Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for 2014!

Ahh... 'twas the week before Christmas and all through the house..... well I'd like to say I'm prepared but we have had so much snow since late November that I keep saying " oh, I'll do it tomorrow when it's not snowing...." and that day never seems to come, so today I have to go out in the snow and do things! Hope you have had a fine Christmas season and are enjoying some of your traditions that make it Christmas for you. I have done some stitching and happy for that and I have done alot of my preparation for the Nashville Needlework show, so that is great too. Often at this time of year we look back at the year it was and look forward to the year it might be. If I look back I am amazed, amazed at being able to meet you all... enjoy with you- your little spot in the world, our shared passion for stitching and all threads and fabrics that are so fun. I am humbled by the lovely work you all do and the creativity that you all in some sort possess! I am challenged by seeing your works and your enthusiasm and look forward so much to meeting you again and continuing to share our lives. It has certainly enriched mine!

When I look forward; I see new horizons and new challenges and of course some comfy repeats that I love to do. I must go add things on the Events page, but I will be in Florida in March at Needlecraft World, check with Cathy for info. I will be at Celebration of Needlework in New Hampshire in the end of April -beginning of May. In the fall in October I will be at Acorns and Threads in Portland and also one other place. Look for that to come. New for Nashville? well there will be lots, so I will keep you posted here what to look for! But we have lots of kits and samplers coming - look forward to sharing them with you.

In this holiday season, I wish you the very best. Enjoy your family and friends. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Be Merry and Bright, Jeannette

PS the Joy banner will be released Sept 2014, I just get to put it up this year!

Home Sweet Home

I'm home and loving it. The dog cried..... you know how they run around you, so excited and giving you kisses and then this sort of crying sound..... oh gosh, makes me feel like I can never leave again! As you can tell by my not posting right away, I was tired and needed to recharge.... it had been alot back to back and I needed to spend time with my family and friends, walk the dog, and enjoy the wonderful fall Calgary has had after such a wet June.

The weekend getaway with Crafty Ewe in Ohio was amazing! We enjoyed it so very much, and I think I speak for everyone, Carol did such a lovely job making the retreat a special time. Thank you! Makes my job easier when I come. The ladies were so enthusiastic and are so talented, it was lovely to see how everyone took their project whether they were doing the sampler or the needlebook and made it their own. The units at the Staybridge were excellent and the room for the event, just the right size and we got to eat outside, love that! Thank you ladies for making me feel so welcome - I enjoyed it very much. I hope that by now you have your little quaker pincushion chart from me via email and the ones who needed initials - have their initials. If you don't email me - info @ jeannette douglas .com  - without the spaces.

Then off to the Viriginia Beach event with Dyeing To Stitch retreat at the Cavalier Hotel, yes, right on the beach! All I can say is that having super weather really helps! It makes that sunrise on the eastern side -Atlantic Ocean amazing - having seen many more western sunset type things living out west. The ocean was so blue and we saw dolphins feeding several times quite close to shore, quite a treat! Tina and Teri of Shepherd's Bush and I tried to run out and enjoy beach moments in a beach chair whenever we could! How wonderful that is, visiting with my kindred spirits in a spot like that. Pam and Bob of Olde Colonial were so very kind and picked me up at the airport so we got to have a good catch up since seeing them in the summer. The event is always a huge success and fun was had by all. I think a few gals have already finished a few projects from the retreat and that is wonderful to see, check it out on facebook. Our last night was a dinner where you had to dress for an occasion - the ocassion - the decade you were born in. What fun! Thanks Pat and Ann for a great retreat, enjoyed it immensely. Please check out Paulette Stewart's blog -Plum Street Samplers - as she did a spectacular job on writing a great blog on the retreat with pictures!! http://plumstreetsamplers.typepad.com/ She and I were roomates and what a delight she is - she calls me her Canadian sister and I name her my American sister, needless to say with that, our week of rooming together made for late night talks and some big laughs and missing her the morning of my return.

To round off the 2 retreats, Pat and Ann, Cheryl and Norma, Paulette and I spent a few days in Washington, DC together. What a wonderful few days, mind you I have never been so wet as I was at Mt. Vernon..... oh my, Paulette has a most dreadful picture of me.... sopping wet! But you know I had on clothes that dried quickly, that worked out.  Seeing the monuments was amazing as I tried to get my presidents straight! Surprised myself as I did know the white house address! I love history so I would say I need to go again and see things that were closed because of government shutdowns.

My thanks to you all for making my time away so lovely and memorable, look forward to next year! I will post on the events page soon, a few things are still somewhat undecided - like dates- so we will post when I have a firm date. But look for  me in Nashville, TN in February for the wholesale needlework show, in Florida at Needlecraft World in March, at Celebration of Needlework in New Hampshire in the end of April beginning of May. In the fall 2014 back to 2 of my favourite places!

Enjoy your fall projects!

As ever, jeannette

New JDD Fall 2013 and what an amazing over the 'pond' trip

How can I say amazing in 10 different ways? What a wonderful trip to Fobbles in Cumbria, UK and to De Handwerk Boetiek in Roden, The Netherlands. We had some lovely events in both places and our weekends of stitching were laced with fun and learning together. Staying in Ravenglass on the Irish Sea for the UK event is such a treat - it is  a charming little place by the sea, and I took some great walks, one even to some old Roman Bath ruins. The English Beauty Sampler was stitched on heartily and stitchers seemed to get quite a bit done, which was terrific. Thanks to everyone who made my week in the Lake District an awesome one, even got to Hill Top House - the home where Beatrix Potter lived and at the museum in Hawkshead where they were celebrating the centenary of Beatrix Potter’s wedding to William Heelis and the publication of The Tale of Pigling Bland. I have a little story on that and you might ask me the next time you see me! A visit to Chatsworth House ended my magical week. Thank you gals for a very special time. Once in Holland I got my wish for a Croquette for supper, love those things! Ask me about that too unless you know what it is! Delicious.  Our 2 days of workshops there were so fabulous, I cannot say how I really felt - except that I think that my mother and father would have been filled with joy to know that their daughter who was born in Canada taught in their native country in their language, even though they immigrated almost 60 years ago. It is a testament to them that I can speak it as I do. I wish I would have taught my children <regret> . The ladies were so welcoming, I enjoyed every minute despite being quite warm - it was very hot temperature wise and it seemed not a breeze in the air. But we shared and enjoyed our stitching on the little scissors fob that went with the Hollandse Merklap. Thanks to Annemiek and her parents for being such great hosts! I ended my week in Holland with my cousins and enjoyed some great family visits.

Now it is on with the new!

We have a new series called:

A most suitable Name – taking some primitive themes and adding a little word/name play to the piece, mostly I have used names that are meaningful to me, Nimble Netty – my family calls me Nettie and the grandma I was named after was born in 1898 – hence the date on the piece. My sister’s name is Wilhelmina and she is called Willi – so we will have a “wool Willie’ in the series, just some fun things. There are no thread packs it uses Gentle Art and Weeks Dye Works threads.

Numero Vintage Pillows – I loved the Numero piece from the spring and wondered what the grey colours would like on a creamy white fabric and wanted  a basket of pillows – so I had some fun, I played with greys and buttons and charms and some wonderful wools for backing and used different edgings and finished them all into little pillows and have them in a wood container in my front entry way. This has a thread pack with all the charms, buttons and rick rack and silk needed to stitch the pieces.

To continue to challenge some beginner specialty stitch stitchers, I have taken elements from the Stitches series and made smaller samplers using DMC floss and some Handyed floss colours. With Mini Vintage stitches there is the one Gloriana Thread included in the chart and with Mini Pumpkin Stitches – there is thread pack as I used some wools.

And dare I say that I am on my way again out of country.... I leave on Friday for more excitement in Ohio at Crafty Ewe! I am so looking forward to this event. I have  just a few little things to tie up on Thursday and of course well tomorrow we hope to ship out new things, so there is still a pile to wade through before I go, but it should be good and then I get to share in stitching with the gals at Crafty Ewe.

The following weekend I go over to the Dyeing to Stitch retreat. It is always such a wonderful time , I remember the first time 4 years ago we all went out for dinner and now the place where we went; fell into the ocean after a storm. It seems sad that that place is gone, but hopefully we can still go have some 'she' crab soup which is terrific. And gee it isn't really all about the food.... but one gets to have some favourites when you get to go back!!

Looking forward to seeing you all, safe travels, love jeannette