Stitch Retreat

Schoolgirl Samplers of Western New York: Jane Boyer 1834              

Cross-stitch retreat on Saturday, October 19, 2024 from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1 East Main St., LeRoy, NY 14482

This full-day cross-stitching retreat will offer an immersive historical experience in the very neighborhood where 10-year-old Jane Boyer lived, stitched her sampler, went to school and attended church.  Her beautifully stitched sampler is in pristine condition and is in the collection of the LeRoy Historical Society.

Participants will be given two fully-kitted cross-stitch projects based on her sampler to work on that day and will receive a digital pdf chart of the full reproduction sampler at the end of the retreat.  Three talks during the day will focus on her life, on the momentous decade of the 1830s in LeRoy and beyond, and on stitching the model of the reproductiion sampler and other related cross-stitch topics.

In addition, participants will receive a guided tour of the historic LeRoy House (just steps up the street from St. Mark’s), view the samplers in the collection, and visit the Jell-O Museum located behind the LeRoy House.  

Morning coffee and a catered lunch (from the D&R Depot Restaurant) will be offered.  There will be substantial door prizes for several lucky winners (including a HaloGo lighted magnifier, a full kit by Merry Cox, sampler charts, linen and floss for the Jane Boyer reproduction sampler, a set of q-snap frames, and more) and small treats for all participants. There will be some free time to stitch or visit other locations associated with Jane’s life.

Registration opens on April 22 and is limited to 50 participants.  Cost is $125 per person.  Proceeds benefit St. Mark’s Church and the LeRoy Historical Society.

The registration deadline was August 1st, and the event is full with a waiting list.  Please contact Emily Williams at Enable JavaScript to view protected content. with questions about registration and the waiting list.  For general questions about the event, please contact Leslie at Enable JavaScript to view protected content..

You do not need to know how to cross-stitch to attend this retreat as there will be instructions given.  

Please note: This venue is not handicap accessible, and participants will need to walk up and down a flight and a half of stairs.

Hosts for this event are Leslie DeLooze and Emily Williams.

Speakers:
Leslie (Jordan) DeLooze  Leslie’s maternal grandmother taught her to cross-stitch 60 years ago, and Leslie has stitched off and on since then.  Two years ago, when she suggested reproduction charts as a fundraiser for the LeRoy Historical Society, she really dove into the subject, attending major stitch retreats, visiting several museums featuring schoolgirl samplers, taking a class at the Genesee Country Village & Museum on raising and processing flax (used to make linen), stitching some samplers, learning design software, and listening to many, many flosstubers speak about stitching and samplers.  Her former career as a public librarian was a good start to the research she continues to do on Jane Boyer and her family.  Leslie and her husband, Jim, live in LeRoy.

Emily Williams (nee Hill) (LeRoy High School, Class of 1976) took up cross-stitch in the 1980s, adding it to her fiber arts hobbies of knitting, crocheting, and sewing. She now makes quilts for family and friends (and on commission), has a nascent long-arm quilting business, and spends many hours per day stitching and doing other needlework. She has a weekly video on YouTube called ‘Flosstube and Variety Show’ in which she discusses the cross stitch projects she is working on along with books, games, sudoku, and many other topics. Every six weeks or so she and her quilting partner make a video called ‘Galloping Horse Quilting’ in which they discuss their quilting projects and other topics related to the quilting world. She has greatly enjoyed stitching the model for Jane Boyer 1834! She now lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with her husband, Byron.

Lynne Belluscio is the Municipal Historian for the Village and Town of LeRoy following her 34-year career as the Director/Curator of the LeRoy Historical Society.  Prior to that, she worked at the Genesee Country Museum where she set up their cooking program, cheese making and basket making and coordinated many special events, such as the Agricultural Fair.  Her knowledge of LeRoy history is wide-ranging, and she has spoken about such things as the invention of Jell-O, Amelia Earhart’s visit, Calvin Keeney’s snap beans, and the LeRoy family to local groups as well as to national museum conferences.  Her columns in the LeRoy Pennysaver and now Batavia’s The Daily News both entertain and educate her many readers.  Perhaps her biggest contribution is shining a light on women’s history related to LeRoy with her knowledge of Ingham University (1837-1892), the first chartered women’s university in the U.S.; the first woman to vote in LeRoy Delia Phillips; LeRoy aviation pioneer Dorothy Layne McIntyre; and many other unsung women.

LeRoy is located about halfway between Rochester and Buffalo and is exit 47 on the NYS Thruway (Rt. 90).  Local attractions include the LeRoy Barn Quilt Trail, the Genesee Country Village and Museum (6 miles), the Holland Land Office Museum (10 miles), Letchworth State Park (20 miles). 

Hobby House Needleworks is 36 miles away in Victor and easily accessible via the NYS Thruway.  Other area needlework shops include The Mouse House Stitchery in Sodus and Lazy Daisy Stitching in Clarence.

Accommodations are available in Batavia, about 11 miles away. https://visitgeneseeny.com/where-to-stay