Sisters of the Heart

2013...my second retreat.  The theme was “Sisters of the Heart”.  I used an old Birds of a Feather pattern to create this name tag.  I thought it fit the theme perfectly!

My favorite part was the old buttons that I attached at the bottom of the name tag!

From Acorns to Oak Trees

2012...my first retreat with Needlework Guild of MN. The retreat theme that year was “From Acorns to Oak Trees...Growing with the Guild” and this was my name tag:

Each year that I’ve attended retreat I’ve made myself a nametag to correspond with the theme.  This year’s retreat starts next week, so this week we’re going to take a trip down memory lane with a parade of name tags!

Hope you had a great weekend!  Will be back tomorrow with another name tag!

Weekend Stitching

I pulled out an older WIP this weekend and added a few more bands on Mistress L.  This was a class piece in Indy a few years ago.  It was designed by Lauren Sauer.

I have a long way to go on this one.  It will be about 36 inches long when finished.

Are you familiar with Fiber Talk?  It’s a podcast about needlework.  Today’s episode was particularly good.  Gary Parr interviewed Theresa Venette from Shakespeare’s Peddler.  They talked about Samplers.

https://wetalkfiber.com/

Thank you for your kind comments.  I’m trying to post more often.  Keeps my fan club - the Mad Tatter, Doris, and Art- happy!

The Final Leg of Our Journey

The Mad Tatter had such a great time yesterday.  So much fun that she couldn’t sleep last night.  She said that all she could think about was tatting!

We left our hotel at 9:30am and ventured north.  First stop was at Fiberworks in Waverly, IA.  No pictures of the shop.  The street in front is all torn up so we parked in the back and entered through a back door.  A few purchases were made and we continued north.  Along the way we admired the beauty of the corn fields and the beautiful farms along the way.

Second stop of the day - The Stitchery Nook in Osage, IA.  What a great shop.  Lots of models, patterns, kits, linen, fibers...a hidden treasure in small town Iowa!

In the back of the store they have scrapbooking supplies.  I found some great cardstock with which I will make some matchbook needle books.

This shop has a retreat center upstairs!  Can you imagine how cool it would be to spend a weekend above a needlework shop like that?  It’s a beautiful space.  If you live anywhere near Osage, check it out!

Took some pictures of the shop for you -enjoy!

Tomorrow...we return to reality.  Only two days left this week though.  Hurray!

Today’s Travels

It’s day two of my adventure with the Mad Tatter.  We spent today on the Illinois tollway.

Okay, it’s not what you might think.  Technically we were above the tollway.  We spent the day at the Hinsdale Oasis with the Tollway Tatters!

This is something the Mad Tatter has wanted to do for years.  We decided there is no time like the present.  What a fun day we had.  The Mad Tatter was happy to meet these kindred spirits.  She also learned how to do a “Catherine Wheel Join”.  Apparently, this is a very difficult stitch in the tatting world.

Thank you Tollway Tatters for letting us crash your party today.

We headed west after the meet up ended.  Where are we tonight?  “Is this heaven?  No, it’s Iowa!”  Saw lots of rolling corn fields tonight before stopping at our hotel.

Off On Another Adventure

Good morning Doris!  Hope you are doing well!

Well, I’m off on another road trip.  I have another partner in crime with me this time - the Mad Tatter!  We didn’t leave too early this morning.  She needs her beauty sleep you know.

We headed east and managed to time it perfectly so that we could stop for lunch at the Norske Nook! These open-faced sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy remind me of road trips I used to take as a little girl with my Auntie Theresa. The Mad Tatter had turkey and I had pork.

We will have our pie in the hotel room tonight.

Wait until you see what we have in store for tomorrow!

Half a Pincushion

There is a lot of stitching in this pincushion!  This is just one half of it.  It will probably take me the rest of the week to finish the stitching on it.

Mary, you commented that I stitch fast.  I use the sewing method when I stitch.  That might account for some of my speed.  Mostly though, I’ve been able to dedicate a lot more time to stitching.  And for that I am grateful!

This project, by the way, was a kit offered a couple of years ago from Hands on Design and the Elegant Stitch.  It’s called My Stitcher’s Heart. 

Fob Stitching Part II

And the other side of the fob is done!

Thank you all for your kind comments on my recent blog posts!

Fob Stitching

Just started stitching another Project from Hands on Design!  This is one side of the fob.

Secret Stitching

Happy day after the 4th of July!  Hope you had a wonderful day.

I didn’t want to share a picture of this until after it had been gifted.  For the past few weeks I’ve been working on some Hardanger.  This piece will be used as an insert on an apron to be worn with the tradtional Norwegian folk costume (which is called a Bunad).

My cousin is Norwegian and Swedish.  She dances with a Norwegian dance group in California.  She had a beautiful Norwegian Bunad which she assembled over the years collecting the appropriate fabrics and jewelry on trips she made to Norway.  The Mad Tatter even tatted the lace for the collar and cuffs on the white blouse.  All was lost when my cousin’s house burned to the ground last fall as a result of one of the California wildfires.

She asked my to provide her with a Hardanger refresher so that she would be able to stitch the apron insert herself.  I decided to stitch it and surprise her.  I gifted it to her yesterday during our visit.

We had a great time at the lake.  Despite rain and thunder in the morning, it ended up turning into a really nice day.  We went for a pontoon ride in the afternoon.  The Mad Tatter enjoyed the ride!

Stitching Red Part Two

I was thinking last night about how much I have enjoyed stitching this project in the evenings.  I have been mostly at home lately (driving back and forth to work in my little red Toyota vs. flying back and forth in an airplane.). It feels good.

Last night I finished up the pincushion stitching.  I still need to add the backstitching, but I need another skein of Weeks Tatanka to make that happen.  I’ll be going to Stitchville again soon.

The Mad Tatter and I are making a little road trip today to visit a cousin who spends her summers in Minnesota.  It’s going to be hot today.  I just hope we get home before the thunderstorms hit.

Happy 4th!

Stitching Red

Here’s what I’ve been stitching on the past few days. Pomegranate Pocket & Pincushion from Hands on Design.  I’ve had this kitted up for about four years; even have the French General fabric that was used in the original model!  Time to get her done.

And some treasures were found along the way...

We really had a great time on our road trip last weekend.  The original plan was to hit two or three needlework shops.  Can't believe we went to six (actually, seven if you count the one that was closed!)

What made the trip even more fun was some of the treasures we found along the way. I love going to needlework shops that have been in business for several years; you never know what you are going to find on their racks or in their clearance bins.  Like everything else though, you just have to spend some time looking at everything.

You might recall that our last stop on Monday was at House of Stitches in LaPorte, Indiana.  This is a good sized shop, overflowing with lots of needlework goodness, old and new.  (Mary, you had asked for pictures of the insides of the shops - I wish I had taken time to do this for you.)

Anyway, I have been trying to pull together a complete set of the Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly (SANQ) magazines ever since they stopped publishing.  I had a subscription the last few years they published the magazine, but I didn't have many of the older magazines.  Over the years I've picked up many of them via eBay and stash reallocation sales.  Anyway, I needed one more issue - Issue #37 from 2004.  I knew that House of Stitches and a good supply of needlework magazines and thought I might get lucky.  I should have bought a lottery ticket last Monday.

Yep, they had it! If you are looking for older magazines - SANQ, Just Cross Stitch - and especially if you are looking for any of the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issues - give House of Stitches a call!

The previous Thursday we were at Inspired Needle in Lemont, IL.  This shop is celebrating it's 10th anniversary this year.  I found a treasure here too.

This was a joint project between Historic Stitches and Liberty Hill.  This is the second of two designs that they published, probably about 10 years ago.  I was happy to take it back home to Minnesota with me!

Also on Thursday, we visited Tomorrow's Heirlooms.  We so enjoyed visiting their new shop. Patterns and kits are so much easier to see because they have so much more space.  Many of their patterns are hanging on pegboards that you can flip through.  I spied this kit as we were flipping!

This was a collaboration between Hillside Samplings and Liberty Hill many, many years ago!  There was a series of kits and I think that maybe I have all of them now.  (I've stitched and finished one of them so far - the hornbook.)

Also at Tomorrow's Heirlooms, I found this vintage kit from Jane Timmers/Fancy Work.

The candy was still in the tin.  It expired in 2005.  Don't worry, I didn't eat the chocolate.

Finally, sometimes you even bump into treasures at shops that are fairly new.  Do you remember that our first stop was at Black Cat Stitchery in Winthrop Harbor, IL?  We just happened to be there when their limited release Mirabilia charts arrived.  We were talking about all the drama on Facebook over the re- release of the chart for Lady of the Flag.  Little did we know that we would have the opportunity to purchase it.

I've never stitched a Mirabilia, but I actually think I might stitch this one.  Another stitcher here in Minnesota stitched a beautiful version of this and had it framed by Jill Rensel.  There also is a post in the Stitch Maynia group of a color conversion that a stitcher did (converting the golds to shades of blue),  For some reason, I am really drawn to this Mirabilia.

Many more purchases were made, but these were the really special ones.

Since arriving home, I finished up a top secret project that I've been working on.  I'll share a picture with you next week.  I also pulled out some Hands on Design projects that I would like to stitch and finish.  I will be taking a class with Cathy later this year and would like to finish up some of the charts I've purchased from her over the years.  I'll share pictures soon.

To my Canadian friends, Happy Canada Day!  To my friends in the U.S., Happy 4th of July!  Happy stitching all!