A Jersey Girl visit and a birthday 🎂

Going a little backwards, in June, dear Amy came to visit ME for a change! 

I took her to Ellicott City as that is my go-to place, and thought she would like it.

Crossing the bridge, we saw a sweet family of ducks.

And boy was she happy in the E. C. Pops Shop!

This popcorn girl had a lot of tasting to do.

She found a few she couldn't leave without, but no Jelly Bellies!

This poor guy stands outside the shop and I think he's a little sick about it... he's green!

I saw this sweet little Fisher Price sewing machine in the antique depot while we were there. I had seen a photo of it on Instagram recently, so I grabbed it when I saw it! I even had the people at home to go with it. Maybe it will inspire me to pull out my sewing machine to finish some pieces? Or maybe she'll take care of it for me?!

We did get some stitching in, with some "help" from Mia and Maverick.

The last time she was here, I had her try our Maryland pizza at Ledo's. She loved it and here she is bringing some home for her and her husband. I guess it's a change from that NY/NJ pizza!

She gave me my birthday gift a little early since she had to leave. She had asked me what my favourite colour was and now I know why.

I said periwinkle and she went on a hunt for it. She said she had a hard time finding it but when she finally did, it was actually called periwinkle!

I love that one side has the stripes and the other has those lovely hearts.💜💙

Isn't it gorgeous?

Lazy kitties, those are MY blankets!

A few days later, Kerri came to celebrate my birthday and we went to see Sarah Millican in Baltimore. 

She was awesome! Let me just say, I think there were some very uncomfortable men in the audiance!

"I don't do rude jokes - I do honest ones. If they're rude, that's just because life is. I think there's bravery in talking about things that women are told to keep quiet." 

She is definitely NOT quiet! 🤣

Such fun together!

She was able to join us for my birthday dinner before heading home, more good times.

And yes, baby Nathan is now the tallest in the family!

Still so much more to catch up on...

A few lovely surprises!🥰

I still have to post about the Nashville Market, but here are a couple nice surprises I had there!

If you already follow Mary @Mary's Thread, then you know about this already!

I was in the Jean Farish Needlework room, when someone said my name, it was Mary, what a wonderful surprise! How great to see a fellow blogger there!

We got to chat a little bit, but I wish we could have spent more time together. If we both go next year, we'll have to set aside some time to really talk!

My next surprise was when Amy said hello/goodbye to Nicola as she was heading to the elevator.

Wait, Nicola, from Cornwall?! Yes!

She had a blog years ago, Stitching by the Cornish Seashore, and now you can find her at Hands Across the Sea Samplers. So that was cool!

My third lovely surprise was Rahenna @Crafty Rahenna gifting me her pattern for the Mill Hill Autumn Key. She finished hers and I had admired loved it! Here it is, looking great.

She even gave me some perforated paper and what was left of the kit, in addition to some extra pretty floss. Look at how organized she is with her threads! It will certainly make it easier.

I decided to try stamping it green, since I had seen it done before somewhere online. Not too bad!

So thank you so much Rahenna, for sharing this chart with me. After I'm finished with it (which might not be until the summer) I'll pass it along too, with a giveaway! 

Preqel to the Nashville Needlework Market 2025 🦫

And off we went!

Luckily, Amy came on Wednesday afternoon to spend the night before we headed out on Thursday morning, March 5th.

That took about 3.5hrs off of her drive, but we still had over ten to go!

Woot, woot, we finally made it to Tennessee!

With a stop before arriving to Market...

... to Buc-ee's! 🦫

If you've never been to Buc-ee's, you're missing quite a lot! On last year's band trip to Universal Studios in Florida, they had to take the bus (DH and I flew). The bus stopped there and ended up arriving late to the hotel because they spent so long there! The kids loved it and I just didn't get it, until now.

And hey, they had some cross stitch kits!

Here's a YouTube video about this location!

Did we go again on the way home? Yes, twice!!!

We finally arrived!

More to come, it was quite overwhelming. But in a good way! 😀

A WICKED Good Time! 💚🪡🩷

Off I flew,

back to NJ last Saturday to enjoy Amy's Wicked Stitching Party at Born To Stitch! 

Tables were set and ready for stitchers.

(Balloons were moved later)

And this was all done before I got there!

Not everyone made it due to the iffy weather, but still a great crowd!

Plenty of room for all. And such great lighting, no need for any lamps.

It didn't take too long for silence with everyone stitching and watching the movie. It's the quietest I've ever "heard" in a stitching gathering! 😆

We chose our colour! 💚🩷

Amy did a great job with the goody bags.

No surprise, I got green!

And what's a party without dessert?

I made the brownies and mini chocolate cookies, Debbie made the iced sugar cookies.

We had pizza before this, although I would have been happy with just dessert!

Thankfully, there were also green cupcakes, just not opened yet.

She even decorated the water bottles!

For every $25 you spent, your name was put in a raffle for these two charts and accessories. 

They are also available to purchase, I think I need to get the witch... you know, if I don't win!

Even the bathroom was Wicked!

Because some people didn't come due to the weather, Amy offered another Wicked event this past Saturday. Darn it, if only I wasn't three hours away, I would have gone again!

Our next adventure together will be to the Nashville Needlework Market. Amy asked me to go with her to help. From what I've heard, we'll be running here, there, and everywhere!

If you haven't seen all the amazing new charts that are coming out, take a look at what she's been posting at the Born to Stitch albums.

Has anyone ever been, or maybe you're going too? Please let me know! Or do you have any tips?

Super Bowl Retreat 2025 🏈

Bring on the Super Bowl... Retreat!

My setup for the weekend.

Of course we needed our candy/snack area in the middle of the table.

Brenda's birthday was on that Thursday, so I gave her these framed photos as a gift. The bottom one is a shadow box and it has a little frog on top - keep that frog right there and nowhere else! Her favourite colour is pink, so I had to add that pink floss.

We went to The West Essex Diner one night for dinner and brought back dessert for later.

There were sooo many to choose from, from cakes, cheesecakes, pies, and pastries. I had to get the peanut butter cheesecake, delicious!

Our goodie bag, minus the Super Bowl pin which I added to my lanyard. One of the attendees made the cute frog coaster for everyone - adorable!

On Friday, Brenda, Claire, and I went to see Amy at Born to Stitch. It was only about 20 minutes away from the hotel, how could we not go?!

She's still working on getting her online shop open, but I love being there in person!

Some of the goodies I bought, although I forgot to add the beautiful floss. She ordered the Frony Ritter and Mill Hills for me, so they were waiting for me when I got there. If you ever need anything, give her a call and place an order!

It snowed/sleeted on Saturday evening, which had quite a few of the attendees leave early. Since we weren't leaving until after noon on Sunday, I wasn't too worried.

Because of that, the pajama/slipper contest was pretty slim! "Mickey" and I tied so we each won a huge insulated football tumbler. I think you could fit a bottle of wine in it, I'll let you know... 🍷🤣

This chick loved seeing it snow!

One of the stitchers brought a huge stash from a friend who was downsizing due to moving to an assisted living facility. She is also suffering from dementia, so she's really not stitching anymore. So terribly sad.

She brought finished pieces, partially finished pieces, fully kitted charts, books, charts, and other misc items. Charts were going for $1, kits were various prices depending on how big and what was in them. All the money was going back to her friend.

I think I spent about $60 or so? This is what I got, I think I took a photo of everything?!

I just love that sweet little owl!

All the Santa's Closet charts together were $15, with everything included.

What a treasure to find these two witches, especially after Brooke's recent passing.😥

So sweet!

I think all I have to do is put it together.

More fun finds. The bigger ones all came with fabric, and one of them with variegated floss.

This one didn't come with a pattern and I'm wondering if the witch's face was supposed to be left out. I'll have to look for this online. Unless maybe you've stitched it and can tell me?

More finished pieces that just need to be put together.

And all the ones she's finished are stitched beautifully.

The group, before fleeing the snow/sleet!

Our table, these girls are fun as always!

I'm already looking forward to our next stitching event!