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
.... 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.
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....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!
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| 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!
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| Florilegium |
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| The wall of fibers and yarns |
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| Connie Eyberg rests her feet. And wallet. |
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| The Case of Wondrous Things |
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| Bead Wall |
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| Even the checkout area was glorious! |
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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)
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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!!
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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!
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| Beth Pile and Wilma Van Wagensvelt |
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| Karen Guthrie and her mahhhvelous CQ vest |
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| HA! We even got Lori Burgesser on camera!! |
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| 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.
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| Gerry holds the bear |
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| Sandy Larson is inspecting treasure! |
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| Joyce Robertson gets to hold the bear for awhile |
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| Lori looks on as someone else holds the bear. Wonder what she is thinking??? |
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| Wilma opens a cute tiny pincushion gift |
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| Susan Jarosz and Colleen Anderson are probably day dreaming about the bear! |
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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. |
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| So, it became her baby. Her “unborn” baby, LOL!!! |
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| Tahlia Holt was very serious when it came her time to pick |
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Donna found gold. Or pink, that is. An amazing box of things that
Connie Kalina had dyed pink with....wait for it.... AVOCADOS!! |
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| The Pink Lusciousness and some hand-made buttons by Connie Kalina |
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| Darlene got a cute CQ-ed wrapped hanger!! |
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| Close-up of hanger. Would you hang something on it and cover up all that beauty?? |
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| The 2014 Bear by Lauri Burgesser |
Side view
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| We displayed all the gifts after everyone had opened them. |
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| A great covered tin |
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| A clever and handy armchair caddy |
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| Karen Guthrie made this lovely covered tin that was won by Cathy |
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| Eye Candy and Brazillion Embroidery threads and instructions |
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| What a cute CQ teacup pin cushion |
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| Connie Eyeburg’s dainty stitching is unmistakable in this beautiful heart |
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| Liz won this awesome purse stitched by Colleen Anderson |
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| Carol Kramer won the autumn pillow. |
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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!!!!
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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.
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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.
