I had never been to Wilmington, DE so this was a treat for me. The Hotel du Pont has lovely rooms - I believe all suites. The bellman told me it was over 130 years old. Well preserved lady indeed. We were well taken care of from the housekeeping staff. Only thing I found inconvenient was that I had expected an in-room coffee maker and ice machine but both had to be obtained through room service - bummer. I rarely use room service because of the extra cost. This trip, however, I found it necessary to do room service for breakfast one morning. The event sponsored a lovely brunch from 9 to 11:30 or so, however I had the hostess, Doreen, schedule a private teaching for me with the attending children during that time. The hotel was not well prepared to handle our breakfast the day before so I chose to not take a chance and just have it in my room. What a marvelous treat. My breakfast was wheeled in on a lovely table setting and the server was most gracious. It was a beautiful experience even though I was alone.
We had excellent shuttle/bus service from the hotel to the museum. The wait time was minimal. The staff at the museum went all out to take care of our needs. They had a few bumps brought on by the recent storms (or at least that was what I was led to believe), so the lighting wasn't the greatest. I think we had to be moved to rooms that were not on the original agenda. But never mind - we persevered! And had a fantastic time as well!
I had a wonderful group of ladies with a wide range of experience. I must give a great big shout out to the more experienced stitchers for their patience with the newer ones joining our lovely art.
The noble plan to include children in this adventure did not come to fruition as planned I'm sure from the hostesses standpoint. While some had registered, things got in the way - such as the President presenting a Congressional Medal of Honor to a Grandfather, etc. We did have one very eager young lady but it seemed there was some misunderstanding as to how the plan was to work and she apparently did not understand where she was supposed to be when. We did, however, manage to work with her briefly but I was disappointed that I did not get to work with her the 3 hours that I had prepared for. But that is the sort of thing we learn to work through when we try something new - right?
Next Saturday I will be in class in Houston teaching at ANG Encore! 2018. I'll be teaching an exclusive design from Leigh Designs for Duo Designs, Inc. Beijing Butterflies.
We'll be covering lots of techniques in this 2-day class - gulp!
In a couple of weeks I will be teaching at The Enriched Stitch in Greenwich, CT. The Needlepoint in New England Retreat has a fabulous line up of classes. Take a look and see if there is something that you just can't pass by.
A few openings are still available in some classes I understand. We would love to see you join us. I am teaching the wonderful Maggie piece - Winter Cardinal.
Plaid creation, thread painting, open stitches, wrapped stitches, unusual threads - what ever will we be doing? Having fun! That's what we will be doing.
UPCOMING ONLINE MYSTERY CLASSES:
While waiting to post information about the next set of lessons I thought I'd share some of the newer classes that we have added to our agenda.
We have a whole series of Butterflies for our Quickies for 2019. These are from Burnett and Bradley and are so colorful. I must decide which I want to start first! They are all so beautiful.
Yes, you counted correctly. There are eight (8) different beauties for this series! Here are a couple close ups.
The Quickie Series are all inclusive: hand painted canvas, threads, embellishments and lessons in one or two sessions maximum. Did I mention that the number of kits are limited? Sign up early so you don't miss out. Classes will begin around the first of 2019. We plan to do one design per class. The maximum number of postings will be 2 but most will probably be only 1 posting for the entire piece - might be lengthy but will be all inclusive.
Sign ups are going on now. Just email me at duodesignsinc@yahoo.com if you would like to be added to the notification list. No obligation.
Penny MacLeod is a new designer in my classes. We could not resist this lovely Dana-Life of the Party design.
I am amazed at the reception for this cutie. To be placed on the notification list just send an email to us at duodesignsinc@yahoo.com. Get your canvas ordered right away. Your LNS will be happy to do that for you. If you do not have a LNS and need assistance just let us know and we'll get you in touch with a shop that will order for you. We also will be providing an optional thread/embellishment kit.
Wreaths are very popular among my students. This fun one from Raymond Crawford has lots of interesting colors, techniques and thread/embellishment possibilities! This design was chosen at the request of a student and it generated enough interest to qualify for an Online Mystery Class.
Sign up today for the notification list so you don't miss out when we start playing with all these summer icons!
Totally on the flip side is the 'green one' from Raymond Crawford. This, too, was a student request class.
Did I mention that you can email us at duodesignsinc@yahoo.com? LOL. And if you are not already doing so, please consider signing up to follow us in the space provided above at the top in the right-hand column.
Have a great week! We're heading to do an advance Easter Bunny day with the great-grandchildren! Always a good day!
1 comment:
Sandy - So fun to read your posts about Winterthur. I grew up 20 minutes down the road in PA, and Winterthur was very dear to both my parents who worked for Dupont, but especially my mother who loved both flowers and crewel embroidery. We visited Winterthur with my kids the weekend of my mothers' Memorial Service in April 2012, and (probably unlike this crazy Spring) the rhododendrons were in full bloom and planted on such a large space. Spectacular! I am sure Mom was walking with us that day, and it is a beautiful memory. (Mom passed away 6 years and 1 day before your post.)
Catherine Stroup
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