Don't know why we haven't done this sooner. I suspect money has something to do with it. But we'd all love to make it an annual thing.
The weather in Florida was in the the 80s and sunny every day except one. And even that day wasn't unpleasant. We had fun just hanging out. Going to the beach. Watching the wildlife. Shopping. Eating. Playing cards. Doing puzzles. And, yes, I even went to Bingo. Oh, and I won $8 playing internet slots. I stopped when I made my money back plus a little profit.
Life in Florida is definitely on a different pace than life where I live. I could get used to the laid back thing. Maybe.
Stitched on planes and in airports. And even at the house one afternoon. Visited Cathy at the Golden Needle in Port Charlotte. They are very friendly in there and if you're ever in the neighborhood, you should stop by. Lots and lots of shop models.
Came home on Friday evening. Ran in the house. Emptied my suitcase, took a quick shower. Repacked said suitcase. And drove off to my EGA Chapter's first ever retreat weekend. Had a great time stitching and laughing and talking and drinking. What a wonderful group of people!
Here's my current progress: I took my red rose with me to the retreat. This is the upper right hand corner. Piece is maybe 10% stitched? I got into a rhythm on this. But realized that looking at that much red for too long isn't a good thing. I think two hours a time on this one may be my limit.
Here's what I really made progress on, my O Canada sampler. I couldn't locate any pearl 12 in the color I needed to match my fabric before I left. So I bought some DMC Floche. Son of a gun - this stuff works like a dream. I've done four-sided stitch and eyelets with it and am happy to have discovered a substitute for pearl 12. I know a lot of the needlepointers are using it on hand painted canvas. It's a 5 ply lightly twisted thread which is meant to be used as is, but Mary Corbet of Needle n Thread has been experimenting with plying it. It's equivalent to two strands of floss. And the coverage is great on my 32ct Glenshee.
P.S. (an edit about needlework shops on the west coast of Florida)
I tried to go to Needlepoint Ivy in Venice, but they were closed on Mondays. The shop looked nice through the windows. And Jackson's which is nearby, was a terrific place for lunch. Kelly suggested the shop in Naples in a comment on this post. I would have driven down there, but I'm going to Seminar in September and I figured that would be soon enough!!! Trust me, I spent enough at the Golden Needle...
2 comments:
Love your pieces especially the red one. The Golden Needle is going to be the shop at the EGA seminar. I was at that shop during Thanksgiving. She had lovely fabric. If you get back down, I like Needlepoint in Paradise in Naples. They are known to be a little snooty but they are a big shop with lots of canvases.
Lovely beach photos. Are we going to get a stash report? See you managed to get over to the Red Sox spring training site (at least for now).
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