At the Retreat

Saturday, I drove over to Osage, Iowa, to the Stitchery Nook. They were holding a 4-day open retreat, meaning anyone could attend. I opted to go just for Saturday. I’m still trying to catch up on life at home and only spared a day to get away. I almost didn’t go, but I wanted to catch up with my friend Barb and others. For the most part, many of the same people go to the open retreat. It changes a bit here and there, but I likely have retreated with over half of the people there, so I knew them. Of course, I forgot a few names, but I could tell you what they likely to stitched. HA!! I am so bad at names. Thankfully, I sat by Kathryn, and she knows everyone’s names. She quickly caught me back up.

So the big question…what did I buy when I was there? I promised myself to be good. I haven’t been stitching a lot lately, so my purchases should mirror the amount I’m stitching…right? Well, that is hard to do when you walk in the door and there is a gift card waiting for you. Thanks, Ila!! I so appreciate it!!

I ended up getting the pattern that I had previously wanted. This was a piece that Brenda Gervais, the designer, created for a retreat a year or more ago. It has just been released to the public. I vowed when I saw it then that I would buy it as soon as it came out. I really like it. I’m guessing it will take some time to stitch, as there are lots of color changes and lots of stitching only a few threads at a time.

I really wish she would have had it printed into a booklet. There are quite a few pages to the chart. I’ll manage, though.

The other pattern I got was also from With Thy Needle and Thread. I had wanted this last year but didn’t get it. I’ve told you that I love fill-in stitching, but most of my current projects don’t have any. This one does. Check out the swans, the house, and the pond behind the geese… all great for fill-in.

I just love the complete symmetry of this chart. Of course, the red and teal are real eye catchers too. The repetitive border gets me too. I love it!!

There was still room on my gift card. I could have bought more, but I decided that rather than buy thread now, I’d go home and see what threads I already had. Then I’ll order the threads I don’t have. Look at me being responsible. HA!!

After picture-taking and shopping, I headed to the upper level where the retreat center was, so I could start stitching. I didn’t take pictures of everyone or their projects. I hate being intrusive, and I hate asking everyone for permission. So I just skipped it this time. That made me much more relaxed.

I found my friend Barb right away. Luckily, there was a place by her so I could sit down and start stitching. Of course, that didn’t happen. I had to check out what my neighbors were stitching. HA! I pulled out the three pieces I brought with me as potential projects to work on. Consider the Lilies won out. I’ll show you what I got stitched in Friday’s Cross Stitch update.

I spent a lot of time chatting. I was admiring a piece a gal next to us was stitching. It was pretty…totally me. She was gone, either at the shop or at the fabric shop down the block. I made a point to try to talk to her when she came back.

So Barb and I started catching up. We don’t talk a lot throughout the year, but we sure love catching up when we see each other. I first knew Barb as a blog reader, then later she came to a retreat I was going to…over the years, she’s traveled from Missouri up to Osage, and we’ve gotten to know each other as friends.

Life is a little hard for me sometimes. I don’t have many real close girlfriends in the area. I’m still considered a newbie in our small town even though I’ve lived in the area since Buck was a baby, 36 years ago. I’m not old school with lots of family in the area. Besides, I’ve always had a job that kept me in the house. It’s hard to get out and meet people that way.

There’s also a weird thing about being a widow. The friends we both had were couple friends. Then it was just me, and I lost those couple friends. Of course we talk when we see each other, but there are no more card parties or meals out. Then I made friends with a few other widows, but now those kind of dry up because I’m with Rick. It’s a weird dynamic.

All that to say, I love seeing Barb. She’s not local, so she’s really a safe person for me to talk to. I have another friend, Barb, who lives local who is the same way. I can say anything to either of them. I love that. All that to say, I will always do what I can to visit with Barb when she comes this way.

Barb and I went to lunch. Both of us like the restaurant that is a few doors down from the shop. It’s called Teluwhat (tell you what). We’ve never had a bad meal there.

When we got back, some of the shoppers had returned. Char was there. She’s been great to me in the past. She gifted me this pretty counting pin. I hope to put it it a Fall pillow. So pretty. She is a fabulous stitcher.

Barb handed me this pattern. She asked me to give it to Kelli. Kelli had admired it the last time we were together and Barb said she’d give it to her when she was done.

Remember, I had told you that someone was stitching a piece I REALLY loved. This is the chart. She came back, and we chatted. It was great. She had hers on scroll rods. She was right down to the last row. I repeatedly told her how gorgeous it was. She said, “I have it in my iPad. I can just give you the chart.”

Um. WOW. I so appreciated that. I am kicking myself for not taking a picture of her project in the scroll rods. It was MUCH prettier than the chart. You can see the trees at the bottom of the chart in the bottom row. The chart shows them as looking gold colored. In person, they were green.

All this to say…I had a lovely time at the retreat. I don’t regularly have a chance to hang out with cross stitchers and friends. It was a real treat.

Liz will be hosting another retreat that is open to anyone to attend. That will be September 17th through September 20th. You can call the retreat center if you’d like to attend. I believe my daughter Kelli and I will be coming for one or two of the days. I need to get with her again to figure out which days. We will drive over and not stay overnight. We live close enough that we can comfortably do that. If you’d like to go, feel free to call the Stitchery Nook. Their info is on the website HERE.

I do want to say that if you are a stitcher and have questions, one of the best places you can go to is a retreat. Everyone is super good about letting you try their lamp, scroll rod, stand, or anything else. It’s a great way to “try before you buy.” I keep thinking that I might get an iPad and try stitching with one. I got a chance to check that out while I was there.

Let me know if any of you are going in September. Kelli and I would love to have lunch with you.