The Silver Needle

While I was in Tulsa this past weekend, I planned to take some time for stash shopping. In my research I found that the Silver Needle was located in Tulsa, and was reported to be a very large and well stocked LNS. I had shopped at the Silver Needle's booth at CATS in Nashville a few years back and looked forward to visiting the shop itself.

Friday morning, I set out bright and early at the crack of ten. Armed with my list I entered the shop. Wow! It was spacious, well lit, had attractive displays and lots and lots of things that interested me!

There were stitched models everywhere!

Beautiful Chatelaine charts all stitched, and matted.

Bent Creek "Rows" displayed in colorful mats.

Lots of Jeanette Douglas designs finished in beautiful boxes and frames.

Just Nan models displayed in one section.

An entire display dedicated to Lizzie Kate designs, with some great finishes.

Lots of beautiful fabrics

Even a Vera Bradley section......I thought I was in heaven!

Even though the shop was lovely, and the staff was friendly and helpful, I found that I was dissappointed. I had a number of things on my shopping and list, but had trouble finding things to purchase. Sue Hillis had asked me to pick up some fabric for her, but they didn't have what she wanted. I wanted to get 40 count fabric for Shores of Hawk's Run Hollow, but they didn't have the color I wanted. I wanted to purchase the Needlepoint silks for that chart also, but they didn't have them. I was looking for a number of other charts on my list, which they didn't carry. I needed some Caron Watercolors, which they didn't carry. I wanted some Kreinik metalics, but they didn't have the ones I wanted.

The first lady helping me seemed rather new and didn't really know the stock very well and didn't really seem to know what I was asking for. The second lady that helped me knew the stock better and was able to help me find some things, but kept saying she usually only works on Saturdays and lots of things had been moved so she didn't know where they were.

The shop was definately worth visiting, but it was rather disheartening to ask for something only to be told, we don't carry that because we don't have many requests for it. I didn't think my tastes were that much out of the ordinary.

Check back tomorrow for my report on the LNS across the street from the Silver Needle.

I'm home from Tulsa!

Last weekend I took a trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma. The primary purpose of this trip was to attend a workshop conducted by the North American Federation of German Folk Dance Groups.

The host group was the German American Society of Tulsa, or GAST. Their facility is lovely, and housed in an old church that they have remodeled for social events.

The host group arranged for a bobbin lace demonstration while the set up for the workshop was taking place. Originally, it was going to be a drawn thread workshop, which really appealed to me, but sadly it had to be changed at the last minute. The women doing the bobbin lace were very interesting, and I learned about it, but I don't think it is something I want to learn to do at this time in my life.

Dancing began Friday in the late afternoon, and then continued on all day Saturday and again on Sunday morning. Workshop attendees came from at least 11 different states, with the instructor coming from Berlin, Germany.


Volkhart Jaenert was the instructor, and he taught a great variety of folk dances throughout the weekend. He has been teaching folk dance since the 1950s......he is in his 80s but still a remarkable dancer. I learned lots of new material that I will be able to bring to the groups I teach.








There was a lovely display of Trachts that was available for viewing all weekend.

The host group, the GAST dancers, performed for us on Saturday evening.

While in Tulsa, I did other things besides dance. Check back for more of my adventures in Tulsa.

Framing Frenzy

Last Saturday, I finally had a chance to stop at JoAnn's to get the rest of the framing supplies I needed. After I got home, I framed these seven pieces. They had been mounted and stretched for quite some time, but still needed to be put in the frames.

Now it's done! Three of the pieces were stitched by Kristin, and four are mine.

I have a few more that need to be mounted, stretched and framed. I have the frames and everything needed, but I will leave that for another day. I would rather stitch.

Texas Stitching

May's Texas stitching was the 4th Day of Texas Christmas - 4 Chili Peppers!

My Number 1 son-in-law will receive this set of ornaments when they are complete. Justin, eat your heart out!

Oklahoma, Here I Come!

I am going to be in Tulsa, OK from Thursday through Sunday to attend a folk dance workshop, and plan to visit the Silver Needle and Stitchworks on Friday morning.

LoriRay and Sharon (Daffy Cat) are both going to be out of town, how's that for timing! I would love some recommendations on what to do and see while I am there.

If any blog readers have any suggestions, please e-mail me. My e-mail address is in my profile.

I made better progress during the month of May, especially as compared to April (April's progress was so dismal, that I didn't even post about it!)

May Progress
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas finished
May Teacup - Just Another Button Company finished
March Teacup - JABC finished
1 block on Northwoods afghan (7) finished
Mystery sampler part 6 nope
10 hours on M&K's Wedding sampler nope
10 hours on Guardian Angel nope
10 hours on a baby sampler 10 hours on Adrian's sampler!
4th Texas ornament finished
Love quilt squares Finally found a chart to stitch!
Work on Cloister Garden yes!
Special Quilt Square finally picked out what I want to stitch!

June Goals
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas
June Teacup - Just Another Button Company
1 block on Northwoods afghan (8)
Mystery sampler part 6
10 hours on M&K's Wedding sampler
10 hours on Guardian Angel
10 hours on a baby sampler
5th Texas ornaments
Love Quilts Square
Special Quilt Square
Summer mail art
Biscornu for Diva's exchange
biscornu model
EGA name tag

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!

Happy Administrative Professionals' Day

More Murphy

Such a hard life! Poor Murphy is so tired, playing with Tony and Kristin takes so much energy!

A Stitchy Gift

Last weekend I received a late birthday gift from my sister, Trudi (no blog). What a wonderful surprise it was!

I love both the cupcake pincushion and the scissors fob!

Thank you, Sis!

Meet Murphy

Murphy is my new grandpuppy. He is a real sweety!

He is still a little peanut, and we aren't quite sure what he will look like when he grows up or how big he will get. Meanwhile, Tony is kept busy entertaining him.

My life in a nut shell

Well, not exactly a nut shell, but not much bigger!

Can you imagine all your documents, recipies, stitching statistics, etc. on one little memory stick? Can you imagine your life if you misplace said memory stick?

The good news is that I found it! It was only missing for three weeks......three very long nervewracking stressful weeks.

Oh, and it is now backed up incase I misplace it again!

Happy Easter!

This is a finish from a few years ago. It is Happy Easter by Sue Hillis, stitched on a white evenweave with DMC and Whisper floss.

3rd Day of Texas Christmas

On the 3rd day of Christmas, my true love gave to me........
3 armadilloes.....

R.I.P.

The monitor is dead. Not worth fixing a monitor on a laptop.

Upcoming Concert

If you are in the Chicago or Rockford, Illinois area, you may be interested in this lovely concert by the Chicago Chamber Choir.

This shameless plug is for my daughter, Viki, who is a member of the choir.


Friday, April 3rd, 7:30 pmLincoln Park Presbyterian Church 600 W. Fullerton Pkwy., Chicago

Sunday, April 5th, 3:00 pmRockford College 5050 E. State St., Rockford

Tickets are available at the door for both concerts.

I will be attending the concert in Rockford, so look for me if you attend that one!

Scissors fob from Irene

I received this lovely pansie scissors fob from Irene recently, as she was my partner in the Crafty Natter Scissorskeep exchange.

I just love pansies! She did a great job with the stitching and finishing!

March Progress, April Goals

March Goals
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas didn't get to it
February Teacup - JABC finished
April Teacup – Just Another Button Company finished
1 block on Northwoods afghan (7) didn't get to it
finish part 6 on mystery sampler didn't get to it
Mystery sampler part 7 didn't get to it
10 hours on M&K’s Wedding sampler didn't get to it
10 hours on Guardian Angel didn't get to it
10 hours on a baby sampler got it all kitted up, though!
3rd Texas ornament started!
Love Quilts Square didn't get to it
March floss ring tag finished
Cloister Garden by Drawn Thread - work on it almost half finished!
Biscornu finished

April Goals
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas
March Teacup – Just Another Button Company
1 block on Northwoods afghan (7)
Mystery sampler part 7
10 hours on M&K’s Wedding sampler
10 hours on Guardian Angel
10 hours on a baby sampler
finish 3rd Texas ornament
Love Quilt Square special quilt square
work on Cloister Garden