WEN TO STITCH: October 2009

Chris H. let me know she received the breast cancer exchange I sent her from the Hooked on Exchanging blog. I stitched Chris a freebie pattern from Cosmic Handmade called Breast Cancer Awareness and I finished it into a pinkeep. I also sent Chris some other goodies as well. I'm glad you like the exchange Chris, I enjoyed stitching for you.

Here are some pics:

I received my autumn ornament exchange from Alison last night from the All Seasons Ornament Exchange blog and it is so pretty! Alison noticed on my blog that I love the color red and said that blackberries reminded her of fall. So she stitched some for me from one of her favorite magazines "New Stitches" issue 53. She stitched the design on sparkly evenweave with silk mill thread and finished it into a pinkeep. She also put my initial on the back. So very pretty!

Thanks very much Alison for a gorgeous pinkeep!!

Here are some pics!

Well I have only 2 exchanges left to stitch and then I can start on my gifts so I think I am doing pretty good!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for all the lovely commnets...I do appreciate them very much.

Happy stitching.

Hugs,
Wendy Jo

After planning and saving for 14 months September 30th finally arrived and we were beyond excited! Our trip was fabulous and as always is the case when you are having a great time; it always goes by way too quickly. Much was purchased, alot of laughs and ALOT of miles covered from September 30th until October 3rd. But alot of wonderful memories created and will be treasured.

So…grab your favorite beverage and let me tell you all about it.

When I was at a craft fair last year, I noticed some ladies had some copy paper boxes with their names on the box so they wouldn’t get their packages mixed up so I thought that would be a great idea for us to do for this trip. But since this was a cross stitch road trip I decided to put who our favorite designer was or who or what we love to stitch a lot of. So, Carol loves Blackbird Designs so her box said “Blackbird Babe”, Jo Barb loves Prairie Schooler so her box was “Prairie Schooler Princess”, Angie loves snowmen so her box was “snowman hottie”, I love Lizzie Kate and I had a really hard time coming up with something “jazzy” so mine was “Lizzie Kate Fan”. (here is a pic of my box..I forgot to get a pic of everyones).

Wed. Sept. 30th
Angie arrived to pick me up at 7:30 a.m. with her van and off we went to pick up Carol and then Jo Barb so all were picked up as planned by 8:00 a.m. with snacks, stitching bags, suitcases, boxes and the shopping lists!

We decided since we were driving to Tulsa first, (11 hours from here where we are)that to break up the drive that a stop at a LNS in Missouri would be a great idea. So we stopped at CC & Company in Blue Springs, MO. A great little shop, everyone found some goodies and was able to get some things crossed off their lists and I think added a thing or two as well!

After that it was a stop for a quick bite to eat and a fill up of gas and back on the road to Tulsa (a little over 4 hours to go).

We got into Tulsa around 6-6:30 pm and checked into the hotel and ate that night at Cracker Barrel. I did something I had never done before…I ordered breakfast for supper! My DH, Rex, was very proud of me! I guess I only look at breakfast food to be eaten at breakfast time!

Anyway, we went back to the hotel and Angie and I headed over to Jo Barb and Carol’s room and had some show & tell and talked about our lists for the next day.

Thurs. Oct. 1st.

Angie and I have been to the Silver Needle before and told Carol and Jo Barb that when you walk in, it can be a bit overwhelming with everything they have so be prepared. We planned for 2 hours in the shop and I believe we were in there for almost 2 hours. In this stash pic I purchased the new SB box and can’t wait to start stitching it. We all got some great goodies there. Alot was crossed off our lists and I believe some might have been added.

We then peeked around the corner at a quilt shop but only stayed a few minutes as none of us found anything we had to have.

So it was time to move onto Derby, KS to Sunflower Quilts. Sunflower Quilts has a great selection of fabric to choose from and all of us found some goodies to bring back.

We then made a stop at the Goodwill store that was in the shopping center across from Sunflower Quilts because Jo Barb has found quite a few frames at Goodwill for a little bit of nothing so we thought we’d see what they had. Angie ended up finding some frames and Jo Barb found a sweater!

It was still early enough in the day that we arrived in Wichita around 5:00 pm (they were open until 6:00 pm) so we decided to go to Heart’s Desire, to shop and then go back in the morning. I had some LK things waiting for me and I wanted to pick them up. When I ordered the LK items I talked with Joyce who works there and when I placed my order I was telling her about my stitch group’s road trip and I knew she wasn’t going to be working on Friday so that was another reason I wanted to stop, was so I could meet her. She is as delightful in person as she is on the phone. Debbie, the owner of Heart’s Desire was also there so we had a chance to visit with her and what a wonderful lady she is. So I purchased what I had on hold and the other gals put their items on hold until the next day and we were off to check into the hotel and to find a place for dinner.

We ended up at Chili’s that evening and since the day was a long one…we chatted a bit, looked at my stash and called it an early night.

Fri., Oct. 2nd

The hotel we stayed at didn’t have breakfast so Carol suggested Denny’s so that is what we did! After that we headed over to Hen Feathers, a cute little quilt shop that the girls found some fabrics at but I left empty handed. By that time it was 9:30 and I remembered there was a cute little crafty store called Country Bumpkins just up the street from Heart’s Desire so we stopped to look around. I managed to purchase a cute little spider and some chicken poop! Yep, you read right..its for your lips! (contains no poop). I love lip balm and just had to have this! If for nothing else because of the name! When I called DH that night he really didn’t know quite what to say.

Here is the website if anyone is interested: ilovechickenpoop.com

Then it was 10:00 a.m. and off to Heart’s Desire. I managed to pick up some overdyed fabric (café kona, lucky penny, old mill java, and 18th century brown) and also Blackbird Designs Joyeux Noel. Carol had gotten this at another LNS and I had been thinking about getting it so I just decided to just do it and am so glad I did.

Debbie greeted us and the other ladies as well and we seemed to keep them very busy cutting fabric! Everyone at the shop was so helpful and friendly. So the place was very busy since she was having a market party with all the new stuff she came back with from market. It’s a great shop and if you are in the Wichita area stop by you won’t be disappointed..

Debbie then approached me and asked how long we were going to be at the shop and I told her probably another 45 minutes or so and she said she was going to give Linda Ebright a call and see if she could come down to the shop. Well Linda was busy but…Linda told Debbie to give us directions on how to get to her studio and come by. Angie and I were beaming! We didn’t expect that at all! Angie and I decided to keep Jo Barb and Carol in the dark and make it a surprise. Boy was it a surprise. I don’t think they knew what to say when we drove up Linda’s driveway and parked the van and got out!

Linda showed us her storage/warehouse area of her studio (entry level of her studio) where she keeps all her patterns/kits and showed us how she attaches the buttons/embellishments to the patterns/kits. She has only one lady that helps out 3 mornings a week otherwise it’s just her and Alan that do all the work of putting the patterns/kits together. She has someone do the graphic design and a professional photographer as well.

She then showed us the upstairs of her studio where she works at her computer. It’s so bright and cheery with yellow walls, lots of windows and very cozy place. I could definitely see myself stitching up there! She showed us some things she is working on for future release and they are adorable.

She is just a lovely person and it was very kind of her to take some time out of her busy day to share it with us. Below is a pic of us….left to right: me, Angie, Linda, Jo Barb and Carol

So after leaving Linda’s it was onto Topeka to a quilt shop called Stitching Traditions (sorry forgot to take a pic). Carol was able to find a pair of Dovos at an awesome price! She asked what I thought of their scissor selection and prices and I said buy a pair if you want Dovos. Carol knows that Dovos are my favorite scissors ever. So she took the plunge and purchased a pair and was one happy camper because we went to another quilt shop and she found the exact same pair and they were double in price there! I didn’t get any fabric and I think maybe Jo Barb and Angie were the only other ones to purchase anything.

It was still early enough in the day that we could go to The Sunflower Seed as they were open until 5:30 pm and it was only around 4:15 pm. Anita has a really cute little shop and she also designs under “The Sunflower Seed. I picked up some patters and some are in the pics below, I did pick up some patterns that aren’t shown as they are for exchanges and gifts. I did manage to find an adorable sunflower needle case to match my sunflower ort jar I got in a past visit.

I also picked up some small cuts of overdyed fabric for the Blackbird Designs stockings and some small 40 ct. pieces for future projects.

Then it was dinner time so we chose The Texas Roadhouse. I just LOVE their dinner rolls. YUM!

We checked into our hotel and Angie and I went over to Jo Barb and Carol’s room for show and tell and to stitch since we hadn’t done that at all on this trip and tomorrow we were headed back home.

Sat. Oct. 3rd

Our final stop was a quilt shop in Lee’s Summit called Quilter’s Station. Tons and tons of fabric in several rooms. They also have some home décor items, primitive things.

I purchased the Amy Butler Frenchy Bag pattern that was on my list and some home decor things and fabric (fabric is in the fabric pic). I think everyone purchased some goodies.

We then stopped for a fill up of gas and drinks and got back on the road to head home.

On our drive home we decided that a stop in Urbandale at Cold Stone Creamery was a must – a “sweet” way to end a great trip, with great girlfriends!

Sorry for some missed pics, but I did add the web links if there was one, at some shops but hope you enjoyed reading about my road trip.

Happy stitching

Hugs,
Wendy Jo