On Tuesday I was one of the lucky door prize winners.  I bypassed all the painted canvases and headed straight to the charted designs.  I found several that were appealing but settled on this one:

The design is cute, but I focused on the finishing.  It is stitched in one long rectangle and folded to get the effect desired.  I think I will try that this fall, and maybe it will be something we can try in the future!

Last night was Expo!  For anyone not familiar with the ANG Seminar, that is the merchandise night where you can find things sold by teachers, other needlework designers as well as those who cater to the desires for those of us in needlework trying to find the best in accessories including laying tools, bags, totes, jewelry.  It is also, later in the two hour shop time, a chance to connect with your favorite teachers/designers and tell them about the piece you finished and how much you loved it.

These were my purchases of note:

On the lower left are notecards that I purchased from Lois Kerschner with photos of some of her stitched scenes.  On the lower right are some cute small needle minder magnets purchased from Nancy Cucci.  There are four large disks with holes for stitching that I got from Toni Gerdes.  A couple of my other stitching groups would like to stitch designs on these as a meeting program.  There are other colors, but these are red, white, navy blue and black to complement the ones I currently have at home, beige, olive green, and burgundy.  Then in the center is a design with excellent directions being sold by the Potomoc Chapter as a fund raiser.  A chapter member designed the square for the fund raiser.  Several members stitched it in a variety of colors as well as altering the square motif in the top which were on display.  The directions are well done and the diagrams clear.  Hopefully, this too will be stitched shortly!

Part of the fun of Expo! is bumping in to others you have stitched with at seminars in the past and catching up with them.  They can also be enablers telling you what you really need to buy before the vendor runs out!  I skipped those booths where I knew temptation would be strong as I don’t need any more new kits before I have tackled a few purchased at previous seminars!  Maybe next year I will have completed a few of those, yeah right.