BALANCE DUE FOR JULY RETREAT
PLEASE READ: To pay for the entire fee, you must put this item AND the registration fee for July in your basket and pay for both. You can also pay the balance is due by May 15th, but I am allowing prepayment as an option. Just paying for this item does not mean you have paid for the entire fee. Please make sure you match your registration fee date and your balance due date (i.e., don't pay for one from March and one from July, as the two retreats are different prices.)
Please note: if you live in Pennsylvania, my site will charge you sales tax. I will refund it to your original form of payment.
July Retreat: OUR STITCHING NEIGHBORHOOD
Thursday, July 16-Saturday July 18
Retreat Fee is $450
Registration fee of $75 due at registration; remainder of $375 is due May 15th. No refunds for balance after May 30th. If an emergency arises, and you can't come at the last minute, I will send you everything you would have received at the retreat (kit, door prizes).
I wanted a theme for July, so I’ve been thinking about what makes the stitching community so special. I think it’s the fact that it’s a community of such nice people. The sound of a big room full of happy stitchers, talking, laughing, and sharing is one of my favorite sounds. So the theme is “neighborhood"…read on!
• Registration-Free, Assigned Seating: No standing in line to register at the retreat — attendees will know ahead of time which table they are assigned. Groups of two or more can request to be seated together, to take the pressure off of Thursday morning. I will be seating groups of 6-8 at the same table. Groups of 3-5 will be mixed at tables. And if you’re coming by yourself or with just one friend? You will be at a table of singles and doubles. This means everybody has the opportunity to make a lot of new friends (this was a BIG hit last year!)
OH, AND HEY: Every table will have a street name instead of a number. If you are part of a group of 6-8 (and have your own table), your group can come up with its own street name. I will be assigning street names to the other tables (think stitching-related, like “Cross Stitch Corner” or “Frogging Lane” or “Hoop Loop.”)
• Block Party Potluck Event: This is required, but doesn’t have to be expensive. On Thursday afternoon, we’re having block party potlucks. You will know ahead of time how many you have at your table. Bring a stitching-related gift for each person at your table. This could be something you made, or it could be a skein of Sampler Threads for each person, or a pack of your favorite needles. You could even find some copyright-free designs online and print copies for everyone. Also, bring copies of your favorite recipe to share with your table.
• Rolling Neighborhood Events! These will happen throughout the retreat to different streets — for example, look out for storms to roll in, the mailman to stop by, or “pizza” deliveries. Did it snow last night? Who’s been digging in your garden? Each table can expect one event sometime during the weekend, and don’t worry, they are all happy happenings!
• I’d like everybody to bring a photograph of themselves inside or outside the house they grew up in. Keep these at your stitching spot, so visitors to your neighborhood can see where you lived. It doesn’t have to be framed, but if you can put it in a little frame with an easel, it will be easier to spot amidst all of your stitching stuff. It is so much fun to go and look at what everybody is working on, and I hope this little extra encourages you to get out of your seat once in a while for a neighborhood walk!
• Get an exclusive new kit by me! Participants will be able to choose from 36-count linen OR 18 count Aida. No peeks right now — it’ll be a surprise until the retreat!
• Open-stitching in the ballroom. Expect the same spacious space at round tables with sunshine and great overhead lighting. Plug-ins will be available at every table. A loosey-goosey schedule means you can go out for dessert, or antiquing, or sight-seeing. The ballroom will open at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We have to be done Thursday and Friday night by 11. Our retreat ends Saturday at 4:00.
• OPTIONAL Community Garage Sale: On Friday afternoon, there will be a "garage sale" to benefit PA Caring Hearts, a Lehigh Valley non-profit organization that has been around for 37 years. They have offered to stop by with a few animals to tell us about their organization as well. To participate, bring your unwanted cross stitch/stitching-related items PRICED FOR THE SALE. These can be fabrics, threads, WIP’s, magazines, patterns, button packs, etc. I will also be contributing items to the sale!!! You could make things as well (needle minders, scissor fobs, project bags, and the like). ALL of the money we make will be given to PA Caring Hearts. All sales at the garage sale will be cash or check only. AND, I will also be sending out information about a supply drive, so you can bring items the group needs to foster and care for the animals they help every day. Let’s give back to “the neighborhood!"
• OPTIONAL Project Bag Exchange: Bring a wrapped project bag that you’ve either made or purchased for an exchange. Many retreats do smalls exchanges. I am hoping a project bag exchange will be less of a time commitment, as you don’t HAVE to make it. You are not expected to add anything else to the bag, but you certainly may.
• Huge pop-up shop open all weekend with lots of models! Tables will be called one at a time for crush-free shopping. Once all the tables have been through the pop-up shop, anybody can go browse again (and again!)
• A box lunch is provided Thursday, Friday and Saturday. If you are staying at the hotel, you also get a free breakfast. Dinner is on your own (there are a lot of options nearby.)
• OPTIONAL: Bring three new skeins of over-dyed floss for our LEFT-RIGHT-CENTER floss game. Will you win all of the floss at your table?
• Show & Tell Area: Bring finished projects (no WIP’S) to show off your stitching abilities. Please no more than three per person. I’d love to see projects that have a neighborhood theme, like houses, gardens, pets, and people.
• Goodie Bags & Door Prizes!!!
• A FRIENDLY experience! Please bring your smiling face to meet friends old and new. Last summer’s retreat was SO MUCH FUN, and the day went so fast. The hotel accommodations are wonderful, and I just know you’re going to have a great time.
What is included in my retreat fees?
Most of your registration fee goes to the ballroom rental and food costs/lunch. You also are getting a new, exclusive kit worth $100, and other goodies!
The retreat fee does NOT include rooms, travel, dinners or breakfast. A free breakfast is provided by the hotel to people who are lodging at the Hyatt.
