From the Editor

Fall is always such a welcomed season. The heat of the summer is past, the harvest is bountiful and the air is crisp with leaves turning into a blaze of glory. It is the perfect time to begin a project and to start thinking about stitching for gifting and decorating.

If ever a stitchery personifies this season it is Fiesta by Nanette Costa. When I first viewed this sophisticated geometric I thought of the joys of autumn. The project is offered in three different color ways to suit everyone's taste. How lucky we are to be able to feature, from time to time, many of this talented designer's works.

The word and the technique of Rozashi may be new to you. If you have done some basic stitching in this timeless and most respected form of Japanese needlepoint you will want to stitch the lovely piece from the talented hands of Margaret Kinsey. If not, I know you will still enjoy viewing the beauty of the projects and learning about this ancient art form.

Thank you for your response from our last issue's new feature, From The Heart. So many of you related to Marnie's beautiful essay on grief and there were dozens of telephone calls about making the toys and bags for sick children. I have always maintained that needleworkers are the most generous and wonderful people in the world! To continue From The Heart in this issue, Nancy Cucci shares with us a little treasure for you to stitch in needlepoint to help raise awareness for breast cancer, especially during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

I have just returned from my "annual fix" in the great Pacific Northwest. I always come home from that wonderful spot recharged and renewed. There is something therapeutic and inspirational about the sheer strength of the land with its snow-covered mountains and towering fir trees. There is also a great joy in spending time with friends of long-standing. I spent time in the Tacoma/Seattle area of Washington where I taught needlepoint classes, renewed friendships, "pigged out" on fabulous seafood and shopped until I almost dropped. What fun! Dear friend, Roberta Montgomery, and I then motored down to Eugene, Oregon where I did a repeat of my days in Tacoma (yes, even more fabulous food and shopping.) While there I was inspired again by the amazing work that is being done around the country and was able to share some adventures with our new "On Location Reporter," Elizabeth Bozievich. Norman Delue, designer of our popular Americana continuing feature, showed me some of his exciting new work - be advised that we have a wonderful treat in store for future issues.

As I have often said, "our continuing features are the backbone of this publication." We are so lucky to have these dedicated artists, teachers, designers, writers, business people and stitchers who so graciously and unselfishly share their knowledge. Kudos to Robin Berry, Ann Blalock, Elizabeth Bozievich, Amy Bunger, Ann Caswell, Peg Dunayer, Pam Godderis, Suzanne Howren, Gretchen Janesak, Tony Minieri and Jody Valentine. The wealth of knowledge in this honored group is staggering! Working with all of these talented people is always exciting and inspiring for me. Sometimes there are conflicts with the busy schedules of busy people and sometimes we simply don't have enough space on our pages to get everything we want in an issue. We juggle text, art and layout pages to work out this complex puzzle but occasionally your favorite feature may be left out of an issue. We know you will miss it, but don't worry as it will probably be included in the very next one.

We are already busy in the planning stages of our holiday issue. We know you enjoy working ornaments and projects that can be done in a reasonable amount of time and we have some pretty and fun projects lined up to fill this bill. But for now, let us enjoy "October's Bright Blue Weather"and all of the beauty of autumn.

Joyce Lukomski

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Last Updated November 04, 2005