We are so excited to invite you to Retreat 2008.  This event has been a highlight of the summer for many guild members in years past and we are happy to be able to bring 3 exceptional teachers to this year’s retreat.  Please consider joining us for 4, 5, 6, or even 7 days of stitching, fun, and friendship.    Enjoy all the traditional events — show & tell, lots of stitching, merchandise night and massages.  And we’ll have some new events to tempt you – an evening lecture on color, two sessions filled with techniques designed to enhance creativity, as well as a debut class of a brand new counted thread design. And, tune in later to see how we will explore ATC’s (Artist Trading Cards).  We hope to see many past attendees and look forward to welcoming new members to this fun event.  It’s been said before . . . . . you’ll enjoy your time at beautiful Lake Buffalo — guaran­teed.

Kim G. and Carrie H.
Retreat Chairs, 2008

Please download our brochure for complete Retreat 2008 information

Retreat 2008:

Kay Stanis Faculty Info.
Winter Wonders 3 day class - Thursday afternoon through Sunday morning
Lauren Sauer Faculty Info.
The Mermaid's Tresor Box - Wed. Counted Thread - All levels of ability are welcome!		Key to My Heart & Key Fob - Fri. Counted Thread - Intermediate Level		A Melon Bag - Sat. Counted Thread - Intermediate Level
New “Studio Time” Counted Thread:  Stitching with Lauren — Lauren Sauer 1/2 day class – Sunday Morning Counted Thread - All levels of ability are welcome!
Tricia Spitzmueller Faculty Info.
Fabric Painting & Embellishment:  Mermaid Mystery with Quirky Materials & Techniques 1-1/2 day class - Thursday afternoon and all day Friday               Fabric Collage:  Opening Up Your Creative Center 1-1/2 day class – All day Saturday and Sunday morning
A Retreat Favorite!  Independent Study 1/2, 1, 2, or 3 days – Any Day
Special Events and Lectures A One-Hour Experience  --  Breath of Creativity, Tricia Spitzmueller To start off your Retreat Experience at 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning and an encore presentation To Refresh & Re-energize at 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning Vitality, creativity, and inspiration await you as you begin your day in this inspiring class.  Join Tricia, a certified energy healer and body worker, as she leads you through glorious breathing exercises, gentle, joyful movement, brain relaxation techniques and a short meditation to get you focused.  The purpose of this 50 minute class is to open your creative center and rid your body of stagnant energy.  This class is designed for you to move and breath at your own pace while celebrating the essence of joy and creativity within you.  So, wake up, and begin your day (and Retreat) with energy! Tricia has designed this class as experiential where each participant moves and breathes at his/her own level.  Elements of this class are joy and humor and there is a blend of introspective as well as group dynamics.  While much of the class utilizes the physical body, there is a short period of guided imagery, which moves into a brief meditation.  This works to integrate the whole experience.  Throughout the hour, Tricia will intersperse teachings on where creativity comes from and how to engage and utilize it.  It is a class that is relevant for creative people on every level. All retreat participants are invited to attend both sessions.  Each participant will have a chair and enough room on either side and in front to stretch.  We will set up the room in concentric circles.  If you are unable to arrive at Retreat until Thursday afternoon, you will have the opportunity to attend this session on Saturday morning.    Lecture  --  The Healing Properties of Color, Tricia Spitzmueller Friday Evening, 7:00 p.m. A fast paced, intriguing and different kind of color class!  Artists, writers, and musicians have used colors for centuries to invoke a mood, portray an idea, or establish an emotion.  The colors that we consciously or unconsciously choose to use in our quilts, garments and homes can influence our energy, health, and well being.  Learn about the symbolism of colors, their healing properties and how to determine the color energy you need to create balance in your quilts and needlework pieces, as well as in your work and environment.  All retreat participants are invited to join Tricia Friday night for this exploration into color!   A Retreat Tradition  --  Show and Tell, Guild Members Thursday Evening, 6:30 begin the Show 7:45 Brief NGM Meeting & Optional Tell An exciting exhibit of member’s needlework, this evening is always a highlight!  In years past, the exhibit has been simply inspiring.  Come for the Show & Meeting, or stay a while longer to hear exhibitors tell the story behind their piece.  You are sure walk away inspired!   A Shopping Extravaganza  --  Merchandise Night Saturday Evening, 7:00 Besides stitching, everyone loves to shop!  Plan on having a fun evening of shopping for the latest in needlework and related items in a relaxed and friendly setting.  Don’t forget your checkbook!

Kay Stanis – Silk & Metal

Kay is an internationally known fiber artist, designer, Master Craftsman, Certified and Graduate Certified Teacher of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA) and Kurenai Kai Traditional Japanese Embroidery.  Kay’s embroideries have received numerous awards and have been shown on the covers of Kurenai, Inspirations, NeedleArts, and Needlepointers.  She owns and operates The Gilded Edge as a retail company in Wisconsin.

Kay is juried into Fiber Forum which has ongoing exhibits in galleries and museums throughout the United States.  She has studied internationally:  in Paris at the L’Ecole de Broiderie D’Art (Lesage); at The Royal School of Needlework in England; and she was invited to Japan to study with Master Saito at Kurenai Kai.  She teaches and lectures on silk and metal embroidery in the U.S. and abroad for the American Needlepoint Guild (ANG), EGA, and independent groups.  Kay has also written correspondence courses for EGA and has been chairman of their Teacher Certification Committee.  At present, she is Treasurer of Fiber Forum, EGA Individual Correspondence Course Chairman, EGA Silk and Metal Master Craftsman Chairman and Chairman of the EGA Certified Teacher Graduate Program.

She continues to be on the faculties of ANG National Seminars, Callaway School of Needlearts, EGA National and Regional Seminars, South Australia Embroidery Conference, and Embroidery 2000 in New Zealand.

Silk & Metal:  Winter Wonders — Kay Stanis

3 day class - Thursday afternoon through Sunday morning

Fans open and bright blossoms blend with the winter pine, inviting us to celebrate the past and follow the new growth into the future.  We will combine the elegance of traditional oriental design with Japanese and Western techniques as the new world of silk and metal needlework opens before us.

For dimensional effects, we will be using felt and stitch padding techniques.  Japanese embroidery techniques of stamen effect and modified flat leaf lattices are combined with superimposed embroidery.  Goldwork techniques of cutwork and many couching variations will be employed as we explore the ways to bring together East and West.

Kit Contents:  Congress cloth painted with iridescent gold paint, silk and metal threads, all materials required to complete the project, instruction booklet, and photo.

Level:               Advanced Intermediate

Design Size:    10” x 16” design on 18” x 16.6” congress cloth

Kit Fee:           $120.00

Pre-work:        None; students should know how to lay flat silk prior to class.  Please contact Carrie (Retreat co-chair) if you are interested in a guild meeting on laying flat silk.

Lauren Sauer – Counted Thread

Lauren was taught embroidery at age 7 by her paternal great aunt, and has been embroidering ever since.  She started designing counted cross-stitch charts when her children were young.  Since 1978 Lauren has been teaching embroidery and conducting workshops for EGA chapters, needlework guilds, and specialty shops across the USA and annually in England.  In the spring of 2005, she taught, for the first time, in Australia.  For many years, Lauren has been on the faculty for The Spirit of Cross-Stitch Festivals, The Silver Threads Seminars, and at A Sampler Gathering.  Currently, Lauren is teaching annually at Celebration of Needlework.  In December of 2003 and 2004 she taught for Just Cross Stitch Magazine at their annual Christmas in Williamsburg event.

Lauren’s work has been featured in Early American Life, Needleworks, Cross-Stitch Sampler, Midwest Living, Fine Lines, Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly, Just Cross Stitch (including their annual “ornament” issue), and in several special interest books from Better Homes and Gardens.  She has exhibited her work in “one woman” shows at Kent State University – Trumbull Campus, and at The Trumbull Art Guild.

In 1988, with the encouragement of her family and friends, she started her own needlework design business, Forget-Me-Nots In Stitches, a “cottage industry” in the truest sense of the term.  For 13 years, she has exhibited annually at the International Needlework Retailers Guild (INRG) trade shows in Charlotte, NC and Nashville, TN. 

Lauren considers herself a “perpetual student” and enjoys and continually pursues the study of needlework in all forms, whenever and wherever she can. 

Counted Thread Debut: The Mermaid’s Tresor Box — Lauren Sauer

1 day class – Wednesday all day

This is Lauren’s newest class piece, making its debut at our retreat.  This dear little box is totally made by hand and is very quick and easy to make.  While the box is designed to fit inside The Mermaid’s Sea Chest (#3 in the Mermaid series), it would also be a nice addition to any needlework collection.  The interior is lined with an embroidered band reprising several of the motifs used in the earlier Sea Chest.  A cushioned bottom lifts out to reveal a recessed “secret hiding place!”  Your Tiny Tresor Box may be left plain, inside and out, but will be so much more delightful when embellished and decorated with objects from the sea.  Each student will be given an antique button from Lauren’s personal collection.

This class will start at 10:30 a.m., to enable students who are not able to arrive Tuesday night to travel Wednesday morning after rush hour.

Level:               All levels of ability are welcome!

Design Size:    Finished size is 3” side to side, 2” front to back, and 2” deep

Kit Fee:           $35.00

Additional Images:

Counted Thread:  Key to My Heart & Key Fob—  Lauren Sauer

1-1/2 day class - Thursday afternoon and all day Friday

This diminutive heart-shaped Pocket is embroidered front and back, inside and out, and provides a very pretty place of safe-keeping for the special “key to your Heart.”  The sprig motif is borrowed from a 17th Century English band sampler and playing with “positive/negative” is developed from its original, delicate blackwork form into a fully-embroidered stylization of a “forget-me-not” – much loved, age-old floral emblem of constancy and loyalty.  The tiny Key Fob borrows the “heart-in-hand” motif, twists and turns it into “key-in-hand,” and is attached to your own antique key with gaily colored silk ribbons.

Kit contents include 30-count “Garden Blend” hand-dyed linen (R&R Reproductions) to be embroidered with a vibrant palette of threads:  hand-painted silks from the Caron Collection (Waterlillies), Gloriana Silk Threads, and The Thread Gatherer (Silk N’Colors and Silk N’Ribbons) and complimented with soft and subtle-hued threads from The Gentle Art (Simply Shaker and Sampler Threads).  Other kit supplies include fusible interfacing, batt, template plastic, mounting tape, pattern, and assembly directions.

Level:               Intermediate

Design Size:    Pocket is 3-1/2” x 7-1/4” open (tied shut, 3-1/2” x 3-1/2”); key fob is 1” square

Kit Fee:           $70     

Pre-work:        no pre-work, but bring your own antique key, not to exceed 3” in length
 

Counted Thread:  A Melon Bag — Lauren Sauer

1 day class – All day Saturday

This small, melon-shaped, four-sided draw-string bag is reminiscent of the charming ones carried and used by genteel ladies of all ages throughout the Victorian era – 1837 to 1901.  This version is embroidered using, exclusively, the familiar Backstitch and variations of the same.  The Melon Bag is embroidered on lovely 32-count “Pear” hand-dyed Lakeside Linen, with beautiful hand-dyed threads from The Caron Collection and The Gentle Art, with a tasteful sprinkling of tiny glass seed beads.  The Melon Bag is lined with Dupioni silk and is finished off with a finely-twisted cord threaded through a myriad of tiny brass rings sewn along the top edge.  A small tassel, appropriate to the period, accents the bottom of the bag.

Project threads include “Umbria” Waterlilies (The Caron Collection) and “Grasshopper” Sampler Threads (The Gentle Art).  Kit contents also include 32-count “Pear” Linen (Lakeside Linens), Mill Hill beads, double jump rings, Dupioni silk lining, all finishing materials, pattern, and assembly directions.

 Level:               Intermediate

Kit Fee:           $70.00

Size:           When the bag is completed and puffed out, 3-1/2” x 5-1/2”

New “Studio Time” Counted Thread:  Stitching with Lauren — Lauren Sauer

1/2 day class – Sunday Morning

“Stitching with Lauren” on Sunday morning will be time to work on one of Lauren’s projects, receive individualized instruction on a stitch or finishing technique, pull out a project you haven’t worked on in a while, finish your Retreat project, visit, storytelling, a question & answer session with Lauren . . . . and whatever else!  The only requirement will be that you bring one of Lauren’s pieces to work on  – and it can be any project you wish!

This will be also be time for students taking Mermaid’s Tresor Box, A Melon Bag, and Key to My Heart to continue work on their pieces and review instructions and finishing with Lauren one more time.  If you have been in Independent Study, this can also be an opportunity to have some “teacher time” and help from Lauren on one of her projects.   And finally, if you had purchased a pattern from Lauren at Vendor’s Night, this will be a chance to review the directions with Lauren and get your questions answered.

Level:               All levels welcome

Kit Fee:           $0 – it’s BYOP – “Bring your own Project”

Pre-work:        Sorting through your patterns or shopping at Vendor Night!
 

Tricia Spitzmueller – Creative Techniques with Fabric & Embellishment

Tricia’s work has won national awards and has been purchased by Universities, Hospitals, Schools, and many private commissions in New York, Atlanta, Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nevada.

Her education encompasses receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carlton College in Minnesota with a major in Art History and supportive work in Studio Arts.  She has received certification in Spiritual Direction from the Institute of Spiritual Companioning in Chicago, IL in 1994, and certification of 2004 from a four year mastery program at the Inner Focus School for Soul Directed Energy Healing.

As a teacher and speaker, Tricia has given workshops to thousands in the USA and abroad.  She has been invited to speak, teach and show her work at more than 90 venues in 10 years including international symposiums, textile centers, galleries, exhibitions, quilt guilds, hospitals, and retreat centers.  She is also the recipient of the prestigious 2008 Jewel Pearce Patterson Scholarship for Quilt Teachers given by Quilter’s Inc., Houston, TX.

Feeling it is essential to share ideas with other artists and quilters, she is an active member of the Textile Center of Minnesota of which she is a Past President of the Board of Directors.  She is also on the Board of Directors of Midwest Quilters and curates shows for this group.  She is the founder of Dolly Follies/Twisted Sisters Doll Group, a group of 40 doll makers in Southeastern Wisconsin from 1989 to 1999.

Fabric Painting & Embellishment:  Mermaid Mystery with Quirky Materials & Techniques —  Tricia Spitzmueller

1-1/2 day class - Thursday afternoon and all day Friday

Mermaids invite mystery, but we don’t have to be mystified by the new materials out there on the market.  This is a class designed to give you a chance to play with some new products and to create a wonderful mermaid landscape that can be finished as a quilt or wall-hanging.  Your choice!  You will learn some of the ways to use Setacolour Transparent paints, TyVek wrap, Angelina, beads, foil and colored pencils to enhance your mermaid and her environment.

Thursday afternoon will be spent painting your background fabric, fusible webbing and TyVek with Setacolour paints.  Participants will be given a hand-printed mermaid to embellish throughout the evening hours with beads and colored pencils if they wish.

On Friday morning participants will play with the painted TyVek, heating it to create rocks and coral.  The mermaid landscape will be assembled using Angelina to create shimmer in the water, stamp and foil fishes and birds, fuse on trees and leaves and hand appliqué the embellished mermaid into her mysterious and inviting landscape.  In the remaining time, participants can choose to layer and quilt their piece or finish it as a wall-hanging.

Level:                  All levels of ability are welcome!

Finished piece:  approximately 16” x 14”

Supply Fee:        $12.00

Additional Images:

Fabric Collage:  Opening Up Your Creative Center — Tricia Spitzmueller

1-1/2 day class – All day Saturday and Sunday morning

Are you in need of inspiration?  Is your spirit begging you to stretch, wake up, and become vital?  Creativity sometimes gets stuck.  In this class, Tricia uses her experience in quilt making as well as energy and bodywork to lead you through a process to reconnect with your own vital inspiration.  You will be treated to a lively presentation that incorporates the latest research on creativity, followed by playful exercises both of mind and body.  There is time to collage and experiment.  Later in class, Tricia will take you through a guided imagery where you will receive a symbol.  You will have time to incorporate this in cloth as you relax and stimulate your inner landscape.  The invitation of this class is to celebrate the essence of reawakened joy and creativity within you.

Each participant will design and embellish their own collage, and can take it to any level with loads of possibility for embellishment and hand work!  Tricia will supply a packet of materials for each student to play with in addition to bringing other supplies.  Students will supply the fabrics, trims, embellishhments that they wish to explore in their own collage. 

Because each student will be developing their own collage, there really isn’t a picture of a “class piece“ because each class piece will be different.  On our guild’s website will be some pictures from a previous class, including several “steps” and the layout of the end product of one individual’s journey.  These pictures are only representative of what a student might choose to do.

Level:               All levels of ability are welcome!

Kit Fee:           $7.00

Additional Images:

A Retreat Favorite!  Independent Study

1/2, 1, 2, or 3 days – Any Day

This is a self-directed class for all stitchers at all levels.  Bring projects to finish, a new piece to start, design an original work, work on several items that have been in the back of the drawer.  Work on your own projects when you’re not in class or for all four days.  On the Registration form, you have the opportunity to indicate whether you would like a “Quiet” or “Talkative” classroom. 

We will also do our best to have a designated spot for Quilters to work, during both pre-retreat and Retreat days.  Quilters will need to bring their own sewing machines and other equipment.  If you are interested in spending time quilting in Independent Study, please indicate on the Registration Form which days you are interested in being assigned to a quilting area. 

We will also designate a classroom with adequate table space during pre-retreat time, Monday-Wednesday, for people to work on Japanese Embroidery.  Please indicate on your registration form if you will be arriving early and would like to be in the Japanese Embroidery area.