November at the Attic

I’m back! Had to come back and tell you about my trip to the Attic in November. It was my third stitching weekend in a row, but I wasn’t going to miss it! 

We were there for Jean’s Autumn Abundance retreat featuring Paulette Stewart (Plum Street Samplers), Dawn Cook Ronningen, and Alma from Blackbird Designs. If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I’m a huge Blackbird fan and Alma has announced that she will be retiring from doing retreats. She has one more left in 2024.

As a special gift, Jean worked with Robin Shappell to design a couple of coordinating fall designs for us. I look forward to stitching these sweet pieces!

Paulette always designs something wonderful. It’s a big house! Looking forward to stitching this one day. Paulette announced that she will be taking some time off from retreats, so I’m glad I was here.

Dawn Ronningen was our speaker on Saturday and she spoke about orphanages and the children in them that learned to stitch. Our project from Dawn was a huswife!

I thought I had a picture of the project, but I guess I forgot to take one. :(

Alma was up last. She presented her retreat project on Sunday morning. It did not disappoint. The sampler is beautiful! There were two coordinating smaller designs as well.

Take note of who got to assist Alma at one point….

It was a wonderful weekend and I treasure the time spent with old and new friends and especially Jean!

November - Lucy Beam

The rest of October flew by. Our little Griffin had surgery on his cleft lip in October and we were busy packing up the Mad Tatter as she decided it was time to move out of her home and into a smaller senior apartment. At the end of October I enjoyed a weekend with stitching friends at the Ranch.

In November we traveled to Blue Earth for a weekend with Becky Noland of Lucy Beam. We stayed at an Airbnb located above the shops on Main Street, just a few doors down from Welcome Stitchery. Our weekend project included cross stitch and embroidery stitches and we received kits for two pockets and a needleroll!

Had to stop and visit some of the Blue Earth residents while we were there!

Fun weekend with Welcome Stitchery and Lucy Beam!

October - Jacob Palooza!

In October, we traveled to London, Ontario for Jacob Palooza! The event was hosted be Evertote. Jacob was amazing. So knowledgeable! He brought several antique samplers with to share with us.

Jacob taught us how to do an open hemstitch and we also talked about Frisian letters. Our project for the retreat was a sampler that was stitched by both a mother and daughter. It’s a big one. “Go big or go home!” 

We had wonderful tablemates. Christine from Mountain Crafts Studio brought her beautiful box entirely stitched on the outside. Thanks to the box, we met everyone at the retreat!

Here are a few more pictures of Jacob’s samplers!

I seem to be having trouble with my photos, but if I can figure it out, I will be back soon!

Day Two - Quilter’s Station

There was more fun waiting for us on Day Two of the Quilter’s Station retreat! In the morning, Lady Dot (Lois) led us through the construction of a needlebook made with vintage Blackbird fabrics.

Most of us were able to have a good amount of it done by the end of the morning session. I just have a little bit more finishing yet to do.

Last but not least, Beth Twist from Heartstring Samplery shared her project with us. It was titled “The Americana Mamas” - paying homage to three ladies in American history - Lady Columbia, Lady Liberty, and Rosie the Riveter. All three could be stitched on one piece of linen or we could stitch them as three individual pin pillows.

And just like that, it was over. This was a fantastic group of teachers and we had the best time!

On the way home, we stopped in Lemoni, Iowa to grab a picture with our most favorite cows at the Amish Country Store.

Good times! Already looking forward to the next Quilter’s Station retreat in April!

Quilter’s Station Retreat

Time for an update! Shortly after my last post, my stitching buds and I headed south to Lee’s Summit, MO for the Quilter’s Station Retreat. This was the fifth QS retreat for my PIC and I, fourth for others, and a couple of our friends were attending for the first time.

We went early so that we could do some shopping the day before the retreat started. Our first stop was at C.C. & Company, another cross stitch shop in the area. I wish I had taken photos of some of their models. Many pieces were stitched over one. Stunning to say the least.

We also shopped at Quilter’s Station. They always have a nice selection of needlework linen. Of course, lots of beautiful fabric for quilting.

And then we headed to the antique shops in Greenwood, MO. One of them has the most delightful tea shops and that’s where we had lunch. I have to share a photo of my chicken salad on croissant and chopped beets. And for dessert, one of my friends and I split a delicious peach bread pudding with caramel sauce.

Now for the retreat! Our designers on Day One were Alma from Blackbird Designs and Linda from Chessie and Me. Great projects!

Alma designed a sweet little huswif based on motifs from a Welsh sampler she has in her collection. Linda  designed a Christmas pillow for us. Both will be so fun to stitch!

All of the designers brought trunk shows - here are some snap shots of Alma’s and Linda’s…

Before I close out this post, I want to share a photo of Linda’s project from QS Retreat in September 2022. Three of us in our group had finished the project!

Last but not least, a Griffin and Rosie update - both are growing fast! Griffin is four months now and Rosie will be turning six months soon.