Jody and Candy live in Sacramento and I live in Vallejo. We picked the town of Dixon as being halfway between and figured no one would bother us at Starbucks if we bought some drinks.

We came prepared with canvases, threads, tools, and stitch books. We had bought drinks. But what surprised and delighted me was the number of people who stopped by and asked about what we were doing.

I stitch in public alot, but I’ve never had so many people come by. This got me thinking about how you can make the most of your stitching in public.

1. Stitch in a small group if possible. People will be less likely to stop and talk to you if you are by yourself and absorbed. This doesn’t hold true in stressful places like waiting rooms or airports.

2, Don’t stitch in cafes with empty plates from food. It looks messy and businesses like that depend on turning over tables. Pick places and times where people linger. If it’s a place where students study or people ring laptops, it a great place to linger and stitch.

3. If the business sells drinks, each person should buy at least one. They are supporting you by giving you a place to stitch. Support them back.

4. Pick your place to sit carefully. We were between the pick up place and the door; everyone passed us. If we had been on the other side of the store no one would have stopped.

5. Bring something small if you can to hand to people who ask about it. We didn’t and we should have. Got to do that for next time.

It was so much fun, we are planning to do it again soon.

Related posts:

1. What Do Stitchers Want?
2. Round Robin Mini-socks Community Project
3. Stitching Aids for Disabled Stitchers
4. Calling Bay Area & Sacramento Stitchers!
5. Tips from Rhapsody Stitchers

There will be a bookstore and shop run by Cathe and the wonderful folks at Needle in a Haystack. The shops always bering in lots of special material for Seminar, so it’s a great opportunity.

There is a needlework exhibition, called Miss Johnson’s Stitchery Exposition.

There is a Teacher’s Exposition on Tuesday night and a Merchandise Expo on Wednesday night, with even more unique stuff to buy.

Now to some more practical items. The Marriott is diagonally across the street from the city-owned Fifth and Mission garage, which is HUGE and cheap. It is also near a bunch of fun restaurants. If you are a fan of Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio has a sandwich place, ‘Wichcraft, just down Mission Street. It’s fantastic.

I’m planning on visiting one day this week, probably Wednesday or Friday, so if folks want to visit or meet with me, use the contact form to let me know.

Related posts:

1. Calling Bay Area & Sacramento Stitchers!
2. ANG National Seminar Photos
3. Going to EGA Seminar in SF? Some Ideas to Get You Away from the Hotel
4. Learning Needlepoint at a Seminar or Retreat
5. Calling Jody Adams

The second is about Rhodes Stitches and how to use them to create symmetry. Rhodes is an interesting stitch. It’s named for Mary Rhodes, a marvelous British stitcher from the last half of the 20th Century. She was a very adventurous stitcher and her books can often be found at book sales.

Anyhow, Rhodes is cool because you can make it any size or almost any shape. While square Rhodes are the easiest, there are rectangular ones, round ones, heart shapes and even irregular ones.

The key to using Rhodes symmetrically is the stitch which is on top, that determines the final look of the piece. If you plan ahead, you can use this aspect of the stitch ad give your piece additional symmetry. This will work with any shape of Rhodes.

Orna shows you the different types of symmetry and then shows you stitched samples using Rhodes stitch. It’s a great resource.

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I just read the current newsletter from Leighh Designs. I’ve talked about the Guadalajara series, but here’s the link to them: http://www.leighdesigns.com/ImgIdx01.html#Guadalajara. Her series of mermaids, Sirens, should be available on the site later this month.

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July 25th is Thread a Needle Day. My LNS, Needle in a Haystack in Alameda, CA will have members of the Bay Area EGA stitching and showing the many ways to thread a needle.

Are you or your guild chapter doing something special, post a comment to let us know about it.

Related posts:

1. My Family – Free Designs from Orna Willis
2. News & Notes – September 2010
3. New & Wonderful Needlepoint Ornaments from Leigh Designs
4. Williamsburg Needle Case Sneak Peek
5. New Site from Orna Willis

In other words, have them put some stitches into a cooperative project.

It needs to be something large and divided into smaller sections as well so that many people working on small areas won’t matter as much.

A piece which has a focal point and a background divided into squares or a large patchwork design is perfect.

I’m planning on stitching either the outline or the first line of each patch.

Then each person can take a few stitches to work on a patch.

There are other ways to use this idea.

Do you own a shop? Use a complex piece like this and ask your customers to buy a square and stitch it for charity. The money you raise from buying squares becomes a donation and the finished piece can go into the charity’s auction. You can even display information about the charity next to the piece. Have a sheet where the names of all stitchers are listed and include that with the finished piece.

This could also work for a guild chapter’s community outreach project.

Are you demonstrating needlepoint for kids at a school or club? Get them all into the act by asking them to add some stitches to a simple project on large mesh canvas.

Anywhere where there is a group of people learning needlepoint, you can do this.

Related posts:

1. Which Needlepoint Project?
2. Round Robin Mini-socks Community Project
3. The Project that Never Was
4. The Joys of Starting a New Project
5. When to Abandon a Project

After the success of the First Stitch in Public Day last September with events all over the country celebrating EGA’S 50th Anniversary, EGA decided to make it an annual event and designate the first Saturday in February as Stitch in Public Day.

I’m stitching with some friends at Starbucks near the Solano Mall in Fairfield, CA from 9-11 and then at the nearby Barnes & Noble from 11-2. If you are in the area, stop by and see us.

If you stitched in public today, let me know all about it in the Comments.

Related posts:

1. ANG National Exhibit
2. Needlepoint Inspiration – National Parks Posters
3. Happy National Crafts Month
4. Plastic Canvas iPod Case – Make it Today, Use it Tomorrow
5. ANG National Seminar

Since February is National Embroidery Month, the EGA Board has designated the first Saturday as being Stitch in Public Day.

The day is on a weekend do more stitchers who work can participate.

Now, I know that in most of the country the weather in February is a bit bad for stitching outside, but don’t let this deter you. I don’t mean stitching in the park wearing gloves, but I do mean find places indoors where you can stitch in public.

Think about stitching in the Mall on a Saturday afternoon, out in the center where everyone can see you. During the day last September, many groups stitched at bookstores and coffee shops, this is a perfect time to do that.

We’ve got three months to plan events, you can look at the many postings for activities by looking at the other posts in this thread.

Then remember to send me your planned events, so I can promote it here.

Related posts:

1. Publicize your Guild & Promote Needlepoint

Although Stitch in Public Day is over for this year, it’s a great time to be thinking how you can make needlework more public in your town.

Related posts:

1. Phoenix Market Report – August 2003
2. President’s Challenge – Progress Report

When: August 31 – September 2
Where: check-in for Textile Division at Fair

When: September 5 – September 13
Where: Permian Basin Fair in Odessa, TX

When: first Thursday of the month, on-going, 7-10 p.m.
Where: Barnes & Nobles in Midland, TX

Related posts:

1. Texas Needlepointer Profiled
2. Virtual Book Tour