Count me Inspired 2010

Last Friday we left early in the morning for the Count me Inspired retreat organized by our LNS Inspired Needle in Lemont, IL. We met in Palos Park where we got all of our luggage in my car and drove together to Indiana. On route we had to stop at another shop: House of Stitches where we managed to leave some money and we were on our way with even more stash :-)

We arrived around 3 pm in Shipsewana, IN in the heart of Amish country and I was looking left and right as I had never seen them 'in the wild' :-) We stayed in a nice hotel and our stitching room was wonderful. Cathy, the owner of our shop had left some nice goodies on our tables and we started stitching and looking at what everyone else was working on. There were 34 ladies for this weekend and it was Cathy's first retreat and my oh my we were in for a treat! It was amazing, great fun, the location was fantastic, the food delicious! On Saturday morning we had a little project, a cute felt project on an antique thread spool. They all came out very nice. In the afternoon we went into town for a little shopping and see the Amish. On Saturday night we went out for dinner to the Blue Gate, an Amish restaurant and had some delicious food. Back to the hotel for more stitching and on Sunday we left after lunch for the drive back home.

It was such a relaxing weekend in the company of friends, chatting and stitching!

Also I met another stitching friend who I have known for years from different online groups and forums and it was so much fun to meet Adana in real life!

Ready for our trip! From left to right: Barb, Jayne, Laura, me and Linda. Pat is missing but she still had to work a few hours and would meet us in Shipsewana. Nancy and LindaM were driving there too. We missed Teresa and Patti who couldn't make it this weekend but we expect to all go together again next year. Just waiting for Cathy to announce the dates :-))))

Our group in action!
Barb and Linda working on the felt project.
We are enjoying looking at Barb's works in progress.
Pat on her iPad checking what's new out there and if we can add more to our stash! :-)
My finished felt project and on the left our gift from Cathy, Inspired Needle!!!
This is how I got home from our retreat! We were being silly and I jumped off from a stage and I hurt my foot. I managed to get around on Sunday, even drove home the 3 hours! On Monday I wanted to be sure it wasn't broken so I got x-rays taken and luckily it wasn't but I do have a ruptured ligament. I have to keep my foot up for 7 days, rest and ice!

Karin

What is in my stitching bag?

I thought I share with you my stitching bag and its contents..... of course a Vera Bradley
Inside my Ott-Lite's, my matching Vera Bradley's readers and little bag for my bits and pieces!

My WIP's! Above Blackbird Designs Anniversaries of the Heart.
Jennie Bean's Christmas Sampler by Shakespeare's Peddler.
Carriage House Samplings: Christmas Hawk Run of Hallow.
Mary Peacock by Needleprint
Our group project C Street Sampler Works 'Quaker Medallion".

I leave Friday for a stitching retreat organized by my LNS Inspired Needle to Indiana and a bag can't be without some stash. Just in case I am in the mood for something new.

I might be in the mood for some Christmas stitching...
or some Halloween stitching....
or another sampler kind of thing.....

Decisions, decisions! I do know I will have a great time! I am so fortunate to have the best friends here in Illinois and we are so excited to be going together for a few days and do what we do best.....stitch, chat and laugh! Barb, Laura, Jayne, Linda, Pat and Cathy...just 2 more nights!! We will miss Teresa and Patti but we promised to keep them in the loop via email, photos, You Tube and Skype :-)))))))

Karin

Time flies when you are having fun!

I received many comments that it was time to update my blog! ;-) I guess they were right.....4 months is a long time. But as they say time flies when you are having fun!

We went on a cruise to Jamaica and Grand Cayman and spend some time in Florida. Then Katrina and her husband visited us in Illinois.

Then of course the highlight in those non-blogging months was my trip to Utah in September for the Shepherd's Bush Retreat. A long time dream when I was still living in Europe and now it became reality since going there wasn't too much planning now I live in the Midwest!!! So Katrina and I met at the airport of Salt Lake City where my flight came in about 45 minutes earlier than hers so I already picked up the rental car. First we drove to the shop in Ogden and I was in heaven!! The shop was like I thought it would be and more! There was so much to see and I did some serious damage there. We also met up with our blogging friend Valeri and Danya, Vicky, Deb, Terri, Loraine and many more. Then it was off to Jill Rensel's Studio just a few blocks away. She is so nice and we were in total awe seeing all her framed work on display. Katrina and I left some pieces for her to frame. Actually I left more than a few.....9 to be precise. To my defense I had done a lot of small pieces :-)

Then it was time to drive up to Park City!

A beautiful view in Park City, UT
The resort we were staying in and were the retreat was held.
We made a button with our initial...
for this beautiful project bag we all got as a gift!
Some of the finishes I took to Jill Rensel to frame. Gilded Cage by Carriage House Samplings
Quaker Heart by SB
Her Tulip Garden and his :) by The Goode Huswife. I changed the dates on these to my mom and dad's year of birth. Unfortunately they are both not alive anymore but these designs are so sweet and as them both being Dutch it represents them as well with the tulips.

The days in Park City went by way too fast but it was an amazing time! The classes were lots of fun, to location amazing, Teri and Tina were fantastic hosts! The work they put into this with the help of their friendly staff and volunteers is outstanding! Most of all the friendship and camaraderie is the best memory! It was so wonderful to spend time with my stitching friends: of course my BFF Katrina (can you believe it...it has been 10 years already since we met in Belgium!!), Valerie, Natalia, Sara, Danya, Vicky, Judy and many many more! Thank you all so much for making my dream to go to this retreat even better!!

Karin