The Trail Leads Home

It's taken a few days to get everything back to normal after our ort-sprinkling journey across the country. Cathy Habermann of Hands On Design joined me on a seven stop hop that took us to two shows and five LNS shops in between.

We started in St. Charles MO at the Celebrations of Needlework.

I taught a class the silk-sequencing technique
I've been playing with. Alyse is showing off
her finished class piece.

Stitches Etc. is right there in historic downtown St. Charles.

Hanging out with Cathe Ray from Needle in a Haystack, Gail Zumwalt of
Stitches Etc, and Cathy Roginela of Inspired Needle. The Cathe/y contingent were
all in town for the Celebrations show.

Susie has an amazing shop in Evansville IN.

Stitches From the Heart, the second shop on the route, was filled to the brim
with good stuff. Our little table was equally packed. We could have spent days there.

The Stitchin' Post in Nashville was shop #3. Again, we got to meet some
amazing ladies and see a wonderful LNS.

Anyone would be happy to be able to call this their LNS, and we were
lucky to have a little shopping time here.

Cindy welcomed us at shop  #4 - Dixie Darlin in Pigeon Forge. She was getting ready
to join us at Stitching at the Beach, our final stop.  You might know Cindy from her design
work as Foxwood Crossing (lots of sleds) but she also keeps a fully stocked
shop in a historic touristy area.

It was easy to see why stitchers living a four hour drive away call the Stitch & Frame Shop
 in Rock Hill, SC their "local" needlework shop.  We even had a few of the not-so-locals
drive up for the day to meet us on our trip.

Stitch & Frame's building was perfect for a shop - light and airy, with high windows,
ledges and cubbies everywhere that were filled with models.

Cathy drove up and brought in her finished 99, which included
a custom bottle she swapped in. I love it!

And onward to the Ocean.

Stitching at the Beach is a lovely retreat with a shopping boutique area in the room.

I got to see a few friends from the Branson retreat last summer,
as well as meet a few friends from Facebook. Many of them brought
in finishes. Such nice work - I am so proud!

I have such wonderfully nerdy fans! And such accomplished
stitchers. All of Janel's work on the table there is over 1.

We kept busy enough that not much actual stitching was done, and we left very few orts in our wake. The weather at Myrtle Beach was fabulous, and after days of driving in the torrential rain that was very welcome. Wish we could have found a little more time for the sand, but we enjoyed every minute of it.

I have no clue whether factors will ever align to let us plan something like this again, so I am truly thankful to everyone that came out to meet us and all the beautiful shops that opened up their doors. What a trip! 

Trail of Orts

"Trail of Orts" is officially booked! Cathy Habermann of Hands On Design and I had both signed up to show at two different retreats/festivals this fall. When the dates were finally announced, they turned out to be only a week apart. So, rather than attempt to fly back home and immediately turn around and fly off again, we decided to make a road trip of it. We're inviting everyone to join us in the fun.

We kick off with the Celebration of Needlework in St. Charles, Missouri, the longest running show of its kind.  I'll be teaching a class on using and understanding variegated threads and will have a booth with lots of models to see in person.  It's set up boutique style in the hotel room suites, where everyone builds a mini-shop in the front room and sleeps in the back room. This show is open to the public unlike the TNNA shows I've been doing. There are many rooms and areas where stitchers get together and hang out between shopping sessions and classes. Then...

We've set up Meet and Greet events at shops all along the way. We'll each bring in a collection of models and charts, and will be anxiously awaiting meeting stitchers and seeing what they are up to. The shops and times are listed above - I hope folks will be able to break away from whatever they're doing and come by to visit. Then...

We arrive on the Atlantic coast at Myrtle Beach,South Carolina, ready for the PALs Stitching at the Beach retreat. This is the 17th year that Down Sunshine Lane has organized this event, and I must say it sounds like they've gotten the formula right. Stitching. Beach. It's a combination of various scheduled activities, a merchant mall area, and plenty of relaxed stitching time. This is my first time, but Cathy has told me how much fun it's going to be.

I must say this is the most planning and thinking ahead I'm having to do. I'm probably over preparing in some areas, but I've never had to be stocked for seven events in a row. We've got some new little surprises and special things that we'll be revealing along the way, so even if you can't meet us on the trail in person you can follow along on our blogs and facebook pages.

Road Trip!