Katt Z. Witch update

Hi Everybody!
Just made it back from the TNNA 2010 Winter Market. I need to unpack, but will soon share my experience in the Needlepoint Study Hall Blog.

Katt Z. Witch was a hit! She handled her first cross-country flight like a pro. She toured the event and was introduced to the "Rock Stars of Needlepoint."

Here's a photo of Katt Z. Witch. She was on display in the Kelly Clark Needlepoint booth during the Market. You can see her painted canvas in the upper left corner of this photo.

Just wanted to check in & let you know: we did survived!

Robin

How I spent the last day in 2009

Yesterday was 12-31-09. While the Revelers were poised for their big blow-out, I shared in a celebration of sorts... the kitting of the Katt Z. Witch Thread Kits. I had received all of the donated threads for the Sold OUT class of 20, and it was time to put them into their individual bundles.

I had an excellent teacher/guru to help me: Jill from Amy's Golden Strand. Jill is the Manager of Amy's Home Studies, and boy, does she knows how to kit!

First step... lay out the 20 Ziploc Gallon-size bags on the tables, creating 20 different stations. All of the donated Threads are spread out on a nearby table; waiting their turn.

This bundle from Rainbow Gallery is awesome. They had agreed to donate their threads for the class, and packaged the needed quantities onto these special product cards. When I opened the box, I shouted with glee: Perfect bundles of joyous threads. What a company!

Round and round I went. Dropping off 1 thread type at each station, counting all the way. Making sure there were 20 total, and only one per station. This is what I refer to as the "Wilensky Method of Kitting."

Here is the close up of one kit. Threads from companies including Gloriana Threads, Week Dye Works, The Thread Gatherer, Caron Collection, Sundance, Rainbow Gallery, Kreinik, YLI, Wichelt/Mill Hill, Vineyard Silk/Wiltex Threads, DMC, Burmilana/Amy's Keeping Me in Stitches, Fabulous Fibers & Embellishments, Dream House Ventures, Renaissance Designs, and Colonial Needle Company. Graciously all donated! Unbelievable! How wonderful is that! I will go to each Company at the TNNA Market, and personally thank them. I will also show off Katt Z. Witch so they can see how fabulous their fibers worked. If it looks like a lot of threads... well, it is. But actually, what else could I do? After all, I was working with a beautifully painted canvas by Kelly Clark Needlepoint.

Then Jill showed me her Counting Method. Make a note about how many threads are to be in each kit. If that's a large number, she said to break things down by shape or thread type into smaller bundles. Once all threads were placed, I made my master counting plan.

From here, I was at the fourth turn; headed for home. All I had to do was to put the threads into their designated Ziploc Bag ... 20 Bags ... 20 Kits. Done! California, here we come! Oh, and Happy New Year! Robin