Sherri jones will be here soon..excitement mounts!!!!

Pre-stitch pressed and ready to go.  I had handed this off to Sara on Friday to finish the butterflies since I was experiencing difficulty (or so I thought) getting it right.  I had partially stitched the bottom piece on the left and had not stitched any of the butterflies on that piece, thinking she would take pity and do it while she was finishing the other butterflies.  So she brings it down, happily announcing she had finished the butterflies, but then hands it to me and says, "You haven't finished one piece."  UGH!  I was back in pre-stitch hell.  But I just went home Sunday night, sat in my stitchy chair and got down to business and was finished in an hour.  And I finished the butterflies on that piece because I always knew how to do it, I just wasn't secure in the knowledge.  But now that it's finished, the "Garden Long Pocket" is finished and I've got it blocking now so it will be ready to go by Friday....I can finish the rest of the projects that are sitting on my dining room table waiting for me to get to them.  Nothing more exciting then finishing projects and getting them into the shop on display.  A real sense of accomplishment.  Especially now....winter is over for us with our first class starting Friday and stitchers arriving Wednesday.  Then it's the Delaware Guild retreat, the May retreat and then it's summer.  Yes we are definitely feeling the tension as we all get our particular jobs finished in time.  Mary's working everyday getting the guys fixing and helping move furniture, etc., housekeepers have been working on the rooms and apartments for over a month already, and Sara's busy still getting merchandise out and getting orders placed.  Whew!  All I have to do is get the peanut butter cookies done and the models (and really no one knows what models I'm doing so if I don't get them done it's no big deal.)  I certainly won't have the pieces that were suppose to go to the framers here because they are still sitting on the table at home.    One was for St. Patrick's Day so at this point....what's the point?  The ladies return for another summer this week.  Judy and Pat will both be here this week, Sara will be taking the class so I'll be in the shop (God help us) and the Tangles will also be in town.  So the shop should be very busy this weekend.  That's always exhausting, but really exciting to see what everyone is working on, getting to speak with Sherri Jones....I better start catching up on sleep so I'm ready.  But it's so hard to sleep with my Roku....darn that Debbie Liming.  She told me she had one so of course I had to get one.  Now, I'm addicted and can barely go to sleep for watching my British shows and Netflix...OMG, commercial free T.V. is the best.  I didn't know how addictive it was until I went back to watch a show on regular T.V. and at the first commercial break I counted 13 commercials before I said, the hell with this and went back to Acorn T.V.  I'm seriously thinking of canceling my cable.  Each week since I became a Roku devotee I've watched less and less of regular T.V. although I could watch it on NBC apps on my T.V., I think there are commercials there was well, and while I miss a couple of my shows on regular T.V., so many commercials every break just wears my patience thin.  It's as if  they give you 10 minutes of a show and 10 minutes of commercials.  Can't deal with that.  I'm a bit concerned about the weather for the weekend now.  I always think it's going to be warm when we open and boy, after last weekend I really don't know what it's going to be like.  Today the sun is shining and supposedly the temperature is in the low 50's but feels like it's in the 40's with the ocean breeze...breeze well more like a nor'easter wind.    We have portable heaters at the ready just in case but I've got my fingers, toes and eyes crossed hoping for the warmer temps.  For those coming...we can't wait.  We'll see Ginny, Beverly and Bernadette on Wednesday, Sherri, Debbie and Stasi on Thursday and God knows who else before the bulk of the stitchers arrive.  Nothing better than a group of stitchers on site. 

Two fast projects down.

Another fast project "Alphabet Art" from Just Another Button Company and when you are done the stitching, you just slide it into the 4 sided box made for this series. OMG.  No finishing since the perforated paper just slides right in the box. And all you are stitching is the floral display on the initial and the black border. Of course as I'm stitching it I'm thinking of the possibilities with the box. It's 4 sided which means you could do the 4 seasons, insert each season into the space on a side and just turn the box to the season you are in. The box is open at the top so you could fill it with a vase of flowers, or anything you like. Each letter comes with the chart and buttons.  You supply the fibers. 

Little House Needleworks "Land of the Free" framed and on display. Yippee!!!! Fun little stitch, just took a few days and love, love the frame. The stars on the frame are perfect for patriotic pieces. The over dyed fibers come with the chart, but you supply your own linen or aida. 

I'm out of Pre-Stitch hell.............YEAH!

I'm finally out of pre-stitch hell and am blocking the piece you see here, but that's no big deal (at least I'm saying that today), or at this moment I don't think I'll have any trouble with the blocking.  Below the picture of the pre-stitch  is Red White & Blue by Lizzie Kate.  A fun little stitch and I'm all about patriotic so that was a win win for me to stitch.  I did change a couple of things....I turned the pillow sideways (the kit shows the blue wool at the bottom not to the side).  I also left off the twine roping that was suppose to go on the spot where the linen meets the wool, however, you cut your wool with pinking sheers so I felt it just didn't need the twine there.  But that's a matter of personal preference and you might prefer it.  I also left off the ribbon and button because that too just didn't seem necessary. I meant to add a bead to the door for a knob, but forgot it in my pre-stitch haze so it sits unadorned and will never open.  It was nice to have a Lizzie Kate stitch that's so much fun after the over one pre-stitch which I so struggled with this time.  I've got several more things stitched and just need to buckle down to finish them...ugh!  But I won't get better at it unless I force myself to do some of it so I shall soldier on....eventually.  Today is bright and shiny and cool, but we are in the shop as we will be everyday until Thanksgiving....that's right we are back to opening 7 days a week.  Right now that's 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and it will not be until the middle of June when we go from 10 to 10p.m. UGH!  I love the shop, but 7 days a week...it gets tough, although I don't have to work it by myself 7 days...next week I'm only on 5 days and then the Tangles group along with Sheri Jones will be here so that is truly exciting for us.  Sheri's classes are so wonderful with full instructions so you never go away wondering what in the hell do I do now.  And her designs are to die for.  If you have never taken one of her classes, please put it on your "must do" list.  You gain so much knowledge with her and you will learn how to do your own finishing.  The more finishing you do the better you will get.  Many of you go to retreats, another good learning experience.  If you have never tried a retreat, please do.  You will meet so many wonderful stitchers and if you go alone, you won't be alone long.  Stitchers welcome everyone into their groups,  so once you arrive at a retreat you just blend right in.  Stitchers are always willing to share tips and suggestions so you get a lot of information while you are there.  And if there are classes, it really is a win win because then you have the benefit of designers giving you information as well as kits from them.  In any event, if you are in our area, please stop by to say hi.  Talk to you again soon.