Traveling to The Enriched Stitch, CT

Hi Everybody... Robin here.

Since my last blog entry, I have traveled and taught at The Enriched Stitch located in Wilton, CT.

The Enriched Stitch
Wilton, Connecticut

I met shop owner, Suzie Vallerie, at the TNNA Fall Market in Baltimore, MD this past September when she was shopping in the NeedleDeeva booth/room. She liked my ideas worked on the Flowers in a Vase canvas (ND 311) by NeedleDeeva, and invited me to teach at her shop.

The Enriched Stitch is a new needlepoint store, and is developing a wonderful reputation of being a teaching/destination shop. Located about 1 hour outside of NYC, Suzie uses Skype and Facetime technology for the ultimate shopping experience. Be sure to visit the link to their website. There, you will see her upcoming Rebecca Wood Christmas Banner exclusive, her listing of fun classes, as well as a chance to visit her blog. The Enriched Stitch is also one of the participating retailers in the NeedleDeeva's Thanksgiving Club. There is a lot going on is that building!

Suzie's shop was decorated for Christmas. So pretty. Look at the festive welcome they gave me.

A festive welcome to all.

Day One of my teaching event focused on the Flowers in a Vase. The class was sold out. Stumpwork, Silk Ribbon Embroidery, Beading, Sparkles, and composite stitches were demonstrated. The Stitch guide was reviewed, and yes, we even did some stitching. Here is a photo Suzie took. You can see more of them on her blog.

Flowers in a Vase class demonstration at The Enriched Stitch

Day Two was a Canvas Enrichment class. I love the "enrichment" name Suzie gave the class. Very clever. After agreeing to teach a canvas enrichment class, I decided to compile the stitches I had charted over the years into one (or two, as the case was) Stitch Books. Affordable spiral binding at FedEx Office made everything look impressive with easy reference.

Stitches A-J and Stitches K-Z are my new BFF.

I also traveled with my favorite Brenda Hart books, plus all of the needlepoint APPs which are available. I was prepared for all kinds of stitch suggestions.

Here are some of the canvases needing some enrichment. I am anxious to seeing their progress. You can see the other photos on The Enriched Stitch's blog.

Becki was working on this Liz stocking.

Close up of the first stitches for Santa's Coat.

Lisa was working on this Brenda Stofft canvas.

Debbie was working on this Rebecca Wood stocking.

Carina was working on this Angel Topper by Melissa Shirley Designs.

Kim was working on this EWE & Eye canvas.

I also learned an interesting technique at The Enriched Stitch from Aggie (one of the resident teachers). During one of the class demonstrations, I was using the E-Z Beader from The Collection Designs. Normally, I take the round spiral sticky disc out of the clear plastic container, and save the container for when I was finished beading. Aggie said to use the clear plastic container with the E-Z Beader; working in tandem and the clear plastic container would catch any beads which flicked off and away.

This technique enriched my day.

Genius. Thanks, Aggie for this pearl of wisdom. You really "enriched" my day.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Connecticut. Tasty food and drinks, too. Suzie, Nancy, Aggie and Becki were wonderful hostesses. Looking forward to my next time at
The Enriched Stitch.

Until the next time... Hugs, Robin