From Houston, with Love by Doug Kreinik

Now that I have rested a bit after working the International Quilt Market in Houston, Texas week before last, and gotten acclimated to Daylight Savings Time, I need to say: I love Quilt Market. There is such a variety of creative options to see, from hand work to machine work. The art work is great and the imagination is overflowing. My favorite moment was the exhibition where there are more than a 1000 quilts to view. The quilts range from the very traditional to fantastic art quilts, plus clothing, dolls and this year a fantasy bra exhibit. The art quilts were big and used all sorts of medium. Landscape quilts played with experiences and scenes, making incredible eye candy. Being a bicycle rider, one of my favorite pieces was from Finland picturing a bicycle race. It showed depth, speed and perspective all at one time - very exciting. We are seeing more surface embellishing on quilts and, surprisingly, surface embellishing using the long-arm machines. We worked with several long arm companies at this show, using Kreinik metallic and silk threads for quilting and embellishing.

In our booth, we had a professional Janome educator, Carol McKinney, who used our product as I have never seen before. She also made a scarf from the Kreinik Bag O’Bits. It is so easy that even I could do it. She used a water-soluble material (preferably one sheet of the sticky type and one plain), added lots of metallic bits, a free-motion foot for the machine, Kreinik embroidery thread for the top stitches and a regular bobbin thread. Carol encased the bits by stitching around the outside, then creating an up and down grid, followed with lots of free motion embroidery. After about two hours, presto: a great-looking scarf. Our instructor made a sweater jacket with coordinating colors by creating fabric and cutting it out. The whole process blew my mind.

I really enjoy visiting with the doll makers. The dolls builders used Kreinik metallic and silk threads as embroidery and embellishments on clothing and also for the hair. They even used the Kreinik iron-ons in the clothing. This years theme for one doll challenge centered on Gypsies. The faces, clothing and fantasy adventures around the dolls described many stories. I will always be a fan of doll making.

Oh yeah, and the favorite eating places... I always eat at Whole Foods and Central Market in Houston. BBQ was at Goodes off of Kirby and 45, and my cousin took me to a terrific Dim Sum restaurant in the new Chinatown area near the Police Department at Bellaire and Ranchester. Also, I was treated to a 1-hour foot massage across the way. Very reasonable and relaxing.

Buying local

By Dena Lenham

There’s a little store on a corner that could easily blend into the other retailers along the street – except for the line coming out the front and curving around two blocks, giving an hour wait time just to get in the door. Obviously, in Columbus, Ohio, it is The Place To Be. There is a line every day, all hours, all ages, all nationalities, all dress types. It’s Jeni’s ice cream shop, and blissfully it is a mere hop, skip and a jump from the convention center where the TNNA needle arts trade show was held earlier this month.

So Cathe Ray of the Alameda California store Needle In a Haystack merely had to mention ice cream and sorbet to get the Kreinik crew to stand in line at 10 o’clock on an 80-degree night after working the trade show booth all day. “What could possibly be so special about this ice cream??” I wondered as we stood in this incredibly long line. A few signs later, peering in the window, I started to get the picture: “Grass grazed Ohio cream”, “Locally made peanut butter”, “Home-made whipped cream”, “Freshly made waffle cones…” Oh yeah, this was a local-goodness, community-centered, expert-in-the-field kind of place, and everyone in that long line knew it.

Today, a week after the show closed, I wish I lived in Columbus so I could get that Dark Chocolate Vanilla Honey Pure Minted Bliss ice cream again (or whatever flavor it was, I just know it was so heavenly I was afraid someone would pick-pocket me as I walked, lost in that freshly-made waffle cone). But it makes me happy knowing that a community and its visitors support an independent establishment that specializes in something that spans generations, offering amazing things you can’t find in a chain store, using the best quality they can get for their customers who deserve the best - kind of like a needlework store. If you are lucky enough to have a specialty needlework shop in your town or within driving distance, support it. If you don’t have one, there are plenty of them that sell online. You won’t regret it.

Find a list of fabulous needlework retailers in the Store Locator on www.kreinik.com.

TNNA Columbus Summer 2010 Preview

Weary road warriors Doug Kreinik & Dena Lenham, fresh off a great Spring Quilt Market in Minneapolis will be in Columbus, Ohio this weekend for the TNNA Columbus Summer Show. Here's a sneak preview of what to look for from the Kreinik booth.

• Sample It: We will be offering the new Holographic ECE's and assortment packs of the new Holographic Threads in Medium #16 Braid. These will not last so act fast!
• SCHOOLHOUSE SERIES, TIPS program - Our program will be on holographics — Make Mine 3-D: 10 Hot Ways, 9:30 a.m to 10 a.m. on Friday June 11
• New Products to look for: Holographic threads in Medium #16 Braid and Tree Jewels Needlepoint Ornament Kits in Vintage and Urban color themes.

Looking for a class using Kreinik threads? Here's a list of a few of them...

TT201 Two Koi needlepoint class by Adrienne Spencer: Capture the serenity and graceful movement of HP'S "Two Koi". We will honor the exquisite painting and shading of this canvas by using a variety of stitches in the light or shadow stitching method.

ST120 Kreinik With A New Twist with Beth Robertson and Suzanne Howren: New to Kreinik threads, or want to learn new tricks and techniques for using threads to embellish needlepoint? Beth and Suzanne have fabulously fun ideas that will get your creative juices going.

TT214 Graphic Girls needlepoint with Sharon G: Embellish a trio of brightly colored "girls" with fabulous fibers and stitches - including Kreinik holographics.

TT301 Counted Canvas 101 with Debbie Rowley: The easiest and fastest way to learn more about counted canvas.

FT211 The Flakes: Snowman with a Broom needlepoint with Cynthia Thomas: Embellish a fun winter-themed canvas with fibers and stitches. Would make a great class in your shop, or project for an ornament club.

ST104 Flowers from The Heart needlepoint with Robin King: A bright, cheery, fun Needle Deeva canvas is brought to life in this class. - includes Kreinik holographics

ST105 Sew Many Threads, Sew Much Fun with June McKnight: How do you choose, how do you use...questions answered!

ST117 Candy Corn needlepoint with Cynthia Thomas: Too-cool candy corn canvas by A Bradley Needlearts, made dazzliing and dimension in this class.

NT107 Needlepoint Store Cottage needlepoint by Associated Talents: Learn multiple techniques for stitching, embellishing and making this 3-D village store.

Click here to see more information about these classes.

See you in Columbus! We will be in booth #1019/1118.

Our Schoolhouse Rocked!

Special guest blogger Dena "Kreinikgirl" Lenham talks about our 2010 Spring Quilt Market Schoolhouse.

You never know what to expect when going to a new school. As we walked to the Kreinik classroom for Spring Quilt Market's Schoolhouse sessions, we wondered who would be there, would they like us? We were so excited to discover a room filled to capacity with shop owners, teachers and designers wanting to learn about embellishing in 3-D. We left energized by the ideas around Kreinik's holographic threads for fabric arts. It was a fun way to start the trade show.

At Schoolhouse, you have 15 minutes to show and tell. Doug Kreinik began by introducing Kreinik's new holographic threads as the "Avatar" of threads — the latest in hip, 3-D tech that is just downright fun. Then Dena Lenham showed models made with the holographics: a handmade felt bird, a machine-couched 'galaxy' quilt, a cross-stitched bookmark, and about 10 other creative projects made by hand or sewing machine. The lighting in a convention center is notoriously bad, but even in this classroom the holographics stood out, with flecks of color showing the unique 3-D effect. "Wows" were heard over and over from the students.

We had time for Q&A: "Are the holographic threads washable?" (yes) "What do you use for the couching thread?" (a clear monofilament works best) "Can you use these in a machine?" (yes; the thinner Blending Filament and #4 Braid sizes can go through a needle, the other sizes can be used in the bobbin or couched). "What do you use for the bobbin thread?" (a 60-weight cotton works well). The models were passed around the room and ideas started popping up: "You can use this for..." "This would be good in..."

We loved meeting everyone at Schoolhouse, most of whom came to our table at Sample Spree later that night or to the Kreinik booth during the show, bringing even more ideas they had thought of for using the holographic threads in quilting and sewing projects. At a trade show full of grand fabric companies, huge sewing machine companies, and renown pattern designers, Kreinik became The Little Thread That Could — that could embellish these fabrics, be used on those machines, and bring the patterns to life.

We can't wait to show and tell again as we host another schoolhouse session, this time in TIPS at the June 11, 2010 TNNA trade show in Columbus, Ohio. If you will be at the show, come to class.