Sunday, September 30, 2012

Needlework show

Just wanted to let you know that Homewood Embroiderer's Guild is going to be the guest at the Hearts 'n Hands Quilt Show on October 6 and 7! This is working out really well for our guild. (You are all invited to the show. It will be at Columbia Central School at 94 Richton Road in Steger, Illinois.)

If you want to make it a needlework weekend, you can also go to another quilt show at Crete Reformed Church at I-394 and Exchange, and the Beverly Guild is holding their show as well. I am sorry I don't have more details on those, but if you live in the area, I am sure you can find out about them.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Last Saturday, Nancy, Peggy and I set out for a needlework field trip to Valparaiso, Indiana. The day was jam packed and we didn't get to do all that we had planned. Perhaps we'll go again!
Our first stop was Needle & Thread quilt shop, a lovely Victorian with many rooms full of fabrics, patterns and ideas. A class was going on and our visit was accompanied by the students' laughter. They're just adding a long-arm quilting machine to the shop.

Next we stopped in at Sheep's Clothing, just around the block from Needle & Thread. In spite of all of our declarations of not buying anything, hmmm, we did.
At Sheep's Clothing my purchase was yarn to make Dalek* egg cosies. It's Cascade superwash--wool that can be easily washed--great for a kitchen item.
We dined at Don Quijote, a Spanish restaurant. It's just up the street from Sheep's Clothing. We had zucchini soup (yummy) and shared a tapas plate, tried an intriguing wine drink, and had a great chat.Our third stop was our longest. Imagine Beads was having back-to-back classes all day to make the Shambala bracelet. The bracelet was really fun to make and didn't take too long. Here are Peggy and Nancy working hard on their bracelets. Reminded me very much of the 70s and my macrame. We all left with finished bracelets.

Here's mine.
I got this pattern on a previous field trip and got the beads for it Saturday.

*Dalek's are the perennial bad guys on Dr. Who.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Friday's Trip

Pop over to World Embroideries to see photos from their Friday excursion and read about all the fun they had.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Field Trip to Geneva

I can really only report on one half of Saturday's trip, but from what I've heard, everyone who went had a great time. Jane drove up on Friday with a couple of members and plans to post pictures when she gets a chance. Marge and I both drove up on Saturday. We walked into Designer's Desk within a minute of each other!Anne and Nancy are waiting to check out. There are things to explore everywhere at Designer's Desk. The check-out area is particularly dangerous.
I caught Karen and Helen by surprise here.My sister and niece joined us (sorry for the eyes-closed pic--the other was worse). My sister lives nearby, the niece was in town for the weekend--I was surprised and happy to see her.
After we were shopped out, both groups walked across the street to have lunch at Nosh. They have interesting sandwiches, salads and breakfast all day.I tried to make sure I got everyone in at least one photo.
Marge, Anne, Pat, Nancy, Karen and Helen
This is my main purchase. I also got some Evertite Stitchery Frames, threads for my Sudoku project, and some metallics for an applique project I'm working on. Those were on my list, but I just couldn't stick to the list.

After lunch, Helen and Karen (riding with me) walked over to an interesting chocolate shop, All Chocolate Kitchen (expensive but where else can you see a life-size hockey player made of chocolate?) while I bequeathed my niece with bags (and bags and bags) of needlework books. Then we all headed up Third Street, the main street of shops in Geneva, to the Spice House to sample some (really good) candied ginger and get a vanilla bean. Our next stop was one town north in St. Charles. I needed to do some grocery shopping at Blue Goose, a local grocery that sells a good brand of organic chicken that we like. One last stop was American Science and Surplus. I got a pair of long hemostats to use for getting stuffing into corners of things (Karen has an even longer pair she uses and she says they work great.) American S&S has loads of very odd stuff. If you ever need a test tube, magnet, poster of the solar system, or foot long stuffed fabric spider, this is the place. You never know what you'll see there.