Despite the intense snowstorm on Thursday, we were thrilled that Friday dawned bright and sunny. Mr. M and I hit the road about 8:00 a.m. headed towards Alexandria.  In the trunk of the car were the 15 pieces of fabulous needlework that our members submitted for the Woodlawn 54th Annual Needlework Show & Sale.  NJNA is ably represented at the Show by Tina, Rosie, Sue C, Sue R. Linda, Cathryn, Diane, Joan, and Barbara. All of the pieces were well-protected and carefully arranged to avoid any damage during the trip.

Our first stop of the trip was a new needlepoint shop in Stevenson, MD right off I-695 – Hillside Needlepoint.  The shop opened in November and I’m sure it will become a regular visit when we head to that area.  The owners, Kristine Kingston and Leslie Aronson, couldn’t be more delightful and helpful.  The shop itself is in a new strip center and is full of light and space.  Right now Kristine and Leslie have two trunk shows in the shop – Susan Roberts’ wonderful nutcrackers in all shapes and sizes and the colorful designs of Needle Deeva.  There is a very nice collection of threads and canvases apart from the trunk shows. It is a lovely shop and I wish them much success.  One can never have too many shops to visit!

Hillside Needlepoint is located at 10437 Stevenson Road in Stevenson, MD.  They are open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

I did pick up three new canvases – all small so they stand a chance of actually being stitched!

Mr. M’s reward for being such a good sport was lunch at the Ellicott Mills Brewing Company in Ellicott City.  We’ve stopped there on previous trips and the menu is quite varied.  Of course, Mr. M is a big fan of their beer. We did learn that Ellicott City flooded at the end of last July and the brewery had water in its basement.  They are just now getting back their own beer.  But many of the stores further down the hill flooded into the retail spaces and are still boarded up. Unfortunately, a number of them will not be returning.

Saturday we were again up bright and early as we had a 9:00 a.m. appointment at Woodlawn to deliver all those pieces. The check-in went very smoothly and the volunteers were very organized.  Mr. M assisted with unwrapping all those precious needleworks while I matched Submittal Forms and checks to the pieces. All of our pieces garnered lots of “oohs and aahs” from the volunteers, and they thanked us for supporting their show. The entire operation took about 30 minutes and we were on our way!  I had planned to stop at In Stitches right near Woodlawn but we were too early so we will save that shop for our trip to the show itself.

We headed into DC on the Metro and another brewery lunch at Gordon Biersch.  After a very relaxing lunch we walked to the DAR Museum which had an exhibit on clothing from the 1700s and 1800s.  We did some walking around the Mall and passed by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the newest of the Smithsonian museums.  We were thinking of visiting the museum when we return in March.  However, the only way to get into the museum is with a timed pass – and as of March 1 they will be distributing passes for June! So we will either have to try to get last-minute tickets on the day we are there (available at 6:30 a.m.) or just wait until next year now that we know to get tickets in advance.

We traveled back to NJ this morning – mostly through rain although there was some freezing rain when we got close to Morristown.  Our driveway was a sheet of ice making unpacking the car a bit of an adventure.  Mr. M salted and hopefully the temperatures will now stay above freezing.

We will be attending the show the first weekend in March and I am looking forward to seeing the displays.  I encourage all of our members to attend if you can – it is really quite incredible.  And consider submitting a piece or two next year!

Happy stitching!

Linda