Camp Wannasew (aka Stitch Camp)

I guess there's no other way to say it...Camp rocked again! Lindy and Mona run a great camp. You can do as much or as little as you like. There is no pressure at all to complete a project or to keep up with other campers. The only time that you might need to be in the room is on Friday evening when they hand out and explain the projects, but other than that, you do what you want, when you want. Mona hangs out on Friday night, all day Saturday and until very late Saturday night to help you individually as you finish your projects. There were plenty of helpers, too.

I couldn't say which part of camp I liked the most. Shopping at the Silver Needle is absolutely fabulous. The projects were right up my alley this year. My table companions and my roommates were wonderful. Even the travel portion was pretty darn nice, because the flights were all on time, the airports were easy to travel through, and I had a fabulous book to read.

I mean, really. Could I have had a more perfect weekend?

But on to the particulars. We had three projects with finishing kits presented to us. The first was this trinket box, and it included a floss tag and a biscornu. So although it was done as one project, there were actually three finishes involved. I completed the floss tag and the box. The biscornu was very tiny though and I thought it was a little too fussy. So I'm finishing mine as a needlebook. But here are the two parts that I finished.


The second project was a Halloween project that was finished as a pinkeep with ruched ribbon. I didn't start this one - I've done enough pinkeeps to be able to finish this at home. So I have my bag of supplies and Mona graciously let me photograph it because my memory sucks.

The third project was an easel-style finish, and if my weekend goes as planned, I'll have it done and posted by Monday. It's an adorable snowman freebie from PS done on 11ct Tula, and I never would have thought this, but now I think I love Tula.

And TA DA! More progress on Souvenir Sampler! I had bought several charms at the SN, and here they are on the sampler. Nothing is stitched down, but you get the idea.

Tomorrow I'll show you all of the lovely things that I bought, and the treat bag goodies, too.

But right now I'm going to go raid the china closet and make sure I'm ready for Thanksgiving. And then it's down to the basement to drag out all of the big-ass cookware. The giant roaster, the huge mixing bowls, the oversized pyrex dishes.
I have such a tiny kitchen, and the basement has a bar and a few closets, so I store a lot down there. Appliances (don't get me started), cookware, all of that stuff for entertaining, like punch bowls, cake dishes, extra sets of dishware - it's all in the basement.

Many of the older houses in this part of the state actually have second complete kitchens in their basements. Man, I'd love that during the holidays. I think that most of them were installed because women needed a ton of space for canning and preserving food, and the basement kitchen provided working space for food preservation while keeping the upstairs kitchen free for regular meals.

Do any of you guys store your cookware in the basement? Or maybe you have a full kitchen down there, too?

Ok, now I really have to go. Make me stop typ...