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2001 September/October

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Editor's Column

The glorious stocking on our front cover is shown at this time of the year to excite your thoughts of holiday stitching. This is the first canvas offering by talented, new designer Fran Smetana of Raleigh, North Carolina. Fran, however, is not a novice in design nor in canvas work. She has been stitching since early childhood, owns a needlework shop and holds a degree in Textile Design. We have taken the crown from the stocking and offer it as an ornament in two color combinations for your stitching fun. The entire stocking will be available for sale as a painted canvas early next year.

Mary Clubb just has a way with designs that reflect a quiet and gentle elegance. Her lovely Patchwork Blossoms, shown on our back cover, is a perfect example and is just waiting for your needle.

What fun we have all had in stitching Marnie Ritter's Aurora Borealis 2001. Our final installment appears in this issue. I feel just like I do when I finish reading a good book - I am so sorry to see it end! I hope that many of you are working away on this sophisticated design. We had so much fun and success with featuring your finished Pieces of Eight that we plan to do the very same thing with this project! Exactly one year from now we will present a Gallery of Aurora Borealis 2001 in a special section of the magazine. By June 1, 2002, we will need for you to send your information and photos of your work. The photos can be sent digitally or in the mails, but they do need to be professionally or expertly done. Please remember that only the very best photos reproduce well in print. Thread your needles, get the stitching in high gear and mark your calendars now to send us your information by June 1, 2002. That will give us the time to get them ready for our September/October 2002 issue. I hope to see many renditions.

Thinking of photos, I have a "sin of omission" to correct. Bob Sirna is an energetic and talented man who has many hobbies, including photography. In our last issue, he furnished the photos for Gail Sirna's story "China Through the Eye of the Needle" and we did not give Bob credit for his fine work. Thanks, Bob.

Pieces Of Eight will forever be connected to needlepoint now. In fact, the first scan of this project (when I lifted it from the wall of Gayle Bicknell's home) still hangs on the wall next to my computer and our files are bulging with all sorts of mail concerning this most popular project. Our last issue featured the Pieces Of Eight gallery of your work. The issue was "released to print" on June 21st. On June 22, I received the sad news about the death of my long-time friend and the creator of the project, Gayle Bicknell. She had not been in good health for several years, but was on the road to recovery we thought. I hope that you will join with me in celebrating the life of this fun-loving person who was wife, mother, grandmother, friend, prolific stitcher and talented designer. We have several more of Gayle's projects waiting to be presented in the magazine and we will do so over the coming months. It will be a wonderful way of remembering Gayle and the joy that she brought to the world of needlework.

Joyce Lukomski

As of July-August 2009 back issues of Needlepoint Now are available at a cost of $7.00 per copy, plus shipping and handling. All preceding back issues are $6.00 per copy, plus shipping and handling.

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