Russellville Recap - part 1

Well folks, it's that time of year again!  The annual Russellville "reunion" has come and gone.  There were only 15 of us this year.  Those that weren't present were missed.  Our drive down last Thursday started out pretty uneventful.

We took the ferry across the Ohio River.  The girls humor me every year.  I appreciate that!  They know how much I love riding that ferry.  This was the one we rode on.  I took this picture on the return trip while waiting for the bigger ferry to come back the Kentucky side to fetch us.

We also made our annual pilgrimage to visit Sondra and Carol at The Finishing Touch in Louisville.  This was the stash haul this year.  I've got an idea for the two pieces of fabric and I couldn't live without the other bits and pieces.  Sondra said those thread keeps fly right out of the shop as soon as she gets them in.  I can see why.  It's really pretty!

After we shopped we went to Cafe Classico for some sustenance.  Then a brief stop at the Hadley Pottery outlet store on the way to the highway.  I forgot to get pictures there.

As we were tooling down the road we noticed the truck beside us had a really cute passenger!  Y'all know I'm such a dog person.  That face just melted my heart.  Imagine traveling with your best pup friend.  So sweet!

Then we ran into this!  Yep, we are the blue dot on that map and yes, we went through all that nasty.  We all agreed at one point it was saints and angels carrying us through that storm.  Oh. My. Goodness!!  It was one nasty storm.  Later that evening one of the peeps' husbands called to let us know Russellville had made national news for the flooding!  There were yards and fields that had lakes of water in them.  I'm pretty sure they aren't normally like that since I've been going down there for the past seven years.  Thankfully, we arrived unscathed and ready to stitch!

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Design: Russellville Getaway Group Project

Designer:  The Queen Bee aka Belinda

Fabric: 28ct. Fog

Floss: WDW & DMC

Started: 7/7/16

Finished: 7/9/16

Completed: TBD

This was our group project designed by the Queen Bee.  We all did the outer border with the same WDW Confetti floss and then had the option to choose from a basket of curated DMC for our words and flower colors.  I chose to make my flower a poppy and the words are a teal color.  We were instructed by Queen Bee to each bring enough charms, beads, buttons, etc. to share with everyone.  The thought being to attach them to this stitched piece once finished and then the whole thing would be attached to the top of a wooden box.  I decided to wait on that part until I got home but I'm happy I got the stitching done while I was there.

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Dogs seem to be a common theme on this trip.  This cutie pie above is Donald (no, not named for any political figure in case you are wondering).  He's my peep, Valerie's furbaby.  Val forgot her embellishments for the group project embellishment exchange and her DH kindly drove them down to her.  Donald wanted to come along to meet us girls.  He was well received.  Such a good pup!

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Well, this one is getting a bit lengthy so I'll stop here and resume with the show and tell next time.  I hope you've enjoyed our trip to Russellville so far.  There's lots more to share so stay tuned!

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Auburn, Indiana Getaway Weekend

Last weekend was my getaway with some of the Russellville girls.  We've decided this is going to be an annual thing.  We've already booked our stay at the Inn at Windmere, for next year!  Paul and Susie always make our stay so enjoyable we really don't want to leave!

We met again this year for lunch on Friday at what used to be known as the Busy Brush Cafe but is now under new ownership and is called The Cranberry Cupboard.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of the tea pot collection.  Almost all of these ended up on our table as several of us had hot tea.  It was a very cold and blustery day...perfect tea weather!

After lunch we browsed around in the attached gift shop.  I found this cool bracelet and couldn't leave without it.  I wore it for the rest of the day.  I often like to find a piece of jewelry to remember a trip.

We also went a couple blocks up to the uptown square and did some antiquing.  I scored this vintage Whitman's tin.  The photo is deceiving.  It's actually about 12" square!  A great size to house a project.  It has some chipped paint but I don't mind.  Thanks to Patti for spotting it for me!  The very best part was I got it for less than $5 and that was with tax!

After our little shopping adventures, we headed out to the B & B to get settled in and stitch until dinner.  This is Patti and I's room.  It's called the "sunrise" room.  Yes, it does face the east.  I just love the style of this bed and bedding.  So girly!

As per usual, I packed way too much crap stuff and really only worked on this all weekend.  From the size of my bag you'd have thought I was going to be stranded on an island for months.  LOL!  Truth be told, I pulled the floss for this as an after thought while I was waiting for Patti to get to my house.  The only one I couldn't find was the darkest blue.  I figured it was just DMC so I could pick it up in the morning on our visit to Stitch n' Frame, who now has an online presence.  Yay!
  

The next morning we were thoroughly spoiled by a huge breakfast cooked by Susie and Paul.  I don't eat that much breakfast in a whole week!  After we rolled away from the table, we grabbed our shopping lists, charts, and headed to Ft. Wayne.  This is the sight that greets you when you walk into Stitch n' Frame!

As you can tell from this picture it goes way back too.  There's lots of goodness to peruse in here!  I had emailed ahead to warn let them know we were coming.  It was busy in the shop without our crew descending upon them.  Good thing they had extra help on hand.  LOL!

Here's a peek at the fabric wall from my seat at the stitching table.  I had already done my damage and was waiting for everyone to finish up.  We rightly enhanced the economy for sure.  It was fun to have show and tell when we got back at the Inn.

Here's a peek at my haul!  I was surprised that they still had quite a few Prairie Schooler charts still in stock.  I had a list of things I was actually looking for and found almost all of them too.  I just love those John James 24 needles, I needed another small project bag and I always pick up one of those LoRan threaders when I see them.  I can't have too many.  The flosses have a funny story I'll share in a minute.  See, I found my DMC too!

Is it me or do these three flosses all look the same to you?!  My peep, Linda, pointed this out to me at the last stitch-in.  So I decided my main mission when I got to the stitch shop was to find substitutes for at least two of them.

Here's what I came up with.  The dye lot they had for Walnut was significantly different than the one I had which is often the case with over-dyes so that was easy.  The next one I couldn't decide between the two so I bought them both.  I'm kinda of leaning toward the Weeks one.  I kept my original floss on the end.

Here's the project these are going to be used for..the big bee.  The middle three colors in the above picture are the ones for the bee's legs so I really wanted something relatively dark compared to the other two browns.  I think I've got a good bunch to work with now.  Who knows when I'll actually start this one.  I'm prepared though!

After our shopping trip we went next door for some lunch at Pizza King.  For my Indiana readers (waves to Vonna) you know this is an institution and so good.  I grew up eating Pizza King and am a bit nostalgic about the place.  There's much more on the menu than just pizza.  We all ended up having sandwiches since we knew pizza was on the menu for our dinner.  Yum!

Here we all are on Sunday morning after yet another tasty breakfast!  As I said before, we thoroughly enjoy ourselves when we visit Windmere.  We really don't want to leave but real life calls us back.  So after the photos were taken, we gave our hugs and said our goodbyes until we see each other again next summer in Russellville.

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Art by Jean Jullien

I want to pause here and to say that our weekend was good in spite of the tradgedy in Paris Friday night.  Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to all of those impacted by it.  I continue to send positive thoughts to my favorite city on earth.  May healing and peace come to the city of light and love.

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Thanks for visiting today. I hope you enjoyed coming along with me to Auburn.  Time spent with stitching friends is always the best.  Have a good rest of your week!


Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Russellville Retreat Recap and catching up

Hello friends!  Are you still out there?  I sure hope so!  It seems like this summer is just speeding by already.  I've been on the go every weekend it seems since the middle of June and I don't mind one bit!  No complaints here!

Two weekends ago DH and I rode the motorcycle 950 miles round trip to a motorcycle event in Pigeon Forge, TN.  It was my turn to "give back" since I've dragged him to many a craft/quilt/stitching event over the many years we've been together.  A good time was had by all.  Yes, I even managed to hit a stitch shop!  I can sniff out a stitch shop no matter where I'm at dontcha know.  Check out the gear!  It was raining when I went in and it had stopped when I came out.

 Happy shopper!

 Fabric Wall

 Charts and things!

 And yes, there was stash!  I even bought the plastic zipper pouch to protect it in the saddle bag on the way home. Always thinking ahead dontcha know!

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The fourth was our in-between weekend.  We did the usual trip prep stuff that weekend...laundry, shopping, grass mowing, etc.  Nothing too exciting.  We both went in different directions last weekend...he to another motorcycle event and me to Russellville!  Okay, now we are caught up.

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The main reason I'm checking in today is to do my annual Russellville recap.  The past weekend was our reunion.  I promised the "Queen Bee" I would share the love with all of you as well, so I know she's waiting for this.  Waves to the Queen Bee and the rest of the retreat bees who are reading.  Wish y'all would comment once in a while...ahem, just sayin'!

I started the morning on Thursday meeting the peeps at our friend, Patti's house.  We took the ferry across the river to get to the highway.  I absolutely love that ferry!  The peeps get tickled at me when I get a excited about it.  I never tire of riding across the Ohio on it.

Here's my attempt at a front seat selfie.  It looks like the camera flipped where we were sitting.  I really wasn't driving.  I was the passenger seat navigator.

We drove as far as Louisville for our first stop.  We always like to pay our friends at The Finishing Touch a visit when we find ourselves down that way.  Here's a look at the outside and a few from the inside in case you are curious.

Oh yes, and there was stash to be had.  Here's what I couldn't live without.  My peep, Linda spied the "Pin Money" kit and I kinda lost my mind.  I couldn't live without that one.  I also love this year's JCS Halloween issue.  There are several things in there I really like this time.  The fabric and the floss are for one of them!  Of course I couldn't leave the Drawn Thread chart behind either.

After we enhanced the stash and boosted the economy, we went to lunch on the suggestion to go up the street to Caffe Classico.  It's a cute little local restaurant with a decidedly Italian I leaning.  Of course they had me at "Vespa" when I saw this parked in the corner of the dining room.  Oh yeah!  I want one of these so very badly.  Someday!

After our sustenance, we piled back into the car and kicked it on down to Russellville.  It's an easy drive straight down route 65.  Of course it seemed as though every bridge in Louisville had construction going on which made for a tricky drive through the city but we made it through unscathed.  Whew!

Once in Russellville we checked into the hotel and did our annual peep gift exchange.  I alluded to my "super secret" gifts I was making in my last TUSAL post.  Now I can share what they were!

Design: Shaded Spools Fobs

Designer:  Inspired by Faye

Fabric: 40ct. 18th Century Brown

Floss: various DMC colors

Started:  6/18/15

Finished:  7/6/15

Completed:  7/6/15

Here's what I made for the peeps.  I took my inspiration from a post that Carolina Stitcher did a couple years ago.  Our peep, Marsha won the cutie Faye made. These are pretty close.  I like how they turned out.  Mine doesn't have an initial on it because Hobby Lobby was out of the letter "L."  I matched the spool colors to the scissor colors.  I think they turned out nice!  I'll show you what I made for the main gift exchange next time.

 From E.

 From L.

 From P.

Here's what I received.  My peeps know me so very well.  I love everything so much.  You girls are the best peeps anyone could ask for...seriously!  Never underestimate how much we need our peeps.

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On that beautiful note, I think I'll leave you for today.  I promise to come back and share the group project, show and tell, and of course, all the amazing gifts that were exchanged.  I can hardly wait!  Stay tuned!


More next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Auburn, Indiana Getaway

Last weekend eight of the Russellville Retreat girls got together for a fall retreat in Auburn, Indiana.  We decided that the New Mexico/Texas group gets together for a spring retreat so why couldn't we "easterners" get together for a fall getaway?!  Seemed like a good plan so we did!

Now those that know me will tell you that I can sleuth out a stitch shop wherever I go and this trip was no exception!  We stopped at Stitch N' Frame in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, on the way to the B & B.

As an aside, do you Hoosiers see the Indiana "institution" next door?  Gotta love Pizza King!  Since moving to Ohio, I don't get to eat there nearly enough.  I love this stop already.  Okay, back to the stitchy stuff.

 

Here's the fabric/floss wall.  This is just part of it.  I couldn't get it all in the picture.  This shop carries all the Weeks, Gentle Arts, Crescent Colors and a few silks.  Lots of nice fabric too.  There was a wonderful scrap basket that wasn't nearly as full when we left.  Yep, we hit it pretty hard!  The prices couldn't be beat!

Oh yes, we rightly enhanced the economy too!  Now normally I'd show you my stash haul but I can't this time since a good bit of it is for Christmas presents and exchange gifts.  You'll just have to trust me on this one.

After our shopping show and tell later at the B & B, the other girls wanted to visit the shop after breakfast on Saturday.  Yes, I even made a second trip here the next day with the rest of the peeps. Yes, I was bad the next day too.  There were a couple things that were haunting me that I just had to go back to get!  I know you've had that happen too.

An interesting tid-bit about this shop, they do all the framing for Just Cross Stitch Magazine!  Yep, go get your latest issue and look at the index in the back.  How cool is that?!  The shop also hosts stitch gatherings so if you want to come for a sit-n-stitch, you are welcome to do so!

The shop's owner told me she is working on getting a web page by the first of the year but for now they have the Facebook page. That's how I found them. It's amazing what a Google search will return! This was definitely a worthwhile stop and I'll be back next time I'm up that way.

Here's where we stayed, at the lovely Inn at Windmere B & B! Now I have to confess, I'd never stayed in a B & B before but I could definitely get used to it! We were so spoiled all weekend long. We never wanted for anything. Every detail was taken care of for us. I've never eaten so much delicious food. Oh. My. Goodness!

We were even treated to a song played on this harp by one of the inn keeper's daughters after dinner on Friday. What a talented young lady. This was also another first for me. I had never heard a harp played in person. What a magical sound!

 

The stitch room was in the lower level of the home.  It's where the couple home schooled their eight children!  Yes, I said 8!!!  I'm giving them the Wonder Woman and Super Man capes.  Holy smokes!

 

 

The Inn regularly hosts scrapbooking and quilting retreats.  We were their first group of stitchers!  Needless to say we've already booked our weekend for next year.  We truly had a wonderful time here!  Even Fiona and Senior Frog had a good time at the Inn.  See them photo bombing my pictures up there?!

 

 

Here's our group in front of the fireplace in the great room.  We have a pair from Michigan, one from southern Indiana, one from northwestern Kentucky, two from northern Ohio and two from southwestern Ohio.  We missed our pair from Missouri and the other pair from southwestern Ohio.  Hopefully next time!

 

We all departed before the ugly weather set in on Sunday.  We drove home straight into some pretty ominous clouds and mighty gusty winds.  Thankfully everyone made it home safe and sound before the storms blew through.  One of our Michigan girls had a tree down across her driveway but no real damage.  We were all being looked after for sure.  I am thankful!

 

Special thanks goes to Sandi and Judy for discovering this gem of a location and putting it all together for us. Also special thanks goes to Susie and Paul for hosting us in their lovely home. I can't wait until next year!

 

I had a mini-finish while at the retreat but I'll share it in it's own post!  I'm super excited about it.  Stay tuned!

 

 

More next time,

 

The Inspired Stitcher

Class with Catherine Theron

I didn't mean to go all quiet on you last week.  I've been busy stitching on a private exchange for a blog buddy and a gift I'll tell you about in a minute.  So I have been stitching, just nothing I could show yet.

Sunday my peep, Marsha and I drove to Michigan to the Kindred Spirits Sampler Guild's "Hidden Magnolia" class taught by Catherine Theron on Monday.  We both fell in love with our guild friend, Janis' sampler and decided we'd go anywhere to be able to stitch it too.   Thankfully we didn't have to go too far...only four hours away!

The class was held in the Spicer House.  This is the same place where my other KSSG classes were held.  (See here and here.)  It was fun to see the gardens adorned in fall finery this time.  Love that maple tree!

Left to right: Catherine, me, PW, PF, Marsha, ES, and LK.

Marsha and I were also joined by another car load of local peeps that wanted to take the class too.  The southern contingent was well represented. Here we are with Catherine and the sampler! 

This is a better look at the sampler.  There is a lot more detail to this sampler than meets the eye.  With the exception of a couple places, every single stitch in this one is a specialty stitch.  I sure didn't pick up on that from looking at the picture.  These stitches really give it a lot of dimension when you see it up close.  I have a new appreciation for Janis' sampler and what a feat it was to finish it!

Here's the huge ring of silk that goes with this sampler!  We were given a floss supply list before class.  We provided 32 AVAS and 4 NPI and she gave us 11 colors in class.  Just look at all that juicy goodness!

I especially like these three Gumnut 'Stars' flosses she gave us in class.  There's just something about these colors that I find really pretty!  I've never stitched with Gumnut before so that should be an interesting experience.  Have any of you used it?  I'd be interested to know what you think of it.

We were also given this super cute flower pincushion that sits atop a golf tee!  It was handmade by Nancy B. who took care of all the arrangements for the class.  What a sweet souvenir from the day!  I picked this one because it reminds me of my birth flower, the narcissus, which happens to be one of my favorite flowers.

Here's Catherine teaching us how to do the padded satin stitch that will be used on the entire house!  It is really effective in making the house look like it has siding on it.  I love the elastic bands attached to the stretcher bars she's using for the example. Clever idea!

This is my progress at the end of class.  The brown line is done in stem stitch and will section off the left side's floral vine.  The beginning of the pine tree is part of the center section at the top.  It's worked in smyrna cross.  It sure does have a nice texture when you run your finger across it!

These are a couple of Catherine's other teaching pieces.  I dearly love the one on the right called "A Stitcher's Envelope!"  I'd take that class for sure.  I've got a thing for Quaker style alphabets and flame stitch these days.  Love that mini hornbook too.  You knew I'd say that didn't you.  LOL!

This is the back of the "Alphabet Primer Pocket" on the left and the inside of "A Stitcher's Envelope" on the right.  Both are amazing!  Just look at all that over one on the village scene.  Impressive!

This is another teaching piece.  It's called "Travel-sized Quaker Sewing Roll."

This is the inside of it.  I love the soft muted colors in this one.  I'd love to stitch this one too. 

Catherine is such a talented designer and a very good teacher too.  She made sure to come around to each and every one of us checking to make sure we understood what we needed to do.  After each part of the lesson, she brought the original sampler around so each one of us could get a closer look and take pictures too.  If you ever get the chance to take class with her, I highly recommend it.  You'll be pleased you did!

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Design:  Sneak Peek - Summer

Designer:  The Trilogy

Fabric:  32 ct. silver-blue

Floss: DMC as charted

Started:  10/21/13

Finished: 10/25/13

Completed:  10/26/13

This is the gift I mentioned earlier.  I stitched this for Marsha as a thank you for ordering the floss for me while I was away in West Virginia.  It was so helpful for her to do that since I was out of town.  I truly appreciated it!

I wanted to make a floss tag since my thank you was related to floss.  I think it turned out really cute.  I might have to do one for myself sometime just because those bees make me smile.  I just love their little eyes. They just made me crack up when I saw them. Besides that, Marsha loves bees as much as I do...maybe even more! 

These bees remind me of my greeting card rule.  If I find a card that makes me laugh out loud in the store, that's the one I buy!  I've even been known to buy them with no recipient in mind just because they make me laugh.  I'm like that dontacha know.

This is the back.  I had to personalize it.  I also altered the finish after I took this picture.  I put a flower shaped grommet on the tab so the tag would lay flat against the floss bags.  It stuck out weird before I did that.  Maybe Marsha will show a picture of that on her blog.

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Overall, it was a really enjoyable weekend!  I spent it in good company and learned a ton of new things.  I got to see the beautiful Michigan landscape wrapped in autumnal glory.  The many miles we traveled seemed to move along quickly as we laughed and shared stories on the trip to and from.

Special thanks goes to Catherine for the wonderful class piece.  Thanks goes to Nancy B. who arranged a wonderful meeting place, meal, made the super cute flower gift for us all, and I'm sure took care of a million other little details I'm unaware of.  Also, thanks goes to my travel buddy, Marsha.  I appreciate you girlfriend!

It was so nice to see some of the same ladies who were in class with me earlier in the year too.  Waves to you all!  I only wish I lived closer so we could get together more often.  There's always next time!

I hope you all enjoyed reading about my trip.  I'm hopeful to have a couple more posts this week too.  Real life has gotten busy and it's been hampering my blogging time.  Never fear, I still find time to stitch.  It's my sanity saver and I don't know what people do that don't stitch!  LOL!  Have a great rest of the week!

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher