Things I Learned on Retreat on Off the Wall Friday

Rug Hooking Retreat at the Heritage Inn

 When I was in college, I belonged to the Newman Center group on campus.  The priest who was the moderator would take us on a spiritual retreat to a monastery outside of Elmira, NY.  My time there made a big impression on me. I loved the fact that we were getting away from campus.  I would catch up on homework, get up early (5 am!) to hear morning vespers, take long walks on the farm and explore the monastery.  It would center me.

That's why when I heard that Sauder Village offered rug hooking retreats at their pretty Heritage Inn, I quickly signed up.  The place is interesting with Sauder Village, a historic living museum plus a bakery, restaurant, quilt shop, blacksmith shop and a pottery.  Then there is the resort itself with an events hall and a new educational center.  Plus, nearby Archbold, Ohio is this pretty little midwestern town.  I mean who doesn't like corn fields and history?

Across from our retreat room, sunrise at Sauder Village 

I got a standard room in the pool wing which was spacious, quiet and very clean.  Breakfast everyday was held in their indoor park area and there were plenty of options for most diets.  I was struck by how clean all the common areas where including the ladies room.  Our retreat room was just a short walk down the hall.  It was a very comfortable room and only about 20 ladies were in attendance.  Most people knew each other, but thankfully Cindi Gay took pity on me and invited me to sit with her.  It was very sweet of her and it was super fun to meet some of my online classmates in person.  

There was one rule ...you could do as much or as little as you wanted for the whole weekend.  The room opened around 7ish and closed when the last person went to bed.  Since the group was small it wasn't unusual for there to be whole room chit chat or people would talk at their own tables.  You could easily listen to your own earbuds without seeming rude.   I made sure to get up and walk around to see what people where working all - plus stretch my leg.

And that's where I started to learn things...

I had a discussion with Linda Hershey about my next project.  I showed her my pathetic line drawing and we started talking about composition elements and things that could eliminated.  I made sure I wrote down the whole discussion, because even now a week later I can only remember half of it.  

Sue from my regular weekly class brought her spinning wheel and yarn.  It was the first time I got to hear the chatter of it and found it really relaxing. It was so fun to watch her work and she never got tired of answering questions.

Here's Sue who had to the nerve to tell me she
wasn't very photogenic! 

After spending the weekend hearing names of popular rug hookers who I had no idea who they were, I decided to go around the room and ask everyone their favorite hookers - live or dead.  So many names popped out and I busily wrote them all down to research later.  It was fun to see the people's names who showed up at every table.  After being a quilter for 30 years and knowing the who's who of the quilting world easily, it was unnerving to not know any of those names.  

I learned from my new friend Jodi about a band that could become a new obsession, The Arcadian Wild  which "blurs the lines between chamber folk and progressive bluegrass" (really that says it all).  Listening to it, I can't decide if I love the gorgeous melodies with the blended harmonies better or the instrumental parts.  Its the kind of music that is cozy, but still interesting.  Plus Jodi was working on a rug that was a replica of the rug that sit in Bilboa Baggins study in the movie version of the Hobbit.  (Another thing we both like!)

Jodi working on her Stainglass Piece 
She uses tape to keep her strips all in the order she wants to hook them. 

When a lady over dinner asked me what kind of work I wanted to do, I had to for the first time articulate where I foresee my rughooking going in the near future.  For the last few months, I've spent learning the basics.  It's kind crazy how you learn how to make a loop in 5 minutes and then years perfecting it.  There are so many avenues I could go down, but  I think I see myself doing what they call fine work maybe 3-5 cut and working on my own original designs.  Not too big of pieces but working with fine shading (that's what the fruit is teaching me) and playing with composition and value.  It was nice to say it out loud.  

I learned that there are still groups of ladies who can come together and just enjoy the company of each other and a simple years old art form...without drama, judgement, or division.  It felt like a true safe space.   Looking at the news today you wouldn't think that could happen could you?

And finally, I learned that what I like most in a vacation is a low maintenance, cozy creative time.  I loved the social time as much as the time alone.  I loved that for a full 3 days I didn't have to explain what rug hooking was or why I'm obsessed with it.  I love the "Escape" factor of it.  

Heritage Inn's Lovely Lobby 

Onto this week's Rug Watch....I'm getting closer to the end!  I probably could have finished this weekend but I didn't bring quite enough background strips! 

Looking at the picture I can see where I would like to adjust some things, but I'll wait till the background is done.  I'm interested to see how the background is going to look once its all done.  I still think it might be a bit too busy, but we'll see.  One thing about rug hooking its much easier to pull loops out then to unquilt something! 

Oh and finally .... Sauder hosts MANY quilt retreats .... tempt ...tempt...tempt!

(Linking to Kathy's Slow Stitch Sunday)

What are some of your favorite retreat spots?

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My First Hook-in on Off the Wall Friday

 

The calm before the storm

After going through the Covid plague of 2020, I made myself one promise...I would make sure I wasn't blowing off chances to socialize just because it seemed like "too much bother".  What that awful time made me realize was not to take socializing with my community for granted.  To that end, I took a leap of faith and went to my first Hook-in.

It all started with me seeing a Facebook post on a rug hookers guild page for their Hooktoberfest 2025 Hook-in.  After a guild member said it was open to the public and encourage me to go, I sent in my registration.  Right about then I "liked" a post on another's guild page, and their social media chair, Debbie reached out with a friend request.  I accepted it once I saw she was a rug hooker, and a new friendship was made.  Apparently, Facebook is actually still good for something these days.

With an invite, Debbie decided to ride along to the Hook-in with me since she's only about 25 minutes from my house.  I'm so glad she did!  I'm not sure what I was thinking but that day it dawned on me that if I hadn't had Debbie with me, I wouldn't have known a soul there.  Everyone was sitting with their friend groups so Debbie generously had me sit with hers. The ladies were all nice and from my neck of the woods.  Here is my new friend Marsha and the lovely project she's working on! (I was watching her work and thought - wow she's so pretty  - so I bravely asked to take a picture for my blog)

Marsha and her lovely Cowboy

The Hook-in was held at the Strongsville , Ohio Senior/Rec Center which is a huge and amazing building. We filled the Event Hall with about 100 ladies (and a few men) all sitting at roomy round

This is another quilter turned hooker - Pretty right?

tables.  The edges of room were taken up with several vendors.  I finally found out how most ladies are buying their wool.  Apparently, there are several small business owners that sell wool off the bolt, over dyed wool, and hand dyed wool at these social events.  Plus there was all sorts of textile notions, wool yarn and Valdani pearl cotton.  Truly there was a LOT of wool there.  With Debbie at my side, I got a lesson in wool shopping.  Once I got my hands on it, I knew exactly what I wanted.  You could feel the different weights just by touch and seeing it in person.  I love how once you touched it you can tell what was tight weave, loose weave and just right!   I bought some hand dyeds for the background of my current project and a few plaids because they are getting harder and harder to find.  Still, I'm sticking to my promise of not letting my wool stash get out of hand. I really think project by project is a good idea.  

the Hook-in Haul - sorry - wool is hard to pick up the right colors 

It really was a fun day.  We hook a little, shopped a little, had a nice lunch and did a LOT of talking. All for the reasonable price of $35.  Oh and I even won a handful of wool as a door prize!  It was such a nice time that I wish we would do that with quilters - bring your hand work and come socialize for 6 hrs,

Debbie's Door prize - Cigar boxes with pretty Motif's on them 

On this week's Rug Watch...finished up the red grapes and onto the grape leaves....

On buy of the week...also found in the Facebook's group "Selling my sewing supplies" ...a  bought these two books for $5.70 each (that includes the postage)....Millefiori Quilts I & II

I remember when these first came out and they were kinda pricey (about $55)  so I forego buying them even though doing a Millefiori English paper piece quilt is on my bucket list.  So I thought - oh good buy right?!  Well apparently, since then, the books have become more rare and English paper piecing more popular, so their prices have gone through the roof. Millefiori Quilts 2 is selling anywhere between $50-$160 right now.  (We'll see if that continues because whenever that has happen in the past, a publish on demand option becomes available and the prices drop - but so will the quality of the book itself).  These are gorgeous books, and I'm so blessed to have snagged them.  I'm taking it as a sign to not put off one of these quilts.  

That's me this week...

What Have YouBeen Up to Creatively?

(Linking up with Kathy's Slow Stitch Sunday) 

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Improv Piecing on Off the Wall Friday

Hard at Work

You know sometimes all you want to do is sew and boy, have I done that.  Taking Improvisational

Piecing with Veronica Hofman-Ortega at John C. Campbell's Folk School was one of my better ideas.  I love a class that starts with design exercises that will lead into bigger and better ideas.  Not to mention the ladies in my class were great!  There was a full range of quilters in the class  - from the very experienced to the beginner.  All were traditional, so this was pushing pretty much everyone out of their comfort zone.  But let me tell ya, they were up to the challenge.  After the first day our design walls were already starting to fill up.  By the end, it was amazing what we all got done!

Sewing  + Challenges + Great Company = Perfect Class.

We learned all sorts of improvisational shapes - strips, triangles, curves.  All design exercises were pretty loose, and Veronica told us that we could play with them as much as we wanted.

The strips were to be made with black, white and a color.  This is where it took me...

It definitely needed some zing so I added lime green which I thought was much better.

The triangles gave me the most problem since the colors were #1 solids and #2 chosen from a limited palette.  I ended up with a design wall of pretty sad triangles.  We tried some improv curve piecing which I liked marginally better...but still sad.  

What's a girl to do?  Well, cut them up and try piecing them back together.  The most interesting idea was taking two triangles and curve piecing them together.  With a few of those units and more curves piecing, I ended up with this.  Interesting, but not completely finished.  

Finally, we could explore on our own, so I did some brainstorming which led me to these simple ideas (by this time, I was pretty tired)

This time I picked a palette I loved - orange, golden yellow, purple and blue.  By then end of the day I got what looks me to me like a Dr Suess house  - which makes me smile. All it needs is the roof!!  I'm kinda diggin' this idea.  I can see it leading to bigger and better things for sure!  It's fun to play something representational but still give it that improv twist.  

Improvisational quilting is really so freeing creatively.  It was extra fun watching the class see the joy of it.  So although tired ... I do have a full design wall!

So, What Have You Been Up to Creatively?

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Timna Tarr at Marc Adams School of Woodworking on Off the Wall Friday

This is why we asked Will for more tables!

 Is anybody surprised that a week after getting home, not only am I just feeling normal again but my
studio is not unpacked?  Gosh!!  There it all sits in the middle of the room just waiting to get back to its proper place.  It really was a great class....exhausting...but great.  After spending 2 years isolating it was so odd to be around people for most of the day!

Back in the early 90s, Marc Adams had the vision to start a woodworking school in the middle of a cornfield in Indiana.  Since then it's grown to 100's of classes given annually from March - October by world-class teachers.  On top of that, he's been adding alternative crafts to the schedule so that family and friends can join their favorite woodworker.  That's where Timna Tarr came into play.

Timna Tarr  is a quilter, teacher, fabric designer, and now an author.  Her book, Stitched Mosiac Quilting comes out in August (taking preorders now).  What I loved about this class was the technique wasn't terribly hard but you could make it as easy or complicated as you wanted.  Everyone was using the same technique but all of our projects looked totally different.  Honestly, after I finish this one, I want to explore what else I can do with it.  

Timna's Example - Seriously how did she do that???

Why I Recommend taking a Timna Tarr Class

• She's nice...no I mean it ... she's really nice.  In this world of division, Timna has learned the skill of being kind, thoughtful, and supportive.  I'm personally annoyed I couldn't take her home with me and make her my new best friend.  The remarkable thing is I bet that everyone in the class felt that way.  
• She knows how to meet her students at their skill level.  If I was going to be honest, I didn't need a lot of help figuring out colors and values and such....what I did need was encouragement and cheerleading.  Timna was there all week and never looked too tired to do it.  
• She knows her technique.  This lady knows this technique inside and out.  She makes it look super easy - which it is NOT (go figure).   She always had the time to show you exactly how to get the look we wanted.
• She's enthusiastic.  You can tell she loves what she does and that is infectious.  I never got the feeling like she was the teacher and we were all below her as the students.  It was more like we're all in this together kind of atmosphere.  Her attitude never changed from 8 in the morning to 6 at night.

So if you get a chance, take a class with Timna virtually or I would highly suggest it in person.  (Did I mention how nice she is?)

Now a little about Marc Adams School of Woodworking

• It truly is woodworking paradise.  They have all the best equipment, all the best teachers and the best spaces to work.  My husband truly loves it.  Just ask him.  He'll tell.  A lot! I mean really, don't ask him about the school unless you have some time on your hands! (grin)
• Lunch, snacks, drinks (coffee, tea, fountain pop, water) are included with your tuition.  The food was great and you won't go hungry.  They accommodated my blasted food allergies easily.
• They have their own ice-cream machine - yes you read that right  - their own ice cream machine that you can use any time of the day.  Our class decided that 3 o'clock was renamed ice-cream o'clock.  (I got that tip from my husband who could live on the stuff!)
• Classes go from 8 am - 6 pm with all machine equipment shut down after 6. Then  people are allowed to use the building as late as they want for hand, design work or socializing.  Luckily sewing machines could be run after 6...BUT let me tell you that is a LONG day to sew.  That is a long day for Timna to teach!
• Tuesday night is considered pizza night and if covid allows lecture night where the teachers share their work. (that is included as well)
• Our classroom came with a "Will".  Will kindly checked on us periodically during the day to make sure we had all we needed.  Funny how every time he came the first couple of days we asked for more tables.  He also did a lot of the cleaning up at the end of the week since at the school you are expected to leave the room as you found it.
• 
  

  

  Our Class 

  
  
• The school has artwork and samples throughout.  Plus it has a media room and a library of woodworking books.  A lot of Gabriel Lehman's work is featured ... that's how we ended up with his painting on our wall,
• The school employs a photographer to  document your week.  All the photos from this post were taken by Diane who does an excellent job!  Each student gets a class photograph plus a wooden nameplate to take home as a souvenir.  The nameplate has the class and date on it.  Paul has 22 of them  - I now have my own!
• Marc does have some rooms to rent in nearby houses, but other than that you'll have to find a place to stay.  With bed and breakfasts nearby, airbnb etc it's not that hard.  There are plenty of places to eat within a few miles.

Paul working on his Apprentice Class Designing me a Table

To tell you the truth the only thing I would have liked is a rolling, secretary chair that would go up and down for my 5 ft self.  I was too low all week even with a pillow under me.  

So that's my story of how I took a great art quilt class at a woodworking school in Indiana.  

Marc asked our class for suggestions of other quilt classes and teachers we would like to see come to the school.  I have my ideas but I was wondering if you had any?  Please leave them in the comments!!

So What Have Been Up to Creatively?

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1847 Quilt Retreat Center Review - Off the Wall Friday

Early this year, I started looking for a place where I could take a long weekend treat and get away from my work at home life.  Luckily, I found  1847 Quilt Retreat Center that is housed in the Hotel Millersburg, Millersburg Ohio.   Millersburg is within 3 hrs of my house and I love central Ohio so I thought why not?  Still, retreats are for groups right?  And I'm only ONE!! 
But I thought I would call the coordinator and see what she thought.  Leslie was super accommodating and didn't think it would be a problem at all.  She had several groups of quilters coming in the spring and she picked one that she thought I would like. (But really they do retreats for one or two if you want since they have bedrooms that are big enough for that).   After picking one of the 33 rooms to stay in, I was all set! 

Leslie was right.  The group, Pieceable Quilters from Zanesville, Ohio are an amazing group of ladies.  Not only did they adopt us (my friend Rhonda from work joined me as well!) as one of their
own but they made sure to include us in all the fun they had planned for the weekend.  We were so lucky to get to know them!

So onto the Review:

Pros

• Retreats can be customized to your needs and can accommodate 1-50 crafters.
• The actual crafting facilities are adequate. 5 ft tables, cutting tables with mats, iron stations, padded chairs (complete with kabooti cushions), 24 - hr secure access, restrooms clean and nearby
• Soft drinks provided through out retreat
• Unique bedrooms  with many different options to choose from
• Large - YUMMY - breakfast included
• Affordable made from scratch restaurant on site.  The food was AMAZING.

  

  My Room

• Hotel staff was super friendly and approachable.  
• The whole place had a very relaxed atomsphere where you didn't have to do your hair or make up all weekend if you didn't want to.  (Which I did not - LOL) 
• The hotel is all VERY ADA accessible with large bathrooms and a nice elevator.
• Small town environment with many interesting main street businesses, restaurants and quilt shops near by. It all feels very safe and Mayberry.
• Nick - yes they have a Nick who helps you move in and out, makes sure you have everything you need, will show you how to fix your heating in the room, and will sit and chat if you want to know some local flavor.  Whatever they are paying him is NOT enough.
• A Truly well priced Great Value!

Cons

Let me just say that none of these really affected my stay ... but still want to include them.

Playing a Fat Quarter Game

• The traffic in town is crazy.  Their main street sits on state road and literally 18 wheelers are constantly going by.  
• Parking for the hotel,while free, is hard to come by in the busy public lots
• Unpacking your car happens on this busy main street
• Communication between staff could have been better and more organized.
• The service in the restaurant was hit or miss and they definitely for now were understaffed (I expect this will change since between the quilt retreats getting popular and tourist season starting in May they will need even more help)

So how was my stay personally???  Just the best retreat I've ever taken!  I loved that Nick helped move us in.  There was plenty of time to sew and I worked on my Craftsy Block of the Month quilt and my hand pieced Pinwheel quilt.  We ate mostly in the Hotel and both of us loved the food.  I mean  - really loved it!  They literally have the best Rubens EVER! Leslie chose an interior bedroom for me with a large king size bed.  At first I thought I wouldn't like it since it didn't really have an exterior window but I didn't realize how safe I would feel in the room and how quiet it would be.  Plus it was super close to our working space that I could hop back and forth with no problem.  The whole hotel was VERY clean and well kept up.  There were quilts everywhere - if there was a wall - there was a quilt
on it.

Our Soft Drink Station

I did make a quick run to a near by quilt shop - Somewhere Sewing  - where they had exactly what I needed.  I didn't make it to Zincks or Miller's Drygoods but I will next time.  In my quiet huge bed I slept great, got a ton done and felt rested when I got home.  The whole time totally recharged me.  I loved the atmosphere that I can tell that will be my new go-to place to get away.  I love low maintenance vaca's that don't cost an arm and a leg....especially where their is sewing and food involved.

Obviously I can hardily recommend!!!

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Retreats..The What, Why & How on Off the Wall Friday

Today's post come's from my comfy Victorian room in Millersburg, Ohio in the heart of Amish country.  Yes, I decided to take a quilting retreat because it was long overdue!

THE WHAT

For those of you who don't know, a quilting retreat is where you take a break from your real life - grab your current project and head to some out of way place to sew!  There are all sorts of ones out there with all levels of amenities.  Also, you can take them with your guild, quilting bee, just a few friends or by yourself!  You can pick one that is close to home or one that is in a place with other tourist attractions.  They can last a couple of days or a whole week!  One thing I found, is that if you call the hostess of the retreats usually they will accommodate your needs.

THE WHY

Why retreat?  Because its a great way to just escape for a while and immerse yourself in your work.  I don't know about you but when I'm in my studio I still feel the pull of the rest of the house encroaching on me.  There is something about schlepping all your stuff to retreat that really makes you settle into your work. Plus its a way to be with YOUR PEOPLE.  You know who they are.  They are the people who actually understand what  you do and  how you do it.  Their eyes don't glaze over
when you mention fabric or Bernina.  They GET YOU.

THE HOW

Still the how might seem a little daunting to someone who hasn't gone on retreat before.  Sometimes
it pretty easy.  Your guild sets it up and you just join the group.  But what if - like me - you don't have a group.  What I did was do a google searches of quilt retreats in a 3 hr radius of my house.  Luckily I don't live too far from the midwest so there were most than a few to choose from.  I called the coordinator and asked her to help me plan a retreat for myself (and later a friend joined me).   I told her what my needs where and what I was looking for and she just set it up for me.  I talked to three different coordinators who were all great with all sorts of options and just chose the one that worked best for me.

All that is left is the packing and deciding what to bring.....more on that next time!

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