Stuff

After nearly a week in Arizona, we headed back home.  Good-bye palm trees and warm weather.  DH warned me that it had snowed at home.

I have enough stuff to keep me busy for quite a while.  I have four class kits to finish and 5 other kits that I bought.  That doesn't even count what I bought at The Attic!  

I was expecting that I would get a new lesson for Mermaid's Treasures too.  One day after I got back, yep, a new lesson.  Actually we got two new parts: how to make the mirror and putting the first section of the mirror frame together.

It was interesting to make the mirror.  It looks like an old mirror when you get done.  Cool.

Then putting the frame together made all that work worth it just to see it finished.  Cool.

There isn't much left now.  I have been working on finishing up the stitching on the last section of the mirror frame. 

 I think I can get all of it done today.  I have to say, I hate working with the metallic cord that is the cloud of wind.  It is so small and keeps unthreading itself from the needle.  

Very frustrating.  It doesn't lay nicely and it likes to slip behind the linen.  But luckily there isn't much left to go.  I'm almost caught up.  Yeah!

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Class Four

Our last class was held on Monday, which was Veteran's Day.  Now sometimes I sign up for a class just because I'm already there and I might as well.  I may not be crazy about the project but I know that most projects look much better in person.  So I signed up for The Secret Garden without liking it that much.  I thought maybe I would change it up.  I was pleasantly surprised by this project.  It has four pockets.

  The design was influenced by Hampton Court.  I actually intend on making this.  However I have yet to take a single stitch in the main piece.  I made the little scissors fob.  Cute!

And I made the tree, a little weird.

There is a ton of floss in the kit.

Jackie says it is simple to put together and I believe it.  By this point in the retreat I was feeling overwhelmed with the kits and information we had gotten in the previous three days.  I spent some of the class working on one of the Ebony and Ivory pieces.
My BFF is very friendly.  She invited everybody at our table to go to dinner with us.  We are meeting a friend that we first met in Tulsa at the Silver Needle Retreat for dinner.  There are a total of 7 of us.
But first we have a mission.  Paola was asked by a friend for some snowflake charms.  Since there was a JoAnn's in the mall behind the hotel, we decided to look there before going to dinner at Famous Dave's.  We forgot that this was a semi-holiday.  JoAnn's had a special coupon for 60% off that day and there were a ton of people shopping.  The line for having fabric cut was huge.  It was fun just looking around.  We never did find the exact snowflake charms but hopefully the friend could use the ones we found.  I was walking by an abandoned shopping cart and was scared by this dish that was in the cart.  The hand comes up when someone walks near it.  It scared the you-know-what out of me.

Then we all went to Famous Dave's.  What we didn't realize was that Famous Dave was offering free meals to veterans.  There was a ton of people there.  Surprisingly we didn't have to wait that long for a table.  I had never been to this chain of restaurants.  You sit at a long table that has at least four different BBQ sauces and a roll of paper towels on it.  I was very happy to find grilled salmon on the menu.  The place was really loud.
We were sad to say good-bye to everybody.  But we had a really fun time.
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Things I Forgot and Class Three

There are some things I forgot to tell you about the Class Two Day.  I'm good.  I get up at 5:00 a.m. (this is 7 a.m. my time) and mess around for an hour until 6:00 and then go walking at the strip mall that is right behind the hotel.  It is dark for the first half hour but then the sun comes up.  It is interesting to see all the stores in the mall.  Two places are busy even at this hour, Walmart and the 24 Hour Fitness Place.  I walk all five mornings that I am here.
 The Attic had a light dinner at their shop for all the retreat attendees.  So we headed over there after class but made two stops along the way.  There is a small quilt shop called Cabbage Rose.  They have all fabrics that I like!  It was fun to browse there.  I got a few fabrics that will be good to finish stuff and a kit to make a small purse.

Then there was a bead shop that we saw the other day that we wanted to shop at.  We were still looking for that rare kind of turquoise.  We had the former president of the EGA riding with us and she wanted to shop there too.  I got some very small multi-colored pearls.  I saw some on a Forget Me Nots in Stitches project a few years ago and wanted to try them on a project sometime.

So then we finally get to The Attic.  We shop for a few minutes when BFF tells us that there are 50 more people here than they were expecting and there's not enough food.  I think she is just teasing, but, no, she's right.  We are among the last to arrive and it is slim pickings food wise but we manage.  We shop a little more.  The Attic got in a chart that I was looking for just today so luckily I get one.  I also got the flosses I had forgotten the first time we were there.   I meet a lady who follows my blog.  It is always a treat to meet readers and know that someone enjoys what I write and stitch.  This person was with Amy Mitten when she bought the shell that she used as a pattern for the Mermaid Treasures shell.  What a small world!

Paola was in our class today!  I met her at Squirrel's Nest retreat last year.  She showed us some of the things she has stitched.  Oh, my.  What beautiful things she has done!  She had her completed(!) Along the River James.  Gorgeous.  She also has done Mistress L's Band Sampler.

That is on my wish list. Fabulous.  I also met Grace from the UK.  She is a blog reader and I got to see her Along the River James.  She shows me just how those pockets are finished.

 Jody from Minnesota was there (as were several other people I know from MN).  She had on this fabulous top that was cross stitched.  She got it from J Jill.  I promptly went to my handy dandy IPad and ordered one!  It is always great to see what other stitchers have and then be a copycat and get one too.  (It came in the mail yesterday and I love it)

Class Three - Ebony and Ivory
I was in a quandary.  Do I get the extra kit for the cylindrical holder and ort container?
I wasn't going to.  I already spent too much money.  But it is the last time Jackie is going to teach this class.  The ort container alone is great.  How can I resist?  I think about it overnight.  I decide that yes, I'll get it.
I have all the pre-stitching done.  Maybe I can finish something during class.  Again I am stymied by not having the right tools.  I work on the laying tool holder.  I made sure to bring my scallop scissors so I could finish it.  Cool, I finally finish something.

  Then I decide that I must work on that cute ort container.  This is how it looks all closed up:

This is how it looks open.

Yeah, I did it!
I worked on the needlebook but am not satisfied with how the ribbon on the edge looks.  I'm going to try redoing it.

I still didn't get as much done as I would have liked but I sure had fun today.
We go out to dinner at Bass Pro Shop with Paola and Stasi.  The restaurant is good - I am able to get grilled salmon.  Our waitress is from Australia or New Zealand.  Nobody in Arizona is from Arizona.
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Class Two

It is now time for Class number two, The UnPlayed Piano.  This is a fascinating project.  The president of the EGA (Embroidery Guild of America) asked Jackie to reproduce an antique etui in their collection.  It was a leather piano.

Once I saw this I understood the design that Jackie was going after.  Then we discovered the former president of the EGA was actually sitting with us at our table.  Wow.

We started out working on the last of the stitching which was the two circles on the front of the piano.  They are done in detached buttonhole.  I didn't have a lot of luck with that stitch when I was doing the Trevelyon purse.  But doing these stitches this time worked out much better.  I thought the magnets would go into the circles but they get attached in the inside to the back of the circles.  I would have liked to get more done in class but I really spent the entire time working on those circles.  I needed some tools from home to actually start putting it together.  So now the stitching is done and I can start the finishing.  But I haven't had a chance yet.  I was happy to find out that the bunnies that I stitched on the sides will fit okay as will the flower.  I'm wondering if I can add the legs on the front.  I think I can.

You can see Jackie holding the UnPlayed Piano in this week's The Attic newsletter.  I'm in three of the photos too.

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The Retreat Begins

The hotel we stayed at is very nice.  I walked in the room and thought, I could live here (for a week).  My room looked out onto the swimming pool.  It was also the place where people went to smoke.  I wanted to at least dip my feet in the pool but I never did.  Maybe I'll have to go back!

This morning we want to go shopping at The Attic.  But first we have to find the Attic.  We went off the direction we thought it was.  We passed a gravel pit.  Then we passed an Indian Reservation.  Maybe we aren't going the right direction.  U-turn time.  We drove but didn't see any of the streets on our map.  Then finally we spotted a street that was on the map.  Oh, we are at the very top of our map.  Okay now we are cooking with gas.  We saw a Safeway grocery store and stopped to get a few things to have at the hotel like cookies, crackers and water.  You have to drink a lot of water here since the air is so dry.  We are still looking for The Attic.  We drive until we think we have driven too far.  U-turn time.  We finally arrive at The Attic.  Oh joy!

The Attic is a very nice store with many samplers on the walls.

I love all the stitched pieces in the cabinets.  It is great to see what things look like all stitched up.

I have a list of things I need.  Can I find the list?  No.  So I rely on memory to get some flosses that I need.  They have the Bijoux thread I was looking for.  There are several tables where you can sit and stitch.  When I check out I have way more stuff than I was planning on.  Maybe I won't go to that symposium in January.
It is always a treat to shop at a good cross stitch store.
I got a pair of readers that you can stitch a couple of flowers in the corners.  Cool.

I splurged and got the box and pattern to Grandmother's Button box.

I got some 50 count linen to try.  Am I crazy?!?  Of course, if you buy the linen you have to get the special silk, special needle and special needle threader.

I am such a lucky duck.

We drive through a Carl's Jr. for lunch on the way back to the hotel.  The diet is not going well at all.
We get back to the hotel just in time for the start of the first class.  We are so excited.  This is the Attic Sampler class.

 I am wearing my crazy shoes.  I've decided to always wear them at retreats I go to.

Jackie has brought lots of kits for us to buy if we want.  Be still my heart.  I already spent too much at The Attic, now more temptation.  I buy like five kits.  Oh dear.  Then a friend asks me if I want this special kit Jackie brought for her and she has decided she doesn't want it.  It is a wooden basket with smalls patterns in it.  Of course I do.

We work on the kit in class.  I feel so competitive.  I want to keep up with another stitcher.  It is a good thing I stitch at home by myself.  It just must be my nature to compete.  This is how much I gotten done (as of last night):

We break for dinner.  All of the meals during the classes are included.  And they are good.  This is a nice hotel.
What a fun day!  Shopping and stitching.
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Sedona

On a side note, there is a lot of heavy equipment at my house today.  The big oak tree in our back yard is being removed.  It is fascinating to see how they do it.  They have at least six people and 4 trucks here.  One guy is high up in the air cutting and a bunch of guys are taking care of the stuff that is cut.  I'm a bit sad to see the old oak go as it has been here since before we built this house 35 years ago.

Okay back to my trip.  We got up early and went down for breakfast at the hotel.  Everyone at breakfast was over 70, well, except for BFF and me.  Then on to Sedona.  The drive there was so interesting as I have never seen this kind of terrain.  Very red rocks, mountains and cacti.  There are lots of shops for tourists in Sedona.  BFF was looking for different kinds of turquoise and other gems.  She is very knowledgeable about rocks and gems.  We were looking for Dry River (creek?) turquoise and it seems to be rare.  I found a sucker to take back to Dylan.

 He will love it, it has a scorpion in it!  Will he be brave enough to eat it?  I know he will like showing the other kids.  There was a shop with tee shirts dyed with the red rocks.  I would have liked to get one but they all seem to have sayings on them that were too suggestive.  We stopped to have a drink at a place where you could sit out on the patio and gaze at the great view.

 I had a (virgin) pina colada.  Yum!

We got a map from a tourist place and decided to go see the cathedral.  It is the sight of a vortex so we had to check that out.   Here is the cathedral from the front.

 It is a small chapel.  I found it to be very quiet.

 You can look down from the chapel to an amazing house.  The rumor was that it was Nicholas Cage's house.  But BFF and I looked it up on google and it belongs to a  Romanian doctor who invented a procedure connected to lasik surgery.

We went looking for the airport vortex but kind of got lost.  We ended up in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road with no outlet.  So forget that.  U-turn time.  We saw a lot of nice scenery.
On to Jerome to see if they have any dry river (creek?) turquoise.  Jerome is up in the side of a mountain, a one time ghost town said to be haunted.  It was a slightly scary drive up there as there are some hairpin turns and steep terrain.  Everybody in Jerome is a character and from somewhere else.  We went to a few little stores.  We saw a very interesting quilt.

Then it was on to the quilt shop we were looking for yesterday.  It was a bit of a disappointment but I got some old hankies there.

Now to go back to Phoenix as the retreat starts tomorrow afternoon.  The hotel was so hard to find. Phoenix is a very big place.  The GPS didn't recognize the address of the hotel so we had to rely on BFF's memory and road signs.  It was dark and the traffic was awful.  Where are all these people going!?  Many lanes of fast traffic.  A couple of u-turns and we finally made it to the hotel.  Yeah!
Tomorrow we are going shopping at The Attic!
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I'm Back

I got home late last night.  I almost don't know where to begin to tell you about my trip.  We had a very full week and had a wonderful time.
I guess I'll just start at the beginning.  I left early in the morning to go to Minnesota to meet my BFF.  We got to Arizona without a problem in the early afternoon.
Here are the "bugs" in the floor of the airport.

We took the car rental shuttle over to rent a car.  Why do I always get the "similar" car and not the one they show a picture of on their website??  I wanted a car like the one I drive but we got a different one.  BFF drives a lot for her work so she was the best one to be behind the wheel anyway.  Our goal today is to get to Cottonwood, Arizona.  We had the help of a GPS (thank goodness!).
One of our guilty pleasures is a Pizza Hut personal pan pizza.  So we looked for one along our way.  We saw a sign for one but had a hard time locating it in the strip mall.  We stopped to ask several people where it was.  The reply we got was the same, " I don't know.  We're not from here".  I don't think anyone is really from Arizona, they've all come just lately.  We finally found it.  I think the actual restaurants have better pizza than the just take-out Pizza Huts.  But I've blown my diet right off the bat.
On the trip to Cottonwood, the scenery is amazing.  Mountains, rocks, cacti, clear skies.  I had no idea that much of Arizona is at a high elevation.  The car struggled at times because of the elevation.  We saw a great sunset.

We wanted to go to a quilt shop in the area but by the time we got there it was getting late and dark. We couldn't find it anyway.  We only had to do a few u-turns today.  Travelling is exhausting.  We were really tired.  We're going shopping in Sedona tomorrow!
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