NGM Retreat

Right after returning from the Lauren Sauer class in Indy, I turned around and left for the Needlework Guild of Minnesota Retreat in Buffalo, MN.  Four days of stitching...I’ll have to share my stitching progress in another post.

The retreat center sits on Lake Buffalo.  There were some really beautiful sunsets.  I snapped these pictures a little bit earlier in the evening one night.  The sun just glistens on the lake.

The theme of retreat was Stitching in the Northwoods.  My placemat at my stitching spot fit the theme!

Here are just a few of the gifties I received.  Love that Hedgehog pincushion!

Eight of us share a stitching room.  My friend Chris made this stitching set for each of us.

That’s it for now.  I’ll be back soon with more pictures from show and tell night, my secret stitcher gifts, and vendor night.

Thanks for stopping by!

2018 Name Tag

I forgot to post a picture of this year’s name tag.  Our retreat theme this year is “Stitching in the Northwoods”.  I think my name tag fits the theme.  Do you agree?

The design is from Prairie Schooler.

While on reteat I have limited internet access, so you might not hear from me for a few days.  Try to behave yourself!

The Return of the Name Tag

2017...Follow the S.U.N. (Stitchers Using Needles).  Yes, the 2017 retreat was all about sunflowers.  When we pulled up in front of the retreat center, there were big buckets of them waiting for us!

My name tag last year was stitched for me by my friend Chris.  It is one of my favorites!

This year’s name tag reveal will be tomorrow’s post.  I leave for Buffalo, MN in the morning.

It’s a Collection

I promised to share some of the rabbit stuff that I collected in preparation for this class.  Let me just say that “the hunt” was fun.  Etsy and I have become good friends.

This tin was a box of chocolates in another life.  It’s shaped like a book and has a hinged opening.  It’s metal, so needle minders stick to it!

The crazy thing is, I auditioned two others for this role.  One, slightly larger, was sold with tea in it, the other is lunchbox size and had been sold with Crabtree and Evelyn products. Maybe I can show these to you another time.

Next picture: some needleminders, a mini Peter Rabbit book, some carrot themed matchbooks for needles and my rabbit fob (Sherri Jones design from a few years back).

And last but not least, a little Wedgewood tray to hold my scissors and other little do-dads.  The Wedgewood egg cup is the perfect size for a pincushion.  The little carrot was found at the shop in Green Bay.  Finally, these two little wooden rabbits are tatting shuttles!

There were many rabbit themed gifts too.  I’ll have to snap a shot of them at home, they are all packed away.

We’re making our way home today.  Spent the night in Madison, WI.  It stormed during the night and is raining now.  Hopefully we’ll be driving away from the rain.

Visiting the Lakes District

No, we’re not in England.  We wish we were in England.  Instead, we are in Indy.  (Yes, Mad Tatter, your atlas is correct.  We first traveled east then north, before heading south to our final destination.)

Why are we in Indy?  To watch the Indy 500?  To attend the Gen Con gaming convention? No, we are here to take a class with Lauren Sauer!

I have always been a fan of Beatrix Potter.  I’m not sure how it started, but my mother, my Auntie Betty and me (and probably others) used to collect the small Beatrix Potter figurines made by Beswick.  When my children were small, we loved reading the books.  Both of my children’s birth samplers are stitched in Beatrix Potter designs.

When the Needlework Commander in Chief of Indianapolis announced that Lauren would be teaching her “Mrs. McGregor’s Garden - Wheelbarrow, Scissor’s Keep and Pincushion” I responded immediately and said “Sign me up!”  Partner in Crime was not far behind me.

Flash forward to this weekend and here we are.  Yesterday we learned how to make the wheelbarrow and today we will work on the smalls.

Of course, I was so excited about the weekend, I had to gather up all the Beatrix Potter related items I could find.  Maybe in another post, I will show you this collection that I have assembled in more detail.

We’re heading off to class now....

Sharing Our Wisdom

2016...the theme was Owls, so I needed a nametag with an Owl on it!  This might have been a freebie on Pinterest.

Did I mention that we stopped in Racine, WI?  We needed to gas up. The sign on the gas station drew me in.  It said something like “We have O & H Danish Kringle.”  I figured we might like a treat.  Lots of options:  apple, blueberry, pecan.  The one that called my name was the Wisconsin Kringle: cream cheese, cherries and cranberries.  We finally dug into it today.  Delicious!

On tomorrow’s post I’ll share with you what we’re up to!

We Interrupt this Name Tag Parade....

Doris just joined Art at the breakfast table.  He’s reading the paper, drinking a cup of coffee.

Art: “Did you check out Cathy’s blog yet?”

Doris: “No, not yet.  Did she post another name tag?”

Art: “No, not a name tag.  She left the state again.”

Doris:  “Uh-oh.  Is she traveling with the Mad Tatter?”

Art:  “No, she’s with her Partner in Crime this time.”

Doris:  “Oh my, what are those two girls up to now?”

Yes, we sprung loose again; at oh-seven hundred hours yesterday morning we headed east.  The car was quite surprised when just past Eau Claire we left the normal route and started traveling northeast. That put our GPS into a tizzy.  We have never gone this direction before.

When we were last were together, you might recall that my Partner in Crime had visited her 94th cross stitch shop.  We were on a mission to push that number higher.

First stop:  The Needle Workshop in Wausau, Wisconsin.  It’s a quilting/needlework shop combined.  They have been around for 30 years, so it was fun digging through the patterns.  Shop #95.

Next stop:  The Stitching Bee in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  Minnesotans have to be very careful in Green Bay around all those Packer fans.  We managed to behave and got in and out without incident.  The Sewing Bee is located in a small house and the owner is a delight.  Lots of models, cute shop. Shop #96.

Before heading out of town we stopped at an A&W for lunch.  Don’t have many of these left back in our neck of the woods.

Realized we were not very far away from Primitive Gatherings Quilt Shop in Manasha, WI, so we figured, “Why not?”  Off we went.  Great quilt shop with beautiful fabrics and lots of wool.  We understand why our quilting friends like coming here.  While there we had a “star” sighting - Jenny from Missouri Star Quilts was at Primitive Gatherings!

Fun day, and it was time to get serious and start making our way to our final destination.  Can you imagine where that might be?

Stitching the Fabric of Community

2015...this was a tough theme to come up with a nametag for, but I think this one fit the bill.  It’s a Prairie Schooler pattern.

I have a special treat for you tomorrow.  My partner in crime and I have left the state of Minnesota!

Embrace the Pace

2014...some of us stitch like turtles and some of us stitch like hares!

I think this design was from Handblessings.  Perfectly fit the theme!