Wonderful Stitching Weekend

Karen and I started our trip at 6:30 A.M. on Thursday morning. We stopped in Arlington, Va at The Waste Knot. We both bought things for our stash enhancement (will talk about that tomorrow).

Our next stop was to Ruth's. Ruth has a beautiful store called Bedecked and Beadazzled in Lutherville, Md. Ruth was as happy and excited to see us as we were to see her. I bought two canvases from the Kelly Clark trunk show ( will also talk about that tomorrow). Our next stop was the hotel. We stayed at the Townson Marriott Convention Center. This is a great place to stay. We always get a two bedroom suite and it works out perfectly for us. For dinner we went to Cheesecake Factory. We had a great dinner and then went off to shop. Karen did not buy anything but I bought the most beautiful yellow leather bag from Coach. I have been looking for a yellow bag for over two year and finally found the perfect one (will post a picture for you all to see tomorrow).

On Friday morning we wereup bright and early to get ready for our big day with Kelly. Kelly is one of my favorite needlepoint designers and I was so excited to meet her. I was not disappointed. Kelly is such a lovely person. She is very a warm, friendly and caring person. Kelly was every thing I expected her to be, a wonderful person and great needlepoint designer. The first thing we did was pick our twig for the handle of the broom. We stitched Elvira's bodice and skirt next and before we had lunch we did (or tried to do) Elvira's fingers and hand. Ruth had the most perfect delicate fingers while the rest of us had fingers of all different sizes. Kelly told us of a good stump work book with excellent diagrams and directions (will tell you all about that tomorrow). Of course I ordered one for Karen and myself. After lunch we tackled the hat and brim. It is not hard to do but you could not really see what you were doing working with black velvet. Of course, Ruth's hat was perfect (even though she complained that she could not see anything) and the next morning she had a brainstorm of adding fuzzy stuff to the brim. I must say it was stunning.

On Saturday and Sunday, we worked on the Package Topiary, which is an exclusive design for Bedecked and Beadazzled. We started with the leopard package on Saturday morning and after lunch Kelly was going to teach us basket needleweaving. I did mine on a scrap piece of canvas I brought with me since I knew I wanted the feel of metal for the planter and did not want to do the needleweaving. The last picture shows my planter. Ruth picked out the threads and stitch for my planter. It is perfect and I am so happy with it. The stitching of the planter took up the rest of the day. That night Karen and I took Kelly and Ruth out for dinner. Kelly being the sharing soul that she is showed us some of the new canvases for the Columbus show and even showed us line drawings of future canvases. I was totally blown away. Karen and I were able to order some of the canvases and Ruth will get them for us. You are going to love all the new things that are coming out. I wanted to order everything but held myself back.

On Sunday, we discussed how to do the top of the planter and the idea of beads was being discussed. I am going to wait to see the stitch guide that Kelly and Ruth come up with before deciding how I am going to work that. Karen and I left early since we had a long drive back to New York.

It was a fun weekend and I came away meeting some wonderful new stitching friends, two beautiful canvases and getting the inside scoop on some of Kelly's designs. What more can a girl ask for.

Tomorrow I will post a picture of my completed Halloween Apple (which I left with Ruth), and all the things I bought.

Linda