Tuesday, July 22, 2014

The Attic Needleworks - Part One


My friends and I are the luckiest stitchers on Planet Earth!!!!  We went to The Attic Needleworks in Mesa, Arizona last weekend!!!!!  We flew from Chicago to Phoenix and planned four wonderful days of stashing and stitching at this shop that is like Disneyland for stitchers!!!!  Here we are pictured with the wonderful shop owner, Jean Lea.  She took such good care of us!  We were treated like queens and we enjoyed every second we spent in the care of Jean and her wonderful shop girls, Debra, Beth, Andrea and Carolyn!!!  Thank you to all of you wonderful ladies who made us feel so special and so welcomed!

From the moment we entered the shop to the moment we left...everything was simply perfect.  I will have to spread my pictures out over a couple of blog posts because there was so much happening and so much to see!!!!  We were able to participate in two shop events...Thursday night stitching and Sampler Sunday stitching.  In between those two events we were able to spend most of our days at the shop.  We went around and around looking at all of the models, picking out different projects and sitting at the spacious tables you can see behind our group.  We were able to shop, stitch and be together in the most perfect setting you can imagine.  

I would highly encourage any stitcher to make a trip to The Attic!!!  You will not be disappointed....in fact, for us, it was certainly a highlight of our stitching lives!!!!


This is the display we saw when we first walked in!!!!  Wonderful patriotic charts and models!

Another stroke of luck...that very first day we were there this wonderful chart and model was unveiled.  This is a project by Linda Danielson of Samplers Remembered.  We all loved it and kitted it up!!


The shop is full of special little nooks and corners like this antique chair with charts to look through!

Here is a darling little project that Brenda kitted up.
The Attic has a sampler of the month each month.  If you don't subscribe to their newsletter....go sign up right now.  You will receive a biweekly newsletter that will tell you about the sampler each month and much more.  Jean has ingeniously showed us several of the samplers of the month and where she is at in terms of her progress. 


Here is a sampler on the wall.  Love that red dress!

This is an older Carriage House Samplings chart that my friend Patti and I fell in love with it!!!!  We have it on order from The Attic to be sent to our homes.  Won't that be a fun package to receive!!!
While we were at the shop a package of silk threads arrived!!!  Loved seeing them in bulk!!!  They were simply gorgeous!

Jean was a very good sport when we asked her to model a huge skein of the silk threads as if it were a scarf!!!  So cute!

The Attic has every type of thread imaginable and they do lots of conversions into silks.  They will help you do and find anything you want!

I fell in love with this sampler and kitted it up!  It is by Linda Danielson of Samplers Remembered.
This is a very special piece by Tanya Brockmeyer of The Scarlett House.  We were very very lucky to spend some quality time with Tanya because she is a friend of one of our group (Karin who could not come with us).  More on that later, but I wanted to show you this chart because it was my very first purchase at the Attic!!!  

The name of the sampler is Mary Ann Farmer.  It is breathtaking!!!!


Now get this....here I am with the designer of the piece, Miss Tanya of The Scarlett House her very self!  She is helping me pick out a piece of 32 count linen that will work for the sampler!!!!  Is that cool or what??? 


I love this little sampler.  Should have bought it!  Oh well, that leaves me something to get next time or I can always call in an order!


 Here is Mary Roe another reproduction sampler from Tanya of The Scarlett House.  It is simply stunning!!!
 This whole corner of the shop has many models from The Scarlett House.  It is so exciting to see them all in one place and dream on them.





Another highlight of the trip was meeting other stitchers at The Attic...these are the ladies that are lucky enough to call The Attic their LNS!!!  Here is Teresa with Cindy....Cindy is working on a band sampler that gets updated every week with a new border to stitch.  This is a project that started in Holland in January.  Teresa is ready to jump on this train!!  Here is a link to the site where it all started....Randje Per Week.







Patti had a finish while we were there!  Hurrah!!!!!  So cute!!

A big Hurrah to Jean and the staff at the Attic!  To Tanya Brockmeyer and to all the stitchers at The Attic for making us all feel so welcome.  You provided us with a once in a lifetime experience and we are so thankful to you all!!!!!!!

I will be back soon with some more pictures and stories!!!


31 comments:

teresa said...

Thanks Laura - That was fun to read! Let me add my thanks to Jean and her girls and her very nice customers as well!

Alice said...

Laura, I've always wanted to visit that shop! I'm so jealous--thanks for the picture walk through the store.

Krista said...

What a great visit and great post! Thank you for sharing your time at the Attic, the mecca for stitchers!

woolwoman said...

I am glad to see you and your friends had such a memorable visit to the Attic. I see many of these SOM pieces in my own WIP/Stash collection. I am currently working on that CHS Garden Glade. I have been there but not to the new shop, hope to make it back there some day. Enjoy your new goodies Mel

llknbillburg said...

Oh am I jealous!! That looks like such a wonderful shop! I have vowed that if we ever get out to AZ for spring training baseball I will have to stop here! I have ordered from Jean online but seeing it would be so great. You are so lucky!!! Laura

Vickie said...

Swooning here!!! Wow!

Jackie's Stitches said...

I'm so enjoying your posts. I've been to the old shop twice. It's interesting how much can be discovered there. Great post and I'm looking forward to reading more!

Patti said...

Laura your post was wonderful- what a great recap of our fun,fun time!! So many thanks to Jean and the women in the shop for their incredible kindness and hospitality!!! A lovely experience and memory to have.

Paula said...

Laura - wonderful blog post - don't you simply ADORE The Attic? We winter in Mesa and so this becomes my LNS - in fact I wanted to say if you and your friends ever decide to come back between mid-November and mid-May, let me know as I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to meet you there and have lunch and some stitching fun with you - Paula - www.kelmscottdesigns.com

Mary said...

What a crazy weekend, Laura! Thanks for sharing all the details.

Margaret said...

I bet everyone was thrilled to meet all of you as well! What a treat you all had for sure! I love seeing pics of the Attic. Someday I WILL make it there!!! Someday!

Katrina said...

Isn't it just too much fun!!!!! I love Jean's shop, it's perfect. Glad you all had such a good time.

Katrina said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Barb said...

What a great trip! I can't wait to see more pictures!

Jeannine520 said...

Gosh, you have no idea how envious I am! :-) Thank you for sharing pics from your trip. Looking forward to more!.

Cathy B said...

Awesome report. Wish I could have been a mouse in your pocket!

marly said...

I have stitcher's envy now.

Melody said...

Wow! That's wonderful that you got to go to the Attic! I would love to go there someday!

Deborah said...

Awesome!! I would love to do this trip!

Beth said...

Too much fun! What an amazing shop - I love seeing models in person - it causes me to buy buy buy more and more charts! What a great trip. So very jealous.

Faye said...

I have read this post 3 times and STILL see something new hanging on a wall or on display I didn't see earlier!!!! I MUST go there one day.... You are some of my favorite group of ladies and I could see the pure excitement in your eyes~ I haven't actually met Jean yet, but I LOVE Tanya.... She's a hoot! Did you know she's an " adopted Carolina Girl??"... Well, she IS!! Love that lady.... Thanks for the great photos.... Now I'll go back a look again! :))

Maggee said...

What a great trip you had! So much to see! Kind of like my trip to Salty Yarns last summer! They have three or four inter-connected shops (not all cross stitch)to visit at one time. I visited several times over the weekend! I look forward to seeing more photos, to live vicariously through the visit! Hugs!

The Inspired Stitcher said...

Oh Laura, you girls truly are the luckiest stitchers on planet earth! I'm so jealous..but in a good way. How awesome! I can hardly wait for the next installment. Awesomeness!

pj said...

Laura,
So glad to hear you had an awesome trip and loved The Attic. I laughed when Tanya told me you were visiting her house to see her samplers....lucky girls! I know you all have a passion for your needlework so a perfect trip for you.

Now get those needles flying and finish up all these great projects you have. Shopping is fun but I love to complete such beauties!!!

Looking forward to more pics!

Pam in Iowa

The Scarlett House said...

It was a truly wonderful time spent with you all! There's nothing better in my book than sharing our passion for stitching and samplers with other like minded fun women.
Looking forward to seeing you in April.

Anna van Schurman said...

Lucky you! What a fabulous trip!

Robin in Virginia said...

Wow! Fabulous pictures and narrative of your trip! Looking forward to seeing the next installation. Thank you for sharing your adventure, Laura.

Robin in Virginia

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, what a dream trip!!! :)

Needlemade Designs said...

What a great blog post! It was such fun to meet you and the girls on Sampler Sunday. Isn't the Attic just too much fun? I feel blessed that it's been my LNS for nearly 30 years now.

Linda

P.S. Thanks for including my Best Christmas Blessing in your photos!

Ranae said...

Fantastic!! I read two times in a row and maybe just one more after leaving a comment, lol
You gals always seem to have the funnest times
Thanks for sharing

donnacrafts said...

Hi Laura,

I just had to write to let you know how much I enjoy your blog. I love, love the photos of your trip to the Attic Needlework Shop. They are so inspiring!! Thank you so much for your time and effort.

I am an avid needleworker also. I was in a slump, now I am not. I did have a blog but now I just post on FB Sampler World.

Your stash is gorgeous. I generally work on one at a time and don't keep a stash. That may be over. :) Enjoy!!

Donna Hensley