Since returning home from Indy I've been trying to spend some quality time with my oh so neglected Sojourner sampler. Finished the lower case alphabet and numbers last night and now I'm working on the over one verse top center. Busy weekend ahead so I'm not sure how much further I will get, but I think I need to stick with this one for awhile.
Had a wonderful weekend. Love my Indy friends. Can't wait to stitch my new Catherine Theron pieces.
Hope to have some more stitching pictures soon.
Residents of Zionsville. It's once again safe in your fine city. Residents no longer need to lock their doors. Children may play safely in the streets. You no longer need to fear for your homemade popcorn or almond cookies. The MN girls have departed and are heading north. :)
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Today was our final day in Indiana. We were in class for a good portion of the day. Today we worked on "Williamsburg Remembered" another beautiful needle case from Catherine Theron.
When class was over we bid farewell to our stitching sisters until next time.
Ate dinner for the first time at Steak and Shake!
Home tomorrow!
We had another great day! Today was our first class with Catherine Theron - the Americana Sewing Roll. Catherine is a fabulous teacher and this is a beautiful piece. Lots of stitching involved; the backside is solid Florentine stitch. The finishing should be fairly straightforward!
Class ended early enough that we had time to fly over to Fortville, IN to visit "The Studio"...Stacy Nash's studio!
I've been to Stacy's twice before. It's decorated with prim furniture and accessories. It's always fun to look at her stitched models. Picked up some hand-dyed velvet for finishing. Met her foster dog "Hazel".
Then it was off to dinner with the group. We met at Ciao in Zionsville. Great place to eat. Did you know that Zionsville is the third safest place it live in the U.S.? (Our friend Nancy says "except when the MN girls are here!) Main Street is a cobblestone road, lots of quaint shops up and down both sides of the street.
Any day spent with friends is a great day; yesterday was especially great. We met some old and new friends in the morning for brunch and stitching. In the afternoon we had tea at a delightful place called Twigs in Fishers, IN.
The sweets are on top. Scones are in the middle. Savory treats on the bottom. It was a delightfully fun afternoon. Even Her Royal Majesty the Queen would have enjoyed it!
Afterwards we went shopping at a place called Acorn Farm. Antiques and more.
Our date card was quite full. We spent the evening stitching with another group of good friends we have made here in Indy. After dinner we stitched more and then headed back to our hotel to rest up for our big day today - class with Catherine Theron.
Life is good!
We hit the road early this morning. Our first stop - Welcome Stitchery in Crystal Lake, IL.
They had many finished models to look at. Here is the display behind their cash register.
The best find of the day however was this book: Olwyn Horwood's Blue Ribbon Sampler in brand new condition for just $22! My friend Chris has been looking for this five years. She is just tickled pink that she found it.
Next stop...Designer's Desk in Geneva, IL.
Last year we made some great purchases here. I was reminded of this great sampler that I really want to stitch...Virtue Outshines the Stars.
This year, we walked away with these:
Do you know what these are? We call them scissors condoms. They work like this:
We each purchased a half a dozen or more!
Last stop: The Counted Needle in Bloomington, IL.
I bought a couple of older patterns from Ewe and Eye.
It was a great day. We had many good laughs. Tomorrow will be even better!
It's time for the annual June journey down to Indianapolis. Thank goodness I convinced my partners in crime to leave at a reasonable time of day not the usual 0600 hours. We took a selfie before departing.
Mrs. Dash insisted on making the journey with us. She and I have a "love-hate" relationship. It's all that darn recalculating! I'm going to do my best to get along with her.
Our first stop on every journey that takes us east is none other than the very famous Norske Nook! We had lunch and pie (can't not have pie.)
I had one of their delicious roast pork sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy. Always reminds me of my Auntie Theresa...she used to order these.
Look at these beautiful irises at one of the rest stops in Wisconsin.
We made a stop at Witchery Stitchery in Mt. Horeb, Wi. Nice shop, very friendly owner!
We decided not to drive All the way through this time. Tomorrow we will have time for a few more stops along the way before arriving in Indy.
I have another finish to share with you. This too is a design from Catherine Theron. There is a matching biscornu that goes with it. I've been stitching like crazy to try to finish it, but I'm not even close. I'll keep plugging away and share it with you when I am finished.
Sometimes I think I should stitch my initials "out of order" as ABC!
It was a productive day on the homefront, but I'm feeling kind of tuckered out. I think I hear my stitching chair calling!
This little needlebook is a design from Betsy Morgan. I happened across the kit for it last week on eBay. I suspect that Betsy may have offered this in conjunction with one of her classes. The pattern was dated 2010.
It's not very large - only 2 x 1.5 when folded. The bunny was supposed to be stitched in a multicolored silk (purple, green, gold...). It just wasn't speaking to me so I stitched the bunny in a soft brown. (Amy W.- if you are reading this, I was thinking about you when I made my changes - LOL!)
Quick and easy to stitch and finish.
Nearing the halfway mark; my Randje sampler is nearly three feet long. I only stitched one of the bands this week. I'm still trying to decide whether or not I want to stitch the other one. I'm not particularly fond of Blackwork or the double-running stitch!
If you are a regular reader of my blog you know that I am on the road a lot, for work and for pleasure. Today, however, I discovered that some of the most interesting places can be found close to home.
I went to an arts and craft fair in an older neighborhood in St. Paul, MN this morning. The proceeds from the fair benefit the local library. I honestly don't think I ever have visited this part of town before. The library is a stately building with beautiful architecture surrounded by a beautiful green landscape with gardens that were just starting to bloom. (Remember- everything blooms later here in the north!)
Across the street there was this great little bakery - The Finnish Bistro. I picked up a couple of pieces of almond Kringle which we will enjoy later this evening.
It's a beautiful day here in Minnesota!
About two months ago, one of my favorite quilting/crafting stores advertised a bus tour. I've received emails about their bus tours before but have never gone and decided to give it a try. I asked one of My usual "partners in crime" if she was interested in checking it out and she said "yes".
Our tour departed at 7:30am (a tad bit early for me, but hey, I can snooze on the bus!). We headed about 90 minutes south of the Twin Cities to New Ulm, MN - a community settled by German and Bohemian immigrants.
Our first stop was at a quilt store just outside of downtown called "Sewing Seeds Quilt Company". This shop is featured in the current "top ten shops" quilt magazine. They were ready for us! Coffee, juice, fruit, and muffins downstairs and lots of fabric and wool upstairs. My favorite room was the one filled with civil war fabrics.
After the quilt shop, we headed downtown New Ulm. The bus dropped us off in a convenient spot and we were free to shop for about 90 minutes. Two quilt shops, an antique shop, a needlework shop and a few gift shops later, we were ready for lunch!
The needlework shop was called "Nadel Kunst" - German for needleart. (Note the sign for tatting classes on the door!)
We had a delicious lunch at Turner Hall in the Ratskellar. I had a "German" dinner - two different types of sausages with sauerkraut, German potato salad, and Spätzle. Also a piece of really good dark rye bread.
We actually hit one of the quilt shops after lunch and went in a few othe shops before returning to the bus.
This is the museum in New Ulm. This building reminded me of buildings in Germany.
This was a pretty cool pole. Various attractions in New Ulm are featured on each of the "tree limbs." (Yes, you were right Chris, I should have taken the picture from the other direction!)
One of the attractions in New Ulm is a huge statue of Herman the German. Wait a minute, that's not Herman. That's me!
Stopped for pie at Emma Krumbees in Belle Plaine on the way home. I would do this again. It was a good day!
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