During the 2007 Bookmark Challenge, stitchers and independent needlework shops donated 429 bookmarks to libraries, schools, and literacy programs. Nordic Needle collected 171 of those bookmarks.

Naturally, I hope the program will grow and that we’ll top last year’s results this year. Well, as of May 1, Nordic Needle had collected–drum roll, please–396 bookmarks.

Wa-hoo!

Now I have two new hopes:

• I hope Nordic Needle single-handedly tops last year’s cumulative results.
• I hope that the other participating shops will combine to top Nordic Needle’s results.

I admit it: I want to turn this into a competition. (Life’s a Game and Everything’s a Competition)

Hmm. We could divide the shops into teams and have the teams compete to see who collects the most. We could make regional divisions: East vs. West. Or age divisions: Older shops vs. Younger shops. We could, we could…

Someday we might; this is just too fun to stop! To me, this is the best kind of competition because in the end, we’re all on the same team, and everyone wins.

But I digress.

Nordic Needle held their annual retreat April 17-20 and included in the weekend a bookmark exchange. About fifty stitchers participated in the exchange, and many brought extra bookmarks to donate to the Bookmark Challenge. Because the shop collects so many bookmarks, they are able to donate them to several programs, and we will hear more about where this year’s bookmarks have gone at the end of the Challenge.

Seeing the pictures, it’s not hard to believe that Nordic Needle has outgrown their display and had to move it. Congratulations and a mountain of thanks to Nordic Needle stitchers for their enthusiasm, generosity, and tremendous stitching talent. Aren’t you just dying to get a look at this board up close and in person?

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