Fall Elim

Barb and I headed to Elim Lodge on Thursday morning to attend our guild's stitching retreat. It was cloudy, drizzly, and, at times, foggy. However it did not dampen our enthusiasm and excitement. We arrived shortly after Jeanette and Patty and just before Siobhain and Barbara.

We dropped our stitching stuff off at the chapel/recreation hall and then headed to our cottages to unload the rest of the car. Then we headed back to the hall to stake out our tables and start stitching.

Several of us were there for all four days, others had options of three days, just the weekend, and some just came for the day. Some other attendees were from the Northumberland Hills Stitchery Guild, the Scarborough guild, and other interested, stitcherly friends.

I planned a rotation through several UFOs or long-neglected projects. I didn't take photos of any of my work or progress but I did get some things done. 

I had taken my bed pad, duvet and pillow so I basically brought my bed from home. It was very cozy and a struggle to get out of bed on Friday morning. I hadn't slept that much on Wednesday night, nor the first night at Elim but I had to get up for breakfast being served at 8:30.

Poppy, who was sharing the cottage with me, arrived after work on Friday. She and Barb were probably discussing their upcoming stitching trip to England. All six who are attending (Victoria, Yvonne, Jeanette, Barb, Poppy, and Jennifer) met on Saturday to discuss logistics for the trip

Jeanette continued to work on the slanted, elongated Gobelin stitch on her 'Morning Has Broken' piece.

The hall is very spacious so we were all able to sit with the tables set up end to end.

We also welcomed quilters Patty, Shelley, and Sue.

Daisy also attended and was a big hit, especially with Patty who kidnapped her at one point and then make her a lovely quilt and pillow.

I thought many times, "I should be taking more photos" but just ignored myself and kept stitching and gabbing.

It was a lovely weekend doing what we love with like-minded folks. We enjoyed a break from our lives back at home, being fed nice meals, and sharing lots of crafty ideas.

Yesterday on my way back to the cottage to drop off my key, I found this perfect leaf on the ground.

After 4 days of intense stitching and visiting and then after driving home, I was pooped. I conked out whilst loafing in the recliner after my return home and took it easy last night.

After stitching this morning I relaxed some more back at home. I did sew the corners onto my Persian Tiles blanket and started the border with the Buttermilk yarn. I don't have enough of it to do what is required so I went to Michaels to see if I could find substitutes for Buttermilk, Storm Blue, and Mustard for the border.

I ordered an Eastern Jewels kit and extra yarn to finishing this blanket last week but the Canada Post strike has scuppered my plans to finish this blanket with that yarn and start a new one. 

Patons Astra is a perfect match for the Stylecraft Special DK yarn but didn't have the colours that would work for the border. Loops & Threads Snuggly Wuggly is also a comparable weight but this Michaels didn't have any in stock. So I decided on two colours of Patons Canadiana yarn. It's worsted weight but I was confident I could compensate for the difference by changing the stitches a bit.

I started one side with remaining Stylecraft Special DK Violet and realized I don't have enough to do the 3dc, 3ch repeats all the way around so I'm doing opposite sides with it and the other two sides with the Canadiana yarn. To compensate for the thicker, blue yarn, I'm only doing 2ch between the 3dc. It seems to be working well - not rippling nor pulling. 

I also bought a skein of cream Patons Astra which I'll also use for the border as I don't have enough Buttermilk. The neutral cream colour should work OK.

We're now planning our next stitcherly events. We were invited to attend the Northumberland Hills Stitchery Guild's stitch day so I and a couple of others will be attending at the Elmhirst Inn on Rice Lake. 

I'm still trying to decide if I'll attend Stitch North Fall 2025 at the end of this month. Then the second  weekend of November Barb and I will be attending the Pastime Pieces retreat near London.

I keep finding charts I'd like to buy to add to my collection and hopefully do someday. The top two on my list right now are 'Garden of Quilts' by Lori Holt which will be available in .pdf later this month.

The other is one I saw at Hobby House back in April called 'Merry Christmas'. It's also available in .pdf.

I want to get a couple of projects FFOd before I acquire any more charts.