Retreat Report!!

Well, I came back from my Stitchin' Station Retreat yesterday afternoon, and I'm still recovering! LOL

Friday morning I picked up Loraine and Kristin on the way to Ogden. Our first stop was Shepherd's Bush!

I was a very good girl there and only picked up two colors of the new Crescent Colors Belle Soie silk, Collard Greens and Cranberry. But while I was waiting in line, there were some cuts of new Zweigart linen waiting to be packaged - I just couldn't resist and bought a 13 x 18 cut of Cashel in a color called Shadowbrook - it's gorgeous! I think I'm going to stitch JBW Designs French Country - Love with these.


We grabbed lunch and headed on to Salt Lake City and went to the Stitchin' Station. I had a full punch card which got me $20 towards my next purchase, so I picked up the Crescent Colors needed for the Mirabilia Christmas Elf Fairy. I'm trading my Halloween Fairy Pattern for this pattern when I'm finished with it, and now I have all the materials!

Next we went on up to Park City and did a little shopping at the outlet mall. It was PACKED! The only purchase I made was at Harry & David's, I got a great deal on some clearance truffles & chocolate covered cherries to share with my room mates and a package of one of my favorite guilty pleasures - chocolate covered espresso beans! LOL


We went to the Washington School Inn at 3:30 to check in. We we given a suite to share with two friends we met at the previous year's retreat, Kim and Kara, who are sisters. We had so much fun last year staying up late and stitching in our room - we were asked to keep it down - LOL - so this year we asked to be put together on the third floor where hopefully we wouldn't disturb anyone else. Kristin was in a single room on the first floor because only four are allowed in a suite. All of the rooms are named after teachers who taught when this place was a school, and we were in the Mrs. Thompson room. When we got into the room, we were greeted with some sweet little gifts. The hem on the doll's dress is stitched with the words "Washing School Inn 2007" and the little box has some chocolates in it - YUM! We went down to the common room and I was able to get a little stitching done on my "pin exchange" piece before Cynthia's class started at 5:00. The class piece was this representation of The Washington School Inn with a bunch of different specialty stitches for the flowers. Looking at the size, I made the decision that I was going to finish it before going home - LOL










After Cynthia went through some instructions, we decided to go out on the patio to stitch - it was beautiful out there!! We spent almost the entire weekend at this table - LOL. We had to go back in for dinner, but went back out after and stitched until it got too dark to see well. Then we walked into town, which was only the next street over, to get some goodies at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory - I LOVE their caramel apples, and I got a Key Lime one! Then we went back and stitched in our suite 'till after midnight.

In the morning we were treated to a wonderful breakfast including the best oatmeal I've ever had - they have all kinds of goodies to sprinkle on top - and some wonderful zucchini bran muffins! After breakfast, it was back to the patio until our class with Taylor Hartman. You can take the personality test at his site - I'm a White with quite a bit of Blue, which interestingly enough, was also what Loraine and Kristin were. The class was fun and interesting and he was a very nice man. Of course, it was back to the patio after the class for more stitching - until I got a coffee craving and some of us took a run to Starbucks - LOL.


At 5:00, we had our special "surprise" class, which ended up being a crystal and silver bracelet in our Color. I love the dangles on it! We also received some more fun gifts - a little recipe book and a beautiful book where we can record some information about ourselves. The pages are all so clever, and I'm definitely going to have to take the time to fill them out. I SHOULD have done it while I was there, but I had that goal to finish my class piece - LOL. The last page of the book had a pattern with our initial, fabric & floss so we could add a sample of our stitching. What a lovely idea!

At about 9:00 that night, we "snuck" out and drove to Salt Lake City for the Gardner Village Moonlight Madness Beach Party. I swear, I felt like a teenager - LOL - I stay up late, but I'm never OUT late! The place was really hopping, all kinds of booths on the sidewalks and a DJ playing fun music. The only problem was that half of the village had their power out, and that half happened to include Pine Needles, which was the very reason we went down there! They were still open though, with flashlights and a car with headlights on at the back door. It was heartbreaking to be in a stitching sore and not be able to see anything!! I have a tiny flashlight on my key chain and was using that to look at what I could - I knew I needed two more overdyed flosses, and was able to find them fairly easily. We were just about ready to leave, and the lights suddenly came back on! I was SO happy! LOL I had a $30 gift certificate that my boss had given me in December for taking care of her kitty, and it was burning a hole in my pocket!! Now that I was able to see things again, I found a bunch of stuff to buy!
I saw a model on the wall for an adorable Button Band Sampler by Sue Hillis Designs. This will be a wonderful way to use some of the antique buttons I've collected. Of course, I'll have to stitch mine in a different color - LOL I also picked up Stocking Stuffers by Full Circle Designs, which should be a very quick stitch! Then I found the bargain bin, and OMG, what bargains!! I got Britty Bunny by Brittercup Designs for only .50, and it came with the charm! Everything else I got were kits that were discounted 50% - 80% - The Trilogy HOP, Heart in Hand Wool Whimsy March, Shepherd's Bush Brave One and Happy Day Roll and my favorite of the day, Little House Needleworks Americana Sampling, which is a 2005 Limited Edition and one I've never seen before. I ended up with about $115 worth of stash for $54! When we were done with Pine Needles, we went to the Christmas shop and I picked up a few little things for Halloween exchanges. We didn't get back to the Inn until almost 12:30 a.m. - LOL


The next morning, we had another lovely breakfast, this time with strawberry/peach crepes and assorted mini French pastries. Doesn't that look yummy!




After breakfast, it was back, where else, to the patio. Cynthia joined up and signed our patterns for us. She is so much fun! I kept working on my class piece and I was able to finish just before we left at a little after noon!! Ta Da!!

We stopped for lunch on the way home, I dropped of Kristin & Loraine and I got home at about 5:00. Boy was I wiped! LOL We had a wonderful time though - and in a few more days, I should be fully recovered!