More Black Belt Stitching Wizard Stuff

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

First Annual Knowledge & Needles January Retreat

Early on in the fall Ann, owner of Knowledge and Needles decided  to host a new retreat for 2011.  She wanted to open up a retreat to a different group of stitchers, instead of the usual suspects you have seen in quite a few of my past retreat reports.  She set this one up first for her Friday Stitchers and then the remaining spots were opened up.  I of course e-mailed Ann back in September letting her know if there were any extra spots or drop outs that I would be happy to come.  The retreat took place at the usual spot, the Timberhouse Bed & Breakfast in Brighton.

Snowy, cold weather kept us inside stitching

I had met some of the Friday stitchers on past visits to Brighton, so I knew some of the ladies.  Also some of my good stitching friends were there, some of the usual suspects you have seen in the past on this blog.  This retreat, my roommate was Bonnie, we had the same room as we did back in November which was nice, we had a King Sized bed!!!  Boy did we stitch this weekend!  The weather really helped in this endeavour because it snowed and it was cold!  During the spring and fall retreats I always do my best to get out for a run each morning, now I am a fair weather runner, there is no way you're going to catch me out in the snow running!

I think at this point, I'm going to let the pictures do the talking!

The ladies chatting over Saturday morning breakfast

Ann & Sharon consulting over the DMC colour card

Sharon was pooped from stitching!  She couldn't make it in November I was so glad to see her this weekend.  She's moved further away so I dearly miss her!

The "stitching room" at Ann's set  up for lunch

Loot bags at our place settings

Chef Butthead aka "Dan" explaining Saturday's lunch menu

Ham, amazing potatoes and broccoli for lunch.  Ann made a great marmalade cake which I forgot to photograph

Saturday night I lit a bunch of candles for atmosphere and I got this awesome picture!

Ann (not Knowledge & Needles Ann) was so intent on her work this weekend!  Her enthusiasm was contagious!

Brenda was fairly new to the group and we had a few good chats

Judie checking out Fran's work

Wendy, I've not seen her in awhile either!

Clare intent on a happy dance this past weekend!  I love getting  to see Clare its just too bad she lives over 5 hours from me!

Back in September Bonnie showed up to our get together with a great stitching bag... well they're becoming popular... notice we're in alphabetical order?

So ladies, another fantastic retreat!  I can't wait for the next one in March at the tail end of March Break!  I'm coming back from Arizona just in time to attend!

So what did I get done this weekend?  Lots!


Art Deco Spirits - Air

The Accolade

21 comments:

Barbi said...

I always get so jealous when I see your retreat pictures! Love them. Those bags are fantastic!

Lesleyanne said...

Lovely pictures from your retreat. I am so jealous. Love those bags and your progress on your WIPs is gorgeous.

Christine said...

Your retreats always look such fun!
Great progress on your WIPs

Giovanna said...

Looks like you all had great fun! Air is shaping up very nicely indeed.

Lynn said...

Looks like everyone had a great time enjoying Ann's hospitality. Maybe I'll finally get there when I'm finished working!
Love those bags!!

riona said...

That's a fantastic amount of progress on your two large pieces ... I have noticed that being snowed in does seem to move the stitching along nicely ... I do believe with the weather we are having this winter, stitchers in northeastern US and southeastern Canada are going to get record amounts of stitching completed ... it should be interesting to see if the 2011 end-of-year summaries support the theory.

Sally said...

It looks like you all had a brilliant time! I am rather jealous! What a delightful setting for s stitching retreat.

Beautiful stitching too.

jayne@~an eye for threads~ said...

What fun to get together for a weekend and just stitch.
Be always in stitches.

Carol said...

Love the photo of you and your friends with those great bags, Dani! Everyone looks so contented to be stitching and chatting as the snow fell outside--very relaxing, I'm sure...

Alice said...

Eating, stitching and friends... that's the life! Beautiful stitching, tons of progress.

jane said...

Looks like you all had a great time, thanks for sharing!

Julie said...

Great progress on Art Deco, your retreats always look such fun

geeky Heather said...

Haha, I love the pic of the matching alphabetical bags!!

Oooo, Deco Spirits is getting soo close; very exciting!

Lisa said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend, and you made great progress on your wips.

Michelle said...

What a fun weekend this sounds like! And you got a lot of stitching done too!!

Anonymous said...

You may have been stuck inside, but what a view out the window.

Your stitching looks great. Glad you had such a good time.

mbroider said...

Love the retreat pics, as always!

Ann's intent pic is the best!

Lot of progress on your WIPs too...

Terri said...

Looks like fun. Maybe some day I'll go to one. Great stitching

Karen said...

It sounds like you had loads of fun at the retreat!

Bekca said...

Thank you for sharing these lovely pictures, I love the idea of stitchy loot bags on your place setting :) It looks like you had a great time, productive too!
Happy stitching.

Sonda said...

It looks like it was so much fun!!!! I have to wait until fall to go on a retreat. I'm so jealous.r