Weekend, Part Two

The best part of going to a retreat is meeting other stitchers.  Judy and I had really been looking forward to this retreat because we were going to meet up with some old friends and we were anxious to meet some of our new blogging friends.

The retreat was organized by Jan of Tree of Life Samplings.  She had her entire trunk show there.  It's always fun to see the designs all stitched up.  Here are some of the photos I took of her trunk show:

I bought the pattern for this reproduction sampler and hope to stitch it up some time in the near future!

I also bought this pattern.  It was last year's retreat project and I really like the verse on it - "Beauty and Grace Abound in my Stitching Place."

Of course, Jan had many of her hand-dyed linens and other patterns and supplies available for sale.

During the retreat there was an exchange for those who wanted to participate.  We could bring either a small stitched piece or an ornament; I brought one of each and received two ornaments.  Will save pictures of those for a later post (I need to take the pictures first!).  Here are some photos of all of the exchange pieces.

As mentioned though, the highlight of the retreat was reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones.

My good friend Wendy Jo and her friend Paula (who I have exchanged emails with but had not met until this weekend) were both there.  We enjoyed visiting with them!

Judy and I also had the opportunity to reconnect with Barb (Babs); we first met her last fall at the Dyeing to Stitch Retreat in Virginia Beach.  (Babs is on the left in the lime green top; her friend Ellen is on the other side of the table.)

I knew that some of the Inspired Needle gals were going to be there, but to my surprise nearly all of them had come to this retreat.  It was great fun meeting Laura, Karin, Linda, Jayne, Pat, Patti, Teresa, and of course, Brenda (Brenda and I met a few years ago at the Silver Needle).  These gals are a lot of fun and it's always interesting to see what they are working on (usually documented in great detail on Laura's blog.)  Here they are with their Vera Kiss and Makeup bags (aptly re-purposed to carry stitching supplies!)  Ranae from Stitch by Stitch is also in this photo and sometimes joins these gals at The Inspired Needle!

There was a great group of ladies at this retreat; we really enjoyed meeting with each of them.  Here are a few more photos in the classroom and outside of Cracker Barrel where we ate lunch on Friday.

In another post I will show you a picture of our retreat projects.  You've already seen the set of smalls that I stitched up prior to the retreat (in an earlier post).  We also received a sampler that was designed especially for this retreat -- will show you that as soon as I get a photo taken.  Maybe I'll share some of my stash purchases too!

One last photo -- here I am with my partner in crime.  Judy and I enjoyed our trip and we look forward to planning our next adventure!

I hope to have more updates for you tomorrow - I've been working on some finishing today (it's about time, don't you think?)  Have a great evening.  Thanks for stopping by!