I finally did it...hubby drove me 2.5 hours to the very first Needlework Sh op I've ever been in. I about died of happiness! Stichville USA is in Minne tonka, MN and was pretty hard to find, as it's hidden in the corner of an e xtensive complex of strip malls. The place is HUGE and stocked with everyth ing stitchy you could ever dream of. I was at first so overwhelmed I could only wander around in a daze, but after some time the layout of the store m ade more sense to me. I had a blissful shopping experience which lasted for over two hours.
Mostly I purchased fabrics of all different counts and colors, many of them beautiful opalescents I've never seen before. The selection was incredible .
I was also blown away by the sheer number of stitched models they had there . When you shop online you can't tell from the photo what things REALLY loo k like, so I discovered some new designers I love. One was Nora Corbett for Mirabilia...wow, her stuff looks much more spectacular in real life than i n photos. I bought two of her smaller charts that aren't full coverage patt erns, because my damaged hands just aren't up to full coverage. "Mermaid Ve rde" and "Cupid" the reindeer were the two I chose. They're beautiful with many embellishments.
The other brand I was impressed by is called The Sweetheart Tree. When you see pics of these designs online they look very unexciting, but Stichville had models of them displayed. My goodness there was so much sparkle and bli ng I couldn't resist...sparkly fabric, sparkly threads, and sparkly beads a ll in one place! I purchased "Potpourri Heart" and "Tulip Welcome". Unfortu nately this brand is very expensive. The charts were $25 each, and they're SMALL charts...one had some threads and beads included and the other one di dn't.
There was one mistake I made; I bought some wool felt patterns for needle b ooks and then totally forgot to get the actual wool fabric while I was ther e. Oops! Guess I'll just have to go back to Stitchville again. ;)
I uploaded a few new pics at the RCTN photo page (my album is called Violet Stitches' Projects) if anyone is interested:
-Violet