A Campaign of Support for Au Ver a Soie

Please please join us!

Let’s give support to Au Ver a Soie by ‘Liking’ them on their Facebook page.

And if you would like to leave a note of support, all the better!

Let’s tell them how much we value their silks!

Even though the site is in French, it is fine to leave a message in English.

Thanks, Kate, for getting this started.

Gay Ann

From Kate:

If you're a Facebook person, you could show support by "liking" A Ver a Soie's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Au-Ver-%C3%A0-Soie/229228770460019

They only have 1559 "likes" at the time of this message, so we clearly need to show some more appreciation. :-)

Just a thought!

Kate 

The Fire at Au Ver a Soie

Like many people in the needlework world, I heard about the fire at Au Ver a Soie yesterday. I was so worried about the devastation and potential loss of my favorite thread. A friend forwarded to me a post from Tricia Wilson Nguyen and I wrote and asked Tricia if I could re-post it.

She said yes and here it is. I am so happy at the thought that Au Ver a Soie will indeed weather the fire and be back. Thanks, Tricia!

From Tricia Wilson Nguyen February 20, 2015

Hello everyone - I thought I would jump in and add some information before panic runs amuck.  Au Ver a Soie is wounded but not devastated.  We talked to one of the owners this morning about the extent of the damage and we will learn much more early next week.  She is a member of the Boucher family who run Au Ver a Soie.

One thing I would like to tell you is that Boucher family is devoted to the production of silk. In the past they have suffered much deeper losses and they have rebounded. In fact, the entire Au Ver a Soie factory was mistakenly bombed by the Americans in WWII and the Boucher family totally rebuilt it. Theirs is an ancient family business, they have always taken the long view of it and just like the factory bombing in WWII, they will bring the business back again from this fire .One of the things they learned from their WWII disaster was the importance of distributing the expertise, machinery and stock to ward off single disasters bringing down a company and they have planned wisely over the years.  While the capability at this plant was severely damaged, the company has a network of machines, partners, etc around France and these partners will help the Boucher family weather this.  Their stock was distributed in multiple places too - phew.  So, being in the know a bit, I am confident that we are not in imminent danger of losing Au Ver a Soie, a relief to us all.

The fire will certainly delay some of the new threads for a while and I am sure that some colors may be scarce for a few weeks, but these conditions will only be temporary.  I am not overly concerned about the machinery losses, an example being a new skeining machine that was destroyed, as the skeining operation for threads sold in the U.S. is done at Access Commodities (we prefer a different size/packaging in this market).  So some capability losses won't impact us as they are already shifted to machinery here.  What I am concerned about is time.  In any small business, there isn't an excess of labor and things like this delay new initiatives in favor of getting basic operations back running.  I know that the time I spend shoveling snow represents hours not spent shipping or working on new things.  It will be the same for Au Ver a Soie, with some things delayed a bit. 

I am sure you will hear about the fire but don't fear - it isn't about a total loss of capabilities, it is more about a diversion of valuable time until they make adjustments. The adjustments may take a few weeks or months, but Au Ver a Soie will indeed be up and running again. 

Whew! My Needlepoint Hearts Sale is Over, so What's Next?

My Hearts Sale finished and I'm mailing packages, a division of my little business I call 'Mail Jail'.

After the first day of the sale I ran out of my Imperial Emeralds Heart kits and had to make more. I'm stalled now in Mail Jail, waiting for Kreinik braid. It will arrive soon enough and I will be able to finish Mail Jail as soon as it does.

So what comes after my Hearts Sale?
Two things:

First, Freedom to spend large chunks of time stitching. I can't wait! My head is full of ideas just waiting to make their way onto canvas.

Second, my portrait of Catherine the Great will arrive on my website on May 2.
This means I have to get busy making kits. I have just a little over 2 months to count beads and label threads, cut canvas and assemble everything.

I know it is still winter, but I am looking forward to spring this year and my two activities ahead.
Yay! I'm through most of the grind and looking forward to the fun parts.

Gay Ann

Among My Hearts this February is Imperial Emeralds Heart

It's almost time for my hearts to arrive; they will be here bright and early on Thursday morning, February 12.

Featured in my sale will be the first heart of a series of six called 'Imperial Jeweled Hearts'.
The first one is the most decorated and glittery heart I've ever stitched; it is Imperial Emeralds Heart and I made it to commemorate the over-the-top jewels of the Romanovs.

I can't imagine emeralds the size that Catherine the Great wore!

My emeralds aren't real but they do sparkle! My diamonds aren't real either, but like the emeralds they do sparkle too! My pearls are real in in all sorts of sizes and together with my emeralds and diamonds they are very glittery.

I particularly enjoyed my series of Imperial Jeweled Hearts. Usually my work is more restrained, but restraint was not the order of the day, making a statement was. I hope you will stop by Queendom Website on Thursday morning and see my 'statement jeweled heart'. Perhaps I should have named it Statement Heart.

What about the other five jeweled hearts?

They will arrive sprinkled as surprise treats throughout 2015 in celebration of the arrival of Catherine the Great on Queendom Website. She arrives on her birthday, May 2.

When I started posting about my needlepoint portrait of Catherine the Great, it was months and months away! When I posted on New Year's Day it was 5 months away. Now I am writing again and it is only 2 1/2 months away. I had better get busy because Catherine will be arriving before I know it.

How does time pass so fast!
Gay Ann

Ornaments just for Stitchers

This Christmas Queendom Website has a surprise: little Country-Style wood ornaments all made by hand for us stitchers.

They are made by artist Ilisha Helfman and they feature drawings and sayings just for needlework.

I've been posting a different one every morning and today I posted the fourth which may be my favorite. It says 'Merry Stitches' and has a red border of Cross Stitches and Running Stitches.

To follow along, here is a quick reference:
www.GayAnnRogers.com

Merry Christmas, and enjoy!

Gay Ann

Saying Good Bye to E-Week 2014, My Once a Year Needlepoint Sale

E-Week my yearly sale came and now it is almost gone. Tonight it will vanish into history, and what will come next?

Usually MacSoph (my trusty little MacBookPro) and I have a finale to bid farewell to E-Week. One year we had sunsets, last year our eJet flew off into the sunset, and so forth.

This year is different: we have four finales.

The first: a couple of small things left from my Surprise Windows will be for sale tomorrow morning. Only two, to the first people who find and want them.

The second: sigh, I didn't want to start all over again, but I have. You will understand when you see it. Yes, starting all over again, just as we finished!

The third: all through Pre-Week, before E-Week started, we had visits from Mona Lisa in all sorts of garb. I loved all the Mona Lisas, but I saved my very favorite to say good bye to E-Week 2014.

The fourth: every year in the last Early Morning Surprise Window on Sunday of E-Week, I cast a glance to the future year. Two years ago, it was the year of Jane Austen, last year it was The Year of the Stitch and we all tried to work some of the projects languishing in our closets.

This year? The Year of the Romanovs, Opulence and Power. So our Fourth Finale is really the beginning of our year. Watch and see what surprises it brings in the form of a history lesson or two.

All this will unfold in the next few days on Queendom Website. I hope you will follow along:

For quick reference: www.GayAnnRogers.com.
www.QueendomWebsite works as well.

Thank you to all of you who came to E-Week this year. It was great fun!
Gay Ann

E-Week Eve: my biggest needlepoint sale of the year starts tomorrow morning

It is E-Week Eve. E-Week is the name of my biggest needlepoint sale of the year, and it starts tomorrow morning.

MacSoph and I are beginning to make Queendom Website's transition to E-Week.

Mona Lisa in a taxi cab has been on Queendom Website's home page all day long, but now she has started to fade, and behind her showing ever so faintly is the outline of my 'trophy piece' for this year's sale.

I stitched the trophy piece a while ago, but never taught it, in fact I just wrote the instructions for it last spring. I am proud of it, I must say, and of its unconventional use of a favorite technique.

MacSoph and I are burning the midnight oil tonight and it won't be long now till E-Week emerges.

Gay Ann Rogers
www.QueendomWebsite.com

Needlepoint Designs from My Past are on My Website This Morning

I can't believe how time has gotten away from me: I checked my blog this morning expecting it had been two weeks since I'd last posted. I discovered not two weeks but two months!

I am winding up to my once-a-year sale, this year starting on October 8. I've been asking my followers at Shining Needle Society to help choose designs from my past that I will bring back this year.

The sale seems to have evolved into two parts: the General Sale in which I post designs that are mostly new, or new to the internet. They are the designs I've stitched in the past year or so.

In the Early Morning Surprise Windows of Saturday October 11 and Sunday October 12, I will bring back designs from my past, and in the last couple of weeks I've been working on assembling them.

So far people have chosen two designs from last year's sale and two hearts. This morning I posted designs that people have requested throughout the past year or two and you will find on Queendom Website photos of eleven.

For quick reference: www.GayAnnRogers.com

I've been preparing this page for a couple of days now and it has been a trot down memory lane, that is for sure. The photos cover years, in some cases decades, of my life in needlework and there is at least one from each of the categories I design: samplers, figures, geometrics and a sewing case. Some of them I've brought back multiple times, others not so frequently.

I am looking forward to seeing what people choose. It was interesting to see which hearts were the most popular among my followers. Interesting, but not too surprising, as I review the choices. The choices from my last year's sale surprised me more. Now I'm on my way to look again at the choices on my home page this morning and see if I can guess which ones I will bring back.

It is such a busy time of year for me. Fun but too much to do! I have my fingers crossed that I get it all together by October 8.

Gay Ann

Blog Stitching on Queendom Website

When exactly do the dog days of summer start? I think of them as August, but this year it seems like August has come early. These days are hot and muggy now, typical August weather.

A couple of days ago I cut up a square of gray 18-mesh canvas, mounted it on stretcher bars, chose a turquoise pearl cotton and started a new little geometric. I was just fiddling.

I like the turquoise start so I went in search of some more threads, organized some thoughts about the small geometric and decided to while away the dog days of summer on Queendom Website by 'blog stitching'.

To watch my progress, follow along by clicking on www.GayAnnRogers.com.
Or www.QueendomWebsite.com will work also.

I like the start, with the turquoise on gray. Now I'll see if I like how the other threads work as well.

Nice way to while away the days.
Gay Ann

One last look at our beautiful CampStitch

A fantasy trip into the wilderness is over. We were at CampStitch for a little more than 2 months and I am hoping people used the trip wisely to accomplish Stash Reduction.

I did quite well! I worked on several new designs for E-Week, my biggest sale of the year, in mid-October.

Actually it will be a bit earlier this year. I just checked the calendar and marked the date: October 8, bright and early, my yearly E-Week sale will begin. This year I will have all new designs, except for one. The oldie will come back in a supporting role to show where two new ones came from, much the same way that I brought back my oldest geometric, Santa Fe Square, last year.

I'm going to have to buckle down and stitch some long hours to finish in time, but it seems to me like I will be able to do it. Only weeks left, so I hope to continue making the most of them.

Meanwhile, stop by Queendom Website to take one last look at our beautiful CampStitch.
For quick reference: www.GayAnnRogers.com.

Gay Ann

CampStitch, Swatches of Colors and Shopping for Needlepoint Threads

For nearly two months now my website has been in the wilderness at CampStitch with the hope of stitching through some of our stash.  I figured we would accomplish more if we were away from the pressures of home with little else to do but take nature walks, eat and stitch.

I don't like to camp. I know many people extoll its virtues and I have a sister-in-law who would rather sleep on the ground and hike in the wilderness than be anywhere else, but not me.

So our Campsite has had rooms unlike any I've ever seen at another campsite.

During our stay at CampStitch I tiled the colors of each of our extraordinary rooms and reduced the tiles of each room to five color swatches. I posted the five color swatches on my homepage and asked people from Shining Needle Society to vote for their favorite ones.

I thought the results were most interesting: there was a race between two of the swatches and the other four were left behind in the dust. Ultimately one prevailed but not by many votes.

People who liked the most popular choice wrote that they liked the soothing colors; people who liked the also ran thought the winner was boring. Soothing or boring? See what you think.

For quick reference: www.GayAnnRogers.com

After people at Shining Needle Society chose their favorite, I went to the needlepoint shop and chose some threads to echo the swatches. I plan to post a photo of my choices bright and early tomorrow morning on my home page. When I was choosing the threads yesterday, several people in the needlepoint shop said, ooo, what pretty colors! I thought they were pretty also.

Soothing or boring?
Up to you to tell me tomorrow morning.

Gay Ann

CampStitch in the Wilderness

We are e-traveling and have landed in the wilderness where we are camping. The purpose of our trip is to settle down and finish some of our projects without any distractions. My recommendation to my followers is to set aside a few minutes each day and 'travel' to CampStitch with needles in their hands.

I am anxious to hear whether people are accomplishing much in this The Year of the Stitch. I know I have. I've finished six projects since the first of the year and am embarking tonight or tomorrow on two more.

Two of mine are large projects, four are small, and now I plan to start two ornaments for my E-Week Sale in October. That's what I am doing in CampStitch: working on E-Week. Less than 6 months now and E-Week will be here and all that scrambling and hard work.

But for now it is kick back, enjoy life at CampStitch and keep company with my needle.

I hope you will join us and stitch away on whatever projects you wish.
Happy stitching and may you accomplish a lot.
Gay Ann

Traveling toward our Needlepoint Destination

We have been on our e-Jet for 2 days now and we are headed to pick up more needlefriends, then we will head toward our destination. We will land on Wednesday morning bright and early.

It has been five years since MacSoph and I flew our e-Jet on a month-long trip. We embarked on that trip so that I could have forced daily practice doing PhotoShop. As I look back on that journey I realize how primitive and new my PhotoShop skills were then. I'm happy to say I've come a long way in five years, but what I know is just how far I still have to go. Does anybody ever know a lot about PhotoShop?

For several years I've been monkeying around with animation and this year I've done better. Always hindered by file size (way too large for what I've done in the past) I've finally learned a new animation program that has made everything easier and my file sizes smaller, so that the file size of my plane flying across so many images is very very small. Yay! Now I'm hoping our month-long trip will give me a chance to improve both PhotoShop and animation skills.

So what will we do on our trip?

That will unfold in the next few days as we arrive at our destination.

Back to work picking up our needlefriends as we continue our journey.
Gay Ann

e-Traveling Soon on a Needlework Trip

Five years ago we e-traveled on my website and a year later we took a short weekend e-trip to shop in London. We haven't traveled anywhere since then. Life on my computer became simply too hectic for anything other than changing web software and learning my new program.

But MacSoph (my trusty little laptop) and I are well settled in our new software now, and I must say, Adobe has done a great job of improving the program. I've followed it since it was in beta, and it is now quite wonderful!

The travel bug has bitten both MacSoph and me and we are ready to go. Soon our private e-Jet called 'Queen's Flight'  (which is actually a flying needlepoint shop) will be ready for take off and we fly off into the sunset.

Where are we going? This trip is a long-held dream of mine, an idea I thought up almost five years ago, shortly after our trip in 2009 ended. I hope you will follow along as we begin packing projects and taking off, for this trip is all about stitching our stashed projects. It is the reason for The Year of the Stitch and hopefully we will return home again with a good number of projects completed.

So visit my website, www.GayAnnRogers.com, and choose your Birkin bag and let's start to pack.

Our adventure is almost set to begin.
Gay Ann

Transitions for MyNeedleworkBox.com

I see that I have not written a post on my blog for 3 months, the last one being a post at the end of last year.

So what have I been doing for the past 3 months?
Managing Queendom Website, stitching, learning a new computer program and cleaning up.

I've also been working on transitions for MyNeedleworkBox.com.

When I first started working on MyNeedleworkBox.com, my idea was a 5-page website where I would change the content frequently. As it has evolved, I have developed grander plans for it and I have been working on the structure behind the scenes to accommodate my grander plans.

I have tried a number of plans for organizing the site, one after another, and finally, months later, I think I have found a way to set up the navigation system. Finally!

Now I have finished one path (yes, only one path so far) and I would like to ask for your help. Would you click around on my completed path and let me know if you find it easy to navigate?

Here's how to find the path:

Go to www.MyNeedleworkBox.com
Click on 'Whitework' on the navigation bar
Click on 'Dresden' from the whitework thumbnails

Then click around and let me know if you find it difficult or easy and if you have any suggestions for me.

This is kind of my version of a 'beta' test.

As soon as I settle on a navigation system, I will start adding the content for what promises to be a much larger site than I first envisioned. In fact, scattered all over my house right now are varied piles of whitework, lace and needlework tools, all my trifles waiting for me to photograph and write about them.

It won't be too long  till the site starts growing. It has been a long time in the making and I am eager to see how it evolves.

Gay Ann

May Your New Year be filled with many hours of stitches

Already across much of the world the New Year is upon us, and here in California we have only a few hours of the old year left. As they say, 2013 is definitely in the rear view mirror at this hour.

I am starting the New Year off on a good foot: by the end of this evening I will have canvas cut for a new project and I intend to spend much of the day tomorrow starting it. I have thread, scissors, lots of new gadgets and many hours waiting for me to pick up my needle.

I also have a new toy and I am on my way to Apple in the afternoon for a lesson on using my new toy. Yes, I've at last given up my old people's phone in favor of an iPhone which I already don't know how I lived without.

Nice that I have a chance to work on both of my favorite activities on New Year's Day and hopefully it will be a harbinger of good things to come in 2014.

So Happy New Year! May your days be filled with beautiful threads, wonderful colors, perfect tension and projects you love.

Gay Ann

The Year of The Stitch has started for me

I've been neglecting everything since I finished E-Week's Mail Jail because I decided the next year is truly The Year of the Stitch for me. I need to stitch for my next E-Week and beyond, I want to stitch because my fingers twitch for time with my needle, and so guess what: I'm going to stitch. Simple as that.

I began a new design, one using threads new to me and I've incorporated some new accessories into my stitching life also. I've been auditioning stitch patterns with the new threads and for my style of stitching, auditions mean a lot of rejections, so I stitch and rip, stitch and rip, stitch and rip.

For ripping, I've been using my favorite tools: a Bohin Seam Ripper (I know, fast but dangerous), a Boo Boo Brush and a pair of tweezers. I love the Bohin Seam Ripper. I can rip an area twice as fast as with my favorite scissors and four times as fast as with a garden variety pair of scissors. Yes, I'm careful; over the years I've learned it is important to tilt up the little blade and proceed carefully.

The Boo Boo Brush helps a lot, and so do the tweezers. I have the most precise tweezers imaginable, but after half an hour or so, my hand cramps from holding them. I just learned about a new pair of tweezers made by Bohin with a long handle. Usually long handles are easier on one's hands, so I am anxious to try the new tweezers. I ordered them a while back and they should arrive shortly, I plan on trying them straight away and then reporting on them on Queendom Website.

Those are my favorite tools for ripping. If you would like to see photos of them and read more about them, visit Queendom Website and click on 'Stocking Stuffers' on the yellow navigation bar.
For quick reference: www.GayAnnRogers.com.


I've been sewing massive numbers of pearls to my new design. Pearls always come with teeny tiny holes and tiny holes always mean #12 or #15 beading needles.

I struggle with threading any needle -- after all these years, I still struggle. I live with a trusty threader nearby, but who has had a threader fine enough yet tough enough to thread a #12 beading needle.

Guess what! I found one! It is super! Glides right through the eye of a #12 beading needle, and I suspect it is fine enough too to thread a #15 beading needle. So far, as I only have a single one of these threader treasures, I haven't been willing to try it on a #15 beading needle for fear of breaking my only one.

So I've ordered 15 of these threaders (all for me), and soon as I have my new ones, I'll test the extra fine side on a #15 beading needle. Heavenly if it will work!

In addition to the threader, I have looked at small clips for hemming linen, wonderful scissors made for metal threads, gold scissors with extra large and therefore comfortable finger rings, and an array of other accessories to make my stitching life more organized and efficient.

These tools all came to my attention at the beginning of December and MacSoph and I decided we should post all of them on Queendom Website as 'Stocking Stuffers for Stitchers'. Each day we post a new one.

As time has gone on, people have been writing and asking, am I planning to sell all these accessories? The answer is no, because I'm personally all involved in The Year of the Stitch and I don't want to be in Mail Jail again.

But Kate said she would sell them all.

So if Santa leaves some money in your Christmas Stocking on Christmas Morning, save it till December 26 when all these lovely accessories will indeed be for sale on Queendom Website.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all the best for 2014, The Year of the Stitch!
Gay Ann

Thanksgiving and Needlework: The Year of the Stitch

It is Thanksgiving Eve and my Website is decorated for the holiday now with a little riddle: do you know what a PPP is?
Silly game of mine. If you want to take part in guessing: www.GayAnnRogers.com

It is Thanksgiving now and time to be thankful for the blessings of our lives.
First and foremost I am thankful that DH and I are both healthy and well, busy and well occupied with our passions.

I heard the saddest story the other day about a group of women so bored they really had nothing to look forward to. A non-stitching friend was relating this to me and it made me so sad. Sad, but thankful that it's not me, nor any of the members of our stitching community. Isn't it wonderful: we always look forward to stealing time from our busy lives and chilling out with our needles. To a one we are always looking forward to our next stitch. Good for us that we have a passion we all enjoy.

I am thankful for my material possessions, the ones that matter to me: I think I have at least 100 needles in various sizes and endless baggies of threads in colors I love, drawers full of inspiration and more drawers full of drawings I look forward to stitching. Yes, I am thankful for my wonderful stash, for in it are the seeds that feed my imagination.

I am also very thankful that I have reached the end of my E-Week sale and all its shipping. Mail Jail.DH will go to the post office this afternoon, and when he does, he will deliver my last packages and I will officially be out of Mail Jail. The end of Mail Jail, now that is indeed something to be thankful for.

And along with the official close of Mail Jail comes the opening of my year ahead:  The Year of the Stitch. I will officially open The Year of the Stitch at 4:30 p.m. California time today. This is about the time that I predict DH will hand the last of Mail Jail to the postman.

Yes, I plan to take off large chunks of the next year and stitch. Stitch and stitch and stitch. I have new threads, new projects, new pieces of canvas, and new hopes for some challenging time with my needle. I greatly look forward to the year ahead and hope that my website's followers will join me.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving and I hope you will find time to join me this weekend and celebrate the opening of The Year of the Stitch this afternoon and throughout Thanksgiving weekend.
Gay Ann

My Own Brand of Needlework Magic

Two days ago I started a little story that MacSoph and I concocted to celebrate the time leading up to E-Week, my annual sale.

Our tale begins with the photo of a sunset out over our back yard. This morning the tale continues with a photo of our driveway. The driveway has a telephone pole and telephone wires. The telephone pole and wires will enter into the story in a small way.

So far our tale features ordinary photos out of the back of our house (sunset) and out of the front (driveway). Yes, the sunset was a real sunset from our living room window; yes, the driveway really is our driveway.

Tomorrow's image? Well, we would have to admit it is a bit of fanciful fiddling. Ditto the images on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday as well. Of particular interest to needle people may be the image on Sunday where shopping opportunities abound, only in a most unusual way.

From tomorrow forward: bit of techie fairy dust.

Please join MacSoph and me for our special Pre-Week Tale on Queendom Website.
For quick reference: www.GayAnnRogers.com.

Gay Ann

My Needlework Sale: the Busiest Time of My Year

It's almost here again, my once-a-year E-Week Sale and I get so busy it's al I can do to stay afloat through it.

I look forward to it each year! I have so many little tasks like deciding what to do each year to introduce E-Week. People tell me it's not necessary, that I should just post the designs and save the time it takes MacSoph and me to think up ideas to welcome E-Week. But I would miss that part of it. Each year I've done something inventive, I've learned so much!

And this year is no exception. I have 5 days of a wee story leading up to E-Week's opening this year and in it I have done some of the PhotoShop work I am most proud of. In this year's lead up to E-Week I have re-worked some of the very first scenes I ever made in PhotoShop and I am proud of how far I've come in four years.

One of the scenes is my favorite ever and I hope you will come, follow along and see if you agree.
I am excited about displaying it and if MacSoph and I didn't have so much work to do still, I would wish the day I post it were here now.

Right now on Queendom Website I have a display of my Geometrics from past E-Weeks. I am asking the people in my General Shining Needle Society Classroom to vote which two I will bring back in E-Week's Early Morning Surprise Windows on October 19 and 20. The voting will last through Wednesday.

On Thursday morning, October 10,  my little display and story will start. There will be different images to go along with the story each morning through October 15, and I am, if I do say so, proud of each of the images.

If you would like to follow along, and I hope you will, here's a quick reference:
www.GayAnnRogers.com

Remember, Thursday morning, October 10.

E-Week begins at the crack of dawn on Wednesday October 16.