On 1/6/04 11:16 PM,"Tia Mary-remove nekoluvr to reply"
posted:

I have THE bestest friends who give me wonderful b-day gifts (yesterday was
my b-day)! Janet gave me a gift cert. to CATS and you gotta know I LOVE that!

First, Happy B-Day to you. And what a great gift.

She's done this for me several times and it's absolutely fantastic!!
My other friend, Valerie, is the one I have been introducing to various
types of needlework things that do NOT come in kit form! She started doing
*snip*
So -- this is all going somewhere -- honest :-)). DH and I were over at her
house for a birthday treat and to get my present. I open up this gift and
it's
a new type of hooked rug. You cut strips of fabric and hook them onto the rug
backing with a special crochet type hook that has a large eye on the opposite

Sounds really interesting - and another, different project. How creative.

This rug was not my only gift tho (it was what the doggie gave me). There
was also a nice gift bag with some tissue sticking out of it and what looked
like the tops of a magazine. I was right -- it was a really nice machine
embroidery magazine with some fun projects and interesting articles. There
was
also a really neat pattern for a bargello piece called Ice Crystals by Susan
T.
Kerndt. It's really a neat pattern but it's done in blue -- I.A.P!!! I'm all
excited when I see it though and tell Valerie that I will just have to do it
in
purples. I tell her all about how I will take the chart with me to CATS and
buy the stuff I need there and will make sure that I show it to everyone!
*snip*
So -- I'm wrapping up the canvas and getting ready to put it and the chart
back in the gift bag when she tells me there's still something down in the
bottom of the bag. I dig around a bit and pull out another wad of "something"
-- I unwrap the "wad" of something -- there are ALL of the supplies I will
need
to do this project -- IN PURPLES! She said she spent hours in the owner of
the
LNS down in FL (near her MIL's home when she was there at Christmas) picking
out the stuff for this project! The supplies include a skien of Caron
Waterlilies (silk), a skien of Thread Gatherer (Silk 'n Colors), a skien of
Caron Impressions (silk & wool), a card of Rainbow Gallery Splendor (silk), a
card of Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid, a spool of Kreinik #4 braid and
last but not least a packet of Mill Hill beads!!! All of this from a woman
who
is not comfortable using beads on a simple project!!

How wonderful and amazing - your friend cares so much, and you've made such
an impression on her growing needlework skills.

kit! I think the fact that she took the time and went to all the trouble to
make sure she changed the blues to purples is a BETTER gift than all of the
supplies! She said that the shop owner started to pull the colors listed and
Valerie stopped her immediately and said "NO BLUE -- my friend hates blue --
it
has to be purples" -- LOLOL!

That is a true gift in her showing you how well she knows you, and taking
the time to do that.

BTW - when you finish it, I bet Sue Kerndt would love to see a picture of
the piece. Sue is in my ANG chapter, and I've been in one of her pilot
classes, think we're doing another this spring. She's a great teacher, has
so much knowledge, and likes when we do things in a couple of different
colorways - and then she gets to see what they look like. FWIW, Sue is the
one who taught me the Japanese lacing technique for canvas (laced 2 sides,
tacked 2 sides - on stretchers). And she had a great method for protection
of the piece - using a plastic bag - cut off the zipper, split it into 2,
and stitch it in the far margin - like overlapping book leaves that open
from the middle. Works like a charm, and really costs almost nothing.

VBS -- I am just sitting here with this big sappy smile on my face, happy as
a pig in slop that I have such dear, wonderful, thoughtful friends! Am I
lucky, or what?!?!?!? :-))))))) CiaoMeow ^;;^

You are lucky, but I'm sure that you're just as good to these friends as
they are to you ;^) Again, happy Birthday!

Ellice - who also loves purple