What I Did on Spring Vacation

Yesterday was Friday the 13th. I looked out of the window before dawn to discover it was snowing. There was only one thing to do--go see the Woodlawn Plantation needlework show! So I did. Above you see the main building at Woodlawn Plantation. There were two daffodils in bloom in one flowerbed. Spring can't be too far away, despite the snowflakes! I also hit four shops in the general area of Woodlawn Plantation. This is the one time of year when I actually am able to visit the shops. It'll take me some time to write up what I saw at Woodlawn, so how about I talk about the shop visit and tell you a bit about each? They all are worth visiting when you are at the show, or any other time of year. In Stitches: In Stitches is very close to the entrance of Woodlawn. When I left the show, I turned left and at the top of the hill (2-3 traffic lights) I turned right into the shopping center with McDonalds's and found their entrance. In Stitches is a counted thread and knitting shop with a nice line of painted canvases. Here is their website. http://www.institchesneedlework.com/ It carries the full line of Mill Hill beads and findings, a huge array of stitching tools and gadgets, and some painted canvases. You can buy all the Paternayan, Needlepoint Inc. and Thread Gatherer threads here. They also carry the Gumnuts line of silks and wools, plus a nice selection of other thread lines. If you like counted thread, you will love this shop! I indulged myself by buying two of the Kelmscott Designs needle minder magnets, the initial letter ones with cherubs. http://www.sewandso.co.uk/ran2701-0.html I was tempted by their small embroidery scissors with the large finger holes, but I decided my slightly arthritic thumb can do without those for a while longer. I know where they are carried and can always pick up a pair next year. Sadly, the only time I visit In Stiches is after I browse the Woodlawn needlework show. It is just too far away for me to get there any more frequently. But I highly recommend any visitor to Woodlawn stop by. It is really quite close and worth the visit. Then I jumped in the car and drove about 45 minutes to my next stop--Needlewoman East. The shop has changed hands in the last year but it is still "my" LNS. You see the former owner, Sue Jennings, in the slide show. She was demonstrating needlepoint on the second floor of Woodlawn and allowed me to take a photo for her many friends to see. She is surrounded by her stitching. Sue loves patriotic designs in red, white and blue. Even the Tony Minieri piece she has on exhibit was a cherry red and blue and cream version of what I think is his Chicago du Soir design, in a beautiful cherry wooden frame. http://www.institchesatlanta.com/tonym.html The shop is owned by Liz now and since she's a fellow threadaholic, I turned to her for help finding a mauve pink substitute for a Splendor silk that isn't working for a piece I'm doing on congress cloth. Two plies of Splendor is too much and one isn't enough to cover on 24 count. Liz lead me to the pretty pink Soie Crystale and the equally lovely Elegance silk perle. Both match the color of my Splendor so I have two choices now. By the way, here's the shop website. Lis plans to update it fairly soon and to include a photo of the framed crossed stitch piece her elderly mother-in-law surprised her with - the shop exterior, beautifully framed with Needlewoman East cut into the mat board. I took a photo but it didn't turn out. I'm sorry! It is delightful and a wonderful present from Liz's MIL. [UPDATE: The camera disgorged the photo of the stitched front of NW East and I added it to the slide show.] http://www.theneedlewomaneast.com/Welcome.html You'll love seeing all the latest threads at NW East. Liz has a great many of the most popular, including Burmilana, Vineyard Silks, Soy Silk, Mandaran floss, all the colors of Splendor and Watercolors (plus the matching Waterlilies silks and Wildflowers cotton perle), and much, much more. She carries the largest selection of painted canvases in the area, so if you are a painted canvas person, you really must visit! The unusual thread snips you see in the photo came from Liz. She doesn't know who manufacturers them, but they are Japanese. I can't wait to try them out. I found similar "thread nips" at this Baltimore website, but these don't have the rubber grip protectors. These are sharp, mind. You need to keep them away from pets and small children (and husbands who like to use your best scissors to cut articles from the newspaper). http://www.allstitch.net/product/412-squeezers-thread-nips-1708.cfm Sadly, I was only half way through my shop tour and it was already after lunch, so I grabbed my threads and new thread nips and jumped into the car for the adventure of finding a brand new shop I hadn't visited before that is less than 4 miles from NW East--Waste Knot. Here is the shop website. http://www.wasteknotneedlepoint.com/ The shop is a bit hard to find but I'd been warned to look for a little strip mall with a pastry shop on the end. Waste Knot is around the corner in the back, in the bottom level with the pastry shop above it. What a clever idea! I can now add to my stash and waistline simultaneously! I parked the car in the parking lot behind the Lee Heights shop fronts, jump out and dashed down the stairs. The shop is a delight, very light and airy despite being the basement. It is full of the Lee leather goods. You can buy totes, coin purses, the little wristlet purses, almost anything! And Lori the owner has canvases to match. These are beautiful pieces (the leatherwork pieces are first rate) and the easy finishing makes investing in a purse or pocketbook as well as the canvas a good bargain. You couldn't have these made up for you at this price. I was delighted to find Lori had come back from the TNNA market with the Leigh Swedish Dynasty special edition ornaments which are not shown on the Leigh website. She has the large Dalish chicken and the lovely rose tree pattern which I had not seen. She had several other Leigh designs, including the red-haired Las Vegas showgirl which I adore. It's not in my budget, though, so I confined myself to picking the size 22 needles I prefer and which I run out of often and a skein of mauve pink Lorikeet from Gloriana. http://www.glorianathreads.com/Lorikeet.html I adore Lorikeet. It doesn't look much in the photo but it is a very thin 9 ply overdyed wool, thin enough for silk gauze and certainly 1-2 plies will be perfect on my congress cloth. There is not another thread quite like it and since no one else in the area carries it, I was really happy to find a source. She also has the new Vineyard Silks Merino Wool. It is very pretty in the skein but I don't have a need for it and didn't buy any. Besides, this gives me a reason to come back, right? LOL I browsed all the Petei Santas, rummaged around looking at Christmas stockings and Nativities, enjoyed the Melissa Shirley and Kelly Clark pieces (I never knew the Kelly Clark Nativity canvases are that large!) and generally had a wonderful time, especially when I discovered that Lori also carries Sundance beads. No one else in the area has them, so definitely I will be back to shop here. Don't miss the class picture on the Waste Knot website of the Lee wisteria kimono with the acid green background. (click on What's New, it is at the bottom of the page) It will be taught here in a few weeks but the reason I'm pointing you to this piece is I saw the original model at Woodlawn where I think it won a blue ribbon (the tag was in the bright sun and I can't be sure). Very lovely subtle version of this piece which is a favorite of mine! I finally tore myself away as I had one more shop to visit and a 2 hour drive home still ahead of me. Luckily Scarlett Thread is on the way back to Chilly Hollow. This shop is in a new location in Great Falls which I pass heading north. It's in a similar place to Waste Knot in the back of a series of shops and partly basement but once you find it, you'll go back again and again. Despite there not being a pastry shop upstairs. [lol] http://www.scarletthread.com/ This is another counted thread shop, chock full of threads that no one else carries. I saw my first spools of Gilt Sylke Twist in person there yesterday. This is the reproduction silk and metal thread Plimoth Plantation talked Access Commodities into helping create and distribute. It's almost $20 a spool but it is beautiful! The gold glint is very subtle, not gaudy and the thread itself about the diameter of heavy sewing thread. This is a special thread for a very special project and I suspect the gold will be less subtle if you use it to do surface embroidery stitches. Sara had a spool of Lincoln Green and the Bisse (sort of ecru). The gold showed up better in the green than the ecru but that's just in the spool. Remember, threads stitched can look very different than in the spool or skein or on the card. http://www.needlestack.com/WebStore/Thread/Access_Twist.html If you need Jean Hilton or Laura Perin charts, this is the place to come. They also stock overdyed cotton threads that the repo sampler folks love as they give an instant faded look to any sampler or etui. I picked up the skein of Dinky Dyes ecru silk there, as well as the Gloriana purple silk robbon, the Gold Rush 18 (they have chainette metallics I can't get anywhere else), and the pink Silk Lame Braid. I could have picked up the Silk Lame Braid at NW East but I had forgotten I wanted some. The green Petite Sparkle Rays was hanging next to the Silk Lame Braid and they looked so pretty together, I had to have both. Then I saw the pretty lavender Snow and remembered I'd meant to get some of this, so I did. This was my last shop and I got a bit frantic to get everything on my list and anything that caught my eye as it is probably my last visit to any shop for 4-6 months and maybe longer. Scarlett Thread has started to carry more painted canvases. They've always had a nice line of crewel kits and wools, which no one else has in this area, and that attracted enough NP folks that Sara is expanding her painted canvases. She mostly has smaller pieces and many are in big portfolias she'll pull out for you to browse if you ask. (This is a small shop and things are everywhere so you may need to ask for directions.) I asked for magnets as I wanted my other initials in the Kelmscott thread minders which Scarlett Thread carries but they did not have the cherub initials. I was very happy to pick up the plain little square magnets instead. This are very strong and small, perfect for a canvas with not much margin in which to park needles. I love them already! My final purchase was an impulse one--the candy cane dog stocking. See the candy cane in his mouth? I saw a wonderful Woodlawn piece with raised sections which I'd like to try and reproduce here. I am sorry I don't know the designer to credit. Sara looked and looked and couldn't find out where she got this from, but perhaps a Blog reader will know. You guys know everything! This stocking is destined for my oldest friend who will adore it. I have a lot of plans on how to stitch this one already--some pieces just shout ideas at you and this one was whispering things to me the instant I saw it on the mobile display with all the cute little Melissa Shirley reindeer ornaments. I will spend the weekend writing up what I saw at Woodlawn. Stay tuned for that in a couple of days. By the way, if you visit any of theses shops, make sure you mention any guild membership you hold as they all have a small discount for us dedicated stitchers. Jane/Chilly Hollow Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow