Final Weekend Travel Day

I forgot to post the last day of our weekend excursion. We left Galleria on Saturday morning and stopped in Muscatine at the Little Red Hen. It was a cute quilt shop with some cross stitch and a nice wool collection. They said it was okay to take pictures, so I’ll let the pictures do the talking!

So glad we made this stop. It was a great shop!

Needlework Galleria Day 2

We put on our walking shoes on and headed down to the fourth floor to check out all the vendors that were here for Needlework Galleria 2021. It was so nice to SEE people in person. Some wore masks, some didn’t. Some vendors asked us to wear masks and everyone was respectful. We decided that we would check out every vendor. Some of our favorites were…Summer House Stitche Workes, the Silver Needle, Hands on Design, the Inspired Needle, Erica Michaels…and more. There was an entire floor of shopping!

I spied this model of a Shakespeare’s Peddler sampler design at the Silver Needle. Hmmmm, I think I know that stitcher!

My partner in crime and I had this photo taken with Cathy from Hands on Design. One of our new friends that we met at Stitch Con is a huge fan of Cathy H and we wanted to send this photo to her.

We worked up quite the appetite shopping and headed out to a local Mexican restaurant for lunch. After lunch, we decided to visit Main Street St. Charles. It was like stepping back in time - cobblestone streets and sidewalks. There even was a trolley! We poked our heads in a few shops. 

Most importantly, we stopped in the bakery so that we would have a snack later that evening.

Another great time at Needlework Galleria!

Needlework Galleria

On the road again, with TWO partners in crime. We’re making up for missed time and events in 2020!

We arrived in St. Louis on Wednesday night and got checked in for Galleria. Our Galleria gift included a cute little wooden ruler and some wooden floss tags.

I registered to take Cathy Habermann’s class on Thursday morning. Love her designs and enjoy learning about finishing from her. In this bee-themed class, What’s the Buzz, we are learning about paper piecing and appliqué. My project is off to a good start.

Here’s what the finished pillow and fob will look like.

We found our favorite restaurant from two years ago and had a good lunch and then headed to the St. Charles Antique Mall. I think we all found some treasures. I get the award for finding the largest treasure. I just had to bring this beauty home with me. It’s an original A.S. Strommen Bruk Hamar Norwegian Sewing box. It’s in excellent condition.

Early bird shopping started at 6:30pm last night. We made a bee line for the Hands on Design room to purchase the Philanthropic Pumpkin kit that Cathy designed as a fundraiser for their local Special Olympics group. They went fast.

I made a few more purchases including a kit from Lois at Lady Dot Creates, a strawberry that Cathy made, and a needle minder from Me and My Stitches.

We also visited Linda from Erica Michaels to pick up her exclusive pincushion kit, her new English Sampler berries, and …. I could not resist bringing this sweet pincushion home with me!

We called it a night at that point. Ordered a margarita at the bar and came back to the room to enjoy our dessert from the restaurant we stopped at earlier in the day. Coconut Creme!

We’re ready for Day Two!

Quilter’s Station - Day Two/Part Two

When we first learned about the Quilter’s Station Retreat there was no question as to whether or not we would go. If COVID has taught us anything, we have learned that life is short and you need to take advantage of the things you really want to do while you still can do them because the opportunity may not come up again (or you might now be around to enjoy it!)

Blackbird Designs was at one of the first cross stitch retreats that I ever attended back in 2007. I loved them then and I have loved them ever since. I knew that they were starting to cut back on teaching and so if we were ever going to take another class from them, this might be our last opportunity. Little did we know that Barb would no longer be with us when the retreat dates actually rolled around.

Alma still came and was our afternoon session on Saturday. It was so good to see her! How hard it must have been to present without Barb. It was so much fun to spend time with her. She told some wonderful stories about Barb (as Alma said, “she’s not here to defend herself!”) We learned about their journey in quilting and cross stitch and about some of the designs that had special meaning for them. I just feel so fortunate that I was able to be part of this experience.

As always, Alma set up a table that was decorated beautifully with framed pieces and smalls from Blackbird Designs.

This framed piece in the table, a gift from Barb to Alma, touched my heart.

Our project for the retreat was fall-themed; a small bag for buttons or other trinkets and a round pincushion with a squirrel on top. The presentation was beautiful.

Alma also shared some older patterns with us, because she said, “Barb would have wanted you to have these.”

It really was a special afternoon, one that I will treasure forever.