Retreat Report

Good Evening.  I'm Marnie Graley and THIS is the RETREAT REPORT.... (I might be watching too much investigation reporting on teevee..)

October 2016 has been as beautiful as ever here in Wild & Wonderful WV.  I do my level best to embrace it in it's entirety because it is so fleeting.  Making the annual drive into the heart of WV to enjoy three days of nearly uninterrupted stitching is part of my fall ritual of embracing nature in all her glory.  Since the leaves turn first in Northern WV, a simple 90 minute drive can totally change the landscape.  It was not the case this year, but the warm breezes, cool nights, brilliant blue skies and migrating geese sure did my soul a world of good.  Not to mention spending three whole days with the gaggle of stitchers that are my tribe.  While it was a smaller group than usual, that translated into more stitching less chatting, hence more progress by Sunday noon than normal.

This year I took only two Christmas projects to work on; one small ornament and one medium needlepoint.  Giving credit where credit is due, some genius stitcher on Needlepoint Nation (Facebook group) posted her version of a geometric needlepoint piece which ran in the Nov/Dec 2014 Needlepoint Now magazine.  She took a solid blue circle and altered only the colors to make it a holiday wreath.  Luckily for me I had the magazine and plenty of green fibers to pull from stash.

"Winter Scenery" by Martina Dey of

Stickideen Von Der Wiehenburg

Needlepoint Now Nov/Dec 2014 (pgs. 18-20)

Ultimately, it will morph into a green wreath surrounded by a white background.  The original design calls for six shades of blue in #8 perle cotton, one metallic and one variegated thread.  I'm not sure I'll stick to that formula exactly but I'll have perle cottons, metallics and variegated threads in mine.  The above represents about two days worth of stitching.  It moves along quickly and I'm eager to see it completed!

For the Annual Ornament Exchange at the guild Christmas party, I chose this cutie from My Big Toe Designs from the 2016 JCS Christmas magazine (pg. 80).  Aren't her designs lovely?

So until next time friends, STITCH HAPPY!

The 2015 Spring Retreat Report (photo heavy)

As soon as the weather begins to break, all the ladies of my embroiderers' guild start to itch for retreat weekend.  It seems like this three day, semi-annual retreat is not only blessed from above but also a blessing to each and every one of us who are able to attend.  The fellowship, fun and creativity permeates the air like the perfume from the lilacs in bloom.  If you belong to a creative group that doesn't have a short retreat of some kind at least annually, you should consider starting one.  There is nothing like being with your own tribe for 48 or 50 straight hours to revive the spirit, especially after a long, cold winter.

Sometimes I go to retreat with only one project and a clear cut goal - Make.Progress.  This wasn't that kind of retreat.  I had project ADD and took at least eight projects to either work on, rip out and re-do, think about, or analyze with a focus group.  Here's a glimpse of what went on...

Japanese kogin ornament
Monthly education project from like 87 years ago
Total re-do.  Originally looked like I had stitched it in the dark with my left foot.  New and improved stitching put in.  Might finish it as a needlebook or fob.  Not sure.  Moved on...

Aztec stitch bookmark
Monthly education project from like 187 years ago
Re-read instructions, begged for friend to finish mine, got nowhere with her, had a glass of wine, worked six rows of woven bars, felt good about it, set aside for another day.

Hardanger cross bookmark (for sister)
Tried to clear cobwebs out of the brain and remember how to travel around the woven bars, thought I remembered, needleweaved for about 30 minutes, took out 30 minutes worth of needleweaving. Set aside.

Adam and Eve by Homespun Elegance (Snippets of Olde)
Called for a focus group discussion.  Evaluated where I went wrong with the colors. Tried to decide how to selectively rip and re-do in order to make skin less pink, serpent more green, sun brighter, grass lighter, etc.  Decided I really didn't want to spend all day frogging.  Set aside.

Tudor Rose luggage tag (3" round needlepoint)
Need to couch down gold outlining around petals and work light background stitches. Acknowledged those facts.  Set aside.

Granddaughter's jeans jacket
Finally decided on motif and basted the general outline for floral heart.

Granddaughter's felt fish mobile 
a.k.a. the God Complex fish, as in, LOOK AT THE FISH I HAVE CREATED! I DECLARE THEY ARE GOOD FISH!
selected color combos, cut out fish, fins, eyes, lips, stripes, etc.  Attached most elements.
Ready for stuffing, ribbon and assembly.


And just before we had to pack up and depart, I selected several special motifs for a nightmare-proof pillowcase (for me, not the grandbaby. that would be weird. trust me).  Stay tuned for more on the Extra Super Special pillowcase...

In non-stitchy related news, many participated in the first ever Hummingbird Aerobics class that was held on Saturday afternoon.  Ultimately the hummingbird was liberated and the liberators were jubilant.  Friend and fellow stitcher Zella celebrated her 82nd birthday.  There were no seam ripper incidents or injuries to report.  The Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge welcomed Princess Charlotte into the world.  And finally, a three-year-old bay colt named American Pharoah (not Pharaoh), riden by Victor Espinoza, won the Kentucky Derby.

Until next time friends, STITCH HAPPY!

Like sands through the hourglass

***

Hello Friends! 

Long time, no blog.  I can't believe it's almost been a month since my last post, but you know how it goes.. Because there are so many fall activities that I deeply enjoy and look forward to each year, I stay pretty busy and I haven't mastered blogging on the go yet, so, yes, I've been a neglectful mother to my little corner of the web, but I will try to do better this month.

First, I have a bit more progress to share on the tartan plaid coaster (last seen as a circle - now on it's way to being an octagon). 

I won't even get into the amount of time I have spent ripping out and re-stitching this sucker.  Nope.  Not going to go there because, I want to like this puppy when it is finished.  I am praying for amnesia..  Let it suffice to say that this will be my last "irregular" tartan - ever!  I do however hope to play with the technique sometime in the future (distant future...)  :-)

After really giving the finishing technique a lot of thought, I decided that it would be much easier to work the edge if it had straights, not curves, so I converted it from being circular in shape to being octagonal.  Well, as you can see, I'm still in the middle of converting.  All of the horizontal rows are finished and about half of the verticals are in.  Since the rows get shorter as you approach the perimeter, I feel like I'm closing it on it, but then it seems that every time I say that, two weeks go by and it looks exactly the same as it did two weeks ago.  At any rate, I am finally pleased with the overall plan (size, shape, colors, finishing) so I suppose my OCD flair up should be subsiding any minute now.  :-)  We can only hope!

Last weekend, I spent three lovely stitch-filled days with my EGA friends at a nearby conference center for our annual fall retreat. 

turquoise and lime green quilt

As always, the weekend flew by in a flash and a good time was had by all. 

sweet little acorn fob on 40 ct. silk gauze

cross stitched pumpkin sampler

I get soooo A.D.D. when I see all the lovely things the ladies bring to work on.  I want to do all of it!!! 

## ## ##

Fall has really settled in here in my neck of the woods and I am loving every minute of it.  The birds are so fun to watch this time of year.  The house is bathed in her fall finery, and I've pulled out all my favorite autumnal recipes.  If I'm lucky, I'll get my first apple crisp of the season in the oven today.

Now, I'm off to errand-land. 

Have a great weekend friends!

The Retreat Report (pictures added)

Nothing like a little three day stitching retreat to reset your compass. 

Amazingly enough, I was the first to arrive on Friday around noon.  After quickly unpacking and setting up my stitching area, I anxiously awaited my friends arrival.  It was not long before everyone began to stream in.  It is so much fun greeting each one as they come through the doors.  You'd think we only see each other twice a year!  Each and every one is happy, really happy, to be there and happy that you are there too!  It's a wonderful feeling to hug and be hugged, with such love behind each hug.  We are all drunk on joy juice just to be there.

After a quick trip to the antique shop and grocery store for supplies, I stitched all afternoon and evening on my Christmas slipper set.  Turned in early, around 1:00ish.  Sleep like a log.

Antique finds:  Fenton hobnail glassware and tatted edge Irish linen napkin

Saturday - up and at it fairly early, eager to get back on my slipper set.  It was a gorgeous morning followed by a perfect-weather day so I had to take a couple of healthy walks around the conference center lake with the camera or I might have gotten a little more stitching accomplished. 

Finished Part 3 of 5 and decided it was a good time to start my black and white Promise Piece.  Much to my dismay, when I opened the tube of black fabric and unrolled it, SOMEBODY had already been into it and I didn't have enough fabric to begin my piece.  Don't cry for me Argentina.  I was only slightly disappointed since I was in the mood to move on to Part 4 of my set.  I did manage to stitch a sample Ironwork motif on the remnant just to see how the white floche floss would get along with the Monoco black.  I like!

A stroke of luck hit my "Not-a-Box" when the extraordinary Miss Anna pulled out a piece of green marblized fabric that might even be more perfect than the multi-colored marblized fabric I bought for it. 

We traded half my multi-colored piece for half her green piece.  Now, we have options people!  Danger Danger.

We stitched into the wee hours and I nearly finished Part 4. 

Parts 1-4

A late night thunderstorm made for fabulous sleeping conditions.  Lights out around 2:45.  Again, I slept like a rock.

Sunday - enjoyed a lazy morning.  Cleaned up, checked out, ate lunch and said our goodbyes while slipping in those last few stitches.  We parted company around 3 pm, already looking forward to October.

We've decided that the only thing we were missing was a 'cabana boy' to fetch our drinks and snacks from the kitchen, massage our hands and necks, do our ironing, adjust the theromstat, and do the back stitching.  Maybe next year.

I feel relaxed, recharged and ready for the work week more stitching. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, hubby kept busy all weekend on a "little" tile repair in our shower. 

Yikes!

Hope you all had an equally rewarding weekend!

Define "Retreat"

• To withdraw or remove oneself from the ordinary surroundings
• To sleep or not to sleep, whenever and as late as necessary
• To stitch, non-stop or not at all
• To relax
• To breathe
• To be

Since I'm not off vacationing in far flung places as I had originally planned to be this month (don't ask),

I've cleared my schedule and am heading North just a couple of hours to a guild sponsored three day weekend retreat.  It is not a class oriented retreat, like so many I've drooled over online.  It is however precisely what I need right now - an honest to goodness R.E.T.R.E.A.T, with emphasis on the 'treat'.  Just a bunch of us girls, doing what we do best when we gather together.  Need I say more?  (click on Retreat in the left sidebar to read more about this wonderful weekend with my stitching friends)

So, since I've given myself such short notice, I need to make my stitching selections quick.

I won't take any of the Christmas favors I've been working on since I don't want to spoil any surprises. 

I do think I will take my promise piece to start.  It's a very pretty blackwork (kind-of) piece called "Ironwork of New Orleans 1". 

Instead of stitching black on white though, I think I will try white on black fabric and see how that strikes me.  Last time I stitched on black I had to check into the Betty Ford clinic for the Stitching Insane for a month!  We'll see how long I'm able to hang with this one before I switch it to black on white.

I MUST work on my GPA Christmas Stitching set a bit because I really really want to finish this by Christmas this year.  Plus, it's been at the top of my WIP list for a looooonnnnnng time.  It's down right depressing to never see any movement on my WIPs in Progress list. 

It's just the most darling little slipper when it's all said and done.  When I just pulled it out to have a look at where I left off, I imaged I had much more done than I actually have done.  If only dream stitching could be translated into real life!

It's my custom to work on a peacock at retreat on Saturday but I'm going to have to break with tradition this year.  These two pieces alone will give me hours of stitching pleasure and if I'm a good girl, I could actually bring the Christmas set home ready to be assembled!  Wouldn't that be exciting!

I think I'll take 'The Box That Is Not A Box' and my sunroom pillows to-be, just so I can talk about them. Maybe one of the ladies will have an idea or two for me. 

Until next time friends, here's hoping you are loving your current project and planning your next.

The Retreat Report

My sister and I have an inside joke about vacations that if you aren't limping home, broke and exhausted on the last day then, by definition, you must not have had a good time. According to those standards, I am happy to report that I have had one very successful retreat this weekend with my stitching family, or as I may start calling them, the Needle Work Enablers Society (NWES). I love them all and/but you've never met a better bunch of enablers in all your life. You know exactly what I mean so I won't elaborate much except to say we could probably keep the shrinks of the world busy for a very very long time. However, stitchers are the best people on the planet, I'm convinced. When one of us has a problem, we all collaborate together to fix it. When life gives one of us lemons, another one grabs the lemon squeezers and vodka. Oops, TMI! I forgot what happens at Retreat, stays at Retreat.

Spending time with these ladies always renews my faith in humanity! And, occasionally, we actually get some stitching accomplished.

The Stitching Report

Thursday: Arrived around 2:30, checked in, unpacked, power napped, drove to town for dinner, stitched on thistle into the evening. Watched two hour Grey's finale and was pretty devastated with what they did to George. I mean, why should such a horrible thing happen to the nicest character on the show? Tragic. I certainly hope they don't kill him off too. Losing Izzy is bad enough. My head is still spinning from it. Aren't Major Hunt and Yang just perfectly perfect for one another? Uh, sorry, back to the stitching report.

designer: Marion Scoular

fabric: 25ct. hardanger

threads: DMC and floche

Pattern cover photo on the left; mine on the right.

Friday: Up early, quick trip to town for last minute "retreat essentials", picked up a few things at the antique store (pics another day), hurried back, ushered the "hookers" (rug hookers) out of the meeting room, set up camp in the stitching room and selected dragonfly checkerboard out of my Big Ol Bag o'WIPs. My XSDNs will be pleased to know they might get to play with this checkerboard before they are taking their college entrance exams. Late in the evening, I switched to my peacock. Turned in around 2ish.

design: Dragonfly Sampler by Sekas

various Caron Wildflowers threads

Saturday: I knew Saturday would be a full day of cutting, unweaving and reweaving the last remaining drawn thread band if I had any chance of finishing it, so I didn't dilly dally. Up early, shower, quick breakfast and coffee and then POWER STITCHING. I did stop for lunch and another very quick trip to the antique shop for wooden spools, but made up for lost time by skipping dinner in order to bring this baby down the home stretch before bedtime. Speaking of home stretch, how about that Preakness winning jockey Calvin Borel and the horse he rode in on? What a story! Love that little man and the filly he made rich and famous, Rachel Alexandra!

My victory was won around 12:38 am after a bit of "broken thread" drama. I think it's safe to say that the last thing you want when working the high tension twisted clusters of the drawn thread bands is for a thread to snap. But, thank goodness, even though my silk did snap with only about three inches to go, I lived to tell the tale and still had enough silk on the needle to finish the band. And yes, there was a happy dance which will not be described here or ever reinacted IRL or on YouTube. My apologies to those who were physically present and subjected to it. Exhileration powered my engines until 3ish.

design: Assisi Peacock Sampler by Giulia Manfredini

Various silks on hand dyed linen

Sunday: Still walking on air from my late night finish, I floated into the stitching room a little later than usual. Then, after packing up, checking out and eating lunch, I selected an Art Stitch design for my Something New Sunday project. It's been in my TO DO stack for a long time and deserved some sunshine.

As you can see, it was a very productive long weekend and I couldn't be happier with my stitchy accomplishments. Now it's back to life, back to re-al-ity time.

Next UFO/BAP*= Statue of Liberty tribute (gift) Photo updates soon.

Wishing everyone a great week!

*UFO/BAP = unfinished object/big a$$ project

ALL ABOARD the Crazy Train

As I was busily readying myself for work at 5:00 this morning I had an innocent thought. Or so I thought. It occurred to me that I might actually finish my Assisi Peacock sampler before the Spring Stitchers Retreat in May.
The Background: The Spring Stitchers Retreat ranks in my top 5 favorite annual events, along with the Fall Stitchers Retreat, the Heritage Farm Stitchers Day Out, Seminar and Share-A-Stitch. It is the first stitcher's event of the year after the long cold winter and I count down the days like a kid counts down to Christmas. There are two schools of thought about the projects to take to Retreat. 1) Take everything you own OR 2) Debate for months about which projects will become 'chosen' and only take the special ones who make the cut.

For the past several, no, make that many retreats I've taken three different projects.

• The Warm-up. It's the Friday evening project that you aren't really serious about, but while everyone is arriving and settling in, you stitch on it, but it doesn't require much concentration.
• The Saturday Project is the one I want to dedicate the most time and attention to. The Retreat Ladies know, without a doubt, my Saturday is Peacock Saturday.
• The Wrap-up. Sunday morning comes all too soon and it seems like it's time to pack up as soon as breakfast is over, so I like to try to put the first few stitches in a new project on Sunday.

WELL. This year, my retreat will start on THURSDAY, not Friday AND my Peacock might be finished long before retreat. DRATS. WHAT EVER WILL I DO??!!??!! Oh the possibilities started dancing through my head like visions of sugarplums. And wouldn't you know it, my stitching room is handily located adjacent to my laundry room, where I'm supposed to be ironing my outfit for the day. Hummmm. Let's just take a quick peek in that PHF*.

Needless to say, I forgot all about having a J.O.B. to go to for about 1/2 hour this morning as I pawed all the pretty things just waiting for me to start. And, all of them seemed to have their bags packed for retreat. Competitive little boogers.

I'll need to further ponder just how to structure my 4 day retreat, but I think I've pulled projects o'plenty to keep me busy, just in case I finish my peacock before then. 40 days and counting...

*Project Holding Facility