My Personal Favorites
Here is a small collection of my favorite work:
I am changing my list from five.
I will tell the story of each as I post it. For several, I have told the stories many times, others this is the first time.
This is my Mystery House Sampler
Mystery House Sampler
The Story of Mystery House and the important role it played in a major transition.
Mystery House
Mystery House Story, Part 1 Description
I don't remember what triggered the idea for my Mystery House but here is how it worked: I worked the center view of the house and people interested in the mystery ordered it based on the center. They didn't get to see any of the rooms, then month by month over 8 months, I mailed the instructions for each room.
I had written a 'booklet' with all the stitches for the whole project, then I mailed out a photo of the room and 2 pages or so of references to the stitch booklet. That way I only had to mail an envelope each month.
I'm not a good last-minute person, so I had all the envelopes packed and addressed before I mailed out Part 1 the House in the Center. I stacked up the trays of envelopes in the garage, if I remember right, then just took them to the post office each month.
I had a good time doing it all, but looking back on it now, I wondered what got into my mind that I would want to take on a project like that. I was younger then and nutsss.
Mystery House
Mystery House Story, Part 2 An Important Beginning For Me
I look back on this project with such sentiment because it marked the very beginning of a transitional role in my life back then. I was still travel-teaching (that's why I thought I was nutss to take on a project like this in addition to planning seminars etc.).
The internet was so new to us in the needlework world back then. I thought, why couldn't I figure out a way to communicate with people who were doing the mystery, and Kate Gaunt figured it out. So she started a room in Yahoo for the Mystery People to 'meet'. When the Msytery House came to an end, Kate decided to continue and Shining Needle Society was born.
At the time, I had a website which Laura Zickus managed for me, and I posted in Shining Needle Society. My computer skills were nil back then: I could send an email, I could post in Shining Needle Society and that was about it. I would never have guessed what lay ahead, but I always look back on my Mystery House as the very beginning of my transition from travel teacher to Queendom Website.
Mystery House
Mystery House Story, Part 4 Without Doubt My Favorite of the Houses
Of course the Mystery House can be done in any color and I've seem it in about everything: blue, purple, green, you name it. But without doubt the most imaginative one came from Val Reece's Needle. It has always been my favorite; thanks Val for letting me post it over and over again. Thanks once again for such an imaginative house.
Mystery House > Red Kitty
Mystery House Story, Part 5 Another Mystery
Before I stitched the Redwork House, I stitched Red Kitty and here she is. Here's the Mystery: can you find what is wrong with Red Kitty. People have asked me over the years, why did I stitch this the way I did. I haven't a clue (it remains a mystery to me, a total Mystery.
Favorite part of Red Kitty: how do you like my Sampler Band of Kitty Faces?
Mystery House
Mystery House Story, Part 3 $$$ The Nicest Part of Redwork
Tired of projects these days that cost dollar after dollar after dollar? Redwork is such an economical way to do needlework. All it takes is a piece of ground fabric and a handful of skeins of floss in a strong favorite color.
No, I don't suggest silk: floss has a crisper edge to it and it works better for the design is cleaner.
