Finally....I got the Maryland flag to Caroline and 5 days later it's in the shop on display.  Fabulous....our tribute to our home state.  As soon as  it arrived Michael grabbed the Maryland crab pillow as that was a Christmas gift to him and he let us use it for a model waiting patiently to take it to his room.  I told him once I got the Maryland flag pillow back he could take his back which he did....but, he left it in the office so I snagged it again.  (If you leave this stuff where I can get it shame on you I say!)  Again both are stitched over 2 on 18 count linen so they are a good size. I'm thinking I'm going to have to restitch the crab piece because eventually Michael will realize I've got it again.  So I might just do it now on a smaller count just so you can see what a difference the count of linen makes in a piece.    But this size makes such a great statement on a sofa, or two separate chairs, which is what I like about them. Other than that, I have very little going on here except the pieces for the retreats.  So as of next weekend (hopefully I get it done) I'm free to start stitching on my obsession again, Serenity Harbor.  There are a lot of people tackling this piece and on different counts and colors of fabric...it is wonderful to see the differences.    There were 3 of us in the shop last weekend all working on different counts...and Larene showed up last weekend working on 40 ct. gauze...OMG..it's show stopping.  It almost made me rethink my 36 count, but I love the size of the finished piece on 36 count so I decided not to turn back now and start over.  Today we got the next section so once again I'm behind and now there's a lot more stitching on each section so I'm feeling the pressure to get back to it before I fall further behind than I am right now.  But I'm so far in the weeds on the Spring Retreat piece that I just can't take the time to work on Serenity Harbor..Darn it!  Plus yesterday I added to my stash before I left the shop, so that puts a little pressure on me to get moving faster.  I have such a difficult time now because I'm not the one ordering, pricing, or putting anything on the shelves so when I come in I am so excited to see new stuff on the racks and start pulling for me.  Yesterday I took home 2 Drawn Threads, a Victoria Sampler and we got in a new supply of Olde Colonial's Pottery Bowl piece so that went home.  I realize I will never live long enough to get all this stitched, so I'm now a collector as well as a stitcher and fortunately for me, Sara loves it so all my stash will go to her.  Mary doesn't do it and doesn't seem to care about it like Sara, so I'm sure she'll take something finished, just as a rememberance, but it is Sara who will really be in there drooling.  In fact I've told her to just leave my apartment empty, well clear all my stuff out except the stitching, and then use my apartment as a stitching spot.  She can have friends over to stitch in the living room.  T.V.'s in there, they can eat in the dining room when they get hungry and there are still 2 bedrooms beside the stitching room which in the old days was a bedroom but I moved everything out and turned it into a stitching room, so there could be sleepovers.    Perfect!  (She just laughs! But there is a look that lets me know she's thinking about it.)  Delaware Valley Sampler Guild is retreating here this weekend, so there is a lot of activity in the shop.  Great group of stitchers and they brought show and tell so I'm seeing some amazing finished projects.  That always gets me in the mood to get projects finished.  And Debbie Honsch just came over to show me she is starting Serenity Harbor on 40 ct. linen over 1 and it's wonderful, but OMG it's hard to see those linen threads.  On the plus side, it's a half cross stitch so less stitching, but on the minus side you may be blind when you finally finish.  But how gorgeous.   Unfortunately this weekend is perfect stitching weather....no one wants to be outside in the wind and the cold...brrrrr...we're back to coats and long sleeves people, so the perfect time to sit inside in the heat and stitch.    This time last week we had the a/c on in the shop and today we're back to heat.  On the plus side, Thashers opened today...OMG...just what I need,  French fries.  I tried to resist, but then Brian, my son-in-law walked thru, saw I didn't have any and got me a small fry....yummo with vinegar...bigger yummo.  Nothing is better than the first small fry of the summer.   There are still a lot of people out walking and riding regardless of the weather...I think it's the Carvers Convention this weekend among other things and that's a huge event here in town.  I can't figure out why they are walking in this weather though, all bundled up.  Get inside people where it's warm and stitch!  Talk to you later...have a great weekend

Sherri Jones Weekend....Wow!!! Great Projects, Great Teacher, Great Retreat

Stacy Stinson and the Patriot Patty group getting their ribbon Patty done.  It was so much fun.  First class I've taken as I usually do all the pre-stitch and Sara take the classes, but this year she felt she needed to be in the shop for the Tangles (another retreat in town) as they need a lot of fabric cut and she can do it better than I can (my back and feet start to hurt after a while-at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.)  So I joined the Patriot Patty group and was so thrilled to do it.  First Sherri Jones is just a fabulous teacher  Her kits are complete, with plenty of fibers and fabric, her directions are complete, so if you take the kit home you understand what you are suppose to do.  You learn tips and how to's and she is constantly monitoring your work and helping you throughout the class.  I really can't say enough about how much I enjoyed the class.  Ours was a small class, unlike the Button Book class which had around 23 students, there were only around 8 of us so we got a lot of Sherri's  time. She provided great support and always encouraging words.   I got Patty done, but haven't had time this week to work on the box yet, but I know I will get this done and I see that Bernadette has already finished her Patty and the box and posted it on Facebook.  Kudo's Bernadette.  Nice job.  While you are seeing scenes from my class I forgot to take out my phone and didn't get one picture of the other class...oops, sorry.  But I've already seen posts from some of those ladies and the feeling is that they had a great time as well.  A weekend of fellowship with like minded people, and a great teacher with a fabulous project...well it just doesn't get any better than that, does it?  Thanks a bunch to Sherri, (shown in the last picture.)  It was wonderful.  We so appreciate your making your way down here.  We also thank all the stitchers who flew in and drove in to join us.  We couldn't do it without your support so thanks.  Also a big thanks to Staci Buhrman who came and cut fabric for us...thank you, and Ginny who flew in to assist as well.  She is always willing to jump in to get a job done, like winding a bag full of yarn for us.  Thanks Ginny...it was a big help.   The weekend actually started on Wednesday as stitchers began to arrive.  I got Debbie off on Tuesday and she was the last to leave, and then Sara and I moved on to prepping for our next event, which takes place this weekend...the Delaware Valley Sampler's Guild.  For the first time, and perhaps the last, we decided to put together a piece we picked up at the Nashvillemarket,  for them.  Which meant I had to get it stitched and put together, then get all the supplies together and kit it for them. 

This afternoon as some of the ladies were arriving, Michael and I were in a side apartment putting the kits together.  Whew...why are we always getting it done just under the wire.  I left the hotel after that to come home and work on the piece for Stitcher's Retreat.  Another brilliant idea we had in a weak moment.  I'm tired of giving the same old thing in the goodie bags and while the bag itself changes, we tend to put many of the same things in the bag.  I know we can all use needles, etc., but I want something new and different.  Well, I think we can say we have something different....or at least I hope we will.  Thank God I work well under pressure but it would be really helpful if I'd stop thinking of "one more thing."  So with the weekend looming in 7 days I'm working 24/7 in hopes of getting this done.  Keep your fingers crossed.  Things are really coming together.  Michael has taken his finals in all but 3 classes, and one of those will be done next week.  Then we are down to Science and Writing.  I can't say I'll be sorry for the break and I know Michael will be thrilled.  He thought we would be done this month and was very disappointed when I informed him we would be going to school until May 31.  He was not thrilled, but he's done well and has an average right now of 89.41% as his grade.  I don't see any reason why we won't end up with that or hopefully 90% after taking the last of the finals....I'm hopeful and a little sorry I won't be doing it again next year.  I'm relearning all the "stuff" I should have remembered from my days in school...thanks to a lot of web sites.  I can only imagine what brilliance I would display if I had access to the information children today have.  I'm telling you we'd all be Rhodes Scholars.  Anyway, his mother always said it was for only one year and apparently she's holding to that as she has informed me he's going back to public school now that he's caught up.  I guess next winter I'll finally have to clean the house as I will have no other excuse why I don't have enough time.  I might just take an online class just for the hell of it.  Well, I've got to get back to stitching....time is ticking away and I'm not ready for next weekend.  Talk to you later.  Hope you are getting your stitching done.  Thanks to everyone who participated. 

Spring has finally sprung! Temps are balmy and paradise is welcoming a new season!

A little late, but here's Sara in her Easter ensemble...so cute!  And she kept those ears on all day, God love her.  I, of course, forgot mine at home (didn't remember I even had them...let's blame it on age.)  The second picture is sections 1,2,3 of my latest obsession...Serenity Harbor.  I can't wait as this week I start the inside design...what fun will that be?  Again, the clouds and now the birds flying don't show up well here, but in person they do show up.  But that peek of the tree shows some of what is to come...exciting!  And if I'm able to do section 4 this week I will have caught up.  I love catching up because I don't do it often, especially when I'm in pre-stitching hell, which is where I am right now.  I worked several days on my Betsy Morgan piece and it is a slow go because for some reason I keep making counting errors and have to rip...ugh!  I have the pre-stitch done and 3 extra pieces are now complete, but oh, my I've never had such a struggle...oh, unless you count my Welsh Cottage...perhaps this is normal for me, now that I think about it.  Anyway, I've allowed myself a month for each Betsy Morgan class kit....I'm now working on this one during the week at times as well to meet that goal, which means I didn't get 2 shop pieces done this week.  I had to finish a piece for the Delaware Sampler Guild retreat, but I can't show that until the retreat takes place.  So I'm afraid this is it for the week.  Came to work this morning in such moderate temperatures I swear I could have come in short sleeves.  But since I'm not sure it will stay this way all day, I came in my turtleneck just in case.  But the boardwalk is humming with activity.  Elaine is here getting inventory ready to open the downstairs stores and by this time next week we are open 7 days a week.  Summer can't be far away.    Renee and Pat will both be back on the schedule and I will see a day off again.  Whoppee!!! Of course next weekend is our first class for the year with Sherri Jones coming.  My Patriot Patty will finally be completed (at least I pray it is so), and one more beautiful object for my stitching room.  I love playing with my beautiful gifts and finishes.  I used to love to play with my dolls and doll houses filled with furniture when I was a little girl (before tech came to be), and this is a grown up's version.  I open the boxes, and rearrange the smalls inside.  I marvel at the splendor created with just some fabric, needle and thread.  Treasures, is what they are.  Many of them are gifts given  to me by stitchers which I treasure most of all, but there are some done with my own hands which makes me feel I've accomplished something wonderful.  I know that when my time has come,  I am leaving behind something that will be treasured by others for I have a daughter who is a stitcher as well. The thought of my stash just brings a smile to her face because she knows what is there and she can't wait to get her hands on it.  I'm O.K. knowing this because I would be the same way and at least I know someone will love my stash as much as I've loved it.  And with that I'll say good day.  Have a wonderful weekend and I'll talk to you soon.  And I'll see some of you this week as everyone works their way here for Sherri Jones' classes. 

Have a wonderful Easter...!!!!

I'm going to say it now since I don't think I'll be blogging tomorrow, so I hope you all have a wonderful Easter.  I know I am going to .  Sara has invited everyone to her house for dinner so we will all be together.  While it's sunny here, the wind is really blowing, so it's bringing the cooler air off the ocean, so it's not as warm as yesterday, but warmer than it was 2 weeks ago so that's a good thing.  I wanted to show you my 2 models for the week.  Just Nan's "Strawberry Bunny" which I think is so cute.  It's really a one night stitch and the finishing wasn't too bad either, although I still have to put her whiskers on, I forgot them in my haste for a finish.  The second finish is the Noteworthy Needle "Bunny Bucket," which was also an easy one night stitch.  The finishing was a little harder because you are dealing with a curved piece and because I was looking for finishing supplies I never found....but at least I know what we need to order.  I also, for some reason, did not leave enough fabric on the ends to make a good finish, but managed to find a way around it.  I thought I followed their finishing directions but apparently I missed something.  I did use the pom pom trim we carry which I've been dying to use.  It was easy to attach and gives it a fine looking finish...mission accomplished...2 finishes for the week.  I love it when a plan comes together.  So far it's been an easy day.  People are breezing in and out, no rush or hurry, so I think I'll now pull out my stitching and get busy on my class kits.  I left Serenity Harbor home so I wouldn't be tempted.  .

It's Friday and there is no school so it's back to work for me and while it's not perfect outside, with temperatures in the 50's and just a brief few drops of rain earlier, it's close.  O.K. there's a bit of wind, but the top picture is my view of the world, gorgeous.  You can tell summer is right around the corner, bikes on the boardwalk and the Alaska Stand opened today.  Hot dogs and French fries for everyone!   I finally got Luck in a frame so you can see that finish (can't count it for this week as it was finished before St. Patrick's Day) and while I usually go for a "cutesy" frame for this kind of stitch, I felt gold was appropriate with the pot of gold shown on the piece.  Fun, fast and cute from Lizzie Kate.  And the third wrinkled picture is my progress on Serenity Harbor.  I cheated and finished part 2 before completely finishing my 2 shop models for the week, but I have until tomorrow to get them done, and the stitching is finished so keeping fingers crossed that I get the finishing work done here in the shop today or at home tonight.  But guess what showed up today....Oh, My, Gosh....part 4 of Serenity Harbor and the fun will begin with this piece because the inside design is starting, there's a sailboat, a lighthouse and a house to say nothing of trees, water, I'm so excited I don't know how I'll work on anything else....but I must so I'm trying to keep it out of my mind at this point.  I can't wait!  I have encountered a slight problem with using the fabric I chose.  I chose a color close to the color in the picture initially shown which is somewhat like a light sand color.  When stitching the clouds they really get somewhat lost, however, I pulled them out and decided to stitch with two threads (the rest I've used one thread on) and it made a difference.  In person they do stand out now, even though they are still hard to see on the internet.  But in person they look fat and fluffy so I'm happy with it.  Oh, know, UPS just showed up with 19 cartons of stuff.  Going to be a tough afternoon, hell weekend with 19 cartons, for us all....well most of this is for Sea Trader and at least 6 cartons are the goodie bags for different events, so not everything has to be priced and put out, but that leaves 13 cartons...UGH!  I'm hiding over here, keeping my head down and mouth shut!  Have to tell you I had a ranting moment yesterday in Michaels, which as anyone who knows me knows I hate, at least the Ocean City store.  I only went in there to get a container to put Lizzie Kate's "Little Grey Hare" on.  OMG..it became a nightmare.  I finally settled on a shadow box...I'll show you later...I'm in line behind a woman who said, "I have a 40% coupon but forgot it at home."  I'm not sure what anyone expects a cashier to do when they leave their coupons  home, but apparently this idiot thought the cashier gave a damn, which none of them do in Michael's.  But in the cashier's defense....coupons have to be presented.  The woman was then trying to get the Michael's website up on her phone.  So while she attempted this numerous times, while a longer line was gathering, she kept mentioning her friggin coupon.  She finally, after several attempts, got the web site up and spies  a 30% off entire purchase coupon so she then thinks about which one to use and the cashier thankfully ends that delay by telling her the 30% is for the next day and the 40% is for now.   This  idiot actually considered leaving what had been rung up to come back and annoy us all over again tomorrow....to get the 30% off.  She kept looking at the idiot husband and said over and over, "I should come back tomorrow and get 30% off shouldn't I?"  She never gave a thought to those who were ready, with or without coupons, to get the hell out of this store.  She never even looked at the line and said, "I'm so sorry that I'm being such a dumbass," because apparently her world revolved around her.  I also, of course,  put blame on the cashier who should have said, "I'll have to ask you to step aside until you are ready and then will take you, but people are waiting."  I always come out of our Michael's saying, "I am never setting foot inside this store ever again." or at least until I am desperate for something.  As if that wasn't enough, I was watching the news when they had the story about people saying their pets are service dogs so they can stay with them on planes for free, instead of riding in the cargo hold.  Really, what is it about people that no thought is given to those who truly have disabilities which they need a service dog for. Should all passengers on an airplane bring their pets on with them?  Do these people think their needs should be above everyone elses?  If they keep this up and the airlines says no more to any pets, what happens to the folks who truly need service dogs.  What happens to the passengers who are allergic to pet hair.  My Sara has an allergy to pet hair, pollen and wool.  She gets around dogs or cats and it's sneezing, eye watering, and just plain misery.  Does anyone think of these people.  None of us mind making exceptions for those who are truly in need of a service pet.  But I do mind those who think they are above everyone else and the needs of everyone else.   We do not live in our own world, we live in a world with other people.  It would be nice if  some people took  others into consideration.  Instead of  being shocked when someone is rude, I'm now shocked when someone considers someone else first.  What does that say about people today?