I started the "North Star Santa" in Janet Zickler Casey's class during the 2001 ANG Seminar in Washington, DC. I enjoyed the class and wanted to continue working on my Santa but when I arrived home I was sick with sinus and ear infections. I had planned on picking the Santa back up to finish the stitching when I felt better, but several days later was September 11, 2001. With everything that was happening I put this project away and it became buried in my stash. Every once in a while I would think about my "North Star Santa" as I knew I wanted to finish him to add him to my needlepoint ornaments.
I also wanted to stitch more of Janet's designs, but the only way that you can purchase one of Janet's designs is by taking that canvas class with Janet or at ANG Seminar's Expo where sometimes Janet offered canvases from discontinued classes. You couldn't purchase any of her canvases directly from her or from an LNS. One of my stitching friends had attended several more ANG Seminars since 2001 and had picked up several more of Janet's Santa's at ANG's Expo. Yes, we are both Janet Zickler Casey canvas collectors!
This past fall, Kate Gaunt and Marie-Therese Baker started the Shining Needle Society which you can read about here;
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SNS_Home_Room/
They announced that their next project would be two of Janet's Santa’s, "Candy Swirl Santa" and "North Wind Santa". Wahoo! Since I didn't have either of these canvases and I was interested in what they would be offering in future classes, I joined the Shining Needle Society. There is a fee for each class but membership to the Shining Needle Society's Home Room Yahoo group is free!
I then learned that Janet had created a site where you could see all of her projects at;
http://www.jzcdesigns.com/
To see Janet’s Santa’s, click on the “Christmas” link or go directly to;
http://www.jzcdesigns.com/christmas.htm
Not only do I have several more of her Santa's but I also have "Tom Turkey"! Of course, now that I can see all of her projects I want all of her Santa's, and of course I need "Miles" and "Prudence" to go with "Tom Turkey" and “Miss Liberty” to go with my “Uncle Sam” and...
I ordered both of the Santa’s that would be offered through the Shining Needle Society classroom. I then decided that I needed to finish the "North Star Santa" as he was the first one in my collection before I could start on the new Santa's. I dug around in my stash, and believe me this took a while as it had been packed up and moved around several times as we finished our basement!
I still had quite a bit to finish on my "North Star Santa". When you are taking a needlepoint class you usually can't finish the project in class. The teacher moves around the canvas teaching the stitches or techniques for different sections/areas of the project and answering questions. Now this is very hard for someone like me who, for want of a better word, tends to be a little bit AR. Okay, a lot! :-) I've found I do better in classes if I concentrate on one area at a time, and write down the notes from the instructor for the other areas and sometimes I may stitch a sample of the stitch for that area. In other words, I had finished stitching "North Star Santa's" face. I had laid down stitches for his hat, mustache and beard so I would remember how to stitch these areas when I arrived home. I've found this especially helpful when I have to put a project down for a while. Okay, okay, in this case several years!
This was a fun project and worked up fairly quickly. I've posted a picture I took a week ago showing the areas that were completed. My goal was to finish him by the end of this weekend, February 3, 2008. I'll post another message in a day or so to let you know if I made it!
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Original Comments:
- Very cute Santa, Cynthia. Good luck getting him done quickly so you can start on the others.
Jane of Chilly Hollow
- This is a cute one! Can't wait to see how you do!
NC Pat – Needleart Nut
- Hi Jane and Pat,Thanks for the enouraging words. Stay tuned and I'll let you know if I finished the North Star Santa on schedule!
I also wanted to stitch more of Janet's designs, but the only way that you can purchase one of Janet's designs is by taking that canvas class with Janet or at ANG Seminar's Expo where sometimes Janet offered canvases from discontinued classes. You couldn't purchase any of her canvases directly from her or from an LNS. One of my stitching friends had attended several more ANG Seminars since 2001 and had picked up several more of Janet's Santa's at ANG's Expo. Yes, we are both Janet Zickler Casey canvas collectors!
This past fall, Kate Gaunt and Marie-Therese Baker started the Shining Needle Society which you can read about here;
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SNS_Home_Room/
They announced that their next project would be two of Janet's Santa’s, "Candy Swirl Santa" and "North Wind Santa". Wahoo! Since I didn't have either of these canvases and I was interested in what they would be offering in future classes, I joined the Shining Needle Society. There is a fee for each class but membership to the Shining Needle Society's Home Room Yahoo group is free!
I then learned that Janet had created a site where you could see all of her projects at;
http://www.jzcdesigns.com/
To see Janet’s Santa’s, click on the “Christmas” link or go directly to;
http://www.jzcdesigns.com/christmas.htm
Not only do I have several more of her Santa's but I also have "Tom Turkey"! Of course, now that I can see all of her projects I want all of her Santa's, and of course I need "Miles" and "Prudence" to go with "Tom Turkey" and “Miss Liberty” to go with my “Uncle Sam” and...
I ordered both of the Santa’s that would be offered through the Shining Needle Society classroom. I then decided that I needed to finish the "North Star Santa" as he was the first one in my collection before I could start on the new Santa's. I dug around in my stash, and believe me this took a while as it had been packed up and moved around several times as we finished our basement!
I still had quite a bit to finish on my "North Star Santa". When you are taking a needlepoint class you usually can't finish the project in class. The teacher moves around the canvas teaching the stitches or techniques for different sections/areas of the project and answering questions. Now this is very hard for someone like me who, for want of a better word, tends to be a little bit AR. Okay, a lot! :-) I've found I do better in classes if I concentrate on one area at a time, and write down the notes from the instructor for the other areas and sometimes I may stitch a sample of the stitch for that area. In other words, I had finished stitching "North Star Santa's" face. I had laid down stitches for his hat, mustache and beard so I would remember how to stitch these areas when I arrived home. I've found this especially helpful when I have to put a project down for a while. Okay, okay, in this case several years!
This was a fun project and worked up fairly quickly. I've posted a picture I took a week ago showing the areas that were completed. My goal was to finish him by the end of this weekend, February 3, 2008. I'll post another message in a day or so to let you know if I made it!
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Original Comments:
- Very cute Santa, Cynthia. Good luck getting him done quickly so you can start on the others.
Jane of Chilly Hollow
- This is a cute one! Can't wait to see how you do!
NC Pat – Needleart Nut
- Hi Jane and Pat,Thanks for the enouraging words. Stay tuned and I'll let you know if I finished the North Star Santa on schedule!
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Originally Posted: February 3, 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment