Feeling like a tired dog!

I've been so busy dragging things out of "the room" the past couple of weeks - and with my bum back, it's been no easy accomplishment! But, I did manage (finally) to get pretty much everything out of the famous room where I keep my stitching stash (among a zillion other things) and it's now freshly painted and aired out and ready for the great "de-stashing" and re-organization to begin.

Honestly, I can't believe the amount of STUFF that I managed to accumulate since moving into this house in 2001. Aside from the stitching stash (I didn't even discover stitching until 2004), I had box upon box stock full of papers, lesson plans, books for school, medical records (LOTS of those, unfortunately), legal papers (again, TONS of papers documenting the saga with my back injury, surgery, doctor reports ... UGH!)

I swear, it was torturous enough just to lug all these things out, but now I have the daunting task of sitting and going through said boxes to determine what I REALLY need to keep and what can go into the shredder. And photos - Lord, I had no idea the amount of photo albums and yearbooks and loose photos I had acquired just during my teaching career alone. I just can't find it in my heart to toss out these things. I know, I'm being ridiculous, but they're memories and I do tend to wax nostalgic. I also have a yearbook from almost every year I taught school - those, I'm going to have to part with, I'm afraid. I just hate the idea of recycling them (and all the notes my students wrote in them) but they just take up too much space and are heavy as lead. I'll keep a few from special years - it's the deciding which ones to toss out that kills me. I keep getting an image in my mind of the folks on HOARDERS who cry or freak out over tossing out an old newspaper or broken knick-knack and I'm like "SNAP OUT OF IT!" Lol!

As for stitching, well.... I've only managed to complete the first Shining Needle Society lesson from my Kathy Rees counted canvas work (we're on week three now), but I do plan to work on that a bit more SOON. Here's the section I've completed so far on Sherwood Garden using the Bermuda Reef colorway. This is my first foray into canvas work, and I must admit that I REALLY LIKE IT!! Not enough to can all my cross stitch WIP's and my planned projects, but enough to delve into some other canvas designs when I'm done with this piece. If there are no updates from this little corner of cyberland, don't be surprised if I've been crushed under a box of cross stitch charts! Nah -- Seamus is keeping a close eye on things, but he'll be happy when this mess all over the house is out of the path of his stomping grounds. Notice, he doesn't seem too amused with the room makeover! I feel his pain!

The Shining Needle Society

I recently received an email from designer Kathy Rees about a new counted canvas design she's releasing titled "Sherwood Garden."  Here's a picture of it in its original colorway, but there are FOUR additional color ways available (Peacock, Bermuda Reef, Stained Glass and Camouflage!)

The exciting news about this latest design is that Kathy will be teaching a cyber class to guide stitchers in the creation of this design!  She will be teaching via Shining Needle Society (a Yahoo group) and the full kit will be mailed to you before class starts this Spring. (Yes, I couldn't resist, and signed up for the Bermuda Reef colorway and class!)  Here's what Kathy had to say about this design:

"I will also be teaching this class online through the Shining Needle Society. If you're not familiar with the Shining Needle Society or want to join, send an email to Kate Gaunt (the leader) at kategaunt@aol.com It's easy to sign up, it's free and the only emails you get are announcements about classes. Membership offers you access to classes from dozens of teachers and you only pay if you sign up for a class. I'm honored to be the newest addition to the faculty and registration for Sherwood Garden runs through March 8th. So far 20 states and 2 countries are represented by registration! I'm excited to see how many different states I'll end up with when registration closes! You can see details and photos of the alternate colorways in the Shining Needle Class anouncement at"

 https://dl.dropbox.com/u/46618682/SherwoodGarden.pdf 

 I'm super excited for two reasons -- one, I'll be getting guided instructions from the designer (Kathy) and two, I'm now a member of The Shining Needle Society, which offers some truly amazing online classes and materials from the designers/instructors.

After joining up with Shining Needle Society, I received notices about several upcoming classes.  One that DEFINITELY made my heart skip a beat was called Sun Dragon (by Dorothy Lesher):

I am still thinking about joining this class as well (meaning, you KNOW I'll eventually break down and join!)  But, even more exciting to me is Dorothy's "Moon Dragon" design which will be taught later and is featured in the Shining Needle Society class notice:  https://dl.dropbox.com/u/46618682/SunDragon2013.pdf

To learn more about these designs, check out the links above or contact Kate Gaunt at kategaunt@aol.com to join Shining Needle Society.  There is no cost to join the SNS group - you only pay for the classes/materials that interest you.