Happy Holidays!

Well Christmas is upon us. I have been having a wonderful month of guild parties every single weekend in December. January would be a big let down except that I always have not one but TWO rug camps in January. I have two very exciting new projects starting - One is a bed rug and the other will be my foray into orientals! The bed rug is a new design on the market called Essne's bed rug by Joyce Krueger in TX and will be color planned by Dianne Kelly from the Woolen Cottage in Hiram OH - I have had the pleasure of working with Dianne a number of years ago at another rug camp. She is a very talented woman and I am so excited about being in her class again.

The second camp is in Sebring FL and I will be taking a class from a good friend and master colorist IMHO - Judy Colley from Wyoming Mich. Judy's daughter lives in Jax and is a co-director of the "off the Ocean" rug camp. This rug is about 24 X 48 and has a eggplant backround. Scrolls are the focal point of this small oriental and I will be pleased to *try* to learn the proper technique of shading scrolls from one of the premier rug teachers in the US.

I am very busy with my sampler stitching also. I am an active member of a local sampler guild and also an internet sampler guild - Legacy. Lots of sampler stitchers seem to like to start new BAP's on the major holidays. I am no exception to that preference. On Thanksgiving weekend I started Edcina Pieters - a Groningen dutch black sampler that was featured in the SANQ magazine in Fall 05. It is really a beauty.

Christmas weekend will see the start of a Long Dog Moulin Rouge - something that has been languishing in my *to do* pile for many months. I found a great linen choice yesterday to go with the lovely Gloriana Elizabethan Green that I have safely stashed for this project. My original linen choice was not what I expected when it arrived and I just got thrown off the track with this one.

My New Years Eve/Day project will be the French Alphabet Sampler. A custom designed sampler that contains names and initials of your decendents. Since I have no siblings or children myself - mine contains my parents , aunt and maternal grandmother and great grand mother. Another huge project - this one also has been hiding in my *to do* pile.

I need to learn more about how to post photos on my blog. Some blogs are so great - guess they are a product of how much time you put into them. Most of my time is spent at work or pursuing one of my many textile passions. Happy Holidays to you! Melody