Stitching Festival --- very sad

Several years ago I began going to CATS/Stitching Festival when it was down in Riverside. They had 5 or 6 shows a year, with around 30-40 vendors and 50-60 different classes to choose from. As time has gone on, they have decreased the number of classes to around only 30 this year and if they had 15 different vendors I'd be surprised. They moved show locations and dates to boost numbers, but it didn't work. The industry as a whole is on a down phase, but they never did good publicity. This show was poorly attended, poorly advertised....... They are going down to 3 shows a year and the only "west coast" show will be Las Vegas in April.

All that aside, I enjoyed my class and managed to find everything I needed from the vendors booths - and well discounted. Took a class from Phyllis Maurer, Ethnic Fiber Art. She was a good teacher and had some good tips in addition to the piece she was teaching. The class was on Kogin embroidery. It is a form of Japanese pattern darning. The quilting form is Sashiko and that term may be more familiar.

Finished stitching the project for the next column. Now to photograph it and put it together. I hate charting patterns and the programs I have are difficult at best. I need to do some basic charts and then the magazine will do finals for me. I'm excited that the next issue went to the printers. Really enjoyed the project and column for it and hope you will too.

I've learned a lot about creating on demand. It really is a very different discipline. Part is opening your self to what is around you. There are design elements and clues all around. You just need to "see" them and integrate them.

Off to do more charting. The tendonitis is beginning to set in again. I'll need to allocate time between keyboard and stitching. Needless to say, the stitching for 12th Night will take priority - sorry. So please excuse if I don't blog often.

PS comments via reblogger always appreciated - it has been very quiet lately and if it wasn't for the statistics I'd think I was just talking to the ozone.