Maifest 2009

This weekend was the 10th annual Maifest in Chicago. Traditionally, Maifest is celebrated on the first of May, but due to the weather in Chicago, we usually hold this event on the first weekend in June. This year it just happened to fall at the very end of May, and the weather was beautiful!

My children's group danced and did a very nice job. They are always cute and get lots of applaus and compliments.

My youth group also performed beautifully. Their last number was the traditional maypole dance. They did a great job, not one single mistake or knot in the ribbons. Even the newbies did great!

Below is a closeup of the woven ribbons.

Welcome Stitchery and Lunch

A group of us met at Welcome Stitchery today for some stash shopping followed by lunch a Finn McCool's.

Facing the camera, starting on the left we have Renae, Mike, Barb and Kim. (Yes Mike stitches too).

In the next picture you can see Marguerite on the left with her back to the camera, Ranea, Cindy and Val.

Before our food was brought to the table, there was a lot of stash inspecting going on. It looked to me like Barb bought the most, and she will probably have everything finished by next week.

After lunch, Ranea took our picture outside. From the left, me, Mike, Val, Kim, Renae, Barb, Cindy and Marguerite.

After leaving Crystal Lake, Kim and I continued stash shopping at JoAnn's before we headed back home. It was fun to see old friends and meet some new stitchers. Looking forward to meeting up again soon.

Oh Deer!

This week I have been stitching on the 7th square of my Northwoods afghan, and it's a deer!

I am also showing you the entire afghan as it looks with the seven squares that are stitched so far.

What's New in the Kitchen?

My children gave me some gift cards for Mother's Day. Since they were not to a cross stitch store, I assumed they didn't want me to spend the gift cards on cross stitch supplies.

Since I have been looking at butcher block carts / islands for the kitchen, it seemed like a good idea to use the gift cards to get the cart in this picture.

On Tuesday afternoon, Mark met me at Ikea, where I picked out the island / cart that I wanted. Mark carried it to the register for me, and hauled it back to my house, where he even put it together and put some towel bars on each end. It looks really good in the kitchen and gives me more work space as well as some storage on the shelves.

Thanks kids, for a great Mother's Day gift!

A Great Weekend!

I spent last weekend on stitching trip with a few friends. We headed out of town and spent the weekend stitching and shopping and eating a chatting and laughing.

On Friday we headed to the Rocking Horse in Farmington, Michigan. All I can say is WOW! What a wonderful shop! Although I consider Welcome Stitchery to be my LNS, and it is the best shop ever, this one was wonderful to visit!

The Rocking Horse carried items that Welcome Stitchery doesn't, so I got to see some new things. They also have an unbelievable number of framed models on the walls. They are very innovative framers and I wish I lived closer!

We also visited In Stitches in Jackson, Michigan. It was a nice shop, but it was small and really needs to be updated. Many of the models on the walls were quite old, although they were very nice.

It was a great weekend and mini-vacation and I look forward to another stitching road trip in the future.

Rocky Mountain Christmas Revisited

It's been a long time (since January), but I finally got back to stitching on Rocky Mountain Christmas this week. It was wonderful to reacquaint myself with this old friend!

At this point I have now completed 220 hours on RMC, and the end is in sight.

And Yet Another Tea Cup Finish

I got a bit out of order, but just finished the March Cup 'O Tea, from the Stitch Everyday Series by Just Another Button Company.

It is stitched on 30 count Gold Weeks Dye Works Linen with WDW and GAST threads.

The entire time I was stitching this one, I had strange cravings for Lucky Charms cereal.......

School's Out For the Summer!!!!

Yay!!!! Yesterday marked the last day of German School for this school year, and my last day as interum prinicpal! I was a fun and challenging year, but I am glad it is over. I look forward to returning to the classroom next year.

Teaching 1st grade will be a piece of cake compared to what I had to do this past year.

These are the lovely flowers that I received at the graduation/end of the year festivities.

May Cup 'O Tea

Although I have been stitching, I haven't had a finish to show for quite some time. This weekend I finally finished something!

This is the May Cup 'O Tea chart from the Stitch Every Day series by Just Another Button Company. It is stitched on 30 ct. Banana Popsicle linen by Weeks Dye Works, with Weeks and Gentle Arts threads.

A Mother's Day Outing

Happy Mother's Day!

This afternoon, 3 of my 7 children (4 by birth, 3 bonuses that married into the family) are going to see the St. Luke's Bottle Band performance.

This will not be the first live performance I have seen, and I doubt it will be the last! This group has been on Letterman twice, and are a real treat to see! Check out the link where you can follow some links and see them on You Tube.

Weekend Stitching with Friends

I spent last Friday, Saturday and Sunday, stitching with a fun group of friends in LaPorte, IN.


Some of them were a bit camera shy!

We stitched all day Friday, Saturday we visited House of Stitches, a great LNS just a few minutes away from the hotel, and Sunday we stitched some more!

It was a great weekend, restful, productive, and fun!