Friday Funday Finishes!

Customer Jo stopped by yesterday for our Friday Funday stitching event. This is a once-a-month stitch afternoon held on the 2nd Friday of every month. If you're available, come on by and join us for a fun and relaxing few hours. Well, Jo just happened to bring with her a one-woman trunk show! She is quite creative and resourceful and loves to frame things using her treasure trove openstock frame stash.



Here's a cute little Lizzie Kate "Land That I Love"


"Crow Patriotic" by Homespun Elegance


"Sheep Freebie" by Shepherd's Bush and "Tall Snowman" from Heart In Hand


Not sure of the name of this one, but I'm pretty sure it's from Crossed Wing Collection


A bunch of cute wool pincushion kits from Just Another Button Company


A close up of the "Ghost Spoolkeep" kit and "Pumpkin Mini" pincushion


This is one of my favorites although Jo couldn't remember who designed it. She said it came as a kit with the perforated paper, memo pad and pen. You stitch the designs, lightly glue or use stitchery tape to attach them to the memo pad. So adorable! "Can't Remember Jack" memo pad


Forgot to get designer names and titles for those below but these are great for the upcoming holidays!


Love this little sled! I've been wanting to stitch one of these little sled ornaments and Jo certainly has inspired me to get moving! Too cute! I can envision an entire Christmas tree filled with these gems. Or, bring smiles to all your gift recipients and attach a little sled to their holiday package!


I hope to have more interesting news to report from our upcoming "Count Me Inspired" Needlework retreat. It will be here in two weeks! Can't wait for Shipshewana!!

DuClay Chapter EGA Saturday Stitch-In

The family is currently in Florida visiting with Grandma, cousins, aunt, uncle and more cousins! We're having a blast. Having recently become a plural member of the DuClay Chapter EGA, I was fortunate to find out that they just so happened to be having a stitch day while I would be in town. I drove out to Orange Park and met the chapter members for lunch at Honey B's Cafe. After lunch, we drove to the library for the class. We were lucky to be able to take a wool applique class to make a scissor case. Here is a picture of the model. Mine is no where near finished but I hope to find some time to tackle it soon.

One of the gals attending the event was stitching on this wool design. The woman holding it is Denise, our instructor for the scissor case.

Double bonus for me is that the Chapter had a needlework exhibit on display at the library. I took as many pictures as I could to capture all of the items on display. I apologize if I missed any!

Check out this beautiful casket! Sorry for the glare but I had to photograph through glass.

Back in January when I was able to attend a different Chapter workshop, the members were taught how to make stand-up cubes for their needlework. Many of the members have them on display in the exhibit. They did a fabulous job on their cubes!
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Thank you, DuClay Chapter for another fun day stitching in Orange Park. See you next time I get to Florida!!

Summer House Stitche Workes Contest

My friend Beth Seal from Summer House Stitche Workes is having a give-away on her blog. The prize is a copy of her four "Garden" samplers. Beautiful! Pop on over and enter the contest. Good luck!

Summer House Stitche Workes Blog

Happy Easter!

Hi all, a wonderful, Blessed Easter to you! We are currently in Pennsylvania and we get to share this day with all our family!

My friend Marilyn stopped by a few days ago and brought a stunning stumpwork piece to show me. This was offered a few years ago at an EGA Regional Seminar and I wanted to take this class. However, what I want to do and what I'm able to do are usually two different things! Marilyn took this course online and here is her version, stitched and framed. Look at how beautifully executed the stitches are and how the flower and petals seem to jump off the ground fabric.



And a close up. The little pinecones are so realistic and I simply love the cardinal! The beads and pearls also give nice texture.



I have tried stumpwork before and loved how easy it was to create raised portions of the needlework design. I have a prized stumpwork piece in my collection and will always treasure the time I spent creating the work of art.

Have a Blessed Day!

"I'm A Fan of Pam" Club

Pam, who works with me at the shop on Thursdays, has ongoing practical jokes with a co-worker at her full-time job. Debbie learned about this joke and figured we could extend the fun to the retreat. Imagine Pam's surprise when three of us came to lunch one afternoon with our "I'm A Fan of Pam" buttons!



Pam was a good sport about it as we razzed her all weekend about being her fans! Here we are, paying homage to Pam, but by the time this was snapped, we were falling over each other, hysterical with laughter! It does one good to kick back, relax and just laugh. We love you, Pam. Thanks for playing along and letting us have some fun!

Count Me Inspired Needlework Retreat 2012

It's hard to believe another retreat has come and gone. That makes three. We had such a fun time and this was the largest group by far. The first year we had 32. The second, 36. This year, there were 53 attendees! We doubled the room size and it led to a cavernous feeling in the room. We set up the boutique in the room with the round tables for our meals. This left plenty of room between our three sets of tables, with no one feeling cramped or unable to comfortably get out of their chair. The picture below will give you an idea of the layout of one side of the room.



Each retreat I try to have the group work on a little project, something needlework related but not cross-stitch. I want them to stretch their comfort zone a bit, but nothing too difficult or tedious. It should be a remembrance of the retreat. This year, the group project was a little wool pumpkin needlebook. Here are some attendees working on the pumpkins.



And some finished masterpieces!





The food out in Shipshewana is always spectacular. We found the Garden Gate Cafe last year and returned again this year. Trust me, the food is as delicious as it looks! These are the Cafe Cherry Chicken Salad and the Chicken Salad Wrap.





The dinner bell rings and it's only a few steps away to our buffet line! How easy is that?



Dinner Friday night was at the Blue Gate Restaurant. I make a point to stop here every chance I get when in the area. The food and service are always excellent! I was so overwhelmed by how they served us with such precision and speed, that I totally forgot to take pictures!



Something we look forward to each year is the "smalls" exchange. If you want to participate, you stitch a small (ornament, needlebook, scissor fob, etc), wrap it up and bring it to the retreat. Here we gather everyone together and if you have a small to exchange, then you pull a number. When your number is called, you get to select a wrapped small from the table. Once everyone has taken a small, we open them one by one and then try to guess who stitched it. Sometimes we get it right but many times, we are surprised! Such creative gals attend the retreat and we are bowled over by the fun ways we see things finished and assembled.







That's enough for today! Next post, I will show you some photos of what the gals were stitching on at the retreat!

Cathy