Inspired Stitches - Ramblings of a Blackworker

What a long week this has been!!!! Work’s had me hopping, but unfortunately I don’t seem to be making much progress. Getting ready for the Needlework Show also has had me busy. Then, my mother extended her trip with us as well. We’ve had a great time, but when everything’s moving so fast, it’s hard to get it all done.

Today’s my sister’s birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUBDA!!!!!!!

Speaking of my family, I’ve now successfully irritated my mother by posting my favorite picture of her on a Kodak photo contest. Stop in at www.kodakgallery.com/life. Do a search for the picture with the e-mail sally @ stitchinspiration . com (remove the extra spaces). The little girl looking at the camera through her knees - well that’s my mother!!!!! Please-please vote for it…… it’s to win the bet we unofficially have about the picture. It’s my favorite picture of her, and well, as you can guess, she’s not a fan of it. She really didn’t appreciate it when we put it on her birthday cake last year, and now I’ve taken it national!!!

OK, she’s watching me type and is now proofreading as I write……. please vote - and vote daily!!!

Well, I also wanted to remind you about the Needlework Show which is now open. There’s a great variety of needlework vendors shown. I’ve only made it through a few, but look forward to adding to my wish list sometime this weekend!

This weekend, expect to find me very tired. Jim and I will be heading over to the church tomorrow afternoon for our Senior High lock-in. The kids are threatening midnight football, although we’re expecting bad storms. We’ll see how it goes - but count on the fact that we won’t be getting much rest and relaxation tomorrow night! It wil be a lot of fun, and hopefully a special time for the group. Two are getting ready to head out for the Marines and the Air Force, so this will be one of our last times all together.

Have a wonderful evening! Talk with you sometime this weekend!!!

Well, the Needlework Show begins tomorrow evening at 6PM, and I’m in the final stages of getting ready for it. Are you!!??!!!!
For the stitcher, it’s a great opportunity to find lots of new designs to tempt you, and if you don’t have a local needlework shop nearby - a great opportunity to purchase through one of the many shops who offer special orders for these shows. You’ll definitely want to stop by our showroom each day, as I’ve hidden Needlework Building Blocks away, which will be changed daily!

Outside of the excitement for me about the Needlework Show, it’s been a crazy week / weekend (and it’s only Tuesday!!! Ugh) We’ve really had a nice visit with my mother, who got here last week. Since she’s retired, she enjoys coming early, and staying late. We weren’t able to take Thursday or this week off from work, but she’s had a long list of things to do. Funny, sometimes I think she knows Richmond even better than I do. Every visit she has certain places she wants to stop by to shop and play, and always has her city map ready to go. There’s no stopping her! She has gotten an eye-opening experience watching me prepare for this show. It was under her guidance that I learned to stitch, so I love having her see all that it takes behind the scenes to pull things together.

Well, I must jump away to finish pulling together everything for the show. Don’t forget to stop in, and if you find something you just can’t live without, please do contact one of the many shops who will special order. Also, don’t forget about our daily freebies!!!! Now, off to finish getting those babies ready to release.

PS - Wren Birdnest update - No eggs laid yet, but they’re still working on the nest. Jack the lab has picked up on their proximity, and seems to check them out himself whenever he comes into the office!

Sunday afternoons… you just have to love them. The busy weekend is winding down, and it’s a lovely VA spring day outside. So, I’m asking myself, why am I inside……?????? Jim’s off to church for youth, and Jack’s asleep at my feet. Meaning… it’s nice and quiet in the house. OK, so I’m really a hermit at heart - I admit it.

It’s been a busy weekend, getting the Needlework Building Blocks caught up finally. Note the new addition to your right with the Blog Block of the Day (or really entry) link added. Each time I add to the blog, I’ll post a different block. You’ll have to be quick to catch them!!! Tonight I’m finalizing my decisions on the next release of designs, which will come out at the Needlework Show mid-April. Oh, which ones will be coming to life for you all to find???? What a tough decision that always is! Luckily, I do have quite a few designs ready to go to choose from. I did work on some new designs last night, and can’t wait to see what they grow into.

Designing blackwork - how does it happen? Well, the designs just seem to develop on their own accord. I get an idea, and slowly over time it develops. I’ll play with it right when it comes to me, then it always seems to take a back seat to others. Then, one day it will pop back into my head, and I develop it a little more. Then, after several phases of development, it will all of a sudden come together. In between, various stages of good, and bad, versions try to come to life. It’s always interesting to look back at where it started. Alot of times, my original idea is NOTHING like the finished product. It was just the starting point.

My blackwork fills are, truthly, my doodling coming to life. I’ve always played around with graphics and repeats. Even as a child, my father would give me his engineering graph pads, and I’d spend hours trying this doodle or that out. I clearly remember many of them which I’d repeated sketch out, and some of those have now come to life in my fills. Again, some will develop over time. Once I come up with one - whether I like it then or not - it goes into my library. Some of the ones I actually didn’t like at first, have soon become my favorite when I put it in that perfect design or put it together with others. I love the mix of various fills, and play around with them as I design. Is there a PERFECT way to combine the fills? Probably. But, I believe that perfection in needlework is simply the eye of the stitcher. If they’re happy with their selection of fabrics and threads, then it’s the perfect piece for them.

Well, it’s going to be a busy week here in the Rudkin household. My mom heads into town on Wednesday from SC for Easter, and we’ve not even started getting ready for her. Whew - hope she’s not reading….. Also, it’s a 4 day week at my job (yes, I have a real job AND design), and that ALWAYS means we’ll be squeezing 5 days of work in to 4 days. Whew, just thinking about it tires me out.

Everyone have a wonderful Easter week! I always look forward to our Maundy Thursday Communion service, as it celebrates a very poignant time for Christ. How humbling it is to celebrate communion on the day when He took his own Last Supper!

Ever have a time when your head’s filled with ideas, lists, and things to do, but you just can’t get moving? Well, I’ve been in that mode for a while now, and am finally getting moving along. Things with Stitchin’spiration really moved much faster than originally planned, so I felt the tug of many-many-many ideas pulling me different ways.

Well, finally I’ve pulled together the list, and am starting to work through it in good order.

Today, you’ll notice that I’ve cleaned up the website design some. Hopefully, with these changes, pages will pull up easier for you surfers. Next step, to get the Needlework Building Blocks pages updated and cleaned up. Designs are currently in the wings, waiting to come to life. Updates will hopefully be made during the week of April 3, with the Stitchin’sight and Stitchin’board also being updated.

Big plans are in the works for April for other reason as well. From April 19 to April 24, we’ll be taking place again in The Needlework Show. How’d you like to shop for needlework in your jammies? Well, here’s your chance. Don’t have a needlework shop nearby to purchase for you? Well, there will be many shops available who’ll take special orders for any designs you find as you search through the many-many vendors.

Be sure to stop in at the Stitchin’spiration booth often, as we have plans in works for offering a freebie (or more) to stitchers and shops during the show. Also, we’ll be introducing you to more exciting designs from Stitchin’spiration. Come and see what the class of April, 2006 looks like!!!!!

Even with all the work happening on the computer all day, I somehow managed to make it out into a gorgeous Virginia spring day. Pollen hasn’t hit full throttle yet, so we could still enjoy the great weather and gentle breezes without seeing the yellow clouds. The wrens building the nest near our office window seemed to be trying to finish things up. Maybe someday soon we’ll have some babies to watch through the spring.

Well, since time’s changing tonight, and we’re losing an hour, I’d better run along. Happy evening!!!