Frome Anne: The stitch-in started Friday with the arrival of Rhonda.  It was good to finally meet her.  She surprised herself by being the first one here, but, it worked out well because we got a chance to get to know each other a little bit.  Next to arrive where Sue H. and Meghan.  After we made LOTS of trips back and forth to unload Sue's van (yes, she brought a LOT!) the four of us chatted for a while, then when Kathryn got home from work we had supper.  Peg and Eric had called and said the traffic had held them up, and we were hungry, so we figured we'd just make sure there was some left for them....  It wasn't long after we got the kitchen cleaned up that they arrived.  By that time we were already gathered around the kitchen table sharing and stitching, so they ate while we were getting things rolling.  We stayed up just talking and stitching and catching up until 2 am.  When we could no longer see straight, we decided we might as well get some sleep.
 
Saturday morning we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast thanks to Rhonda's good cooking.  It's so nice when people come to your house and don't act like "company", but, then I guess that's what friends do, and that's what temari does for this group-everyone's included here!   Stitching began in earnest after breakfast.  Rhonda had a few questions about getting started, but once she caught on, she couldn't be stopped.  She even tackled a mini!  I no longer call Meghan "grasshopper."  Her work has come a long way in a short time-it's beautiful!  She worked a pattern out of one of Sue's Japanese books that I've yet to try.  I sketched it out, but haven't tried it yet.  Sue H. helped Peg with her C10's I believe...I have to admit I was usually doing too much laughing to really be paying attention to what everyone else was doing!  Some hostess, huh?  Eric was working wonders with subtle colors.  His eye for color is something, and if it isn't color it's texture.  Although, he still AGONIZES over his choices!
 
After lunch we opened all the Japanese goodies Sue H. brought for us to share.  We munched so much of the stuff I'm surprised we all didn't start speaking Japanese!  It was delicious, thanks, Sue.  Saturday afternoon we made a trip to a thread shop.  "Lead-foot Lyons" had no trouble keeping up with me, and even though it was across town, we made it there in no time.  As soon as we walked into the shop and started looking around the clerk had no trouble knowing we were together, and, of course we had to explain temari to her.  (Luckily I have one hanging in my car for just such emergencies)  We raided the sale baskets with very little bickering, so, all in all we did make a good impression for all "temari people"!   More stitching when we got back home, then supper, group picture (Rhonda needed to leave early, we missed her) and more stitching until 2 am again.  (I'm too old for this!)  It was nice to be able to leave our collective mess on the kitchen table and use the dining room for meals-that way we didn't waste any time cleaning up between such important activities!
 
Sunday morning was kind of subdued.  We stretched out breakfast as long as we could because we knew everyone was going to be headed home, and it's such fun to get together with other "Temari Addicts".  I can't express how much I appreciate and enjoy this group.  I'm very thankful for the friends I've made because of this magical art.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From Meagan C:Wow. What a weekend! Sue was kind enough to let me ride up from Columbus with her, and unfortunately I was just not in the right mindset for being social... it had been a long and stressful week, and I was so tired I could barely put together a coherent sentence. Luckily Sue didn't mind when I fell asleep. :) But eventually we arrived, and I woke up quickly, especially when coffee was (thankfully) served! Anne's house is lovely, and filled top-to-bottom with beautiful temari and other artworks... something great to look at in every direction. We also got to spend a fair bit of time over the weekend with Anne's two wonderful daughters and her husband Tom, and they're just great folks.

Anne once again took me under her wing immediately and made me feel very at home, although she wouldn't call me "Grasshopper" anymore; I guess I've been stitching too long! :)  It was wonderful to see Peg again, but there were also new (to me) faces: Rhonda and Eric. Rhonda is so friendly and caring, and Eric has such a great sense of color and design; his temari are exquisite! Of course, nearly everyone had amazing temari to show off; Peg had a whole bag of beautiful balls with her, Sue cranked out at least six or seven gorgeous crane designs for her wedding project while we were there, and seeing Anne's temari in person is always breathtaking. Faced with all that awesomeness, I have to tell you I DID still feel like "Grasshopper!" I certainly didn't have anything cool to show off. (Probably because every time I make a really good temari it gets given as a gift...). Once we'd all settled in and had a nice light dinner of summer salads, we gathered around the kitchen table and stitched together until 1 AM. We had a blast and ate a lot of funky Japanese candy and treats. Pocky and Cream Collon is a good way to stay awake! Anne helped me find a new direction to take on the experimental temari I was making, and the result was pretty interesting...definitely not in my normal style! Peg and I roomed together in Anne's two bed guestroom, which was lit by a gorgeous stained glass window and contained yet more amazing temari. Inspiration at every turn!

Saturday we were up fairly early to get started stitching right away, and we had a lovely sausage and cheese casserole and cinnamon rolls (all kindly provided by Rhonda!) for breakfast. Later we remembered to stop stitching long enough to eat leftovers from Friday's dinner, and then we piled into two cars for a trek out to the Stitch & Frame, which is hands down the best thread shop I've yet been to. I spent 60 bucks! And amazingly, the things they had on sale were EXACTLY what I needed most! (My stash expanded so much it took a week and a half to organize it all after I got home!) Then it was back to Anne's for more stitching; I started my second ball of the weekend, using a Japanese book for inspiration, and we were all back at it, sugared up on Pocky....We had lasagna on "fine china" for dinner, after which Rhonda unfortunately had to drive back home. Hopefully we'll see her again next time.  We were up until 1:30 AM Saturday night, stitching and laughing and eating Japanese melon ice-pops. (Stitching while holding an ice-cold pop in your mouth can be a risky business!) It was so nice to sit and talk together that it seemed like nobody really wanted to go to bed. But go to bed we did, until we all got up again Sunday morning for a nice breakfast and a lot of temari technical talk (and last minute photography) before we had to say goodbye around noon.

After the weekend's fun, it was a bit of a letdown to have to go back home... but I've spent every free moment since working on some of the best temari (I think) I've ever made, so it was definitely an inspiration! (photos of new balls coming soon!) Many thanks to Anne for hosting such a great get-together--it may be impromptu, and it may not have games and swaps and such, but Anne proved that all you really need for a great Stitch-In is the stitchers! I can't *wait* till the next one!