Saturday had Kelli and I loaded in the pick up and heading towards Osage, Iowa.  They have an awesome cross stitch shop there called The Stitchery Nook and I’ve been really wanting to go.  I am absolutely in love with LizzieKate designs and happily they carry that designers products.  There is one that really touched me and I was dying to stitch it.  This one….
Don’t you love the saying, “Gratitude turns what we have into enough”. Â I LOVE it….really love it!
My eyes have failed me when it comes to cross stitch. Â I can’t do it anymore but I loved this enough that I was bound and determined to find the pattern and to cross stitch it….so off we headed to Osage.
We were so excited to go. Â Kelli loves cross stitching. Â Sometimes I think she likes it more than quilting. Â Sadly she hasn’t had a lot of time for any hobbies lately. Â Nursing school is still getting the best of her.
They had LizzieKate things but did they have the one I wanted?
I love all the sayings….
There were so many so I started reading them all and hunting.
I would grab one and hold it for a bit thinking I might get two or three different patterns. Â Would they look great framed and grouped together. Â YES. Â That’s what I’d do. Â Now to pick a few of my very favorites…and I still hadn’t found the “gratitude” one I wanted.
Oh there are so many. Â How do I choose?
The owner came up to us and asked if we were looking for something. Â I told her we were and asked if they had it. Â She said she was sure they did. Â She started looking too.
Sadly, we couldn’t find it.
It turns out there was a retreat going on upstairs. Â It was nearing lunch time and a few ladies were going in and out for lunch. Â They heard of my plight in trying to find the “gratitude” kit. Â A couple of them were shop regulars and they started to help look too.
No luck. Â The computer inventory said there should be two….but where were they?
Kelli had looked and looked. Â Finally I told her to stop looking for me and start looking for what she wanted…so she did.
The shop is huge. Â Here’s Kelli browsing part of the thread selection.
There are patterns, upon patterns, upon patterns.
The owner told us that typically when people come the first time they are in the store for 3 hours! Â I can believe it. Â This was our second trip and it was nearing 2 hours that we’d been there.
As much as they looked, the pattern I wanted simply wasn’t to be found.
I was so disappointed. Â The owner did say she would order and would mail it to me. Â I was content with that but really wanted to take it home with me.
I chose a few other patterns determined that now I was going to do a grouping of sayings no matter what. Â I was going to make these old tired eyes work.
It was so hard to pick patterns…there are almost too many to look through!!
We were about to go when one of the retreaters came down from the upstairs retreat facility and said that they had the “gratitude” pattern I wanted. Â They had picked it up. Â They had a pile they were going to purchase but hadn’t purchased it yet. Â She was willing to let me have it! Â SCORE! Â Kelli and I were so happy!!
We paid for our goodies and got talking some more. Â Before we knew it, the ladies had invited us upstairs to see the retreat facilities. Â The ladies were so sweet and welcoming. Â We were so impressed with the rooms.
Along with the bedrooms there is a HUGE room with tables for scrap bookers (I forgot to tell you there is a big section of scrap booking stuff in the store too) or quilters.
There is also this big kitchen/dining/livingroom area.
The ladies were set up here and they showed us the projects they were working on.
I started asking if they had any suggestions for my old tired eyes that can’t see to cross stitch anymore. Â They had several suggestions. Â All included great lighting and a magnifier.
They all had something a little different and happily they let me try them. Â I could see that maybe, just maybe this cross stitching might work.
Kelli and I left, we climbed back into the truck and Kelli said, “Come on Mom, let’s go to Mason City and find a magnifier for you”….the rest of the story will have to wait until tomorrow. Â I’m leaving you with a little suspense. Â Will I find a magnifier? Â Will I be able to cross stitch again? Â Tune in for tomorrow’s blog post.
I used to cross stitch but haven’t in 20 years or so. My eyes would be a problem now as well. I’m so glad you found your kit. I’ll be watching to see if you found a solution with the lighting and magnifier. You’ve got me looking on Pinterest now at cross stitch patterns!
I’m anxious to hear what you think about using a magnifier. I’ve had to give up cross-stitching on anything but large count as I just can’t see it – and can’t read the pattern without enlarging it!
I sure hope you found a magnifier. I just LOVE counted cross stitch too. I can spend hours looking at patterns, although I am really attracted to samplers with the alphabet and a saying. Just reading your post tonight makes me want to start a new cross stitch project. Now I can’t wait for tomorrow’s post.
I use MagEyes (can be found at HobbyLobby) when I am stitching hand bindings. I also have CraftOptics. Both work really well. Love your blog. I look forward to reading it every day. Like you, scrap quilts are my favorite.
I use to cross stitch too when I was a lot
younger…loved looking at the patterns. I’m
a thread fanatic still…love to embroider birds
and flowers now…will be fun to see what light
and magnifier you get…fun post…
Hi Jo, the eye doctor told me when I was first starting to wear glasses that I should get a stronger prescription for close up work. At the time I was using 1.25 for reading and 1.75 for sewing and binding. That might be an option with cross stitch also.
I don’t cross-stitch, but this shop would be like Heaven for those that do, it’s wonderful! So glad another generous lady let you have the pattern she was going to purchase! I have a jeweler’s Optivisor from years ago to use when something is too tiny to see well. You probably have seen them worn at jewelry stores; they fit around your head, are very lightweight and lenses can be changed over time as your vision changes, and you can push them up away from eye level if you want to, without removing the headgear part. Also, Bonnie Hunter showed one she has that looks like a fantastic help! She was wearing those in pictures in her blog at the Houston Quilt Show when working with hexies, I believe, if I remember the picture right.
You recounted that story so well I felt like I was there with you! And now I’m excited to hear the rest too.
My mother loved to do cross-stitch and crewel. I still have several of her pieces. Brings back memories.
Check with Bonnie Hunter. She now uses “Craft Optics” I think it’s called. And I think they can be made to your prescription for your eyes
I used to do a lot of cross stitch too but when I decided to pick it up again I couldn’t see well enough to enjoy it…I asked a salesperson in Joann’s if they had magnifiers and she suggested that I try reading glasses wearing them over and slightly down on my nose from my regular glasses…I went to Walgreens, tried several strengths, found one that fit and bought a 4 pack for under $20.00…now I have several around the house to use while doing closeup work…even by my sewing machines…they have really helped! And I don’t have to get frustrated and give up another craft I enjoy doing….(wearing them over my reg glasses and slightly down I can still look up through my reg glasses to see the tv!)