Saturday at Needle's Nest

 Needle's Nest is the EGA Chapter that I belong to.  Actually, I am the current president.  During the summer months, we have some "Saturday Sessions"  for stitching and finishing.  One is all day, and the other two are half days.  This past Saturday was our all day session, and the project we did was the Christmas Biscornu by Sue Hillis.   Sue designed this one originally for an EGA Chapter in Virginia, with plans to teach it in other places, but she had trouble getting more antique spools.    I stitched the model for her at that time.  She recently acquired more spools, so she let me teach the class at our guild.

We began that day with coffee and bagels, and then got to stitching.

We broke for lunch and then stitched some more.  It was a great day stitching with friends!

Stitching Retreat

This weekend I am at Illinois Beach Resort and Conference Center in Zion Illinois.  These two pictures are the view from my room. 

The rooms, the stitching room and the food are fabulous! 

A Quick Get-a-Way with Stitching friends

 The last weekend of October was our annual Stitch Mania retreat, hosted by the lovely Eileen Gurak of Handblessings Designs and her side kick Bobby O'Brien. 








It was mostly gray and rainy outside, so not much walking on the beach. 

 There was a bit of sunshine, but it was still rather cold.

The venue is only about 45 minutes away from home, which in this case was good as I had to come back to Des Plaines on Saturday morning for German School, and then go back up for more stitching.  Even with that interruption, lots of stitching got done.

Saturday Stitching

 This Saturday, I had the pleasure of teaching a project to a group of ladies from our EGA chapter.  There were 18 ladies in attendance to work the The Fall Heart by Sekas & Company.   I put a lot of work into this class.  Besides stitching the sample, I ordered all the supplies, edged all the fabric, put all the kits together, planned the menu for breakfast and lunch, picked up all the food, ..well you get the picture. 

 
 









The ladies all seemed to enjoy the class and we had a great time stitching together.  Lots of laughter and fun besides the instruction.

 

 

Marguerite got the most done, and she plans to have it finished to give as a gift by the end of the weekend. 

 

This is the finished piece that I stitched as a sample.  Next year we will do the Patriotic Heart!



Meeting Some New Stitching Friends

I recently drove to Lake Geneva Wisconsin (only a little over an hour away) to have lunch with these lovely ladies.   From the left, Cathy from Canada, her daughter Karen from Wisconsin, Retha from Wyoming, me from Illinois, Maggie from Michigan and Bev from Wisconsin. 

The reason for the lunch was that Retha was visiting her in laws and wanted to meet us in person.  I have know Maggie for years, and have corresponded with Retha for some time, but never met in person.  It was a lovely afternoon full of stitching talk.  Hopefully we can do it again next time Retha comes to the Midwest.

Galena Retreat

The first weekend of June was our annual Needlepoint Guild retreat in Galena Illinois.   I love going to Galena, and staying in the historic and charming De Soto House Hotel.

Marguerite and I drove out on Thursday morning and came home late on Saturday evening, although some people stayed until sometime on Monday. 




While there, I taught a Stitcher's Strawberry class. 

It was a class I had taught before, but this time I had an alternate hardanger cap for the strawberry.  The class was well received and fun to teach.










Everyone that attended the retreat received this wonderful goodie box. 


 

Round Robins Again

Our Threads of Life Group started another 4 person Round Robin, and I started it off by being
behind.  While on our retreat, I stitched up the border on my own piece: Bon Appetit by Sue Hillis.  This has been in my to do mountain for quite some time, and I am thrilled that it will finally be stitched!













And I stitched my square on Leta's piece.  They will be in the mail to Sue on Tuesday.

Mail Art Class

Saturday's class at the retreat was a class on Mail Art, taught by yours truly!  I stitched up a new piece of mail art to demonstrate the finishing of a mail art piece done on stitch banding, but I can't show you the piece until the recipient gets it in the mail.  I promise to post a picture just as soon as it is received.

The class itself was well received and a lot of fun to put together.  Hopefully I have inspired everyone to create a piece of mail art of their own!

Needlefelting

At our retreat, there are usually two short classes offered.  The first class was Needlefelting taught by Eileen Gurak of Handblessings Designs.

We began by wadding up the wool and then stabbing it with needles with barbs at the one end, shaping it as we went along.  Two balls and a tail were fastened together by stabbing them with the needles.

Blue wook was then placed over part of the white wood and stabbed into place.  A tail was also added.

The blue bird needed a face and beak.

Wings were added, and here he is, all done!  Not as perfect as Eileen's but I am pretty proud of him anyway.  It was a fun class, with lots of laughter while we were stabbing away at the wool.

 

A Weekend in Galena, Illinois

 

The Fox Chapter of ANG (American Needlepoint Guild) is holding their annual retreat in Galena IL.  

We are staying at the De Soto House Hotel, the oldest operating hotel in Illinois.  It is a charming old hotel with 55 rooms and lots of history.  

 We stitch in the ballroom, and at one point sleep for a few hours. 

I was too busy stitching to take any pictures of the stitching room and the wonderful stitching going on, but did love this very first finish of the weekend by Irene Mast.  I need to add this to my to-do mountain.....

Look What I Found!

At one point during the weekend, I opened up my rolling stitching bag to get out a project to start stitching and found a Cracker Barrel Bag.  Since I hadn't been to Cracker Barrel in a long time, I was rather puzzled.  Inside were two objects, each wrapped in colorful napkins, and DMC white floss ( in a good length for stitching).

After I unwrapped them, I found this gnome salt and pepper set!  After accusing a few people, mostly Canadians, Barb admitted to being the culprit. 

Thank you Barb, they are soooo cute!

The weekend went by much too quickly.  I was scheduled to only be there Thursday evening and Friday, and planned to drive to Akron on Saturday, but I was experiencing some Vertigo and cancelled my trip to Akron.  I just stayed and stitched all weekend, and it was restful and fun!

House of Stitches

On Friday afternoon, Michelle and I drove to LaPorte to do a bit of shopping at the House of Stitches.  Linda and her staff are always very helpful, and although I didn't really need anything, I managed to pick up some fabric and a new pair of scissors.  Michelle had a list of fabric she needed.





They had a Sue Hillis Designs trunk show going on, and it was nice to see some of the models that I stitched all finished and on display.  Sue herself was planned in doing a meet and greet on Saturday afternoon.

LaPorte Get Together

Here we are, stitching in the conference room at the Hilton Garden Inn in Chesterton Indiana.  It's really a get location, and the hotel staff is very accommodating.   There were more than 40 of us, still waiting for a final count.



 

Some of us brought some show and tell.  What a talented group of stitchers!

You may be asking why it's called the LaPorte Get Together when it is held in Chesterton?  It started out in LaPorte, near the House of Stitches, but the hotel in LaPorte wasn't so great, so we moved to Chesterton, still close enough to the LNS to get some shopping in!

Chesterton, Indiana, Here We Are!

Even though I had to work a bit later than planned, I was still able to pick up Michelle at 4 PM and head to Chesterton Indiana for the annual LaPorte Get Together.  We hit rush hour traffic, which could have been avoided if we left at 1 PM as originally planned, but we made it there by 6:15.  Sue had already checked into our room, and lots of people were already there stitching.  After a quick dinner, we joined them and stitched well into the night.

My Bag is Packed....

....I'm ready to go.... well, my stitching bag is packed.  It contains my laptop, two stitching lights, extra batteries, an extension chord, a power strip, 6 project bags, my glasses, my camera, and few other goodies. 

As you might have guessed, I am going on a stitching weekend, for at least part of the weekend.  I still have to pack my cloths, but they aren't as important.  I leave right after work tomorrow (Thursday)

Galena, Illinois

This past June our ANG chapter (American Needlepoint Guild) held our anual retreat in Galena, Illinois.  It's is a charming town on the Mississippi River about 2 1/2 hours northwest of Chicago.  It's an easy drive, the first 90 minutes on the interstate and the last hour on some senic country roads.











 We held the entire thing at the DeSoto House Hotel, the oldest continuously run hotel in Illinois.  It is a very historic building, as many presidents have stayed there.  I just loved the hotel.  It has a lot of charm and makes you want to go back to a by gone era of gracious living.





We arrived on Thursday at noon and left around noon on Sunday.  Many of the ladies went out of the hotel for meals and for shopping, but I almost never left the hotel!  I did make a quick drive to Thomson Illinois to visit Barbara and Gayle for a bit, but other than that, I stayed put and stitched! 

We received a goodie bag, and a doorprize!  The doorprize I won was a Gift Certificate to Welcome Stitchery! 

Needlepoint Guild Retreat in Galena

The ANG Guild that I belong to has an annual retreat in Galena, IL each year.  It is held in a charming old hotel, The DeSoto House, which is the oldest continuously run hotel in the state.  Abraham Lincoln stayed there, Ulysses S. Grant used it as his campaign headquarters and it is said to have a resident ghost.   The rooms all have REAL keys! 

Lots of stitching and chatting and laughing!  It was a great weekend, starting and ending with some shopping at the Needle and I.  With the store closing, the 40% off sale was too good to pass up! 

Summer Stitching Retreat

Last weekend, I was able to attend the first Cecilia's Samplers Summer Stitching Retreat

in Branson MO.

It was a wonderful, unstructured weekend, with lots of new friends and some old ones, too!

If you every have the opportunity to attend one of the retreats that are sponsored by Cecilia's Samplers, do not hesitate. It is an excellent value! Holly, the event planner for Cecilia's, is very detail oriented and runs a great stitching weekend.

Sue Hillis was the guest of honor at the retreat and designed this chart just for the attendees. We were give everything needed to stitch the project; fabric, floss, fibres, needles and the chart!

There were lots of other gifts for all the stitchers, too many to picture!

A Long Stitching Weekend

This past weekend, a large group of stitching friends met at Welcome Stitchery, in Crystal Lake, Illinois to do some shopping. Here is what I bought.

After a few hours of shopping and helping each other make some additional purchases, we conviened to the Public House around the corner for some lunch.

It was a great day, and fun to see some wonderful old friends as well as meet some new ones.

Two of the stitchers, Lynn and Barb, traveled all the way from Canada for this event, and stayed and stitched with me for a few days. They brought me some lovely gifts. Although it wasn't necessary at all, I truly will treasure the things they made! Thank you Barb and Lynn for your visit and the lovely gifts!

ANG Christmas Party

I joined a local chapter of ANG (American Needlepoint Guild) a few months ago.

We had our Christmas dinner a little while ago, and I won all these yummy fibres in the door prize drawing!

Everyone received a set of small stacking tins and a needlepoint ornament all kitted up.