Ups and Downs, Part 2

Now for the retreat, a definite Thumbs Up!  The retreat was the Primitive NeedleArts Primer put on by Hobby House and Lisa K. of Prims on Greenway.  I had met Lisa previously at retreats in Memphis and Asheville and I knew anything she was involved in would be great.   She did not disappoint.

This is our swag basket!   Two thumbs up!  A beautiful Amish made basket that anyone would be thrilled to have.   And it was filled with goodies.   Personalized name tag, two different Make-it/Take-it kits -(one a notebook and the other a needlebook), a complete kit from Stacy Nash, a pin pillow with scissors and more.   

Finished sample of the needlebook

Oh I do wish I had taken a picture of the table-scaping in the stitching room.   Lisa K. had made flowers out of prim fabrics and twigs.  Each table had, as a centerpiece, a mason jar filled with chocolates that surrounded the flower stems.    Each was decorated with a prim bow and a card with a needle.   They were set atop vintage embroidered dresser scarves that had vintage buttons laid across them.  She had taped a penny to the bottom of one of the chairs and the person seated there got the centerpiece at the end of the retreat.   It is that attention to the little things that makes Lisa K. so special.

I did manage this photo of the fountain out front.

I took these one morning when I needed a break from sitting all hunched over the table for so long.

Oh, and I promise I had nothing to do with this.  Alarms went off, we were all evacuated and fire trucks arrived and the fireman were in the building.   Not once, but twice.  I never did hear what the problem was.  

My first class was with Beth Seal of Summer House.  Always a treat.  We got this sweet fall sampler all kitted up and made the strawberries filled with emory during the class.  I am really finding a lot of small samplers I like.   Probably because they seem doable in my lifetime!

Don’t you just love when the designer adds a ‘legend’ tag with names and symbols for the chart to your floss ring?

Beth’s samples

My next class was not originally on my schedule but I am so very glad I checked for openings.   It was with Lianne van Leyen  of 1897 Schoolhouse Designs.   OMGosh!!!   This was the most enlightening, motivational, stitch worthy, positive class ever.   We did not stitch one stitch, rather Lianne, an awesome public speaker, took us down a trail of her stories, our stories, introspective ideas, and a knowledge about the samplers she brought to share.  Share?   Well I am still amazed at what she did.   She had a collection of at least a dozen, unframed, unmounted, just kind-of-there-samplers that she passed around for us to touch, turn over, look at under magnification.  Some were over 200 years old.  All the while she was speaking and telling us things to notice and look for when a particular samplers came our way.  Some had to be recirculated a time or two because as she spoke and we become more knowledgable at what we were looking for, needed a second look.     A really up close and personal interaction with samplers.

 And of course, Lianne was in her period costume which added to the experience. 

She provided us with this free chart as well.   No color key provided.  Up to the stitcher to decide the color ways.   Always interesting to see the different interpretations.

Original above; idea on how to change below.

This is one of the samplers she passed around for us to examine.

Front and back of Emma Kerridge sampler

Here are samples of the reverse glass painting.   It was supposed to be part of our class but there was an issue with using the paints (actually India Ink) in the conference rooms.   Besides, Lianne talked for over 3 hours.   There would have been no time for doing this!

Above is the kitted sampler from the class and below is a leaflet on reverse painting that Lianne discussed.

My third class was with Maggie Bonanomi.   We got a lovely fall piece and learned a trick or two along the way.   Once everything is cut out, I think this will be a quick piece to stitch up.

Can you believe this is all I bought?   I recently saw Sarah Fletcher 1841 finished and was taken by her colors and her size.    I got the Prim Pillows pattern from Under the Woolen Willow at the merchandise mall.   Lastly, the Asenath Ferre’s Sampler was a purchase from the Ontario County Historic Society.   You know how it is when you go into a store and feel like you have to buy something?   I was intrigued by the spacing and the style of the letters at the top not to mention the small size.

This is the first time I neglected to take actual retreat pictures of the merchandise tables, the retreat room itself and only a few of the venue.    It must have been being caught up seeing friends that you only see at these retreats.  Or quite possibly too much enjoying the chatting in the evenings. 

 Or hanging with friends on another night.

  Funny story here.  So you know the people you follow on Instagram all year.   I have followed someone on InstaGram and she has followed me back for several years.   Well you know that we often don’t have our names out there but rather a ‘handle’ to go back to CB radio days….oh I do digress with that one!    Anyway, it wasn’t until I saw this BoonsBoro person post something and I was like, hmm, girl at my table it stitching that, hmm, she has the same stitching mat, hmm…..OMGosh, BoonsBoro is my friend Lisa that I only see once, or twice if I am lucky, a year.   She knew who I was on IG but I didn’t know it was her.   OMGosh!  Things like this make me feel like I am one step closer to being locked up for my own protection.  

I took the Red Bird Sampler with me to work on and I think I put in 12 stitches.  This should have been done weeks ago.   I just haven’t been stitching much.   Lucky for me that my October WIPGO is to work on a WIP and worked on a class piece.    

So a big thumbs down and thumbs up at the same time.  Let me back up a little.  Before I drove to NY, I got my oil changed, tires rotated, etc.  The Service Desk Rep came out and said I am not sure why your car is not done, I’m going to track down your technician.  Out she comes and says the car is on the lift and he is working on the alignment.   Another 45 minutes pass and she says she is going to go ask again.   When I see her again she has a handful of paperwork so I think I am done.  When she starts with, we are getting a loaner car ready for you, I didn’t know what to expect.    Turns out something on my rear axle, not the axle itself, was broken and they wouldn’t even let me drive it home.   They said I probably hit a bad pothole and snapped the part.   Just ask Mr. W.,  he says I aim for pot holes.   Oh boy, something I didn’t expect.  What are you going to do?   We need our cars.  The occasional repair cost is better than a car payment.    Thank goodness the technician was diligent.   I am just glad I went to the dealership and not Jiffy Lube.   Nothing bad on Jiffy Lube but I would not have had my tires rotated and re-aligned and the missing/broken piece would not have been found.  Yeah Subaru!  I am on the road too much and I need to feel safe in my car!

I have managed to be outside and prune and tidy up the yard a little more for the winter.   I’ve been able to enjoy a few lunches at the picnic table.   Trust me, I am well aware I find things to do in the yard as an excuse to be outside all day.   Upside, I am loving it; downside, less stitching time.  

One more Up and Down Update for my trip to Corning Glass Museum on the return trip……not sure when I will get it posted.   So many pictures to choose from.

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching…..I sure hope to find some stitchy time this afternoon after cleaning and laundry!

Ups and Downs, Part 1

For October, imagine this, I had another stitching retreat.  Up and down the east coast I went.  All I can say is that retirement is great!

So, let me share a downer with you with an ongoing issue we are having that is really getting on my last nerve.   We had an addition added to our house about 22 years ago.  This 16 x 20 room is where I spend almost all my indoor time.   A sunroom with windows all around.  It is where I stitch, where I watch TV,  where my desk is, where I watch the seasons change, etc.    We have had isolated tripping of the circuit breaker over the last 15 years, maybe once a year.   Since August it has progressed to a continual tripping and escalated to now it cannot even be reset.   I am on a first name basis with the electrician and all his staff.   They have tested every outlet, tested every switch, tested every thing plugged in, tested the outside GFI’s, been under the house, tested the draw on the breaker, replaced the 20 amp breaker with a new 20 amp, replaced the new 20 amp with 2 new 10 amp breakers and are scratching their heads.   Mr. Gloom and Doom, aka Mr. W, is freaking out that the whole house will need to be rewired (?).  Chill Geoffrey!  So for the last 4 weeks  I have dealt with heavy duty extension cords running from the living room and dining room into my sunroom.  Slowing the diagnosis has been all the rain and water in the crawl space.  Why not just avoid this room….well this is where the TV is, the internet comes in and where I stitch…..so a work around with extension cords.    I know that this is not the end of the world and almost everyone else has far worse issues but furniture pulled out and extension cords are starting to really get on my last nerve.  Ok, venting done.

On the upbeat, I was at Hobby House the first week of October.   You know, last fall when that retreat was posted and it was the only thing on my 2023 stitching calendar and then somehow, 2023 was filled with fun things to do.   I have a foreboding for 2024……the stitching calendar already had at least a half dozen events on it!  Yikes!   All I can say to defend myself is the words of my elderly friend Roxanna….she says, “do it while you can because there will come a time when you can’t”.  Besides, haters gonna hate regardless.

On the way to the Woodcliff in Fairport, we stopped at Corning Glass Museum in Corning NY.

  We made our own glass pumpkins.    It is filled entirely with my hot air!  

So glad I took pictures of the entrance area.  When we stopped back on Sunday to pick up our pumpkins, this was all gone!   Guess they are getting ready for Christmas decorating.  

I kind of thought the buildings were drab……. 

Set in the ‘bowl’ of a valley, beautiful views

Once I realized the studio had glass block wall construction, I looked around and saw what I originally thought another dull building, I now recognized as a modern spin of a barn

Wednesday morning found us heading south from our hotel in Fairport to Canadaigua, NY.   When visiting Hobby House in July we toured the Sonnenburg Mansion and Gardens.  Spotting information in the Billiard Room about the samplers that used to hang there, we found they were now housed in the Ontario County Historical Society.   We contacted the curator and arranged to make a visit on our next trip to the area.  If want to do the same, you need to reach out two weeks prior to your visit to find out if a tour is possible.  

This private tour did not disappoint.   Wilma T., of the museum, was so accommodating and so very knowledgeable.   She had pulled samplers from their archives and we spent a couple of hours gasping at the treasures.   Stacy had reached out to Beth Seal of Summer House and Beth hit the road at 5 a.m. in order to be at the museum by 10 a.m. and join Stacy and I.  It was an interesting spin to have Beth with us with her knowledge of samplers and things she could pick out that I, a mere lay person, would not.   

All the samplers in the collection are from local families or have tied to local families.   I love the tree in this sampler.    This is  Cornelia Ann Swan, 1829, age 10.

Full of queen stitches

Beth knew immediately this was a Dutch sampler.  She saw the ship, the windmill and the Dutch people.  The maker was E. Focken who was probably from Germany or The Netherlands.  It is silk on linen, dated 1776-1777.   This was part of the collection of Mary Thompson Clark of Sonnenburg.   She most likely bought it on her many trips to Europe.  

This is another Dutch sampler, maker unknown.   The stag is a common Dutch motif.  Also on loan from Sonnenburg.

This was ever-so delicate.   

The initials are for family members

This is Eleanor Barnard, dated 1790.  It is silk on linen.  On loan from Sonnenburg. 

This is Catherine Andres, dated 1797.  Typical Dutch spot motif.  

Crown on mid left each indicate a different level of royalty.

Minerva Pecks, 1829, age 10

Katherine Sornborger, 1780

The original in the left and reproduction on the right.

Matilda Gould, 1823, linen and wool

Maria Millington, unfinished and undated.

Jane Rollings, 1821

This one caused gasps around the table.  Things to note - top center, the blue bird with the banner, “The World”.    Created to Helen Wilder Bates, no date.    Embroidery on white silk.

It was so vibrant.

Australia is identified as “New Holland”.  

This is Elizabeth Stansbury, dates 1829

I really thought is was interesting how she top stitched the mortar for the bricks in the house.  

This is Eliza Jane Wilson, dated 1835.   The original top, reproduction bottom

Maker unknown, late 18th/early 19th century.

Agnes Bruce, thought to be wool on hemp.  Mid 19th century.

And there were many more we got to see.  Then we got to go into the archives!  

Look at the coverlets!  The National Coverlet Museum in Bedford PA is already on my list to visit. 

The samplers not currently in circulation!

Quilts!

All this and the Retreat hasn’t even started!    More to come.  In the meantime keep on stitching!