October 03, 2014

Retreat Recap PART THREE


Hello again. First, let`s start with the announcement of the winner from our last (second) retreat blog post.  The prize this time is a $25 spending spree at Cathy’s Crazy by Design, a cute Etsy shop (even if I do say so myself, LOL) full of laces and fabrics.

The Random Number Generator picked #7

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 32

Result:
7
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

.... and that is Donna Abrams, who commented, " I am mesmerized by the pictures of this retreat. This has to be the most wonderful adventure a CQr could ever attend ."

Congratulations, Donna!  Start picking out your goodies, and I will contact you privately to make arrangements.

Information on today’s giveaway (the third and final one) is at the end of this blog post.


* * * * * * * * * *

....And so we come to Friday and Saturday, the final days of our Retreat.   On Friday, there were no mini-classes scheduled.  The morning was time for free stitching, and in the afternoon we planned a special treat - a visit to the newly-opened Florilegium, a wonderful emporium of stitching delights in Weston, Missouri.  Gretchen Nutt, the owner, was a gracious hostess and provided coffee, other beverages and treats to nourish us hungry shoppers.  And shop we did!

Historic Downtown Weston, Missouri
Driving into downtown Weston, you are almost taken back a century (were it not for all the modern cars!).  It was an unassuming, rather quiet place on this cool, cloudy and breezy day. Florilegium occupied the corner of a century-old brick building, and the closer we drew, the more the window displays and treasures beckoned!

Florilegium
The wall of fibers and yarns



Connie Eyberg rests her feet. And wallet.

The Case of Wondrous Things




Bead Wall
Even the checkout area was glorious!


********************************************
On Saturday, Lisa Boni conducted two well attended and very popular classes. The first one was on Intermediate Embroidery - expanding basic seam stitches into layered designs. She showed us her linen sampler - a band sampler arranged first by stitch, then by motifs or other themes.  Naturally, it is a work in process, but it was great fuel for our own ideas.


We didn’t really get many pictures of the classes 
themselves (most of us were IN them), but here is proof 
that we DID stitch on our projects during the retreat!! (below)


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CRAZY GIFT EXCHANGE

Everyone was asked to bring a gift in the value range of $15-30. To play this game, everyone got a number (1-26). Person #1 started by picking a wrapped gift from the table.  When it was person #2’s turn, they could pick another gift from the table OR steal #1’s gift away, forcing person #1 to have to pick another gift. A gift could only be stolen twice. The third owner of the gift was the permanent owner, and the gift was out of play.

Here are the ladies, sitting around, anxiously waiting to begin. However, because Lori King so generously brought a box of used books and magazines on CQ, silk ribbon embroidery, ribbon embroidery, and regular quilting, there was enough for everyone to have one. To make it fair, we began in reverse order, with person #26, and each lady had about 30 seconds to come up and look at the books and select her free book.  It got us pumped up and ready to play!!


Here is the gift table before play began. You can see Connie and Lori B in the background
looking at their newly-acquired books.  :-)
It would be impossible to describe the ups and downs of the game, so let’s just share some fun pictures of the ladies, the prizes and let you decide how much fun we had!

Beth Pile and Wilma Van Wagensvelt
Karen Guthrie and her mahhhvelous CQ vest
HA! We even got Lori Burgesser on camera!!
Beth again, thrilled with the Under the Sea pincushion made by Lisa Boni

At every retreat that Lauri Burgesser attends, she brings an incredible hand-made CQ bear. It is THE prize that everyone wants. You’ll see close-up pictures later on and you can see why.

Gerry holds the bear
Sandy Larson is inspecting treasure!
Joyce Robertson gets to hold the bear for awhile
Lori looks on as someone else holds the bear. Wonder what she is thinking???
Wilma opens a cute tiny pincushion gift
Susan Jarosz and Colleen Anderson are probably day dreaming about the bear!
Kristie Watson opened this awesome pumpkin made by Gayle Schipper
and she decided right there and then that NO ONE was going to take it from her.

So, it became her baby. Her “unborn” baby, LOL!!!
Tahlia Holt was very serious when it came her time to pick


Donna found gold. Or pink, that is. An amazing box of things that
Connie Kalina had dyed pink with....wait for it.... AVOCADOS!!
The Pink Lusciousness and some hand-made buttons by Connie Kalina
Darlene got a cute CQ-ed wrapped hanger!!
Close-up of hanger. Would you hang something on it and cover up all that beauty??
The 2014 Bear by Lauri Burgesser

Side view

We displayed all the gifts after everyone had opened them.
A great covered tin
A clever and handy armchair caddy
Karen Guthrie made this lovely covered tin that was won by Cathy 
Eye Candy and Brazillion Embroidery threads and instructions
What a cute CQ teacup pin cushion
Connie Eyeburg’s dainty stitching is unmistakable in this beautiful heart
Liz won this awesome purse stitched by Colleen Anderson
Carol Kramer won the autumn pillow.

*****************************

And after the games, the classes, the shopping trips, Show and Tell, laughter, snacks, friendship and sharing, it was time for one final thing, the Group Photo. After being cloudy and rainy for three days, the sun came out on Saturday.  So, we all headed to the gazebo and were arranged in position. But Connie and Connie photo-bombed us!!!!

Connie Eyberg and Connie Kalina.
Good Connie and Bad Connie (just kidding!) - We love them both!

After realizing we had too many faces in shade on the gazebo, we moved to the stairs for the picture. Lauri Burgesser shows her technicolor coat (amazing, isn’t it?)  Notice everyone pointing at her?? She is shy and we were trying to tease her.





And then it was over and we all traveled our separate ways, homeward bound.  We hope we can meet again next year.  And that YOU are able to join us.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
Final Giveaway Announcement

Today’s gift is a combination of two things that will bring joy to any red-blooded crazy quilter!
Thearica of Crazy Quilting Supplies  has a wonderful set of three zipper cases for storing crazy quilt embellishments in (for travel, or just to organize yourself).  Other ladies who won these at the Retreat were thrilled with theirs.  We are sorry we do not have a picture, but trust me that these are delightful!

AND, to top it off, Gerry Hookstra of Sewing Southpaw has put together a giftie of CQ goodies to fill them with!   

One winner will be chosen, and the respective gifts will be sent from these two lovely donors.  To enter, just leave a comment on this blog post by Sunday evening, October 5 (Mountain Standard Time).  We will draw the winner on Monday morning and announce the winner at that time.

35 comments:

Momma Bear said...

what fun you all had!

Melody said...

Wow what great gifts were brought and exchanged, and treats shared! Beautiful Store you had to shop in. There is nothing here in my area like that!!

Marilyn said...

Such fun you all had. And so much fun to see the pix of the retreat

Bren said...

That would be my dream get-away. Lovely town, lovely CQ'ers. Thanks for showing us what it was like.

Linda H said...

Looks like a great time was had by all. I'd love to join you... some year... I dream of getting to Florilegium sometime... it looks like stitcher's heaven...

Betty said...

It looks like everyone had a wonderful time. It is so nice to work with like minded people even if everyone is working on something different.

Sandra said...

Parece-me que foi um dia maravilhoso !!!! Parabéns a todas. Os trabalhos são lindos....
Sandra - Brasil

Juli said...

Oh that shop looked yummy! A CQ'ers dream for sure.

Unknown said...

I bet you girls all thought you had died and gone to some collective Heaven! Such a wonderful time had by all. Viv at edvigar@bigpond.com

Anonymous said...

Great picture and everyone looks so happy, but I'm confused here. I see Wilma, Cathy K, and Gerry H sitting together in the bottom row; but the caption doesn't reflect that.

Cris in MT
ruckmanc at yahoo dot com

Pippas quilts said...

Wow what a great time you all had. Love to win one of the gifts.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Reading the posts about the retreat, and seeing all the happy faces, makes me wish I lived close enough to come and play too! Alas there is nothing the least bit like this in my area. And that wonderful store - oooh - I would think I had died and gone to heaven to visit such a place!!

NickiLee said...

Thank you for sharing your adventure with all of us. I would have had a hard time giving up anyone of those gifts - all the ladies did a fabulous job creating them!

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

The retreat was in a quaint little town and the inside of the shop was so perfectly designed. You could spend all day in a shop like that!

Thanks for all the pics. YOu all must have had a great time...you certainly looked like you did!

Josie said...

I am drooling just looking at these beautiful pics!!! What a wonderful retreat!!! So sorry I had to miss it!!
Josie in Texas

floozina said...

Wow, what a great lot of fun you all had. I think you should plan one of these get-togethers in Australia so we Down-underers get to join in. And now I think I might have to check out Florilegium online....

kerrykatiecakes2 said...

Wonderful, wonderful photos! What a great time you all had! Love the bear too - beautiful work Lauri!

Beth N in AZ said...

I would so love to meet the ladies whose work I drool over, admire and envy from afar. It looked like a wonderful time in a terrific setting

Amy in LA said...

I have officially told my husband that this would be my all-time favorite dream retreat! Even he was impressed with the pictures. Thanks so much for sharing them with us, I know it is a lot of work to do so!
Amy in LA

aesp said...

I will be there with you one of these days!

Ann

shirleyanne said...

WOW! What a great display of many hours of hand work, I LOVE the bear, tins, purse, - all of them were works of art. And the places you went to to shop, talk about a treasure trove, thanks again for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing what looks to have been a wonderful time for all. HIDDY

Renee said...

Congratulations, Donna! Cathy, it was so sweet of you to offer a gift certificate. Thearica and Gerry are very sweet too! Your photos are fabulous. What a wonderful gift exchange. I told my hubby I would like to visit Weston, MO. I don't think he was nearly as excited about visiting the lovely shop you all explored as I was....

gocrazywithme said...

I know how much fun these retreats can be. Glad you all had a good time!

Diane said...

Love seeing all the happy faces, and the beautiful work.

Margreet said...

How I loved to see you all together!! Loved to see your wonderful swap. And most of all loved to see you are doing so fine together it is an example for the world.

sewok said...

Oh it looks like so much fun was had by all. I would love to visit the show and spend hours there. It was neat to see faces to go with names I have learned since starting Cq'ing. Would love to be able to do this with all of you sometime. Phyllis

Shari said...

There were certainly some awesome pieces exchanges this year! Lots of fun was had by all it seems. THanks for tkaing so many great photos so we could feel a part of it in some small way.

Bonnie H said...

Oh, I wish I could attend. Looks like so much fun and great memories.

Debbie said...

More great eye candy. So many fun photos! Thanks, Cathy. And, thanks Thearica and Gerry for the giveaway!

Arlene White said...

Oh my I would want the bear too...

What great fun to have been there, one day....

Arlene

Unknown said...

THIS RETREAT was awesome. Anyone who can go should. I Loved meeting everyone and learning all kinds of interesting hints, techniques, and new faces to go with the names I have come to know so well. I know I drove everyone a little crazy (I can talk all day if you let me.) chattering a lot. I like to talk when I'm happy. It was awesome and everyone who made stuff for us all - thank you!

Candy L. - Cape Town said...

Thanks for sharing your wonderful adventure with us. The gift exchange looked like a lot of fun! And the shopping, I could spend all day in a shop like that!

Connie Eyberg Originals said...

This was my first retreat and even if it hadn't been I'm sure it would have been my favorite. It was just wonderful meeting and sharing ideas with so many talented and sweet ladies. They really made me feel welcome...even the 'bad' Connie was nice. Thanks for letting me join in the fun!

Grandma said...

My friend and I will be going to this retreat for the first time this year! I am blown away by all that you do in such a short time! I am sooo excited!