Retreat and Haul

I went to a retreat over the weekend in Louisville, KY and had great fun. It was hosted by Katrina of Crossed Threads and she has many throughout the year and you can request her to do a retreat for you or come to your retreat and set up her traveling shop.


Amy Bruecken was the designer in attendance and she was fabulous. She sat and talked with all the stitchers, told stories, and taught a class. We made the cutest Halloween hat that is meant to be a wine bottle cover but it can be used in any way to decorate for the holiday. We put the hat together and then you stitch the small piece and add it later. Be sure and check out her site and make some purchases. She has the cutest designs!

The purchases I made at the retreat:

Americana Series 4 and 5 by Little House Needleworks

Martha Pudsey 1835 by The Scarlett House

Fraktur Flowers by La-D-Da

Jamestown Santa of the Colonial Santas by Mill Hill

My friend Cindi stayed at my house on Thursday night so she wouldn't have so far to drive to the retreat on Friday and she brought me a gift. Stitch friends are just the best, aren't they?

There was a very nice stitcher that brought a large box of patterns and kits that she was giving away for free at the retreat and I felt a little greedy in all that I took but she said she wanted it all gone as it was not going home with her.

I got the set of 12 Santas by Heartstrings but didn't post all the pictures here since this post is quite picture heavy.

Update, Retreat, and Haul

Welcome everyone! It has been two weeks since I posted and so glad to be back to share some goodies with you.

I attended a retreat this past weekend and had a fabulous time. The retreat was held at Lake Cumberland and has been for the past 8 years and this was my second year attending. There was a group of 14 and it was so nice to sit and stitch, laugh, eat, and just have a relaxing weekend shared with other stitchers. We stayed at Pumpkin Creek Lodge, a cute smaller lodge separate from the main lodge. We had a large sitting area room with a fireplace, our stitching room, and a kitchen. The view from the balconies was of a marina with boats docked. It was even prettier at night all lit up. The weather was fantastic and we were able to open the window in the stitching room and have a nice breeze blowing through.

We ate at the main lodge restaurant a few times but went to Giovanni's pizza for lunch on Friday and then on Saturday afternoon we had a great treat by going to a place called Betty's. The food was amazing and the service was great. Our server really made our experience an enjoyable one but the food was some of the best southern cooking I have had in a while. Just a small taste of what was on the hot bar: Stuffed green peppers, salmon, fried catfish, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, carrots, corn, green beans, and the most fabulous looking desserts. We ate until we couldn't eat anymore and took dessert back to the lodge for later. There might also have been a couple of stops at a fudge place for goodies as well.


This is the Pumpkin Creek Lodge and the room to the left was our stitching room.

This is a picture of the main room as you go into the lodge.

I worked almost the entire time on 272 Words in hopes of finishing it, however, I ran out of one color and had to stop on Saturday afternoon. I only have a portion of the border to go and here is what it looks like now.

I worked on a Shepherds Bush stocking on Saturday evening but I failed to take a picture to post here.


I wanted to share a pic of my friend Denita with the project she was working on. The Rain Queen by Mirabilia and it is gorgeous. She was finished with the stitching and beaded on it during the retreat.

Nessie, the retreat organizer had some fabulous prizes that she gave away and I was lucky enough to win one. Isn't this basket fantastic?

I had requested the first two patters from Katrina at Crossed Threads to get at the Nashville Market so she had these for me at the retreat. Take a few minutes and check out Katrina's site, if you don't see what you are looking for, she can order for you. She also does many retreats throughout the year and they are all listed on the site as well. Not to mention she drives the Thread Box-a fabulous van that has specialty thread hanging on the walls. They are great fun and I would love to see you at one!

Peace by AuryTM, this is the third in the series. Joy and Faith are the other two and I have those started and just needed this to complete the trio.

Let Freedom Ring by Lila's Studio Isn't this fabulous! It will go perfect on my patriotic wall.

I tried hard not to look at all the goodies at the retreat as I planned on purchasing only those two patterns but my friend Denita came across this one and I had to have it.

I hope you are all having great fun stitching away this week and hopefully I will have a finish to show you next time!