Margaret BendigTag Archives

Wine Country Stitchy Weekend

I headed out to southern California’s wine country for a stitching retreat this weekend that was arranged by Margaret Bendig, a needlework teacher based here. It was a completely no-frills retreat weekend and was absolutely wonderful! There was no class piece, no goody bags, etc. Everyone just brought whatever they wanted to work on, some snacks, and enjoyed a wonderful weekend spent with other stitchers.

Our group of about 30 ladies and one gentleman (Hi, Ray!) stayed at the Viña de Lestonnac in Temecula which is not only a retreat center, but also a convent for the Sisters of the Company of Mary. The grounds were absolutely stunning and overlooked a beautiful valley and part of the vineyards of the Danza del Sol Winery.

There was plenty of food and wine to go around all weekend.

There was an abundance of amazingly beautiful pieces being stitched as well. I meant to get photos of everyone’s stitching, but it just didn’t happen unfortunately. Below are some of the pieces the ladies sitting near me were working on during the retreat.

Darla was working on My Stitching Treasures by Jeanette Douglas Designs. She started it on Friday and had all of the border completed by the time we left on Sunday. She’s one speedy stitcher!

Wanda was working on Autumn at Hawk’s Run Hollow from Carriage House Samplings. She’s almost finished!

There were also plenty of stunning Mirabilia pieces being worked on this weekend. Sarah is on the downhill side of finishing her beautiful Autumn Queen.

Debbie was working on Elizabeth, one of the newer Mirabilia designs.

As for me, I worked on a couple of different pieces from Nora Corbett/Mirabilia this weekend. The first piece was Nora’s Sunflower Fairy which appeared in the September 2009 issue of Cross-Stitch and Needlework magazine. I didn’t work on it that much, but here are my before & after progress pics for the weekend.

Before Retreat

After Retreat

I actually ended up spending most of my stitching time (which was vastly less than my socializing time LOL) working on Lady Alexandra. She’s such a fun piece to stitch and was just calling my name this weekend.

Before Retreat

After Retreat

While I didn’t get quite as much stitching accomplished this weekend as I would have liked, I still had such a wonderful time. Margaret is already tentatively planning to hold two more of these no-frills retreats next year in Temecula again (June 15-17 and Nov. 9-11). She is considering offering an optional flag-themed needlepoint class at the June retreat since it will be Flag Day weekend. We all got a sneak peek at the piece she’s designing for it over the weekend. If she offers it, I’m definitely interested in taking the class!

If anyone is interested in more information about the retreats for next year, just drop me an email using the envelope icon under my photo in the sidebar. I can then put you in touch with the organizer. She’s current putting together a no obligation interest list with names and email addresses. She’ll use the list to contact everyone who expressed an interest when she has more information regarding costs and is ready to start taking registrations.

Until next time …

14 November 2011

Cross Stitch

2 comments

Carriage House Samplings, Jeannette Douglas, Lady Alexandra, Margaret Bendig, Mirabilia, Retreat, Sunflower Fairy

Plum Blossom Kimono & Life Update

Amazingly enough, I’m still sick, but think I may finally be rounding the corner to good health again. I’ve literally been sick since July 1. It initially started as just a summer cold. It then progressed into a sinus infection, so I went to the doctor and was put on antibiotics.

As of Friday (July 9) I still wasn’t feeling well, so I went back to the doctor. After another exam and a chest x-ray, I learned that it had developed into an upper respiratory infection. The doctor was concerned it might turn into pneumonia, so I was put on a stronger antibiotic with a steroid pack booster. I actually felt a LOT worse on Saturday, but I think it was my body finally just trying to get all the crap out of my lungs. Each subsequent day has been a bit better, so I’m hoping by mid-week that I’ll be back to my normal self again free of the hacking cough.

So, what’s the good side to all this illness? I’ve gotten in quite a bit of stitching time. I participated in the July Weekend Stitch-A-Long on Facebook. I decided to pull out my Plum Blossom Kimono to work on it. This was a class I took last summer at my LNS from local designer/teacher, Margaret Bendig. I haven’t worked on it in quite some time, so I thought this SAL would be a good time to give it some attention. Here are my before & after pics showing the progress I made this weekend:

Before (as of Saturday morning):

After (as of Sunday night):

I’m so excited to have all of the outlining done! Doing that much pearl cotton outlining on Congress Cloth is pretty boring, but I made it through. Now I’m really for the fun part which is filling in all those little boxes with lots of pretty silks.

Of course, the whole weekend wasn’t spent just stitching. There was a lot of studying that happened as well. My college classes started on July 1, so I’m back into the world of having to study. It hasn’t been very fun given I’ve been sick, but I’m doing OK since it’s mostly been a lot of reading so far. I might not have felt the same way if I had been sick and was trying to write papers, too.

I’m currently in the process of studying for the CompTIA A+ certification exams. I have to obtain this certification for my job per a DoD requirement by the end of the year. The nice thing is I can kill two birds with one stone because I can use the A+ certification to knock out two of my college courses as well (IT Fundamentals II & III). It’s basically an entry-level IT certification, but it’s been long enough since I’ve done basic hardware/software troubleshooting that I’m definitely having to study to brush up on all the various beep codes, printer error codes, etc.

In other personal news, as if I didn’t have enough going on already, I’ve decided to move. I’ve been living in a one-bedroom apartment since my divorce six years ago. I finally decided I’ve had enough of being so cramped and will be moving into a two-bedroom apartment. Not only will I have a larger living room/dining room area, but I’ll finally have a craft room again, too!

Until next time …

13 July 2010

Misc., Stitching

6 comments

canvas, kimono, Margaret Bendig, Moving, SAL, Studying, WIPs

Meh

Meh … I haven’t felt like blogging lately mostly because I haven’t felt like stitching either. I think I’ve only stitched three times this month, so I’m definitely in a stitching slump. However, I’m apparently not in a stash acquisition slump. Here are my latest purchases:

Most of these items were purchased Saturday when I headed over to my LNS for our 5th Saturday open stitch class. Yes, this is in addition to our regularly scheduled monthly Saturday stitch, so we got to stitch twice this month! So, for those of you who are quick studies, you may have quickly deduced that this was two of my three times stitching this month.

On the left is the latest in the anniversary series called “A Wish for You” from Blackbird Designs. Given it’s 1) designed by BBD, 2) has a house, and 3) has a bunny, how could I not get it?

I also picked up the Lila “Needle Tweets” needle case from Just Nan. As an added bonus, the owner of my LNS had them kitted which was really nice. One of the other woman at our all-day Saturday Stitch had hers finished and it was absolutely adorable! I also picked up the matching stitch marker “tail” to complete my little birdie.

At the bottom of the photo are a couple of accessories purchases. The blue rectangle is actually a magnet mounted to a metal bracket. It’s for use as a needle park with the mini stretcher bars used for canvas work. The magnet is actually strong enough that it will hold a pair of scissors as well. The other accessory is a button pack from Just Another Button Company. It’s the set needed for the Miracles Happen chart I picked up during my trip to San Francisco back in December.

The last item didn’t come from my LNS. It’s the next installment in the Little House Needleworks ornament of the month series that I get on automatic from Drema at Needlecraft Corner. The design is called “Red House in Winter” and it so cute! I just love Diane’s houses.

I also learned about another canvas class coming up at my LNS beginning in August & September (two Saturday classes with a month between) that I would love to take. I’m just not sure if I can swing it though which I will explain in the next paragraph. The piece is called “Summertime” and is from my dear friend and local designer, Margaret Bendig. The photo simply does not do this piece justice. It is absolutely GORGEOUS in person. It’s worked entirely in silks and is just so delicately beautiful. If you’re in the southern California area and are interested in the class, just contact Diana at the shop for more information. I wish I had a larger photo so you could see it a bit better, but this is all I have:

Now, as to the reason why I don’t think I can swing two Saturdays for the class, I’m going back to school. When I was younger, I dropped out of college at the start of my senior year to get married. I intended to go back and finish my degree after taking a little time off, but I just never did . I’ve been putting off going back for years, but finally decided it’s time to just suck it up and get it done. I’ve already been accepted into the program. All I’m waiting for now is for the school to receive my transcripts and to get the approval from my employee for the tuition reimbursement program. If everything goes well, I’m hoping to start classes on July 1. If I can’t get everything finished in time for that date, then it will get pushed back to August 1 instead. Either way, I’ll likely need those two Saturdays when the “Summertime” class is taking place to study, write papers, etc. Time for stitching may definitely become a real luxury for me now which makes it all the more sad that I’ve been in a slump of late.

I guess that’s it for now. Until next time …

31 May 2010

Cross Stitch

10 comments

Blackbird Designs, Just Nan, LHN/CCN, Margaret Bendig, Stash

New Stash – Part 2

So the saga continues … this is part two of my new stash acquisitions of late. Given how much I now realized that I’ve picked up in the past month, I’m not sure I really saved anything while on my stash “diet”.

Design: It’s Never Too Late
Designer: Primrose Needleworks

Design: One of Those Days
Designer: Miss Crescent’s Crowne

Design: Three Blox – Noel, Joy, Fa-La-La
Designer: Lizzie Kate

Design: Eek! Limited Edition Scissor Fob
Designer: Lizzie Kate

Design: Poinsettia House
Designer: Little House Needleworks

Design: Jenny Bean Halloween Sampler
Designer: Shakespeare’s Peddle

The final photo actually includes a few new purchases. The first is a counted canvas piece called Rodeo Queen by local designer Margaret Bendig. I’m not sure if I’ll ever do the little cowboy boot scissor holder, but I *love* the little heart-shaped needlebook. I bought the kit just to get that.

Next is the “Toil & Trouble” chart from La-D-Da. It’s is a companion piece to last year’s “Something Wicked” chart that I already have.

The last chart is the “Afraid of the Dark” sampler from Belinda at Blue Ribbon Designs. I’m not sure if I’ll ever stitch the actual sampler, but I love all the little smalls options and just had to have a copy.

Finally, there are also a couple of adorable little metal Needle Nannies from Puffin & Company. One is a kitty and the other is a sheep. I don’t use needle minders much when cross-stitching, but use them constantly when working on canvas projects.

Until next time …

23 November 2009

Stitching

4 comments

BRD, Jenny Bean, La-D-Da, Lizzie Kate, Margaret Bendig, Miss Crescent's Crowne, Needle Minder, Primrose Needleworks, Stash

The Time has Come

Yes, the time has come for me to admit that I have hopelessly fallen off my no-stash diet challenge. Thank goodness I’m doing better on my actual weight loss diet than I did on this challenge. I did manage to get 11 projects finished, so I made it almost halfway.

My latest finish was the first shoe for the Hagatha’s Slipper class that I took recently from Margaret Bendig. I finished this part up on Friday night, so now I just need to do it again in reverse for the opposite side.

What caused me to stray from my challenge? Well, once all of the Halloween designs started coming out recently, I knew I was doomed. I *love* Halloween stitching! Here are my latest purchases that I picked up at my LNS yesterday when I was there for our monthly Saturday Stitch.

Click to enlarge

I’m going to leave my 25 Projects page (also linked at the top of my blog) in place. After I make a few purchases from the St. Charles fall market for TNNA coming up in a couple of weeks, I plan to get back on my challenge and make NO MORE purchases until I finish the remaining 14 projects to reach my goal of 25.

Speaking of the St. Charles market, have you seen one of the new designs coming out from Paulette at Plum Street Samplers? I’m not usually much on the whole Adam & Eve samplers deal, but this one is a MUST have for me! It’s called “Garden of Eerie” and cracks me up every time I look at it. What an incredibly fun design!! (Hey Darla, did you spot there’s a vulture on it?! )

Paulette has three other designs coming out at market as well. You can see them on the Kelmscott website since they are the distributor for her designs.

Oh yeah, as long as I’m confessing, I should probably ‘fess up to not sticking with my new rotation plan either. I am actually in the process of reworking it though, so I’m not saying yet that I’m completely abandoning it. I’m playing around with a concept that Terri mentioned to me. Rather than selecting particular designs to incorporate into the rotation, each slot would be a particular theme instead. Here is what I’ve come up with so far:

10 hours on current projects (started within the past 6 months)
10 hours on older projects (started more than 6 months ago)
10 hours on seasonal projects (Christmas, Halloween, Easter, etc.)
10 hours on samplers
10 hours on canvas projects
10 hours on “anything goes” project(s) of my choice

I’ll just have to decide if I want to go forward with it. I made it through three slots of the previous rotation I had set up and found myself hating it the whole time. I think it’s the rebellious child in me. I just want to stitch on what I want when I want without some stinkin’ rotation telling me what to do.

I have a couple of floss toss pics to share with you all as well. I think since this entry is already getting pretty long, I’ll save those for another day.

Until next time …

13 September 2009

Stitching

6 comments

25 Project Challenge, canvas, Class, Cross Stitch, Darla, Margaret Bendig, Plum Street Samplers, Rotation, Terri, TNNA market, Weight Loss/Fitness

Stitchy Saturday

Today was the monthly stitching gathering at my LNS. As always, we had a great time!

This month things were a bit different than normal. We generally just have an open stitching class and everyone works on whatever they want. This month we were divided up into two separate groups because some were taking a class called Hagatha’s Slipper designed by Margaret Bendig. The other group followed the usual format and stitched on whatever projects they liked.

As for me, I did a combination of the two. I started out with the class group until Margaret had gone over the basic instructions for the class, and then I moved back over to the main group so I could spend time with Dana, Terri, and Darla. Here’s a pic of the class model along with the progress I made today:

While I was at the shop, I also picked up some fibers for a chart I’ve had in my stash for a couple of years, but have never gotten around to stitching. It’s Voodoo Bob (a.k.a. Voodoo Boy from Haberdashery Designs). After seeing Missy Ann finish her Voodoo Boy, it has me hankering again to want to stitching. Since I’m not a fan of Kreinik, I’ve opted to go with Accentuate for mine. The fabric I’m going to use is some 32-count Black Ask Lugana by Sassy’s Fabrics from my stash.

There were also a couple of fantastic finishes that people showed off today. The first is Mermaid of the Pearls by Mirabilia stitched by Lisa who works part-time at the shop. The other finish was actually a framing finish as well. Olga brought in her beautiful version of Margaret’s Plum Blossom Kimono. She opted to go with a red & green colorway and had it framed using double silk custom-cut mats. It’s gorgeous!