From the Editor

For a long time I have admired the beautiful artwork of Brenda Hart. Her exquisite Golden Ribbon Kimono is our first wrap cover because I wanted everyone to be able to view both sides of this exquisite piece. The pure simplicity of the lines, the selection of bold colors and the use of luxurious threads with classic stitches combine to make this an outstanding project. Sandra Reddell shares with us her adorable frame weight with personality. You will love stitching Al E. Gator and continue to enjoy him as he holds your stitching frame in place. I love this piece because it makes me smile and I know that you will love it, too. Brenda and Sandra are new contributors to needlepoint now and both are welcomed with open arms.

Quilt Basket is the third project we have featured from returning artist, Patricia Moore. This charming design, reminiscent of a time long ago, will work up quickly and be fun to stitch. In this issue we complete the final installment of Neptune's Treasure. We hope that you have enjoyed this continuing project and have worked along with us. Be sure to send us good quality photos of your work and tell us a little about your working it so that we can feature your stitchery in our Finish Line. Ruth Dilts presents the second of five designs we will showcase this year. La Mancha exudes a graceful rhythm in the design and bold use of color. Be sure to read about the phenomenon, TARTS, that is sweeping the country. Judy Hendrix relates what is happening in her group in the Detroit area. If you belong to a TARTS group I know you will enjoy this account. If you don't have such a group, perhaps you will think about starting one.

I often say that our continuing features are the backbone of our publication. How fortunate we are to have a host of well known artists, designers, teachers and stitchers to author these valuable columns. I am indebted to Suzanne Howren, Robin Berry, Amy Bunger, Tony Minieri, Peg Dunayer, Jody Valentine, Ann Caswell and Ann Blalock for sharing their expertise with us in every issue. I am thrilled to introduce my long-time friend and one of the great international experts on color, Pam Godderis. Pam is so comfortable in teaching color that she makes it fun and exciting rather than threatening. She will share her knowledge with us for an entire series on color. Her first article, Let's Talk Yellow, appears in this issue.

I recently returned from a wonderful teaching tour in the Tucson area of our country. It is an exciting place and everyone was so gracious and kind. What a grand time I had teaching needlework classes, visiting with old friends and making new ones. How happy I was to be able to visit with two of my old and very dear friends. I spent some time with Sue Strause who is a friend of twenty years. We taught at the same seminars and served together on the national board of ANG many years ago. I spent a lovely afternoon with a dear mentor from the very early days of my needlework career. Katherine Staneslow, ninety-five years young, drove out to have lunch with me during a class. She was dressed like the lady she has always been with a lovely soft yellow jacket and proper yellow felt hat. I was in town to witness for myself another phenomenon, the "Tucson Bead Show." What an enormous event! It seemed as though every square inch of the city was covered in beads with hordes of sellers and buyers. I had two wonderful days to view the show and only saw a tiny fraction of it in that amount of time. It's probably a good thing, though, because I had to get another suitcase from my friend, Earla Swope, in order to get all of my new "stuff" home. Well, there is always next year!

Joyce Lukomski

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Last Updated March 30, 2005