Towns

I loved the small town nature of Ireland, evident even in a bigger city like Dublin.  Really, it was the thing I enjoyed most about our travels there. 

I loved streets full of busy shops and eateries - each one was different and each one seemed to be thriving.  Living in a small town here is entirely different.  Over the years, small towns have lost their small businesses.  Most downtown areas are struggling at best, shuttered at worst.  Small town life in the US usually feels depressing, but there it feels...I don't know...rooted?  And I loved that everyone walked or biked and that public transportation was so accessible.

Oh, and since this is a stitching blog after all, I know you're all probably wondering if any of the lovely towns I visited had a stitching or needlework shop.  I would have thought that a city the size of Dublin might have a needlework shop... Sadly, no.  Fabric shops that crossed my path were exactly that - fabrics.  And not much of it.  I know that there are quilt shops, but they were in cities that we weren't visiting.

I found one shop in Dublin that advertised lots of trims and fabrics (The Woollen Mills) and I hoped to find some needlework supplies, but there was only one display of Anchor Threads, Aida on bolts, and a spinner rack of Dimensions kits.  I thought I had a glimmer of hope when I saw one of the workers stitching.  So I asked her if there were any shops that catered to needleworkers specifically.  She was a little miffed that I didn't think that the Anchor display and spinner rack were adequate.  Well, whatever.

So - here are some city and town pictures!

ONeill's Pub in Dublin

HA!

For Carol, my librarian friend

Busy Half Penny Bridge.  I'm up there, somewhere.

Awesome little cafe outside Dublin Castle, where we ate this:

Not exactly Weight Watchers fare, but it was VACATION!

Busy street in Kilkenny

Pub entertainment in Bray

Pub fare

More pub fare

And more

Yum!

Kilkenny side street

Also in Kilkenny.  I mean, really.  I pink shop that sells chocolate? What's not to love?

Tomorrow -  typically touristy things.

Gardens of Ireland

We had lots of opportunities to visit gardens while we were in Ireland.  There were gardens in or around most of the historic and tourist sites we visited, but there were also gardens just for the sake of gardens.  We arrived towards the end of the tulip blooms, but they were still quite beautiful.  And I'll bet that in a week or two the rose bushes will be blooming.  We saw lots of buds, and when they open they'll make most of these gardens not only gorgeous to see, but glorious to smell!

St. Stephens Green

Merrion Square

Irish Museum of Modern Art

Glendalough - no gardens but lovely walking and hiking trails
(If you read my comments, you'll see that this photo was a replacement for the one I posted earlier.  After I set the camera timer then RAN over to sit next to Dave,  we inadvertently struck a pose that was...ummm...inappropriate.  He thought he was grabbing my waist, but with the help of age and gravity, certain parts of my body have sunk to my waist and it looked like he was grabbing somewhere else.  Evidently, this set two of my very dear stitching friends to giggling in front of their computer monitors and then commenting about it.  Once I realized this, and once I stopped screaming, I laughed, too.  Because if you can't laugh with your friends, who can you laugh with?  But I replaced the photo anyway, just to keep my blog clean and all.)

Sheep right out of a Warner Bros. cartoon

Shamrocks!

Powerscourt Japanese garden

Powerscourt fountains

More Powerscourt

And more Powerscourt

Tomorrow, the towns!

Home again!

The month of April was full of fun and exciting travels for me, including a fabulous stitching retreat in the middle of the month and ending with a week in Ireland. And oh my...what a week it was! I had the time of my life! 

We stayed in a stunning hotel just outside of Dublin, in a little town called Enniskerry.  Enniskerry was a perfect and compact little town, with almost everything you could want.  There were restaurants that ranged from simple take-out to very nice dining.  There was a pharmacy, a grocer, a laundry, and easy access to two buses for trips into Dublin.  Here are a couple of my pictures, but if you go to the Enniskerry website, you'll see some really nice photos.  Much better than mine!

Our hotel was just a short walk up the hill from the center of town - about a mile - and it was right next to the Powerscourt House and Gardens, one of the most beautiful gardens in Ireland.  Stunning!

Now that I'm home, I have a pile of work to catch up on.  I'll have some more pictures, including the gardens, later this week, but I'm excited to show these to you today.

Dave with Sugar Loaf Mountain behind him

Walking up the hill from town to our hotel

Our favorite breakfast spot

Pharmacy!

Hearts Desire Retreat

I had really, really wanted to show you my totally finished class projects in this post, but the week completely got away from me and both projects are still sitting in my basket.  So on the one hand, I could have waited and written this up later, but on the other hand, it would have been much later. 

OK, as I mentioned before, Belinda Karls-Nace of Blue Ribbon Designs was the guest designer and instructor for this wonderful retreat.  She brought loads of models of her designs to share with us, which in turn enticed us to share our cash (and credit cards) with Hearts Desire!  But I was happy to turn over my hard-earned money (my auto body shop pay), because the designs I chose suited me exactly.  It was absolutely money well spent.  Here are some pictures of the trunk show Belinda set up for us. 

Belinda had designed a sampler to commemorate our retreat.  How special is that?  And the class projects used a couple of these motifs to create stitching smalls.  Once I get back from my trip, I hope to be able to show you a sweet scissor fob and pincushion.  Really neat stuff.  (I should have taken pictures of the other stitchers' finishes.  Where was my brain?)  And I'll show you a photo of the three-ring binder full of instructions that detailed every single step of the stitching and finishing.  Really awesome.

Class sampler, inspired by springtime in Kansas, except that the Kansas ladies were quick to point out that the trees should have been leaning at a 45 degree angle.  It IS Kansas, after all!

Oh, is he too cute or what?

This sunflower was used as scissor fob motif.  And the bees!  Look at those cute bees!

Belinda was delightful.  And now I'm going to tell you something.  I freely admit that I am an East Coast cynic.  I grew up that way. It's just how I roll and it influences how I view people and interactions.  So when Belinda first arrived and behaved with such energy and good humor, in my East Coast head I was thinking, "Wow, this girl really knows how to work a room."  (yeah...cynical much?)  Not that there's anything bad about that...I admire people who can work rooms.

Ah, but here's the thing.  Belinda wasn't working it.  Energy and enthusiasm are her personality.  Yup, her attitude is genuine and even better, it's infectious.  As well as her attention to detail and her dedication to each and every student.  She was a marvelous instructor.  If you're near a shop that is bringing her to town for a class - GO.  You won't be sorry.

Oh, so what did I buy?  Well, I went all Springtime this shopping trip. 

Turn the Page.  Love the grapes!

Sweet Songs of Spring

Blooming with Inspiration

Fun, fun, fun!

Happy Easter and blessed Passover Wishes to all of my friends who are celebrating this weekend!

Go here!

Swing by Beth Twist's blog and see her freebie chart designed for Earth Day.
I think her designs are wonderful!

Kansas retreat and friends

Last weekend I packed my bags and went to a long-awaited retreat in Kansas. Last year, not too long after the Heartland Shop Hop, my friend Judy told me that her favorite LNS, Hearts Desire in Wichita KS, does a yearly retreat and the 2011 guest instructor would be Belinda Karls-Nace of Blue Ribbon Designs.  Wow!  I replied before I even took my next breath and said, "I wanna go!"  

So finally, finally, finally, the time passed and the retreat weekend was here.  I made some lovely new friends.  I spent time with some old friends.  And I kept my drooling under control when I saw their amazing projects.

Like this one by Nita.  It's from a series published by Gift of Stitching Magazine and it spanned a number of issues.  Probably before 2009?  I have the 2009 issues and it's not in any of those.  But anyway, this sampler was incredible. 

There were so many things to see in this sampler.  Amazing colors, fantastic use of specialty stitches and charming motifs.  Here are just a few of the things that caught my eye: 

Nita's initials.  Oh - there, look!  The sampler series must have run in 2008.

Love the little ship!  And look a the darning stitches just above it.  And the sampler was full of initials and dates that had meaning to Nita and her family.

Grapes!  Love the grapes!

Now here is Paula and her color version of Quaker Christmas.  I love the bold color choice!

This was stitched by one of the shop ladies.  Over one.  You had to look closely to see that it actually was stitched and not a photo.

Starting with Nita (in the pink) and moving clockwise, I'd like to introduce you to my table buddies,  Nita, Debbie, Michelle, Marcia, Paula and Judy

After camp on Sunday, I had some time before my evening flight, so I visited with my Topeka friends, Sue and Julie.  Sue is a prolific and talented stitcher.  She's also the kind friend who sent me the birthday pincushion.  Here she is with her PS Santa afghan.  It's to die for.  And here are a few of my favorite Santas.

A lovely Eileen Bennett design.  You all know how much I love her things and Sue executed this beautifully.

This is incredible.  Sue is almost finished with the PS Alphabet block series.  Stitched over one.  Look at that proud smile! There's a lot to be proud of here.  And here are some of my favorite blocks.

That cat...oh my, that cat!

"F" is for Friend.  How perfect!

Sue is also a talented finisher.  I should have taken photos of this from more angles so you could see it better.  She finished this as a box, even adding little blue legs to the bottom.  It set the whole thing off perfectly. 

Can you see the glitter in the fabric?  It's hard to capture in a photo, but believe me, it's there and it's the perfect touch for these adorable snowmen.

And last but not least, here is my very camera-shy friend Julie.  This was the best I could do....

Next post I'll show you the BRD project and some pictures of the trunk show that Belinda brought with her.  I still - ahem - have to - ahem - finish my project though.