Say Fiddlesticks For Fun Crafting
By .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
| Share
Del.icio.us
|
Fiddlesticks owner Randy Grobe created several needlework gifts as a present for friends while she watched football on television.
“I find it relaxing,” says the cross stitch and needle-point boutique owner.
Her staff at the store can help find the perfect cross stitch or needlepoint project that makes crafters smile with pride and delight, whether they are beginners, intermediate or advanced.
“If you are going to do all that work, you should have good quality,” emphasizes Grobe.
The quality of the projects come from trunk shows held at the shop once every couple of months, where new ideas are on display so crafters can pick their pleasure. Fiddlesticks offers finishing services to turn your piece into a completed stocking or pillow. The emporium conducts classes on weekends where men and women can learn the basics in a three-hour session or come out with enough knowledge to continue a decorative piece on their own time. There’s even office lunch-hour sessions as well as instructions in schools. The shop is stocked with at least 50 varieties of threads to pick from, including silk, cotton, shiny, furry, patent leather and velour.
Customer Bev Fleming’s “eight mortals” cross stitch piece, which took two years to complete, is among the many customer handiworks that adorn the walls of the store.
“Everything you need is here,” says Fleming, who shared her completed cross stitch of a Chinese woman sitting by the water playing her flute, the pai xiao. “I prefer to come and see what I’m getting.”
Other things at the store include surprise grab bags filled with items from the shop. Store manager Joan Rembold, who was a customer before she joined the staff 20 years ago, says when customers buy the grab bag, proceeds go to Ronald McDonald House in Hawaii. Sometimes customers also donate needlework materials to the grab bag.
“When they bring in things, they feel good that it is going to a good cause,” shares Rembold. “It goes on to someone else that stitches, so it is used and it is going to a good cause.”
Little did Grobe know growing up in Kahaluu watching her grandmother paint, knit, weave and spin her own wool that she too would follow a creative path. The University High graduate visited Denmark during college and the house she stayed in was filled with cross stitch. Grobe got a cross stitch project there and was hooked.
“I couldn’t find it at home so I told my mom, ‘We should open a needlework store,’” recalls Grobe, whose mother owned a wholesale toy store.
Grobe’s career path included studying occupational therapy and working at Queens Medical Center for five years. The Kaneohe resident raves about the support of her customers, staff, friends and family, especially husband Jim and their children Travis, Jonathan, and Kelli.
Grobe admits one of the challenges of running the business is the economy.
“We try to have more varied selection of classes listed in our newsletter,” “We include some projects that take less time to do, and cost less.”
For those that don’t want to do needlework, the store also has some other crafty classes on the schedule.
“It becomes like a group of friends,” says Grobe. “Everyone has a different vision for their project, and to make it so it’s another art.”
Fiddlesticks is located at 620 Coral St. The hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 533-4565 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS Comments (0) |
Most Recent Comment(s):
