IT IS TRUE!   TIME FLIES!

In a couple days we will celebrate the birth of our older child - our daughter.  I got a little nostalgic this week as I viewed the picture postings of our great-granddaughter celebrating her 4th birthday.  For some reason I looked at her and all I could think about was Poof!  One day she will be all grown up and fly away to her own life and adventures - as our children did and as you raise them to do.

Our daughter has grown into a beautiful, successful woman, a devoted wife to her wonderful hubby Mark and a loyal friend.  As many of you can attest, it is a blessing to have a child that shares some of the same passions as you thus creating a bond that helps you ride over the rough paths that life spits out at you. Stitching is that bond for us.

My daughter and I are on a runaway weekend where we just hole up in a hotel, cabin, park, whatever and just stitch and eat.  Yep!  That's the whole agenda - stitch and eat! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY Teresa!  We love you!

Nothing to report this week as it seems all we can do is process books - not complaining - just hard to package and stitch at the same time - lol.  Stay safe.

 THE PANDEMIC STRIKES AGAIN!

Needles 'N Fins Stitching Adventures.  private Facebook Group

Although not a total surprise we are saddened to announce the necessity to postpone our Hawaiian Island Hopping Stitching Cruise again. We will push it to October 2022.  NCL has informed us that no people will be able to travel without proof of full vaccination through at least October 31st. They strongly stated that this means that those under 16 or those who cannot take the vaccine even for legitimate reasons will not be able to travel with us. We had several participants say they would not take the vaccine or could not take the vaccine so that strongly affected our numbers. Folks are still very hesitant to sail this soon after the initial quarantines. We are hopeful that participants are able to move their Hawaii Stitching Cruise plans to a new date in October (hope to announce soon).  We will step back for a spell and revisit after the first of the year.  

Our April 2022 trip to the Netherlands is moving forward and is well reserved at this stage.  As my children used to say when they were small 'It will get even more better' as time progresses.  Virus numbers continue to go down and Tulip Cruise numbers continue to go up.  YAY for us.  Contact our agent Liz at lwolak@vikingtvl.com for travel details.

ONLINE MYSTERY CLASSES

This week we completed another class series for our participants.  Lovable Llama is done and I had so much fun with him! 

We shared many unusual threads (all available through the needlepoint shops) and a few common embellishments such as the felted balls. I loved this guy from the start and he certainly did not disappoint me!

The Session III of the American Train from Raymond Crawford was posted this week too.  Session III is the beginning of the second train in the series - The Liberty Bell Car.

We finished the flat car, the wheels and the bunting this go around.  Session IV will complete this canvas of the series.

Another fun canvas for me is the Two by Two from Strictly Christmas which depicts Noah's Ark. Two more critter pairs were shared this session.

The turtles settled in on the rainbow.

And the giraffes quickly went about surveying their surroundings.

Wonder what critters will come aboard this coming month?

Pocketbook Series

We have been blown away by the popularity of our Pocketbook Series books.  This month we added Beards, Mustaches and Such.  Over 50+ pages of descriptions, diagrams and pictures of stitched samples fill this little powerhouse of suggestions.

Beards joins its predecessors:  Can Do Hairdos, Leaping Thru Leaves and Stitching With Stars.

As I shared before, these books have been 'done' for years but I just never took the time to finish them up.  I am bringing them down from the shelves and sharing them with you now and I love it.  Check with your Local Needlework Shop (LNS) and gets yours right away!  

                        Oh!  Wait until you see what is waiting in the wings to join its peers!

Well, believe it or not, it is dreary, rainy, and cold here in Central Kentucky in the middle of April.  However, we have been also having some delightful sunny days.  Today is not one of them.  That means another wonderful fire in the fireplace as I work on stitch guides for the upcoming classes at Cape Cod at the Osterville Needlepoint shop.  These gals are always fun and host a great event.  Always happy to return.  In the meanwhile stay safe and until next time.

 OOPS! Missed my Saturday post!  Too much going on.

Okay here are a few highlights  -

ANG National Seminar - August - Kansas City, MO

Yep it happened!  The f2f seminar has been canceled!  So so many were looking forward to this event.  It was going to be my first f2f in quite some time.  Oh well!  It is what it is.  What that does mean, however, it that they will do the Seminar virtually as they did last year.  This affords the opportunity to those who could not travel to be able to sight up for and participate in classes.  So go have a look and get those registrations in place,  We would love to have you n our classes.  In addition to the online setup of our classes we personally plan to do one zoom type class at the beginning to introduce ourselves and get a general feel of how things will go.  Then we plan to have another at the end so final questions may be asked and instructions clarified.

Online Mystery Classes

This weekend we posted the second session for the Engine of Raymond Crawford's American Train.

So next on the agenda will be the first session of the middle car known as the Liberty Bell.

Needles 'n Fins Stitching Adventures

Little by little travel restrictions are easing and some are being lifted.  Interest is building in oiur upcoming Hawaiian Island Hopping Stitching Cruise as well as the Tulip Time on the Rhine for 2022.  We'll keep a close watch and fingers crossed!

For those who celebrate Happy Easter!  Please stay safe!