Market Mania

Hi all, today was the last day of the TNNA Needlework Market and it was a FABULOUS day! We finished up the shopping and got all our goodies safely tucked away in our room. Then....I went back to a few designers rooms to snap some photos to show you all. These are definitely some favorites. **Warning: Very picture intense!


Breath of Autumn by Chessie & Me


All Hallow's Eve by Chessie & Me


Emma Rose Freedom by Tree of Life Samplings


You may remember this piece released last Market.
Emma Rose Friendship by Tree of Life Samplings.


Penny America by Tree of Life Samplings


Harriet Redfearn 1830 by Queenstown Sampler Designs


Harvest Sampler by Heartstring Samplery


A Spooky Spot of Halloween by Midnight Stitching


Stitch An Inch by By The Bay Needleart

Then, due to some customer emails looking to know what Blackbird Designs were released, I went up to their room. Here are the photos of the models. Some are from the new charts and some models are from the Spencer Museum book.































And then, the best thing of all......I went into Summer House Stitche Workes booth yesterday to see what new things Beth had. She was running a promotion for her new design, "Autumn Garden". With your purchase, your name went into a drawing to win her stitched model. I filled out the slip and added my phone number, email address and even my hotel room number so that Beth would be sure to contact me when I won the drawing. I popped into her room periodically during the weekend to check on my model and to make sure it was doing well and we would just laugh over my silliness. Well, imagine my surprise when my cohort Debbie came to find me to let me know that I had won the drawing!!!! I was flabbergasted and thrilled at the same time. Woohoo! Thanks, Beth, I love, love, love the design and know it will be a fantastic seller in the shop!!!



This is Beth and I with the framed model. Beth is just the sweetest gal. I hope she sells a million copies of this pattern!

Thanks, everyone, for bearing with the LONG post. Hope you saw some things you liked.

Birthday Fun

This past Sunday was a stitch-in at the shop. The "girls" surprised me with a lovely card and a gift certificate to Vera Bradley. Yippee!!! I get to go shopping again. I think I will be in the market for a new "Fall" bag, so I hope to find one within the next few weeks. Thanks, my friends, you are the inspiration to my needle!



Even though today is the actual birthday, I had to work all day so my husband took me out for dinner yesterday at Wildfire in Oak Brook. I ordered the Prime Rib. Yummy! They also had an excellent Shrimp Lobster Bisque. After dinner, we split a small half-slice of cheesecake. What was I thinking not bringing my camera??! The cheesecake had a veil of raspberry sauce and a smattering of fresh berries. Delish!

Today at the shop I was kept pretty busy so the day went by very quickly. When I finally got home, this is the sight that greeted me.




That husband of mine is a keeper! Too cute. Then the next sight was this.



Inside the packages were some silly things like mints and gum (that I love), a new mouse for my laptop, a hands-free holder for my phone while in the car and a new Cuisinart blender/chopper. Now before you get too worked up over the fact that my DH gave me a practical gift for my birthday, I need to let you know that he did not want to get me the Cuisinart. I begged him for it. He wanted to get me jewelry or something equally wonderful, but I really, really wanted the new chopper! It is now washed and waiting for our next meal. Here is a stock photo.



My DH also got this cute, little New York Cheesecake. It was quite yummy. I'll have to remember this tiny cake the next time I have a craving for just a small slice.


Thanks for all the birthday wishes today. It was a very fun day!

Cathy

A Folkloric Kind of Day

Today was a fabulous day! First of all, we went to church and then afterward, my DH and I drove out to Geneva, IL and had lunch at Country House. Awesome burgers, if you ever get the chance. Then, we followed the explosion of cars over to the Chicago Premium Outlet mall in Aurora, IL. This must have been the choice of thousands of people today. We had to park in the overflow area; right up the curb and on the grass. Holy cow, I've never seen anything like it! What recession??? People were walking around with not just one or two bags, but ARMLOADS of packages! The line for Coach was at least 30 people long (all day long, each time we walked past the store), just to walk in the door. I think they were passing out 1/2 off coupons or something! My sole purpose for going to this outlet mall was because I was given a Vera Bradley gift card at Christmas and was wanting a new, summer bag. Can you believe I held off this long? I have plenty of Vera purses but my summer Vera was tired and worn. Something colorful that shouted "summer" was what I wanted. What do you think of my choice?? I also picked up a matching wallet and lunch bag so I can look very pulled together when I go to the shop. LOL!



I've also been doing a bit of customer framing lately. Here are the cutest little hedgehogs that Jenny has stitched. We are framing them separately and she will figure out some wall arrangement as soon as they are ready.



Next is the continuation of the Drawn Thread checkbook cover designs that Barb is stitching. Barb chose to frame them rather than make a cover. I lace them up and then Barb is able to pop them in and out of a single frame.



Lastly, Linda has stitched Shepherd's Bush "Come Home" and I laced the design and popped it into the Round Ivory Treasure Box. She also had stitched "Hold Hope" and now she is able to switch out the two designs whenever she feels the need.



I came across this piece I stitched several years ago. It's a freebie design by Blackbird Designs called "Tulip Manor." I changed it up a bit to personalize it for my husband and I. Now to just order the frame, lace it and get it hung in our house!



I'm teaching a specialty stitch class on Friday so I had better get stitching on my model design. I'll post a picture next time and let you know how the class turned out!

Happy Fourth!!

Cathy

La-D-Da Is In the House

I thought I would put up some pictures of the La-D-Da trunk show models that are on display at the shop. Each one is beautiful and unique. You really have to study them up close. Once you do, all you'll want to do is go home and stitch! Take a look; if you're in the neighborhood, please stop by. The models will be on display through the end of May.

Briar Rabbit:


Bubble Gum:


Bushel & Peck:


Christmas Blessings:


Down By The Bay:


Falling Star:


Give Her:


Like Home:


Live Laugh Love:


My Pocket:


My Sunshine: (pardon the glare from the glass-this belongs to a customer)



Quaker Alphabet:


Quaker Alphabet stitched by a customer:


Something Wicked:


Totin Hare:


Yellow Bird:


I'll try to have a few more photos of La-D-Da customer finishes in my next post. The Tuesday night group has been busy!

Celebration of Needlework in Nashua, NH

It was a two and one half day stitching extravaganza that flew by in what felt like minutes. Getting ready to go was a feat in itself, spending days upon days packing and figuring out what items to bring. My friends thought I was closing up the shop...for good! The shelves and walls were stripped bare all to give the folks at Celebration a taste of what Inspired Needle is all about! Here are my two cohorts when they were still my friends, before they found out how really hard it is to load and unload the van and set up the booth for the show!



This year driving to New Hampshire, we decided we were going to switch drivers every two hours. What a difference that made in being able to get out of the van and stretch a little. We found this little pull-off along I-80 somewhere in Pennsylvania, I believe. The pictures I shot are not-so-hot, but the view was breathtaking!




And we can't forget the shot of the van which is filled to the ceiling! We rented a 15-passenger van, so you can imagine how much stitchy goodness we had crammed into there!



We set out driving on Tuesday morning around 7:45 a.m. We stopped for lunch along I-80 and had dinner in DuBois, PA. We stopped for the night around 9:00 p.m. in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Wednesday morning, we headed out again, arriving in Nashua about 3 p.m. We unloaded the van and put up the walls, lights and tulle in our booth. That took about 4 hours, sweating and suffering in the heat. There was no a/c in the ballroom since the unloading doors were propped open. Needless to say, we all needed showers when we were finished!





Thursday morning we were up early again to eat breakfast and get down to the ballroom to start the task of setting up the booth. We hung stitched model after stitched model and really filled the booth! We even had lots of extra models that we had to hide under the tables because we just didn't have enough room to hang them. I think we finally finished setting up around 7 p.m. and we went out for a nice steak dinner to celebrate!



^if you enlarge the photo, you will see a table with a black & white skirt to the right. That is Judy Whitman's booth; she was located directly behind us.



There has been a lot of chatter about my booth at Celebrations and I'm just tickled that you liked it! Thank you so much for letting me know...it helps to know if we're on target. Plus, the girls will love to hear that their hard work was appreciated!



Debbie came to see me at the shop last Saturday and Pam showed up for work yesterday, so I guess they are still my friends! I am so blessed to have two friends who will work their fingers to the bone to help me! We do have a great time at the show and it is so much fun to see the same faces from last year along with new ones. We hope some of you will be able to join us in St. Charles, MO, for Celebration of Needlework Midwest. It is sure to be as great a time! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please send me an email and I'll be sure to clue you in.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I love to hear your comments!