"Not For Us Alone" and Frames

After taking a week off to recover from my vacation and also coddle a cold, I picked up my stitching again. My box from Ohio containing Dan's Christmas ornaments hasn't arrived yet, so I put some time in on Amy Mitten's "Not For Us Alone," a mystery sampler that I mentioned here: http://lilywork.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-camera.html

Since I last posted, I had received my Handi Clamp scroll frame, and I spent about half an hour attaching the piece to the frame. Now that I've done it, it should take me 30 seconds in the future. The plus to these scroll frames is that you don't have to baste your fabric to the frame, or mess with split dowels. The downside is that the little clamp can make a dent in your linen, so the manufacturer recommends putting quilt batting at each end.

After attaching the fabric to the frame, I got busy and stitched. I did rice stitch for about two hours. If you compare the two posts, you will see that I didn't get a lot done. I'm not a particularly fast stitcher. Not only that, but I kept counting and recounting to make sure I wasn't off at all. See, I often tell people that once you count your way to a starting spot, you really don't have to count all that much for the rest of the project. You just work your way out from your beginning, keeping all your stitches touching, and no problem. And that's true most of the time. This, however, is a mystery sampler, to be worked in a certain order. And it's also a kit, with a limited amount of thread, so I can't just rip it out and re-do it--I'll run out of thread. That's why I rarely buy kits. Well, one reason. (The other reason is that the fabric in kits is often Aida, which I hate, and the supplies are of poor quality.) But I really love Amy Mitten. This kit is worth it.

By the way, the thread I used today was a hand-dyed silk named "Gravestone." I just love Amy Mittens thread color names!

After my stitching session, I decided to attach my project to my Gazelle floor stand, which my mother-in-law gave me (while stitching, I was reclined, watching TV, which is my favored stitching position).



And then I got to thinking about the various frames I use for holding my stitching. I can and often do stitch in-hand. I've never had any problems maintaining tension doing this, but it causes the linen to wrinkle and it's very hard to get wrinkles out of linen. Especially after you've finished stitching and you can't use the steam option on your iron because you used overdyed silks and they'll run. No, much better to use a frame and clean hands.

It's a toss-up as to whether I use stretcher bars or q-snaps more. Stretcher bars are light and cheap, and you can mix and match sizes to get the best fit for your fabric. It can be a little time-consuming to attach the fabric with rustproof brass tacks, spaced just so. To the left is a project attached with those tacks, as well as empty stretcher bars. And to the right you can see how the bars come apart for the mixing and matching.









Q-snaps are pretty light, as well, and very quick to set up, but they are not cheap. My recollection is that they are about $10 a set. Another concern is that the clamps can supposedly "run" your linen--like running nylons. I've never had this happen. only heard of others' experiences. To the left is an assembled q-snap, and below you can see how the clamps come off.










I also use scroll frames frequently. They are especially good for larger projects: you can just roll up your extra fabric. In fact, for me they are the best for larger projects. They are neither inexpensive nor superexpensive. The downside is that they only provide tension top and bottom--not side to side. This can be overcome by taking quilting thread and sort of attaching the fabric to the sides, but then every time you need to scroll to a different section, you have to cut the thread and re-do it. Since "Not For Us Alone" will require much rescrolling, I'm not bothering.

One thing I never ever use on my counted stitching is a hoop:

Hoops, while being very cheap and providing excellent tension, leave marks on the linen. Some stitchers use them anyway and wrap them with muslin. I suppose you can use them if the hoop is large enough that any marks would be under the frame (assuming you frame the piece), but I only ever use them for things like stumpwork, where tension is absolutely required and the marks will be covered in the finishing.

Finally, my favorite option for holding my work: The Slate Frame. This has very taut tension, provided by the pegs on the four corners. However, it is the most expensive option: Mine cost about $60 and the first one the saleslady showed me was over $80. That one was beautifully finished wood with inlay--a piece of art in itself. But as I have not been able to collect these, as I have all of the others, I can only put one project at a time on it. This project is one of my 30+ UFOs: The Mermaid's Sea Chest by Lauren Sauer. The link takes you to a photo of the incredible finished project. Now that I've pulled this one out, I feel really motivated to work on it again. So many projects, so little time!

Angels Finished, Finally!

I finally--finally!--finished the 2008 Christmas Angels (not counting my own) and got them sent out to their recipients. Sadly, I lost the photos that show the finishing steps, and I forgot to take a photo of the finished product. I'm hoping Lynda will help me out here. But I have photos of the finished stitchng and partially finished product.

(Above) the Angel, finished, still on stretcher bars.

A close-up of the face, which is over-one.

During finishing, while stitching front and back together.

A different background, front and back sewn together.

The three angels, together.

Each angel took between 34 and 38 hours to complete, stitching only. They are cross-stitched on linen, over-two, except the skin tones which are over-one, with beads and metallics for accents. I sewed the ribbon loop on while putting the front and back together, so when I discovered that the matching edging ribbon was too wide for the project, rather than change it (so I could sew the edging on), I used a clear Fabri-Tak sort of glue. I do not recommend this and will likely not do it again.

Next up, I also finished Dan's 2008 ornament while in Ohio, and when that arrives (I had some stuff shipped back, to avoid checking it), I'll blog that. Plus, knitting and quilting shows!

A New Camera

So I got a new camera, for several reasons. I am hoping it will produce better pictures. We'll see.

Today I made some cards: a birthday card and a couple of thank-you cards. These are not my very first cards--I forgot to take pictures of those. They are my second batch. I think I did OK on the layout, could use some improvement on technical points. Like, what is the best way to glue down ribbon? (Hint: it apparently isn't glue dots.) And I was thinking I should maybe have colored in the stamp on the birthday card. It's a fairy princess, in case you can't see it. I do have a full set of prismacolors that could have done the job.



And this is what I have been working on. It's "Not For Us Alone" by Amy Mitten. The name comes from the motto of the Sieberling family of Stan Hywet Hall in Akron, Ohio. It's a mystery sampler. Amy Mitten writes a mystery to go along with the stitching, using fictional descendants of the family as characters. I have wanted it for years! I first saw it at a Shepherd's Retreat but could not afford it. "I'll save up and get it next time around," I thought. But then I could not find it. Anywhere. Finally, I found a store selling it as a stitch-along and I snapped it up. Here you can see it in its q-snaps. That was not my first choice for a frame because I was trying to avoid wrinkling the fabric--the thread is hand-dyed silk and not colorfast, so I cannot steam iron it when I am finished. My first choice for frame was a scroll frame, but I was surprised to find that I didn't have an unused one in the right size.

Here you can see the work I've done--that is about 8 hours worth of work.

I am a slow stitcher, and that is all rice stitch. And here is a close-up.

I think if you click on the picture you can get an enlargement and see the stitches.

Because it is a stitch-along, I have felt a little obligated to work on it, at the expense of finishing up the angels. But I think I'm going to try to focus a little more on the angels. I really want to get those done. It does seem I am a process stitcher (meaning I focus more on stitching than finishing), but I need to get some of these projects done!

An Excellent Christmas Present

Among the many great Christmas presents I received, these were some of my favorite:



My SIL, Rachel, makes these wonderful cards. I had recently become interested in scrapbooking, making cards and general paper arts myself, and knowing this, Rachel made me a set of 20 incredible cards, so that I could see a variety of techniques:



Lynda wanted to see these too, so here they are. I suggest clicking on the picture so you can see close up. They really are amazing.



I think my favorites are the two on the bottom of this photo, with a slight edge to the purple one on the right:


And I included a picture of the inside--apparently Rachel has a tool that makes slits in the paper so you can include a notecard:



Thanks Rachel!

Tools and Tins

Because I know that I can go a long time between posts, sometimes I make drafts of posts to put up sort of in-between. Of course, then I don't put those up either. But here is one from August.

Here are some of the tools I've been using on the Marquoir, and they are generally the tools I use with any project. First, I collect magnets. Here are a few of them, to the right. They're generally inexpensive, and I get most of them from Shepherd's Bush. Some I bought, and some I got at their Retreat (which I went to in September--yay!!). The swan at the top was a gift from the Swan Sampler Stitchers guild that they gave their members. Because I usually use metal boxes to hold my tools, these fit nicely in the lid to hold my needles, needle threader and laying tool.

Below are some more tools. At the top of the picture is a highlighter. These are very useful for marking what I've done on a complex pattern. Or I should say, a copy of a pattern. Never fear, designers--I only make a copy so I can mark it while keeping my original in good shape, and then I destroy the pattern. Actually, by the time I finish with a pattern, it's already destroyed.


Just below the highlighter in the plastic box with a green lid, is a needle. My Favorite Needle (tm) by Mardina. And it is my favorite needle. It's tiny, with a tiny eye, and so I can't use a needle threader with it, but I love the grip and the smoothness. Just below that is a needle threader. When I'm not using the MFN, I use John James Petites, which are also small, but have the traditional long eye. Obviously, I can thread a needle unaided, but it's just quicker to use the threader.

The blue box contains Thread Heaven. It's basically some silicone, used to tame threads. I generally only use it on metallics, which are the most difficult threads for me to handle. Some people also use beeswax. Both of these substances just generally get the kinks out of the thread, but they do leave a residue, so people interested in conservation tend to shy away from them.

OK, another pair of scissors. No, Shiloh, I didn't make this fob either, unfortunately. I don't remember what brand of scissors these are, but they have curved tips, which helps prevent cutting your stitching. You just sort of pull your thread to be cut taut, lay the scissors against the fabric, and snip. Lift n Snip is the most well-known brand of this type of scissors.

Next, the long brown item is a stitch fixer. Sometimes you get loose stitches, or you have too short of an end to finish off easily--this tool helps with that.

More on the box with the acorn below.

And more tools:
Yes, that long metallic object is a telescoping pointer. It has a magnet on the end and is useful for finding and picking up flung needles. That plastic box with the yellow lid is another My Favorite Needle--a petite one. It's really small and I use it for beading--the eye slips through small bead holes easily. The round item is just a piece of rubber that I use for gripping the needle--sometimes (but not too often) the back of my stitching is so tight I can't get the needle through it easily when I'm finishing off a thread. It gets stuck. Once I broke a needle trying to pull it through! The rubber just gives me a stronger grip so I can get the needle through. I also have a hemostat somewhere for the same purpose. To the right of that is My Favorite Dololly, again by Mardina. This is used to finish too-short threads, and I use it far more than the Stitch Fixer. I mostly just use that for loose stitches. With the MFD, you put the long, wiry part under your threads (in the back), then grasp your too-short thread with the hook, pull that through the wires, and pull the wires out. Voila! Your thread is secured.

Yet another pair of scissors. These are Ginghers Stork Scissors--my first pair. I did make that fob; it's an exclusive Swan Sampler Stitchers guild project--it was part of the original Swan Box project. Here is a link to a picture of that:

http://carolynstandingwebb.com/photo.htm

It's just below the butterfly, and I also did the project just below that, Threads Through Time.

OK, back to the tools. There is a small bobbin of thread. It's just a bobbin that my sewing machine messed up and I use that thread for basting lines and grids on complex projects. I don't do that too often; I prefer to just dive in. But sometimes it's a lifesaver. And the last object is an Altoid's breath strips tin. I hold extra needles in it.

Here is the tin I hold all of that stuff in:


It was given to my by my friend Tricia over 20 years ago--it originally held toffees. I don't know if you can see, but the top is a medieval falconing party. Although I have many tins and boxes for my many (over 35) works-in-progress, this is my most-used one.

And since I'm showing tins, here is the tin I'm using for my tatting tools:
It's a Whitman Salmagundi Sampler tin, and there are a lot of projects out there to make tops and liners for Whitman tins.

Previous Years' Christmas Ornaments

I finally took down my Christmas decorations and thought I'd do a quick post to show you the ornaments I have completed for my family. At left are mine. The one with trees and the one with the cat are from JCS Ornament Issues. The other one was designed by a member of the Swan Sampler Guild and was a guild "Christmas in July" project.


Next, below, are GameBoy's, also from the JCS Ornament issues:

These are mostly earlier ones, and he hadn't had time to develop a theme. Actually, I don't think he has a theme now, either.

And Jazzboy's, at right. He likes snowman ornaments.












DH likes sleds, but lately there have been no sled ornaments in JCS, so for the past two years he has picked ones showing wreaths on doors.










And finally, ones that have been given to me, either by my mother-in-law, or in guild ornament exchanges:

Why It Sucks to be a Slob

Because one day you might find yourself running out the door to pick up the boys from school, and you might think you'd like to read Martha Stewart Living while you're waiting. And you can't find it! You know you had it yesterday, and you start thinking that you also had a bunch of junk mail that you threw in the trash. You look and look and come to the inevitable conclusion that you must have thrown the magazine in the trash with the junk. It's been known to happen. So you gird up your loins, and go through the trash which is full of eggshells and potato salad remnants and some unidentified liquid. When you don't find it, you go through it again. Still no dice. So you wash your hands and look around the front room once more. Only to find that you actually threw it on the couch the day before, and your husband, desperately in search of a clear place to sit, set it aside neatly where it wouldn't get damaged.

Other People's Creativity

I am always amazed by other people's creativity. Even though I haven't posted in a month or so, I've been keeping up on the various blogs that I like to read. I really admire all of you who are artisanally and artistically talented--and prolific! You really keep me inspired, especially when I'm feeling unmotivated. Thank you!

For my quilting sisters, I really do recommend Mel's Own Place. Not only is she super-talented, she has bunches of links to other quilting sites and blogs. As well as bookmaking and basketry sites. And for my knitting sisters, I recommend Zeneedle. I met Margene, whose blog that is, at Swan Sampler Guild, which she helped found, and I love to read her daily entries on adventures in knitting and spinning. My sister maintains the (mostly) knitting blog Big Booty Knits, and I wish she'd post more (but she could say the same about me, lol). She knits beautiful lace--I have The Long Paisley Shawl that she knit for me--and she has links to even more lace sites and blogs.

Besides the Christmas ornaments, and the tatting which is ongoing (I work on it while the boys have their swimming lessons), I have started a new doily:

It's "Victorian Lace" by Jo Ann Maxwell from The Ultimate Doily Book. I started this in the midst of all my other stuff because we were fortunate enough to get a new and beautiful dining room table from my in-laws. It's large and white and round, where our previous table was small and brown and oval. So my off-white doily doesn't really show up on it. I'm doing this in Aunt Lydia's Classic Crochet Thread in Frosty Green and Ecru and it should be 23 inches in diameter. I had been having trouble because I was doing my foundation chains (not sure that's a term; I mean chains that are going to be stitched into) too tight. I may rip out the last row and a half (the outer green part) and redo it with less tension in the chain. I work on this in the car when I'm waiting for the boys after school, or any other time I have free time in public.

Angel #2 Finished

Wow, I finally finished Angel #2. This time it only took me 34 1/2 hours.

Of course, this does not mean I Finished, which I hope to do this weekend.

At left is Jazzboy's ornament, also not Finished. As predicted, I did it it less than 36 hours--just under nine, to be exact.

Now I'm working on Gameboy's ornament, "Let It Snow" by Country Cottage Needleworks, also in the JCS Ornament Issue. It calls for DMC 469 (avocado), 869 (very dark hazelnut brown) and 3031 (very dark mocha brown); DMC E168 (silver); and Crescent Colors Deep Fennel and Snow. Surprisingly I had the fabric it calls for in my stash: 32-ct Belfast linen in Flax. Usually I have to substitute (or have a Stash-Enhancing experience!). That lump in the middle is a pearl earring. My super-scientific way to find the center of a fabric is to fold it in half both ways, pinch it to make temporary creases and stick a stud earring in at the intersection of the creases. I always start in the middle and work my way out.

I was able to work on it for about 2 hours last night and this is what I got done:
That's a scarf, two birds and the beginning of the border in CC Deep Fennel. When I'm done, I'll be on to Angel #3, which only has to be done by Christmas Eve. Angel #4 is for me, and I have a pile of unfinished Angels #4 from previous years. I'm hoping this year, for once and for all, to finish them and Finish them--they'll make quite a nice display.

Angel #1 Finished

Wow, the first of four angels is done and it only took 2200 minutes. Or 36.6666... hours. It did feel like infinity hours sometimes. No pix yet.

In between angels, I'm making ornaments for my family. So I started the first one today, for Jazzboy. It's "Frosty Friends" by Mosey 'N Me from this year's Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue, and I expect it will take somewhat fewer than 36 hours to finish. I was so excited to start it that I forgot to take a picture of the supplies, so you can see some of my stitching in the picture:

Right there in the center is an orange snowman's nose and a bit of blue scarf, which might be hard to see against the blue background.

Here's a funny thing: I was googling to find a picture of Frosty Friends for those of you who don't want to wait to see it--I didn't find one (not that I looked that hard) but I did find a previous post on this blog. Cool!

It's Christmas Time! Part 2

I have finally started on the Christmas angels! I'm doing two on the dark green:


And two on the Antique Green:


The first one is on the Antique Green. I can't say which one I like better, in case people feel they got the "inferior" one.

I'm also not going to post pictures till after they've been sent out, so the recipients (Lynda, Nancy, Mom) can be surprised. I'm working right now on a part with a lot of reds and it can be tough to tell the differences in colors when the lights not good. But I know that the designer (Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum) will have done another amazingly shaded project--they'll look really good.

My latest other big project in my stitching is to try to better store all my linen. When linen gets creased, it stays creased, which is why I don't understand why so much linen gets folded up by its sellers. I mean, I do, sort of--it takes up less space that way--but I have had so many projects with a fold down the middle of them that I can't get rid of. And I'm sure I will have more, as I have a lot of projects that have had the linen folded up for years. But from here on out, no more! I was taking my linens and rolling them up in acid-free tissue paper, and then storing them in paper towel rolls. But I've taken it a step further. Now, I'm ironing the fabric when I get it and attaching a label with a rust-free pin at the edge, and hanging it from pants' hangers. I did this with the angel fabric (obviously, from the pictures, not before I took the pix) and I'll do it with the ornament fabric. I have hung up the fabrics I got from the retreat, as well, but didn't iron them, as all the fabrics are hand-dyed, and I had started stitching on them with silks, neither of which likes steam. Perhaps I'll dry-iron them.

And to my two textile-loving sisters--you know who you are--I know that knitting and quilting retreats exist. You should check with your local stores and guilds; maybe they have one.

Shepherd's Retreat, Day 3

Saturday was the final day of classes, as well as the banquet. Our first class was with R&R Reproductions. I have to admit that they were not my favorite; we took them a couple of retreats ago and didn't care for the project. But, as Nancy reminded me, they had told us that they had had trouble that prevented them from getting together a better project. This time, I really liked their project. It's called "Quaker Lover Letters," and it's an envelope, basically, with a Quaker-style sampler on it. It was coincidental that it had many Ackworth Sampler motifs. I mean, coincidental in that they chose that style this year. Not coincidental, of course, that Quaker groups used the same motifs. The project is all done in cross stitch, in one color of thread, so even though the design is complex, the stitching will be easy. There is an accessories kits that we could buy--so I did. I bought it because it has a really cool nametag that says, "Mistress of the Needle," and I too want to proclaim my status as such. This is a project that I might get started on right after the Christmas projects.

For lunch we only had an hour, part of which was spent getting checked into our second room. Nancy and I shared a room the first two nights, but for the third night, we had people coming to eat at the banquet with us, so we got a second room. We had decided we would eat our veggie tray, and some fruits for lunch, but my cooler would not keep them cool enough, so I tossed them instead, and we ate unhealthy snacks.

Class three, the final class, was taught by Jacqueline Holdsworth of Needleprint. I believe she is not a designer, but she is an expert on and charts the Ackworth Samplers, and she brought one of her reproduction charts, Hannah Westcombe's Ackworth Sampler. It, too, is stitched in just one color, and I'm doing it in Belle Soie's Enchanted Forest. However it's over-one, and really large, and the fabric is Oaten Scone 34 ct, so it will be more demanding. Here's a link to a picture of the original, recently sold at auction--it's lot 200:

http://www.tennants.co.uk/Press_news/Press_news_10_03_08.asp

Jacqueline also gave us another slide show of the Ackworth Samplers. The quality of these really is very good.

After class, we had three hours to get ready for the banquet. I was so glad we hadn't had to check out. In previous year, we did come home after the banquet, which meant that we had to check before our first class (at 9 am), and then sit around after classes, unable to relax or get ready. I would generally stitch on of my new projects in one of the many nooks of the hotel. The chairs were always cozy and the lighting always bad. But this time, I moved all my stuff into my new room, met up with DH, and assembled my new charm bracelet:

OK, from left (below): Charland's charm from Shared Stitches (it says "Friends"); a small stitched (yes, it's stitched, and very tiny) charm and an English penny from the night of the lecture; a Quaker wreath motif designed by Jacqueline Holdsworth, and a typewriter key (because it's a "text" sampler) from the Hannah Westcombe class; a small bead that came with the bracelet.


And again from the left: The bead; a heart charm with a bird on it designed by Merry Cox and an antique button, from Merry Cox's class; a glass flower and a crown designed by R&R, from their class; a heart charm designed by Charland from her class (one of the ones I couldn't attend).


So, after that, the banquet. Here is our table:


And here you can see Nancy socializing, with Dan's and Erin's backs to the camera:

It was a nice banquet, and the entertainment was hysterical. Each table got up and did an entertainment of their choice: there were skits and songs. I read a poem by Emily Bronte about love and friendship and then another lady at the table read a Shel Silverstein poem about getting out of doing dishes, while the rest of us pantomimed. And at the end of the banquet, we each got a little gift:

It's a little sampler pendant. All in all, I really enjoyed myself; my only complaint is that it was too short. Teri and Tina of Shepherd's Bush always do a fantastic job!

Since returning home, I have been kitting the Christmas angels and ornaments. I had to order some threads, beads and buttons for those, so look for that update soon.

Shepherd's Retreat, Day 2

Today we had to hike down the hill to get to our class—it looked harder than it was. Merry Cox was our teacher and her project was "Sweet Little Blossoms." We always enjoy learning from her, especially her finishing technique--she is justly well-known for her finishing. This project consisted of a small bag, a needlecase, pin-keep, and scissors' case. We worked on Queen, or Rococo stitch, Nun’s stitch—I already knew both of those—and Buttonhole Wheels, which I didn’t know. During class we got another very adorable charm designed by Merry. Each teacher designed a charm for her class and I thought we wouldn’t get the charms from the classes we didn’t attend, but I found out later we could buy those, so I did. Two of them were sold out, though, so I don't have them, yet--they're on their way.

After class, lunch from the Pizza Hut next to the hotel. They’re doing construction on the path there, so a little hiking was involved I should have taken a picture. We had to climb down into a culvert and then back up the other side. Although the hotel is very nice, the service is lacking, and this is one example. A sign indicating the closure, and a suggested detour would have been nice.

Oh, yes, and we had to sign up for our banquet table—they are all named after Jane Austen characters. We chose Colonel Brandon’s table. There was a run on the Colin Firth and Mr. Darcy tables--we had no chance to sit there, lol.

After lunch we had much free time, which we spent napping and stitching. Then off to dinner at Zoom. This is Robert Redford's Park City restaurant. It is most famous for its macaroni and cheese, but I've had that before--it is really good--and tried something else. I had the 5-spice salmon. Generally I avoid seafood in a landlocked state, but Redford's restaurants are an exception. The food is always fresh and good. This was no exception. It came with a mango salsa, wilted spinach, asparagus, and mashed potatoes. Those were almost, but not quite, as good as Dan's, but they were much fluffier. We suspect a ricer was involved. I have to admit that, as good as it was, I wish I had ordered Nancy's dish: Halibut crusted with herbs and asiago. Same sides. That was what my taste buds really wanted. Dessert was the best creme brulee I have ever had. Firm enough, and supersilky. White chocolate with lavender.

Then back to the hotel for a lecture by Jacqueline Holdsworth of Needleprint, on the Ackworth Samplers. I have to admit I'm not particularly a sampler person. The bands can be a little boring (not to stitch, but sometimes to look at), and a whole lot of antique samplers make me wonder why I'm supposed to be impressed. Because they're old? Certainly not the composition or technique. But these--these could convert me. They are amazing. Ackworth was a Quaker, co-ed school founded in the late 18th century (1779, I think), in England. It was for children, "not of affluence," and the girls stitched these complex, well-designed, well-stitched, beautiful samplers on their own time. I believe Jacqueline said the girls entered school at 8 and left at 14, so they were pretty young.

And because this was another retreat session, we got another charm and another project: "Quaker Wreath," charted by Jacqueline from the samplers we had been looking at. This project came in a beautiful bag--I chose pink. Yes, I've turned into a girly-girl who loves pink in my middle age.

Oh, and we had a wonderful chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup. It was good; too bad I'd already had the creme brulee:

And the lemon tart? With the shortbread crust? It didn't travel too well. By the time we got to it, next morning, the crust was too soggy to eat, or even find. Oh, well, I'm sure it was good.

Shepherd's Retreat, Day 1

Before I get to today's post, I see that Shepherd's Bush has updated their blog with photos from the retreat. I recommend you click there (on my sidebar) to see some photos of the projects, as well as the teachers. Charland is so cool! Even though I didn't get to take her class this time.

So on Thursday, we arrived earlier than we had planned, and we were worried that we’d have to sit in the lobby while we waited for our room. But no, our room was ready—and it’s a room with a balcony! I was so excited. n fact, I’m sitting here on the lounge chair on the balcony while I type this. It’s very pleasant, with a nice breeze—cooler than Salt Lake City. And there’s a really nice view. There is also a less-nice view, but I have chosen not to look that way.

Day 1 always starts with registration and a small project. Today’s project was a memory book. We were given a book, some papers, some cutouts, some charms, some ribbon, and some thread, and then allowed to use our imagination. This year, because we were so on-time, we got a good seat. Sometimes I don’t have much imagination, and I should take my time, get ideas, and think about it—but I just jumped in anyway. Here is my partially completed book:

There were so many cute ideas and it’s always fun to see other people’s creativity.

For dinner, Nancy and I went to Chez Betty, which we’ve both wanted to try for some time. I had rack of lamb for the first time in my life, which I enjoyed. We both thought it was pretty good. The warm spinach salad, and the “everything” bread were spectacular, the rest of the meal less so, although still very good. We didn’t have time to eat dessert, so we ordered lemon tarts to go. We hoped they would travel well.

We made it back just in time for “Shared Stitches,” which is where all of the designers at the retreat contribute a part of the kit. Shepherd’s Bush did the pattern, which is an adorable lopsided heart. The front has a vine and the back has the names of all of the teachers, as well as some friendship words. Charland Gavin did the charm, which was also a heart. We were given the choice of putting it on the project or a bracelet, and so mine is on my bracelet and I will show a picture later. R&R Reproductions did the fabric--30-ct French Vanilla, and Merry Cox did the finishing. Charland explained in detail how charms are made—it’s about 14 steps, she said. And in fact, we then got the bracelet to go with the charm we received, as well as future charms that we were promised.

Afterwards we were too stuffed and tired to eat our desserts, and so we went to bed.