Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Retreats are wonderful!

I spent 4 glorious days in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Now I never thought I ever say that about a city where the weather was over 100 every day and the humidity was at least 80% every day ... I mean I'm a Seattle girl complete with webbed toes *smile* ... but add dear friends, stitching, laughing, chocolate and coffee, shopping, meeting new friends, taking classes from Blackbird Design, fondling stash and hugs ... and well it makes even the hottest of days a bit more tolerable.

The retreat I attended was hosted by The Silver Needle. Karen and I flew in on the Wednesday before the retreat started. Neither of us had every been to Oklahoma and we knew we'd want to do a little sightseeing while we were there. First stop was our hotel ... really nice room.
this couch was really comfy for stitching ...


After getting settled in our room it was off to the grocery store for water, pop and chocolate. Back to the room before heading out to dinner. Back at our room we exchanged a few goodies we each had brought. Karen gave me this great Whitman's tin and the pattern but she also included a few other goodies ...
Inside was a pincushion she made, a bookmark, two blue skeins of floss and a pair of cute scissors.
Thursday morning we headed straight over to The Silver Needle ... we were both itching to see the shop. We were amazed at the shop ... it seems like there were shop models for about 60% of all the charts in the shop ... it really was quite amazing.
Mill Hill kits galore ...
and lovely over one pieces ...


lots and lots of Lizzie Kate ...
and a wall of fabric!
just a few Bent Creek's ...
and a smiling Karen ...

Yep I bought stash on my first visit and I bought stash again and again. I had a little too much fun in the shop. I don't have a big shop close to me so I was kinda like a kid in a candy store and oh it was sooooo much fun! lol I'll share those pictures later ...

After stash shopping we headed out to do a little antique shopping ... we headed to Jenks and after finding nothing at the first few shops we hit the mother load in the last two shops. Karen found two Ball jar lids, the iron, small molds and two glass frogs. My main goal was to find my first glass frog ... I can't seem to find them in Seattle anywhere! Well I found two :) I also found a green parfait class that hopefully will work for the base of one. I also found a pair of salt and pepper shakers and a glass box that I just feel in love with ...

I think I'll stop here ... there's more, lots more ... plus I know there's a lot of bloggers out there that are posting about the BBD retreat too ... don't want all you bloggers getting too bored with us!

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for cooler weather ...

28 comments:

Melissa said...

Wow, what an amazing looking shop! I would love to visit the Silver Needle in person someday. So glad to hear you and Karen had such a good time. :)

Sally said...

Oh wow that shop looks amazing!!!! What I wouldn't give to visit a shop like that! I'd feel like I was in heaven! Gald you had a great time. Can't wait to see more pictures:)

Christina said...

Oh, how I wish we had retreats like that in the UK! I would have died and gone to heaven in that shop. I would have had to leave my credit card at home though...just in case! How were you so restrained??!!!

Peggy Lee said...

That shop looks like a little piece of heaven! Wish I even had a little hole in the wall shop in these parts.
Sounds like you had a wonderful time with friends. Stash enhancement is the best!!

Sadie said...

Looks like you had a fab time! I think I would be on total overload in a shop like that! Heaven!

Kathy A. said...

Oh please, when I die - bury me in that shop. IT is truly amazing. So much in one place.
Sounds like you had a wonderful retreat! Looks like lots of fun.

Mama Joan said...

It was great to meet you and get to know you. I hope we get a chance to get together again and stitch. Can't wait to see more of your pictures. Retreat sure was a great time:)

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

JEALOUS...I'm totally jealous, but in a really good way. I was telling my husband of all the Silver Needle BBD retreat blog posts I had read about and then asked if I could go sometime and he looked at me and rolled his eyes. Guess that means no.... men!

Can't wait to see all your goodies and all your other pictures...and thanks for showing us all the pictures of the models from the Silver Needle...I'm going to look more at those...they are all amazing!

Nancy said...

Sounds like you had the best time! The Silver Needle looks amazing. Oh to spend hours in a shop like that would be a dream (since I don't have one!). Nice antiquy finds too!

Deborah said...

Retreats are wonderful! Glad that you had so much fun. Never been to the Silver Needle but it looks wonderful. Great finds. I'm always looking for frogs.

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

wow, how nice is that shop, I can't imagine an in and out trip there. Looks like a nice time was had with all of the findings too.
Be always in stitches.

Anna van Schurman said...

Isn't the shop AMAZING? Now you know why I keep going to camp even though the accommodations we have are a LOT more "rustic" than that hotel. Can't wait to see your BBD finishes

BrendaS said...

Your pictures are great. It was nice meeting you. I think we all had such a wonderful time.

Jenn said...

Oh wow a wall of fabric! *drooling* I can't wait to see more pictures of your trip and the stash you bought.

valerie said...

Wow, the shop looks amazing! And the room looks really nice too. So glad you and Karen got to go. I've heard these BBD retreats are just amazing!!

Carolyn NC said...

How awesome - sounds like a fantastic retreat. Interestingly, brother, SIL and family are here this week from Jenks, OK. :)

Katrina said...

Wow, looks like lots of fun!!!! Glad you had such a good time :-).

Deb said...

Oh, I'm so jealous that you went to the Silver Needle. My good friend lives in Tulsa and has raved about that store. It looks wonderful! And fantastic finds with the frogs. Hmmm, I'm wondering if I should put my girlfriend on the hunt for those for me! LOL

Glad that you had such a great time!

Lelia said...

thx for sharing , looking forward to your next post & seeing your projects all stiched up : )

Daffycat said...

I'm so glad you enjoyed your stay in my state! Even our hot weather couldn't keep you from having fun, I see!

When I go stashing, I usually go to the Silver Needle. It isn't all that local (maybe an hour and a half away) but it's close enough.

pj said...

Glad you had fun! I did too! Love the shop but also loved the workshop with Alma and Barb. They were great! Lindy sure knows how to spoil her customers with all the food, treats and goodies! Nice meeting you and Karen! I wish we would have had time to go to the antique shops too. Never enough time! pam from iowa

Belinda said...

The silver needle looks so amazing, I would love to visit. Unfortunately I am a bit far away living in Australia. :-( The retreat sounds like lots of fun!! Can't wait to see more photos of the retreat.

Karen said...

Looks like y'all had a great time. I couldn't imagine being in a shop like that....love all of the pics.

Can't wait to see more!

Michele B. said...

What a fun post, and I can't wait for the next installment with all your loot. Being in that shop would be a dream come true (the hotel room wasn't half bad either). I'm glad you had such a wonderful time!

Sherry :o) said...

Love your whole report thus far! Sounds like fun - I visit TSN web all the time - great shop that I want to visit some day! Can't wait for futher news of your trip and class with BBD. And congrats on finding your first frog! I just received mine recently from a RAK...

Melanie said...

Whoa. Whoa. And WHOA. *jaw drops*

Melissa said...

Looks like you had a wonderful time. Someday I'll get to one of the Silver Needle retreats. Looking forward to your next set of pictures.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting the pics of the Silver Needle. I am so tempted to do a quick flight to OK while I'm in Utah. LOL. But no photos of the Vera Bradley stuff?????