SKIATOOK, Okla. — Craft hobbies such as macrame, scrapbooking, sewing, and quilting took off during the COVID-19 pandemic and years later show no signs of slowing down.
The Craft Industry Alliance reports over 85 million people in the United States and Canada are spending more than $35 billion a year on their hobbies.
The home arts are so popular that complete strangers are coming together to share their skills.
2 News searched out craft retreats in Oklahoma and found at least eight on the map. We reached out to a retreat center in Skiatook, where visitors begin with a project and end up stitching together new friendships.
At the Osage Hills Retreat Center, you can hear it in every corner of the main meeting room. The sounds of creative people at work.
Eight women quilters signed up for a Saturday through Wednesday retreat. They brought their own projects for five days of togetherness with strangers.
SueAnn Lancet is a first-time visitor from Thomas, Oklahoma. She brought projects she needed to be finished — wreaths for her granddaughter's wedding and Christmas card quilts.
Her work is slightly different from the others, she adds tiny beads and crystals to her quilt squares and then frames them for future gifts meant to be kept through the years.
"Everything is hand sewn. Every bead. Everything," said SueAnn Lancet of Thomas, Oklahoma.
The craft connects them. They share their techniques while staying at the 11-acre facility tucked into the Osage Hills near Skiatook.
There is a meeting center, a salt water pool and spa, and even a walking trail.
The retreat attendees share the house during their stay; the kitchen and bedrooms, which are all blanketed in bright, beautiful quilts.
"We have a lot of quilts on display for people. So, I've made all of these quilts," said Melissa Struttman, owner of the Osage Hills Retreat Center. She is the source of the retreats and the creative influence.
"Yes, this is my heart. I was a scrapbooker when my kids were young and I have quilted for about 10 years," she said.
Melissa Struttman and her husband, Steve, crafted a business from her hobby. The two wanted to stay busy in retirement.
"My husband found this house, and I thought it was a crazy house because it's so big, but when he explained it would make a wonderful retreat center where we could live in half and our retreaters could live in the other half," Melissa added. "It made perfect sense."
They opened for the first retreat in 2022, offering a place for crafters to come together as individuals or groups.
In the hallway of the retreat center home, you will find an Oklahoma and United States map dotted with pins marking the hometowns of their many visitors.
"A group came from Nebraska last year; we've had Iowa, lots of Rogers, Ark, a lot of TX, Kansas," said Steve Struttman, owner of the Osage Hills Retreat Center.
"There's a lot of quilters in this part of the country, as you'd expect."
Thanks to the growing number of people who want to create and be with others of like minds, the Struttman's business is booming.
Their original plan of 20 retreats a year jumped to 59 in 2024. They already have 30 on the books for early 2025 and will add more for groups or individuals.
So, why this hobby of quilting?
"My husband thinks I'm a nut," said Carolyn Nixon of Windyville, Missouri.
She added with a laugh, "He says, 'Why in Heaven's name would a woman want to take perfectly good fabric, cut it up, and then just sew it back together again?'"
Carolyn thinks of quilting as her connection with her late mother.
Her earliest memories are of being in the living room of her parents' small Ozark Hills cabin, hand-tying quilts with her mother by the light of a gas lamp. They had no electricity. She believes quilts help connect generations.
"We come, we live, we go, we die. And we want to leave something behind. And for me, quilting does that," Carolyn added.
Her quilts go to children, grandchildren, and friends. Every stitch and design is made with care.
"And it's kind of like, when I'm gone, they can still be wrapped in my love if they have a quilt from me," she said with tears in her eyes. "That's why."
So the quilters choose fabrics, stitch, and press the cloth, knowing they will leave this retreat with gifts to share.
SueAnn Lancet showed off a finished Christmas card quilt in a beautiful gold frame. "Then, on the back, I'm going to make a little note or a saying wishing them a Merry Christmas,"
When their five days together are done, the crafters leave with something else that lasts.
"It doesn't take long before quilters are best friends," said Debbie Eversole of Rogers, Arkansas. "I didn't know any of these ladies when I came, but now I feel like they're good friends, and we just got here Saturday."
She drove from Rogers, Arkansas, with her friend, Lillie Juergens. They were among the first to sign up for the Struttman's first craft retreat for individual quilters and have been back at least eight times.
Some of the retreats are booked by groups. Both said it does not take long to connect with the others who sign up.
"And that was what was really exciting," said Juergens of Rogers, Arkansas. "You connected with everyone even though we were from 4 different states and in four different areas of quilting."
Lillie and the others raved about the camaraderie of "S'Mores Night" by the campfire, shared meals, the hours of quilting punctuated by laughter and learning new techniques.
Within days of arriving, many are planning their next retreat to craft even more in the beauty of the Osage Hills.
One group now calls themselves "The Stranger Danger Girls" because they all came as strangers, and they enjoyed each other's company so much that they scheduled another retreat.
"I love it!" said SueAnn Lancet, a first-timer. "I've already booked one for August!"
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