The third weekend in April saw the 5th
Annual Temari NY Stitchin come to be - and it unfolded as the largest
one yet, going national and international with 19 people on tap to join
in the fun. We were three shy due to illness and pressing family
obligations at the last moment, but still had a riproaring time.
The 2006 Stitchin spanned 3 countries and 16 states in the US. Joining
me in NY were: Harriet S (Maine), Karen S. (Connecticut), Joan Z.
(Massachusetts), Paula G. (Pennsylvania), Sue H. (Ohio), Nicole B.
(Tennessee), Eric C. (Kentucky), Anne W. (Indiana), Elsie B. (North
Carolina), Heather H. (Arizona), Anastasia B., (California), Susan C.
(Georgia), Tina W. (Arkansas), Debi A. (Wisconsin), Blair H. (Alabama),
Diane B. (Virginia), Jean C (Hamilton, Ontario Canada), Sarah B.
(Barnstaple, Devon, Great Britain). Tina, Eric, and Anne were,
unfortunately, unable within the last week to make it, and they were
sorely missed (although we did our best to package up some of the fun
and send it to them). The house beds were full with 6 folks bedded down
here and everyone else holed up at the new Marriott
Residence Inn (they were
lucky - they got the pool and hot tub). The folks staying there
were quite happy and we would later join them - and this was two fold
since it won't be long before I think we will need to move the whole
StitchIn weekend there. This was our "trial run" to see how the
facility would work for us, and it was agreed that we found a good spot.
The logistics of covering ground
transport for everyone arriving by plane or train held,
and travel plans went remarkably smoothly - planes, trains and cars ran
closely on time (other than a few wayward flights on the way home but
everyone still made it intact and on the appointed days). We had a few
folks come in early or stay a bit later, enjoying the area, and that
meant that visiting time ran almost two weeks, start to finish from
"first person in" to "last person out". The StitchIn Festivities
formally began
about 4pm with supper Friday night as everyone got to know each other
(thanks to Nicole's name tags which, remarkably had the right people
coming from the right places this year). The evening got going after
supper with everyone being introduced to their Goodie Bags, stuffed
with some
assorted gifties including threads and supplies representing the
corporate sponsors of this year's Stitchin: Kreinik Threads, Rainbow Gallery, Vikki Clayton, and the very
special support of Olympus
Threads from Japan, via EmmaCreation. All told this year's event
was fortunate enough to have received close to $1000.00 worth of
product goods to be distributed among the attendees, to take home and
try stitching temari with (or in some cases, renew the thought of how
much we love using them). This year's group was especially honored to
be asked by EmmaCreation to help introduce Olympus Threads (the premeir
thread manufacturing company in Japan for pearl cotton and embroidery
thread) into the
American/Western market, and temari makers' circles (more information
will be coming soon!). We also gave special note to the five-year alums
to the Stitchin:
Paula, Nicole, Sue H and Harriet.
The Stitchin always kicks off with Show
and Tell - we all get to ooh and ahh over each other's new or
historical temari stash, as well as sometimes get to appreciate GITS
and other temari received by people. This year was no exception, a mind
boggling experience in terms both quantity and quality, with fabulous
designs and great talent being shown by all. When it's each person's
time for show and tell, some folks choose to share something of their
home locale with the group, and this year I think Elsie topped the mark
the year.
Living in North Carolina, she is close to various thread mills and such
and arrived with hanks of honest-to-goodness Saftey Vest Orange thread
(the stuff they really do make them out of) for each person. This
rapidly evolved into an impromptu color challenge: each person is going
home to stitch a temari on a dark purple mari using only the orange
(and it IS orange) thread; one metallic may be added for marking and
embellishment (this ought to be interesting). For the weekend project
we revisited a Round-Robin Stitch this year, since last year's version
needed some engineering refinements (:>) ) and it looks like
we got it right this time. Each person brought a wrapped and marked
mari in a C8 - any color they wished for the mari wrap, and assorted
threads to stitch with. We started off Friday night and by the end of
Saturday each person got their own temari back, with it having been
worked on by six other people in all different designs on each face of
the mari (and this year no one stitched twice on the same mari, or
stitched on their own - great improvement).
Saturday breakfast is always an
informal affair, so everyone wandered in and got their coffee, cereal
and bagels; work on the Round Robin continued, and since we only had
Paula for the day on Saturday we did some rearranging on the
traditional time table. The dreaded Temarikai Trivia Quiz was held in
the morning, not only so that Paula would not miss out (which I'm sure
most impressed her) but also to scuttle the plans of several determined
individuals to spend the day doing last minute cramming. This year at
least some attendees were (finally!) taking it seriously, at least when
they saw
the prize up for grabs for the winner (a whole cone of Rainbow Gallery
Gold Rush). The two four-foot sub sandwiches for lunch as well as the
dinner
provisions had arrived from the caterer, so it was time to tuck into
lunch, especially since Milly Koh had arrived to join us and would then
work in translating several requested patterns from the Japanese Temari
books. It was an honor for me to be given a traditional Japanese fan
from Milly and her husband Dr. Koh, in celebration of the JTA events.
It was also at this time that the whole group of Stitchin-ees of 2006
chose
to bring my dream come true of being able to create and provide video
tutorials on Temarikai.com, with the joint gift of a digital camcorder.
I'm deeply touched, humbled, and grateful and promised them all that it
will be
dedicated to continuing to expand the Temarikai content and offerings
as much as we can. Milly's translations efforts
opened up several new pattern and stitching technique venues and terms
to us, and set some off working on them right away. Each of the three
persons who had a pattern translated by here had prepared a thank-you
gift of a temari for her, so her collection is happily growing. We also
had one more "exercise" to wander through - this year's Word Search
puzzle was composed of ten Japanese temari stitching terms, and Milly
enjoyed working it with us so that she could also teach us the proper
pronunciation of the terms.
The afternoon continued on with more
work on the Round Robin temaris, and extra Show and Tell, this time out
on the breezeway with enough daylight (even though it was pouring rain
all day/weekend - the first rinaout in five years) to get some decent
photos. As supper time rolled around, my
next door neighbors Billie and Ray joined us, since they had in March
of this year found themselves making an impromptu business trip to
Japan (Ray works for IBM). Despite my best efforts, they were wonderful
in making one of their free day adventures (and they only had two free
days) finding and experiencing the Temari Museum and meeting the ladies
of the Japan Temari Association for me. They very kindly joined us to
retell their adventures in that as well as their other six days in
Japan (we all munched the real Japanese rice snacks they brought back
with them while listening). After letting dinner digest while
enjoying Billie's stories, we officially cut the cake - since this was
the 5th annual, Saturday night dessert was a Pastry Garden (the best
local pastry bakers) carrot cake with all the trimmings, commemorating
the weekend and being cut by the four five-year alums. Sufficiently
recharged, it was time for our Yankee Swap - a most crazy choosing and
passing (anonymously) of small gifts (ten dollar value, having to do
with temari or temari making) brought by everyone (and where my
cockapoo Puffin ends up in her glory shredding everyone's wrapping
paper.) After oohing and ahhing and everyone coming up happy, we
continued on to door prizes (again thanks to gifters and sponsors:
Rainbow Gallery, Vikki Clayton, Terry Blanchard, Sue Cameron, Puffin
Stuff Inc).
Everyone had also brought a Temari to
exchange at the weekend, which we did by drawing random names (and
never ceasing to be amazed at how things work out despite sheer
randomness), and then it was time to return and unveil the results of
the Round Robin Stitch temari to their rightful owners (it's absolutely
amazing to see what ideas people can come up with to stitch into the
face of a C8). Last but not least, a demo of an alternative method
to place the pins for a C10 division was uncorked, after Debi and I
had been talking about its appearance in a Japanese book just prior to
the Stitchin. It only requires an S4 division and the Vruler
value, so it is a quick shortcut for those that understand the basics
of the C10 marking - and this was quite a hit. Unfortunately it also
meant that time was running out.... this was the last formal event of
the weekend other than our Sunday brunch goodbyes.
We were all treated to Sunday breakfast
brunch at the Residence Inn so that those staying here at the house
could join those at the Inn f(including Sed, Diane's hubby, and David,
Harriet's hubby - our resident "class photographers" and story tellers)
for a relaxing morning, prior to people needing to start taking off for
home (with thanks to Daniela at the Marriott Residence Inn,
Poughkeepsie who also was my account rep in setting up the reservations
and facilities there). Hot coffee (on a pouring raining day) was
wonderful to walk into, along with hot anything else you could think
of, juice, eggs, waffles, muffins, cereals - as we tucked into the
library at the Inn to have a few more moments to brainstorm, stitch,
and distribute the now-traditional Color Kits (everyone brings a
wrapped mari, thread to mark with and thread to stitch with. These are
packed into kits at the start of the weekend and randomly given out at
the end. Included in the kit is the name and address of the person that
put the stuff together. The taker goes home, makes a temari using the
stuff and only the stuff in the kit, and sends it home to "mommy" when
it's all done). All too soon we had to start saying goodbyes. Most
folks were heading out Sunday
either on the road or to airports, so after tucking bag lunches in with
most of them and sending them off, it was time to take the Sunday crew
back to the house. I offer my deep thanks to "the committee" - without
whom the Stitchin would not happen since these folks pitch in and never
stop from the time they get there until they go home - cooking,
cleaning up, making and remaking beds, washing laundry, hauling trash -
Susan, Sue, Sarah, Blair and Nicole are as much a part of these weekend
happening as my lists of lists (as I've been accused of making). After
getting the house back into some sort of normalcy we could all (along
with a couple of gals joining in the Sunday afternoon "afterparty"
(also called Leftovers Day)) crash - naps, stitch, and then settle in
to watch Memoirs of a Geisha Sunday night. Monday saw the rest of the
crew head out - and then come the realization that after four-plus
months of planning, it's all over in something like 48 hours. But WHAT
a 48 hours!
As we mark the fifth StitchIn event, I
offer my
deep and continuing thanks to all who come and make it what it has
become - it's one thing to offer and organize it, but the Stitchin
would not be if people didn't come to stitch. To those that believe,
trust and invest themselves, their time and their funds to come and
have a great weekend together, I say thank you and I am both honored
and humbled. Over five Stitchins now, 25 people have come together to
be able to meet, learn, share, and stitch together, from three
countries (US, Canada and Great Britain), and 19 states in the US.
Susan C. has been the Official Chief Cook and Bottle Washer on four of
them - coming early and staying late to be my arms, legs, driver and
general "do it" person - without whom I can honestly tell you these
events would not happen (trust me, I had to find out in 2005 what it
was like to not have her here, despite everyone's best efforts during
the weekend). "The Committee" - Sue H, Blair, Nicole and Sarah B, who
walk in the door whenever they get here and just start rolling up their
sleeves to pitch in - be it cooking, setting up tables, moving
furniture, making and remaking beds (we had four bed and towel
change-overs this year with people coming a day or two early and/or
staying a day or two later), hauling out trash, washing/drying sheets
and towels, cleaning bathrooms, "Hoovering" (UK slang for vacuuming),
making bag lunches, packing up leftovers - needless to say everyone
here generally does their part, but these gals are truly behind the
scenes with me making all the "stuff" happen. This year thanks goes too
to: Milly Koh for her skill and effort in translating for us; Billie
and Ray Longhi for sharing their Japan experience with us and to Billie
for being the "cake detail" - making the bakery run on Saturday; Jen
Horboychuk for doing the Saturday catering run (or none of us would
have eaten); and Sed Boxely for his chauffeuring and "escort" service
(the Poughkeepsie train station is not a place to be without a guy
around after dark!). Deep appreciation also goes to
EmmaCreation/Olympus
Threads, Vikki Clayton,
Rainbow Gallery, Kreinik
Threads, Van Wyck General Store, Diane of EmbroidMe
Poughkeepsie, and Daniela
Hattar/Marriott Residence
Inn Poughkeepsie, all for their consideration in product sponsoring
or
offering much appreciated consideration to event/service logistics.
We'll rev it up again next year - for
now, 2006 is a wrap. :>)
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Last updated 5/06 © 2006
G.Thompson