More Eye Candy from Down Under!!

Thanks for your interest in our trip "Down Under".  It was truly a wonderful trip--we took over 1900 photos!  (Yes, over 1900 photos!)  The scenery was breathtaking! Over the next few weeks I plan to show you some of our highlights from New Zealand and Australia.  Today I'll focus on needlework-related items.

In my previous post I forgot to show you the wonderful gifts that Clare made me.  She had these and a lovely note waiting for me at Heirlooms.  I'm just sorry that I didn't get to meet her in person.  On the left is a darling needlework case, and on the right is a needlework storage roll.  (A storage roll is a wonderful way to store your needlework when you're not working on it.)

Below is a view of the inside of the needlework case with its felt needlepages, a drawstring bag, and pockets.  I've opened the storage roll so you can see the inside.  I should have put a stitched piece on it to show you how the roll works.  (You'll just have to use your imagination.)  Place your needlework on top of the inside panel and roll it, in this case from right to left.  Once it is rolled up with your needlework inside, tie the ribbons as shown in the photo above.

Here's another view.  Isn't it cool that the needlework case and the needlework storage roll coordinate?

Thank you VERY much, Clare, for your very thoughtful gifts.  I'll think of you whenever I use them.

When I discovered that my hotel in Sydney wasn't too far from Julie's shop, The Crewel Gobelin, and that I would have an evening free, I contacted her about visiting. The Crewel Gobelin has been in business for 29 years!  Julie, who had owned the shop for two years, is the third owner.

Below are a few views of the shop and the open house Julie had.

This is Julie.  Behind her, you can get a glimpse of some of the many linens she carries.

With My Needle Examplar

Quaker Needlework Treasures

Eliza's Pyn Pillow (a complimentary design) and Petite Carnet d'Ouvrages, Livre I (cover only)

one of the Quaker Samplings

Julie told me that Gill F. stitched many of the shop models shown in the photos above.  Gill worked in the shop for about 12 of the 16 years Margaret Fisher owned the shop before Jule bought it. Gill is now working on my newest reproduction, Elizabeth Wood 1822.  I'm hoping she'll send me a photo once she has finished it.

It was so much fun to visit Julie's shop and to meet some of her customers!  I was particularly excited to meet Sandra M. because we've corresponded for a few years. Sandra and her friend Karen drove more than two hours to be at the shop that evening.

After the open house, we went to Julie's for dinner with her family.  Gill and her husband also joined us.  Yummy!  Gill brought a delicious Pavlova that she had made for our desert.  There are strawberries and passion fruit are on top.  Thanks, Gill.  (I want to get your recipe!)

Thank you, Julie, for your very warm hospitality, both at your shop and in your home.  Also, thank you to those who stopped by the shop to meet me.

Spending Time with the Bay Area Sampler Guild

Last weekend I had the great pleasure of teaching two classes, Fruit of the Vine Sampler Huswif and A Lady's Worke Box, for members of the Bay Area Sampler Guild  in the San Francisco area.



Unfortunately, I didn't get very many photos of Saturday's class, Fruit of the Vine Sampler Huswif.  However, here is one of Sarah, Sharon, Muriel, and Gauri hard at work on their needlerolls.



Here is a peek over Ria's shoulder of her progress.





 Here is Liz showing off what she accomplished on Saturday, but I took the photo during Sunday's class.

A fair number of photos were taken Sunday at the class for A Lady's Worke Box, and I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the sampler guild members.

The next photo was near the beginning of the class.  In the background are sisters Lupe and Blanche, whom I first met several years ago when I taught for the Valley Quail EGA, which is also located in the San Francisco area.  Margaret and Kate are in the foreground.

 Here are some more photos also shot during the class on Sunday.  Unfortunately, I neglected to get any close-up photos of the beautiful stitching and wonderful progress they made in class on their Jacob's Ladder needlebooks.

Here are Kim, Pam, Laurie, Eilene, Gauri, and Muriel.

Here are Laurie, Eilene, and Gauri in the foreground, and I'm in the background with Ria.

Here I am with Liz, Annette, Kate, and Margaret.

....and then, all too soon, it was time to go our separate ways.  Here I am with Laurie, Sarah, Gauri, Sharon, and Margaret as we were packing up to go home.  The table is still cluttered with the mock-ups I used for demonstrating the assembly process for A Lady's Worke Box.



One of the highlights for me was seeing the completed With My Needle projects the gals brought for me to see in person.  I know there was at least one more project not shown in this photo.

Below are some close-ups.

First is Annette's beautiful sewing pouch.  The design, Flowers for My Friends, is one that I created a few years ago to help out victims of the Italian earthquakes that did so much devastation.

This is an inside view of Annette's Bunnies in the Garden.  Isn't that cute fabric she chose to make her carrot scissors sheath?

I neglected to get an outside view but found this one on an earlier blog post.

Annette had told me that she has lots of internet stitching buddies, but none are local.  She was delighted when I told her about the Bay Area Sampler Guild in San Francisco.  She is now their newest member and took her first-ever classes over the weekend.  I think she's now hooked.  She's already making plans to attend their next meeting.  Annette gave me one of her beautful sewing pouches.  It is so wonderful--beautiful fabrics and a zipper so none of my needlework goodies will fall out.  I also like the fact that the pouch is relatively stiff, which will protect my charts from getting bent.  Thank you very much, Annette!

Here is Quaker Needlework Treasures I believe stitched by Sharon. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

Next are photos showing the outside and the inside of  Floral Needleroll. The chart package has charts and directions for two different needlerolls.  This is the version that is mainly stitched over two linen threads.  I can't remember if this one was stitched my Sharon or Shirley, so ladies please help me out.



And last, but not least, are Shirley's and Sharon's A Needleworker's Sampler Huswif.  Both ladies took this class a few years ago when I taught for the Valley Quail EGA.  Shirley hasn't decided if she will frame her piece or make it into a huswif like Sharon did with hers.  Sharon's needlebook is also shown in the photo.

It certainly was nice being with such a gifted group of needleworkers, seeing old friends (some of us go back to when we attended Sampler Gathering years ago in Plymouth, Massachusetts), and meeting others for the first time.  Hopefully our paths will cross again in the not-too-distant future.

After the class, I went up to beautiful Sonoma for a few days.  Look at the beautiful flooring in the hallway of the lovely inn where I stayed....how fitting for my having just taught Fruit of the Vine with its wonderful grapevine border!



Grab a Cup of Tea and Get Ready for LOTS of "Eye-Candy"!

Bright and early last Friday morning I headed north to Onalaska, Wisconsin to teach two classes--the Fruit of the Vine Sampler Huswif  for the Coulee Country EGA Chapter and A Lady's Worke Box for Crosse Stitchery and Main Street Framing.  Attendees were from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa.

I wish I had taken a photo of my car all loaded down!  I don't think I could have added anything else to the load.  (I knew things would be pretty packed, so I did a "test" packing the weekend before just to make sure I wouldn't have to ship anything ahead of time.)

Despite rain most of the day, there was still quite a bit of beautiful fall foliage along the way. 

Approaching the hotel, this is what first greeted me.



Was I at the right place?  Indeed I was!

Once inside, this is what I first saw!

While waiting in line to check in, I couldn't help but notice the group of ladies in front of me, all with their Vera Bradley bags.  I wondered if they were part of the class.  It only took a few minutes to find out.  One of them, Cathy B., turned around and greeted me.  Cathy had recognized me from photos she had seen.  Cathy and her friends, Chris, Judy, and Mary Kay, had driven from Minnesota for the classes.  They live about two hours away but made a full day of it with stops for shopping, including antiquing, and a stop at Crosse Stitchery in nearby La Crosse.

Bright and early the next morning (7:30am to be exact), it was time to set up the room with the class kits and trunk show.  The classroom was quite spacious.  The tables were arranged in a U-shape, which I've now decided is the perfect configuration when I teach.  It was easy to get around to everyone.

One of the benefits of driving is that I can take lots of models.  I took only 3-dimensional pieces and put them on a table in the middle of the room.  That was especially nice because the class attendees could walk completely around the table.

Below are some photos of the models I took.  Since the photos were taken on two different days, the layout is not the same, and some of the project pieces ended up being separated from each other.  (Things were neater earlier in the day.)

In the next photo, I'm explaining how I, along with nine other designers, created the collaboration sampler, A Most Noble Pursuit.  We did all the planning on-line.  Many of the designers didn't know each other before the project began.  We met in person the night before the tradeshow at which we released the sampler.  There is still a limited number of charts available, but once they are gone, they'll be gone forever.  Last year we gave our model to Jean at Attic Needlework to auction off at her annual breast cancer auction.

In my next blog post, I'll show you some class photos; I'm devoting the rest of today's post to photos of the wonderful projects the class attendees brought for me to see.

First up is Cathy B. holding her Blue House Needle Primer.  Cathy told me she changed the verse I had on my model from "parents" to "mother" because her father died when she was very young, and her mother raised her on her own.

Here is a close-up of Cathy's Blue House Needle Primer and her Ackworth Friendship Book, which she stitched with her friends Chris, Judy, and Mary Kay.

Next is Cathy's very good friend Chris C. with her completed Ackworth Friendship Book and her My Needle's Worke Box.  Chris, as you'll soon see, is not only a beautiful stitcher (and finisher) but is also very prolific.

And look what else Chris brought--her My Favorite Things Stitching Basket!  I love the basket she chose to showcase her stitching!

Here are some more projects from Chris--one of A Pair of Pin Cubes and one of the Floral Needlerolls.  (Both of these products have two versions.)

And Chris isn't finished!  Here she is with her friend Judy S.  Chris and Judy are each holding their own completed Petit Samplings Etui.  This was another collaboration piece I did--this one with three other design companies.  (I always chuckle when I hear the word "petit" associated with this project.  It sure isn't "petit" in my humble opinion.)

Wasn't it sweet that both ladies turned their etuis so the side I designed would be in the photo?

Below are two more photos of Judy's etui.  The first shows the side designed by my friend Louise Henderson (Cherished Stitches).  The second shows the inside of Judy's etui.  I'm sorry I neglected to photograph the other sides of both etuis.

I hope your eyes aren't getting tired, because I still have more to show you!

Here is Deb W. with  her Floral Needleroll and also her Acorn Sampler Sewing Case.  Deb did a different version of Floral Needlerolls than Chris's version which you saw earlier.  Deb chose to stitch the over-one version and used the other color palette.  I wish I had thought to take a photo of the inside of her Acorn Sampler Sewing Case.  It was just wonderful!

Here is another photo of Deb's lovely work--Flowers for Lily.

And now look at Linda B. and all her goodies!  Linda actually brought more than what is in the photos.  I'm sorry, Linda, that I didn't get photos of all your pieces, especially your Acorn Sampler Sewing Case.  The lining fabric you chose for that case is wonderful!

Linda's projects are Quaker Needlework Treasures, A Needleworker's Sampler Huswif (a class project), Long May She Wave (also a class project), and Quaker Hornbook (a group project).  Linda took the two classes several years ago when I taught for the Mississippi River Sampler Guild in Dubuque, Iowa.

Next is Sarah H.'s A Needleworker's Sampler Huswif.  This can be framed as you see here or made into a huswif as Linda did.  Sarah, who is the owner of Crosse and Main Street Framing, was in the same class in Dubuque as Linda.  Sarah's choice of a frame and mat are exquisite!  I couldn't take my eyes off of it.  I'm just sorry that this photo doesn't do her work justice.

And last, but not least, is Marybeth's pin cube which is one of the two designs in A Pair of Pin Cubes.  Like Chris, Marybeth chose to stitch the Quaker design.  The other design has strawberries on it.  You can see both versions on my website.



This is a view of the bottom of Marybeth's pin cube.

I think there may have been some more projects that I neglected to photograph. Please accept my apologies if yours was one I forgot, and please send me a photo.  I need to do better at remembering to take photos. 

Thank you to Cathy and Marybeth for sending me photos to augment the ones I took.  If anyone else in the classes has any photos from the weekend, please send them to me.  My next blog post will be about the actual classes.