A Weekend of Stitches!

I spent last weekend in LaPorte, Indiana teaching at House of Stitches' Weekend of Stitches.  What a great time I had with this wonderful group of women!

The drive to LaPorte on Friday was beautiful as the leaves are beginning to change here in the Midwest.  Even rain did not detract from the wonderful fall colors.

My first stop after getting to LaPorte was at House of Stitches.

I'm sorry I only thought to take a few photos inside this wonderful shop.  Linda, the shop owner, has been in business for 25 years!  Wow!  She certainly must be doing something right!  If she doesn't have it in stock, she'll get it for you, so check out her shop in person or on-line.

Here is a photo of Linda, who is always smiling.  This photo wasn't taken at the shop but at the end of the retreat on Sunday afternoon.  And look, she is still smiling for ear-to-ear!

I neglected to take any photos of the many models and charts she has available, but I did take these of her wall of fabric and her fibers (well, at least some of her fibers--there were too many to get even in two photos.)  Linda has to use a ladder to get to the top couple of rows of fibers and fabric! 

After a quick dinner, it was time to meet the retreat stitchers at the hotel.  They were from Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and even one from Alabama.  That evening I showed them the class model as well as other models I had brought.  Unfortunately, neither I nor any of them thought to take photos. 

We began the class the next morning.  We spent the day working on the back of the Jacob's ladder-style needlebook, which is part of the A Lady's Worke Box project.

Here are some photos from day 1.  As you can see, our room had lots of both natural and artificial light.

One of the ladies, Sharon H., brought in some of her completed With My Needle projects for me to see.  She was so sweet to let me photograph both the pieces and her. 



Sharon and her Quaker Turtles



Here are some more photos of Sharon's beautiful work.



Quaker Turtles, Floral Needleroll, Crown and Needle Etui, and Acorn Sampler Sewing Case



I wish I had thought to take a photo of the inside of Sharon's Acorn Sampler Sewing Case.  She chose such a pretty lining fabric.

view of the inside of Floral Needleroll



Quaker Turtles



Sharon, as you can see, is a very talented needleworker.  Her friends call her the Queen of Smalls. Like Linda, Sharon is always smiling.   I don't think she'll mind if I tell you that next month she will celebrate her 75th birthday!  Wishing you an early 75th birthday, Sharon!

And here are some photos of day 2 of the class.  Look at how much progress the ladies made on the back of their needlebooks!



Janet and her work



Terry's work



Gwen's work


In all my classes I demonstrate the assembly process with mock-ups.  In this particular class, the attendees were able to also make their own needlebook mock-up to take home.  (They used glue on their mock-ups, but will be stitching the ribbons down on their actual needlebooks to create the Jacob's ladder binding.)

And last but not least, we finished the day by looking at images of beautiful antique work boxes and their contents.  It was truly a feast for the eyes!

Here I am with Penny and Terry after we had packed up and were ready to go home.  In the bag in front of Terry is a parting gift from Linda.  (I got one too!)  I'll try to remember to take a photo of mine tomorrow along with two other gifts I received from class students.


Thanks everyone for a great "weekend of stitches".  Also thank you to those who sent me photos to use here.

And a very special thank you to Linda for hosting such a wonderful weekend!  I'm honored and thrilled to be returning next fall to teach two more classes!