Materials Part III

Dear Classmates, 

• I would like to open this post by asking that if you have a comment or information that you would like to share for any of the posts please do so using the comment feature. Everyone who has signed up for the class during our BEE selections has the authority to add blog posts. I am hoping this blog will be a vehicle to share our progress and to help each other as we progress through the project.
• Now that you have the full list you might like some ideas about where to purchase all these fibers.
• As always I start with my LNS ( local needlework shop) and purchase as much as I can there because I want the owner to stay in business. If you have access to a LNS please start your shopping there. They might even be willing to order some of the fibers for you.
• Because I am comfortable with online shopping I find I prefer to order materials my LNS does not have for myself unless the supplier only sells wholesale. 
• In addition to the shop  whose link I gave you in the  Materials  Part I post,  below is the list that was supplied in the Cleopatra's Cat book from last year. I have ordered from Fireside Stitchery and Needle in a Haystack and have been happy with the service I received from both of them.
• Fireside also carries the Evertite Stretcher bars if you want to try them. There is also a shop called Stitcher's Paradise that carries both regular and Evertite Stretcher bars.
• This piece requires us to stitch a great number of Smyrna Stitches. In my next post I will give instructions on how to do a smyrna stitch for those who have not done it  before.

Materials Part II

This is the detailed list of fibers you will need for this project. While I was able to locate the new Medici wool I have compared it to Caron Impressions and the weight and color are a good substitute. However, it lists for $4.30 which makes it  more expensive than the Medici Wool. I have both and have not yet decided which I will use.   Here is a description of Impressions:

Caron Collection Impressions-Solid

A 50% wool, 50% silk blend. It is very versatile and can be used on fine linens as well as larger counts of needlepoint canvas. You can often control the look of your stitches to create either a sculptured or a satiny look simply by adding or subtracting one strand. The blend of wool and silk gives a unique appearance as the two fibers reflect light differently, giving your stitching great depth. Single strand, 50% wool/50% silk, 36 yds.

Materials List Part I

Dear Class Mates,

Fortunately the local EGA chapter did Cleopatra's Cat last year and I  was able to borrow the book for a while from one of the members of my ANG chapter that also belongs tothe local EGA chapter. I thought it would be helpful for everyone to see what materials are needed especially the fibers so you can start to gather what you need so we can start stitching as soon as we get our book in December. At the left is a sample of some of the fibers we will be using in this project. Becase the materials List is three pages long I will do it in three posts with some comments. As stated in the page on the left DMC Medici wool was discontinued a couple of years ago. However it has been reintroduced, If you visit this website you can get the background. I purchased my skeins of medici wool from this particular store and got excellent service. They also have some of the other materials we need.