Well, I have some catching up to do here. Last weekend was loads of fun.Friday members of Needle Artisans of Northwest Indiana EGA chapter paid our annual visit to Camp Quality Illinois. It’s always fun. This year I have to admit we were not terribly popular. Not us, I don’t think (I hope--those that came and did the project seemed to enjoy it). I tihnk it was more that the campers were all cooped up in the crafts building all of Monday and Tuesday due to storms. Friday was beautiful weather and the outdoors called. I’d never seen the crafts building so empty. We did have a few avid stitchers join us to make an Eiffel Tower bookmark (the theme for the day was France).
One enterprising young lady even made two! The mix of stitchers always amazes me—boys and girls both tried their hands at it, some younger some a bit older.
They always do so much for the kids at the camp and think of every detail. I'm putting my mind to thinking of a fundraiser to do for them.
On Saturday several members of my other stitching group, the Homewood Embroiderer’s Guild, drove out to Mishawaka to visit Needle Nest. It’s a great shop and we had loads of fun choosing fibers, colors and projects. Everyone was very helpful and friendly. I bought this kit—it came on the frame!—and finished it up Sunday night. It will be a holiday gift for friends.
After we shopped, we replenished ourselves at a fun Mexican restaurant across the way from Needle Nest, Hacienda Mexican Restaurant (thanks, Leila, for the name—I never can remember those things!). After lunch we rolled back to the car and went to stop number two, Erica’s. It was a spur of the moment stop for the quilter in the group.
Wow! This place has it all. It would be incredible for machine embroiderers or machine quilters—they have a nice variety of machines and loads of examples. I love quilt shops just for the array of fabrics and colors. And Erica’s has an amazing variety of fabrics. But they also have knitting, felting, cross stitch, embroidery, beading, wool embroidery, quilling, locker hooking (I just learned what that is, thanks, again, to Leila), oh, and all sorts of other odds and ends. I was enchanted and my now empty pocket book shows it! 
Oh, but the fun didn’t stop there! Sunday was my birthday. Steve gave me a lovely bouquet (three bouquets actually!) of carnations that is only becoming fuller and nicer as the week goes on and some chocolate. Myrn knit me not one but two soft and cuddly neck warmers. They’ll get a lot of use come winter. And Jenny sent an embroidery kit of roses with bluebells.
The weather was perfect on Sunday and we went to the Midwest Buddhist Temple’s Ginza Festival, up near Old Town in Chicago. We used to be regulars and hadn’t gone in years. We shopped (they bring in master artisans from Japan), ate (veggie sushi and edamame—they’re known for their teriyaki chicken and it is good but it’s messy) and watched some shows. I love Taiko (drumming) and we saw two troupes..one from Milwaukee and the other a youth group from MBT. We also saw a Hawai’ian ukulele group and a kendo demonstration. (My favorite taiko group is Kodo. You can hear the music in the listening room but there's nothing like live taiko!)
The whole weekend left me with a golden glow and lots of warm fuzzy feelings. I’ve been watching bits of the Olympics (I can sit and watch it endlessly but Steve has his limits) and working in my journal and stitching. That is, when I’m not at work or going to and from work.
