I’m back from the American Needlepoint Guild National Seminar in New Orleans. I always love going to seminar, and this year was awesome!
First of all, New Orleans! I absolutely love NOLA, even the heat and humidity this time of year. I visited Cafe Du Monde 3 times for beignets and cafe au lait – my fav! I ate some spectacular food, including a muffaletto in the French Quarter, and a memorable visit to Emeril’s restaurant. I ate shrimp more times than I can count. My husband joined me for the last part of the week, and we spent some time at the beach in Gulfport, MS, including a stop to the John Stennis Space Center. The Stennis Center is where they test fire the rockets for NASA, and although they weren’t test firing when we were there we saw where they do it. We also viewed the exhibit of embroidered mission patches, one for each NASA mission, all stitched by member of ANG. I had a great time looking for names of stitchers I know, and found quite a few. We wrapped it up with a visit to the World War II Museum, an awesome museum with fabulous displays.
Second, this was my first time to teach for ANG National. I taught Building Blocks for one day, and Angles for four days. Great classes, wonderful students, and I learned lots about how to teach these classes the next time I teach. It’s always great to have feedback and ways to tweak my presentation, so I really appreciated that.
Third, I won ribbons in the exhibit! I’ve exhibited before, but this is the first time I’ve won ribbons. I got a First Place for my 2015 Needle Arts Mystery Retreat piece, and Honorable Mention for Glitz & Glamour Citrine!
Lastly, I have friends from all over the stitching world, and it’s so much fun to reconnect, share a meal, chat in person. I made some new friends, spent time with long-time friends and just generally had a great time.
So here’s my plug for stitching seminars – if you have opportunity to go, GO! You will learn more than you think possible in just a few days, make a lot of friends, and have a great time!