Cray, Cray

The sign on the elevator kind of describes us best.  Rather than taking the shortest route home, we opted for a detour.  We are cray, cray.

Figured we could take in one more shop on this trip.  We traveled north to House of Stitches in LaPorte, Indiana!

So glad we made the stop.  Had a fun time visiting with the employees and spent about an hour digging through the many treasures in the shop.  Unfortunately, this shop is looking for a buyer as the owner would like to retire.  Hopefully they will find one because if this shop closes, it would be a huge loss.  We consider it among the top needlework shops in the Midwest.

It was a long drive the rest of the way home.  I was home by 8pm and my partner in crime arrived home at 9:30pm.  Hard to believe the weekend is over.  We had a great time.

Returning to reality today, but this weekend I’ll try to post some of the treasures I purchased along the way.  Thanks for following along with us on our journey this weekend!

Jamocha and Jackie

Thanks all for continuing to visit this sorely neglected blog!  Khristine, you asked what a Jamocha shake is.  It’s a delicious chocolate/coffee flavored shake that is available at Arby’s.  Another favorite of ours is the iced lemonade that you can get at Chick Fil A.  You have to like fast food if you are going to travel with us because we don’t waste a lot of time on meals.  We have serious stuff to attend to, like visiting needlework shops!

Yesterday was a grand day. We had the pleasure of spending the entire day with this lady.

Today will be more of the same.  We are taking Jackie du Plessis’ “Ode”.  This project is not for the faint of heart.  Lots of stitching and finishing!

Yesterday’s bonus...I also had the pleasure of meeting the infamous Ann from Stitching Foolishness.  First time we have met face-to-face.

Onward to today.  Let the festivities begin!

Resolving the Cliffhanger

Nothing like a good cliffhanger, right?  Our two heroines were hanging out in an Arby’s at a truck stop parking lot praying for the rain to subside.  The rain never stopped, but it did lighten up and so we were back on the road again.

15 miles and 30 minutes later we were in shop number six - Persnickety Stitches in Zionsville, IN.  This shop seems to cater to needlepoint a little more than cross stitch, but we took a look at everything and we each made a purchase.  

We were prepared to abandon our last stop, but when we stepped outside —— what a surprise!  The sun was shining!  Do we check into our hotel after a long horrible day of driving in heavy rain?  No!  We forge ahead!  It’s 40 minutes to our next shop and we could only think about the treasures that waited for us there.  We followed the rainbow...40 minutes, 30 minutes, 20, 10, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...arrived!  

Our final stop of the day was at Always in Stitches in Noblesville, IN.  A group of friends, known as the “Needle Nuts” were in the back room stitching away.  We visited, we laughed, we shopped.  Perfect ending to a perfect day.

Yesterday was a perfect day too.  After some much needed sleep we ventured over to a friend’s house for a day of stitching.  We made some new friends, had a delicious lunch, and shared stories.  In the evening we met up with two of our Needle Nuts friends for dinner and finished off the day with a visit to Hobby Lobby.

Today, the real reason for the journey begins.

Sorry for the lack of photos today!

Who Needs Plans?

Good morning Mad Tatter.  Good morning Doris.  Good morning Art.  My fan club.

When my partner in crime and I set out on this mission, we only planned to stop at three needlework stores.  Before we hit the pillows last night we had visited more than we had planned (we’re including the one that was closed, we believe we should get credit for trying!)

Some of you had questions about my said partner in crime.  The 94 shops she has visited have all been in the U.S,  She’s been keeping track for the past five years.  15 of the shops on her list have closed since she visited them.  She has many more shops she would like to visit yet, mainly in the northeast and out west.

Back to our mission.  Our first “planned” stop was Black Cat, but we ventured off the road in Delafield, WI to visit the Hidden Staircase which carries pottery, quilting and needlework supplies.  Unfortunately for us, they are only open on Saturdays.  Stop number two was Black mCat Stitchery in Winthrop Harbor, IL - see previous post.

As long as we “were in the neighborhood”. We figured we may as well pop in to Welcome Stitchery in Crystal Lake, IL.  Never know what treasures you will find here; they have been in business for 30 years!  We were hoping that luck would be on our side and that Gary Parr of Fiber Talk might be there shopping, but he was not.  Made a few purchases.  We found some wonderful persimmon banding which we will use for the next iStitch Black Band Sampler.  Have to support the local needlework economy! (Forgot to take a shop picture.)

Our second “planned” stop was Tomorrow’s Heirlooms in Glen Ellyn, IL.  They just moved to a new larger, location.  Beautiful shop.  Another fun one where you can find older treasures.  I found some hard to find projects here which I will share in a later post.

We had to keep moving.  Found ourselves on Lemont Avenue and immediately said to ourselves We must be close to the Inspired Needle! “. Took a quick right turn and in 10 minutes we were there.  Poor Cathy was dealing with a ceiling leak in her shop.  Had a nice chat with Cathy about the upcoming Needlework Galleria in September.

Keep in mind, it’s been raining cats and dogs this entire drive.  Not fun in the Chicago area where there’s always lots of semi trucks and road construction on the interstates.  But I digress.

We left the Inspired Needle and decided it was time to get serious (tall order for the two of us).  We had to head south.  We buckled in, ate our leftover pizza from the night before (very good pizza, by the way) and forged ahead.  Neither rain, nor big trucks, nor road construction would keep us from our destination.  Let the GPS direct us and oftentimes we wondered where the heck we were, but we continued to stay the course.

We were about 15 miles short of our next stop and the pounding rain got the best of us.  We pulled off the interstate and drowned our sorrows in a Jamocha shake at Arby’s.

Would this fearless twosome make it to their final destination?  Or would their adventure end at a truck stop in Indiana with only an Arby’s Jamocha shake for consolation?  You’ll need to tune back in again later to find out.

Doris, this Blog Post is for You!

Yes, Doris - a little birdie told me that you too were concerned by my recent lack of posting to this here blog.  You are not alone.  The Mad Tatter constantly reminds me that I must update more ofyen. She has even offered on several occasions to bring more of her tatting to me to photograph just so I would have pictures!  I will attempt to do better.  Time, however, is not always on my side.

My partner in crime and I set out on a mission yesterday.  To be clear, I am merely her co-conspirator in this one.  She is trying to visit as many needlework shops as possible and has already visited 93.  Our mission is to increase that number without getting hurt or arrested in the process.

We departed in the wee hours of the morning (0700 - yes, this is defind as “early” by many, including me) and we traveled east.  Neither rain, nor sleet, nor road construction would keep us from our destination.  Now, we did take a slight detour anticipating that we might be able to add “two” new shops to her list.  This alleged needlework shop is “hidden” after climbing down two “staircases” and landing in a dark hallway only to learn they are open only on Saturdays.  It was not meant to be.

After pushing further east for another hour or so, we landed in Winthrop Harbor, IL, the home of Black Cat Stitchery.  It’s a lovely little shop!  They’ve only been open for six years, but they have a nice selection of charts, fibers and other needlework accessories.  Black Cat is number 94.

And so the adventure continues.  Doris, I hope you will stick with us.

Happy Birthday to the Mad Tatter!

Stitchy Update

I thought maybe I would try to blog a little each day in June.  So much for that idea!  I haven't been traveling very much lately, so I've had more time, but I really enjoy spending that extra time stitching.  Please forgive me!

There are three primary projects that I have been working on.  One of them is a gift, so I won't be able to share progress with you until it is finished and gifted.

The second project that I have been working on is one of those FOMO deals!  Yes, FOMO = Fear of Missing Out.  Several Flosstubers and stitchers on Instagram started this project in May.  I've always wanted to stitch it; I had the pattern, the linen and the fibers in my stash, so I figured that I may as well jump on the bandwagon.

The design is from Birds of a Feather. The pattern is still available.  I stitched it on 40 ct PTP Legacy using the called for fibers (only one switcheroo - I switched the GAST Buttermilk to WDW Whitewash.)

As you can see, it's mostly finished.  I just have to add the personalization.  I will likely follow some of the Flosstubers and stitch the initials of the other stitchers who were working on this design with me.

The color of the linen looks pretty good on my iPad.  This was a fun stitch!

The other project I am working on is the Red Band Sampler from iStitch designs.  You might recall that I stitched their Blue Band Sampler last year. Since Blue isn't really my favorite color, I stitched the Blue Band Sampler in RED.  So when it came time to stitch the Red Band Sampler, some of my friends asked me if I was going to stitch it in BLUE.  No to blue...I didn't really want another Red Band Sampler either.  I remembered that Sassy Jack's had posted some banding earlier this year.  They had this beautiful light purple banding that was perfect for this design.  I called and ordered it up and so now my Red Band Sampler is PURPLE.

I'm quite far behind.  Most of the group is on week 25 or 26 or something like that.  I am working on week 5, but I will get it done eventually.  I usually work on this project on the airplane.

As noted above, my third project is kind of a super secret project.  I'll share it with you eventually.

That's all folks.  I'll try to come back sooner rather than later!