Modern Tree.  It consists of 25 different ornaments done in Kreinik and beads.  I will bring the in process canvas and stitch guide in the shop for anyone who is interested in seeing the tree develop.  One of the most interesting ornaments is to do 2 Jessica’s on top of each other to give a lot of dimension and then it is actually covered in beads.  Another of my other favorites was an ornament of stacked beads. There is also a striped beaded ornament that is the same beads but done on different colored beading thread.  This shows you how picking different colors can make a difference in the appearance of the beads.

The third class was an embellishment class with Cynthia Thomas.  This was showing different ways to add more dimension and fun to a piece,  We ironed (and melted) Renaissance Angel Hair, added sequence, padded noses, learned the gather stitch for hair or fur or ruffles……It is a simple stitch but can be used with many different threads for different technique effects.  We worked on rouching.  I had did this with Sparkle Rays but it can be done with Kreinik and almost any stranded thread.

My fourth and fifth class was with Amy Bunger.  She is witty, informative, and an unbelievable teacher.  If you ever have the chance to take a class with her it is worth every penny.  I was so impressed and excited by her techniques that I have signed up for her 12 piece Nativity Home Study by Kelly Clark.  If you are interested I will order the Home Study for any of you and we can pay the shipping cost through the store.  We can also do this as a stitching group in the store and help each other with any problems.  We will have access to Amy too for any questions.  Each of her Home Study stitch guides include all of the threads and an 18-20 page guide with her techniques explained.  See http://www.amybunger.com/nativity_set_home_study.html for all of the prices and details.

Stop by the store to see all the new and exciting canvases arriving over the next few months.  Susie