Linda & Denise Take a Mini Road Trip

Going to New Jersey from New York does not actually qualify as a road trip, even though a bridge was crossed in the process. Nevertheless, in this summer of the continuing evil economy, our road trips have been seriously curtailed, and so we had to have some kind of fix. Last month's Needlepoint Now provided the excuse.

You may recall that the back cover of last month's Needlepoint Now featured a canvas by Pepita Designs, which Linda & I both said we needed to add to our stash. I remembered that the owner of Pepita had been featured on Gone Stitching's weekly radio podcast, & so we decided to order the canvas from them. Then, once it arrived in, Gone Stitching has evening hours, allowing me to get there during the week. This would then allow for a tiny road trip and allow us to visit a new store, an adventure we love so much.

My personal shopper Linda called in the order. To our delight, the three (one for me, one for Linda, one for Jennifer) canvases were ready in just a few days. In fact, we had to wait a week to get there, as my schedule wouldn't let me get there right away!

Gone Stitching, located in, to quote Renee, one of the shop's owners, "downtown Bergenfield, New Jersey," is a fun and comfortable shop. You can tell when you walk in that their customers love them, & they love their customers and their business. Linda & I both wanted to change some of the threads suggested by the "Summer Garden" stitch guide, and both Renee & her partner Michelle jumped in to help us select new colors, threads & ribbons. They are a talented team, Renee and Michelle, and they, and their customers and family members present, made us feel very comfortable. I am sure you've all experienced walking into a new store, & having a table full of stitchers just give you "the look." Very unsettling. Not at Gone Stitching. Right away, they knew who were were, grabbed the canvases, & showed us around. I was exceited to see where Renee conducts her weekly podcasts, & I told her I was pleased that I could now visualize her as I listened to her each week.

You can see some of the threads & ribbons I selected. Linda selected more vibrant colors for her flowers in particular (I was found to be "muted" in my color selections--probably the only thing mute about me ever).

I am looking forward to working this canvas, although when that will be, I have no idea. I want to wrap up the Ponza canvas, then I have a gift to make, then I have the last Ponza to finish, that I did with Tony Minieri in the spring, then the Positano door that Amy did the fabulous stitch guide for. Oh, yes, & the Tony Minieri class in November.

It is nice to have goals :)

Denise

Denise