I’m a little bit behind in the blogging. But here goes. With much anticipation and excitement, I set off for Myrtle Beach on Friday. My 89-year-old mother-in-law, who lives a half a mile from where the pope slept in Philadelphia, warned me to not come anywhere near Philadelphia on Friday. That left an interesting dilemma as I was taking the exact route that the pope would take later in the day. Diane came to my rescue and suggested a westerly route through Harrisburg and then head south. So, I did not have to worry about running into hordes of visitors going to Philadelphia. One advantage of taking the car is being able to take anything your stitching heart desires. Look at the pile of bags at the top of my steps.

Of course, on my way, I had to stop at needlepoint stores. My first stop was in Washington DC. I went to see The Point of it All. It was quite aesthetically pleasing. What I noticed however, was that there were far more 13 mash painted canvases then 18 mesh. I did not see any charts for counted work at all. Also, the people working in the shop, as well as the customers who came in, all worked in hand. I was surprised by these elements. Although I didn’t buy anything, I’m not sorry I went. I’ve been curious about the shop for a while.

Back on the road again, I made my way to Richmond, where I was to spend the night with a friend I had made during my Smocking Arts Guild days. We had not seen each other in well over 20 years. However, we had a great time catching up. She took me to two needlepoint shops in Richmond, across the street from each other! The first one, Jermies, has been in business for 40 years. They had lovely canvases. I noticed that just like in The Point of it All, the edges of the canvas were finished with sewn on bias tape. It was really a clean and neat way to finish off the raw edges. Jermies also had find linens. Interesting combination!

The second shop, The Stitching Studio, didn’t look like a needlepoint store from the outside. Once you got in, it resembled more of what we have in New Jersey. It was just much smaller. The store owners were quite nice.

My last stop in Richmond, was my friends own store. She used to own one of the finest antique stores in Richmond. She “retired” two years ago, moved to a new location and opened up an heirloom sewing/smocking/quilting store with the finest fabrics and laces in the area. She is starting to concentrate more on the quilting fabrics. In addition, she also had beautiful gift items. I had great fun seeing what she did with her space. Lastly, she’s an Elna sewing machine dealer. Her house had at least six sewing machines in it.

Today was a relaxing, kickback day. I became acquainted with what the seminar has to offer. Of course my favorite activity, besides stitching of course, was viewing the exhibit of all the beautiful pieces sent by ANG members.

Tomorrow I have the first day of my three day class. Wish me luck!

I am trying a different app to write this blog. If it looks or acts strange, please give me feedback. Thanks!