Frogging Frustrated!

Have you ever had a project that was just doomed from the start? I pulled out La D Da's "Garden Maiden Kit" and took it with me to retreat thinking it would be a good project to work on when not in class. After all, it is stitched on 30ct linen - easy to see! I was plagued with errors right out of the gate. Stitched seven or eight letter only to realize I was off. Ripped and fixed, stitched some more. Encountered another problem. Ripped and stitched. Last night I was putting the border in and realized that the last two rows of letters are a thread off! I'm already at the point of needing to purchase more thread. Do I leave the letters in as is? Or do I rip again and re-stitch? Ugh. I'm sure I will choose the latter option.

Here's another snap of Mt. Rainier. I happened to be sitting on the right side of the plane when flying home yesterday. Such a beautiful, majestic mountain!

***Edited to Add*** And my mother replied "I would throw the whole piece away and not do it." Thanks mom... :)

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Will Be Back Soon

In the meantime, I'm enjoying a few days in the Pacific Northwest.

 

 

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Retreat Classes

Two of my classes at retreat were with Betsy Morgan. What I like most about classes with Betsy is that you always go home with something finished.

On Wednesday of retreat week I took the Edinburgh Reticule class. We had stitched the needlebook in advance and did the finishing in class.

Here's the front:

Here's the inside:

Here's the back and front:

Thursday's class was the Helix Etui. I was drawn to the interesting shape of this project. Here's the pincushion:

I have one more class project to share with you; need to first take pictures of it.

Today we went to watch my daughter play Australian Football. First time I've seen her play. I must admit, I don't understand the game! She plays for the Minnesota Freeze. They played against the Denver Bulldogs here in MN. She also plays on the development team for the U.S. She's a busy girl!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A Little More Eye Candy

This will be my last post from show and tell at retreat. These are some of my favorite pieces.

First up, the Millennium Sampler from Ewe and Eye and Friends. This design has popped up on Facebook a couple of times in the past few weeks. I love it!

Check out this beautifully framed Shepherd's Fold piece with a Jill Rensel mat!

This is a box from Chessie and Me. I'm not sure of the name of the design, but it reminds me of an old fashioned sewing box.

This Swan Lake Mending Bag from Merry Cox was started by one stitcher from our guild. When she died it was passed on to another member of our guild. A third guild member finished the stitching on the bag. And then the member it was gifted to did the finishing.

**** I have always loved this Merry Cox design. If you have the kit or if you know someone who has the kit and you no longer want it, I would be happy to purchase it from you!*******

A beautiful collection of Ukrainian Whotework ornaments...

And finally this beautiful box with a Victoria Sampler design on the top.

I don't know about you, but I never tire of looking at these beautiful needlework finishes. I hope that tomorrow night I will have time to tell you about the classes I took and the small finishes I was able to complete at retreat.

Happy Stitching!

 

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Fabric of Community

One of the themes of the retreat was community and what better way to celebrate community than with a friendship sampler!

My group of friends decided to do a round robin friendship sampler starting last fall. We passed our samplers every month. Each stitcher was responsible for stitching a band that was approximately 80 stitches wide and 20 stitches high. Our samplers made their way back to their original owners in June giving us each enough time to finish any additional stitching we needed to do and to get the piece framed.

It was great fun seeing all eight samplers at the retreat.

My friend Chris wanted a needlework themed sampler. She made suggestions as to what she wanted us each to stitch.

Cheryl wanted bands of flowers - we stitched her a garden!

Colleen's included a verse at the top. We stitched the bands underneath.

Love Mary Kay's. She started us off with a beautiful design from Ewe and Eye at the top.

Judy's reminds me of some of the historic samplers you see...Love the Whitework band in the middle.

Nancy's was one of my favorites. I really liked the color palette she selected.

Jane loves strawberries!

I can hardly believe this, but I forgot to take a photo of my sampler at retreat! While the lighting isn't that great in this photo....here it is. I love it. What a treasure this sampler is.

 

Needlework friends are truly the best!

 

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More Show and Tell

Here are a few more photos from the Needlework Show and Tell exhibit at retreat. I love seeing everyone's finishes!

A beautiful sampler...

Blue Ribbon Sewing Box from Patrick's Woods...

The Conservatory....a design from Lauren Sauer...

Elizabethan Casket Etui from Betsy Morgan...

A beautiful quilt...

This Hardanger doily was exquisite!

This was an interesting and unique finish. These LHN designs were used to creat a box. Inside was a sheep diorama. Note the box top in the back!

Ellen Chester's new class piece; not quite finished but close....

Hope you enjoyed this tour. More tomorrow!

 

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A Week Filled with Fun and Stitching

The week went by so quickly. I just returned from a week of stitching in Buffalo, MN at the Needlework Guild of Minnesota retreat. Our accommodations for the week were at the Christ the King Retreat Center located right on Buffalo Lake. This photo was taken on an overcast day; most days were sunny with blue skies.

When I arrived on Tuesday I spent time stitching and visiting with old friends. On Tuesday night we could participate in a scissor fob class. I made the following two fobs...

On Wednesday, I took the Edinburgh Reticule class with Betsy Morgan. More on that later.
The Village People made a couple brief appearances at our retreat.

These four ladies are always in charge of our secret stitcher exchanges. They like to come up with a routine that matches the theme of the retreat. The theme of the retreat this year was "Fabric of Community". Community=Village.....Do you see the connection? Instead of singing "YMCA" we sang "NGoM" (Needlework Guild of Minnesota). They are a hoot.
My favorite part of retreat is always the Show and Tell display on Thursday. It will take me a few days to share with you all the pictures I took! Here is your first installment:

More stories and pictures to come!

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I Heart BOAF - Side One

Side one is done! I love everything about this little design/needlecase.

 

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I Heart BOAF

I was thrilled to win this little kit on eBay. I have never seen this design from BOAF before and immediately fell in love. Normally I would not choose to stitch on black, but I think that it is 28 count and with good light it hasn't been too bad. It's called Needlecase Sampler.

Look for a finish soon!

 

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