Sunday, June 24, 2012

Home Again...

Going on road trips is fun but it's always nice to come home.  As Dorothy would say, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home."  It's going to be a beautiful sunny day here in the Twin Cities and I plan to enjoy it!

I have some fond memories of the past few days to share with you.  My friend Judy (no blog) and I left early Wednesday morning on our road trip; our ultimate destination was Terre Haute, Indiana for the Tree of Life Samplings Retreat.  We mapped out our course to include several needlework store stops along the way!

On Wednesday, we made stops at two shops in Iowa.  The first stop was The Stitchery Nook in Osage, IA.    Nice shop with a nice selection of patterns, they have lots of fabric and fibers too.  The shop owner and her helpers were very friendly.


The shop owner is renovating the second floor of the building and we asked for a tour of the part that was finished.  Excellent space for a stitching retreat.  Large gathering room with tables and chairs (would work great for scrapbookers or quilters too), comfortable sitting area with large flat screen TV, full kitchen and three bedrooms that sleep at least five each with their own bathroom.  Why didn't I take a picture of the retreat center?  (There are pictures on her website; click on the link above.) She's working on the other side now, so in the future there will be even more space.

While we were there some stitchers were gathering at the table located in the front of the store and I asked them if I could take their picture - they happily obliged.  


Got a kick out of these two guys.  One was working on an Ink Circles design, the other on a geometric design; they were doing very nice work.  We enjoyed visiting with them.

Our next stop was clear on the other side of Iowa - Stitch'n & Stuff in Clinton, IA.  This shop was smaller than the previous one, but they had a nice variety of patterns.  They had two chairs sitting inside the front door with a magazine rack that included hunting, fishing, and auto magazines (a place for the husbands to sit and relax!)  



We were impressed with the many finished models - particularly the smalls.  Pat, the shop owner, does lovely small stitching and finishing.  We enjoyed looking at all of her finishes.  A few purchases were made and we continued on our journey!

We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express on Wednesday night - check out this amazing little invention that I was introduced to at breakfast in the morning... a pancake maker!



Just push the button and strategically place your plate under the conveyor belt to catch your pancakes as they magically pop out of the machine.  Cool, huh?  

Our journey then took us to Illinois and we stopped at two wonderful shops in the Chicago area.  We promptly arrived at Tomorrow's Heirlooms in Glen Ellyn, IL right as they opened on Thursday morning.


This is a great shop for uncovering hidden treasures.  It's a small shop, but jam-packed with patterns, fibers, fabric, and other stitching supplies.  I spent quite a bit of time in the back looking through all of the their older patterns - wow!  

Next stop - The Inspired Needle in Lemont, IL.  We weren't expecting to see shop owner, Cathy, as we knew she was headed to the needlework market in Columbus, but she was there!  Had a great time visiting with her and seeing her shop.  Friendly, friendly, friendly shop.  Cathy often takes patterns and converts them to silk and then kits it up with just enough silk to complete the project.  Brilliant!  



With our purchases made, it was time to head to our final destination of Terre Haute, IN. Navigating our way through three states to four different needlework stores was quite easy.  Judy had taken great care to MapQuest our route and printed directions to follow for each step of the journey.  We also had our handy dandy road maps just in case there was any question about the route.  But our most favorite companion was....


...MRS. DASH!  I know that some of you call it a "Garmin", but this is a special model and I grew quite fond of her.  We didn't always get along --- got a little annoyed with her when she would say "Recalculating!" but over all, between her guidance, my navigating, and Judy's excellent driving skills, we made it to everywhere we wanted to go without incident.

We arrived in Terre Haute around 4pm on Thursday...got settled in our room...we're ready to stitch!

More to come...



16 comments:

Katrina said...

Oh too much fun!!!! Makes me want to do a road trip :-)!!! I hope you are going to share your new stash at some point!!!!!

teresa said...

Cathy ~ It was great to meet you and Judy! Enjoyed he time we spent together ~ I will look forward to the restof your blog posts about your trip. Pt and I left Saturday morning and our "Mrs. Dash" took us to House of Stitches on the way home (-:

Margaret said...

Oh fun! Love seeing all the stops you made! Yes, a GPS is a great invention, right? I hate that "recalculating" thing, but she gets you there in the end. We call ours Jill. lol!

Shirlee said...

What fun! Can't wait to hear the rest of the story : )

BrendaS said...

Cathy - Great post -- can't wait to see the continuation:))

It was so nice seeing you again and meeting Judy!

Enjoy your Sunday at HOME:)

Laurie in Iowa said...

Enjoyed reading about your road trip. I've been to the shop in Osage and the gals who work there are so helpful. I'm glad she's going through with her plans for the retreat center.

Brigitte said...

Must have been fun fun fun ...

Keeper of the Crowes said...

What a fun post, can't wait for Part two!!! Glad you enjoyed my LNS, Inspired needle. So nice to meet you. Hope to stitch with you, again!!!
Linda

Karin said...

It was so great meeting you and Judy! Enjoyed the time we spent together. Looking forward to the next chapter of the trip on your blog ;-)
My Mrs. Dash brought Laura, Patti and me home today!!

valerie said...

What fun to be able to visit all those needlework shops! Enjoy the retreat!

LaRue Odenbach said...

What is you next retreat?

~*Sharee*~ said...

What lucky ladies; it's still on my "Bucket List" to go to that retreat; maybe next year. :) I wanna see the stash you all got..:)

Hugs, Shar

Deanne J said...

Looks like you had a great trip. I envy you getting to visit so many wonderful stores.

Mrs. DillyDally said...

Thanks for taking us along on your "shop hop"! I love seeing the places others visit...looks like the two of you know how to have fun! Am sure you two have a terrific time!

Shari said...

how fun!!!! I can't imagine taking a trip with a friend for an adventure like this.....
you should have made HOUSE OF STITCHES in LaPorte IN one of your stops along the way.....WONDERFUL shop & the friendliest of staff!!
Love your Mrs. Dash story.....
recalculating.............

Mindi said...

It must have been so much fun to visit all of those needlework stores! I love that pancake machine.