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.

Quilter’s Station Retreat - Day Two

Day Two (Saturday) of the retreat did not disappoint! Our morning class was with Beth Twist of Heartstring Samplery.  

Beth loves bees and flowers and that was the theme of our project! It was wrapped in such pretty tissue paper - too lovely to open! Even the thread card was so sweet!

Beth also had a trunk show of some of her lovely designs at the retreat.

Photo opportunity! Liz Mathews, me, and Beth Twist!

In between the morning and afternoon sessions, we snuck away for a quick visit to CC and Company, another needlework shop located very close to the hotel. It was a small, but very nice shop!

Looking forward to the final session of the weekend!

Quilter’s Station - Bonus

At the end of our first day we had a bonus presentation. Maggie Bonanomi joined us and shared some of her finished wool appliqué pieces. I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking!

Maggie was just a delight to listen to.

Quilter’s Station Retreat - Day One

Today we had the pleasure of working on projects designed by Liz Mathews (Hello From Liz Mathews) and Linda Lautenschlager (Chessie and Me).

First up, Liz Mathews!

Liz gifted us the chart for an antique sampler she acquired. It was stitched by Martha Padfield in 1852 when she was 12 years old. 

Our project today was based on motifs from the sampler. The lower half of the sampler was screen printed on some fabric. We had two additional sheets of images of butterflies and birds that we can cut out and add to the sampler image. Take a look at the hoops that Liz is holding to better understand what I mean.

Unique and fun idea! I look forward to working on this when I get home. Liz also had a trunk show of her designs on display.

After lunch, Linda from Chessie and Me joined us. You can tell from the box and the gloves that we’re going to be painting!

And paint we did. Our boxes are meant to look kind of primitive. I think my finished box fits the bill! 

We will be stitching a lovely needleroll and scissor fob as well as a stitched piece for the top of the box!

Linda also had a trunk show on display.

We had a special presentation before dinner- will share in a separate post!

Kansas City Road Trip

My Partner in Crime (PIC) and I are happy to be on the road again. Our road trip started early this morning and took us to Kansas City, MO. We made a couple stops along the way.

First stop, a new cross stitch shop in Iowa Falls called Criss Cross Stitchery. If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you know that my PIC’s mission in life is to visit as many brick and mortar needlework shops as possible. This was her 109th shop!

It’s a nice shop with a very friendly owner! Nice selection of charts and supplies for a shop that has been open less than a year.

Our second stop was Hamilton, MO, the home of the Missouri Star Quilt empire.

Last stop was at Quilter’s Station in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. They are sponsoring our retreat this weekend.

We ended the day with a delicious meal and an awesome piece of pie! 

Need a good night’s sleep now!

Happy Labrador Day!

 

Red Alphabet Samplers

Thought you might like to see a couple of red alphabet samplers that I recently acquired. 

This first one is my favorite. It is from Holland and it’s dated 1890.

Next up is a German sampler stitched in 1916.

And another German sampler by GK. No date, but probably was stitched around 1915.

All three samplers have held up very well despite their age. Of course, they are all stitched in my favorite color - red!  I wonder about the little girls that stitched them!