STUDIO TIME

with Caela! Okay, I am really excited. Next week at this time I will have the good fortune to be in the company of many fabulous needleartists. I'm attending the EGA Rocky Mountain Regional Seminar held in Denver. The class choices this year are fabulous and it is such a treat to have the Seminar held in my own back yard, so to speak.

As a member of the hosting Chapter I will have certain volunteer duties but the rest of my day will be spent with national needlestar Caela Tyler. I've opted to sign up for her Studio Time and plan on taking full advantage of her expertise and wisdom. Studio time is where you bring any stitching issues you may be having or canvas problems, etc. to an expert to help you work out solutions. I will be seeking her help in how to go about making either of these major canvas/thread investments the best they can be. The rooster is 14"x14" by CanvasWorks. It is a handsome canvas that my husband bought for me several years ago. I have been perplexed as to how to stitch it and have tried a few things here and there, just to give DH the impression that I am actively working on it. He is thrilled that I will soon have help and is imagining a light at the end of the tunnel.

This is the other canvas and I've been saving it for over 20 years! It's by Elsa Williams and originally came with her tapestry wool. Well I am so glad I held off doing this, can you imagine all the different thread and stitches that can be used now? It's fairly large but so light and airy I think it will work up fairly quickly. Don't you? I want an open back ground but will defer to Caela before making a final decision.

For those of you that know Caela's work you understand why I jumped at the chance to sign up for her Studio. Having viewed many of her finished works in person, all superlative adjectives worthy of a fine artist come to mind, but there is one thing that stands out to me. I am talking about what I refer to as her light handed touch.

When I first began stitching I believed that heavier thread and stitch usage would be more dramatic and, quite honestly, I was never really happy with the end results but didn't know why. After seeing Caela's exquisite work, so intricate, light, showing fine detail, I learned right away that this is a far more effective way to enhance the design. Unfortunately this style does not come naturally to me, but I'm learning and hoping for a little osmosis action to take place at Seminar. I'll keep you posted.