Spring Fling Day Two

Last Friday I was very good and got up and went walking even though it was very cold (33 degrees).  I walked out to the main road and then back and around part of the lake.

 We are meeting in the lobby and going to Eagle Creek Quilt Shop this morning.  I always find good stuff there.  We discover that we are really very close to the shop and it doesn't take long to get there.

 Whoa, the parking is full as there is a monthly get together going on.  We have fun finding great fabrics.  It is such a temptation to get stuff to make a quilt.  I'm not even a quilter.  I see a quilt I just love, My Small World by Jen Kingwell.

  It is so cool.  It can be made with lots of scraps.  The pattern comes in a 35 page book.  I resist.  I don't get the book but I want it and may order it.

I see a really nifty tool.  One side holds a seam ripper and the other side holds a stiletto.  I need a stiletto.

They are made by some man in Florida.  It will be a great souvenir.

I find some William Morris fabric.

I also find some London fabric and ask Vickie if she will make me a project bag out of it.  She says yes!

We stop for lunch at Perkins where you can get breakfast all day.  So I have breakfast again.
We are getting excited as the retreat starts this afternoon.  Waiting until 2:30 to get our name tag and packet is excruciating.  There are so many people milling around.

 The room isn't supposed to open until 3.  But there are snacks out already.  This place really knows how to do great snacks.  Finally it is time.
We line up and get our stuff  and find a table in the room.

 We have a full table of five but we need to save a place for my BFF as she is driving from out of state to get here.  It is great to see friends again.
Deb of Stitchville introduces Barb and Alma of Blackbird Designs.

They are so nice and funny and down to earth.  It is great to listen to them chat about how Blackbird Designs started.  Then they show us the original sampler that all our designs are based on.  We get two designs.  One is to be framed  and one is a drum style design.  Neat. I like them.  We get to start stitching.

Then before we know it, it is time to eat dinner.  I start with desserts first.  Oh, my.

Then after dinner we go back to stitching.  I'm still on Eastern time so by ten, I'm pooped and ready to bed.  I've made good progress.  I've had a great time talking to all my friends and showing off Home Sweet Home.  What a great day!
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Spring Fling Day One

I'm back from Spring Fling.  I had a great time.  The highlight is seeing my BFFs and other friends.  So fun yet over so quickly.  I also got to see Son#1 and DIL.  Cathy at With Needle and Thread has already posted about the retreat.  I think her pictures are better than mine.

I left early last Thursday for a quick flight to Minneapolis.  I love that I can fly directly there from my town.  It was a challenge to find a ride this year as my BFF usually picks me up but she was out of town.  I found another friend who was arriving for Spring Fling and renting a car.  She very kindly said I could ride with her.  I was supposed to meet her at the Hertz counter.  So I took a tram and  found the Hertz counter.  Stitched for a little bit while I waited.  I got a call from her and she said "Where are you?"  I was at the wrong Hertz counter!  There are two terminals at Minneapolis and (of course) I was at the wrong one.  So I went in search of Terminal Two and finally found the correct Hertz counter.  Where do we want to go first?  Stitchville!  Oh, I have been waiting for this.

  What fun to see everything and get stuff on my list and look at all the new things and meet other Spring Flingers there.

 I splurged a bit since I rarely get to a great stitching store.  We have 20% off coupons too.  How nice to get hard to find things.  Stitchville is just the best stitching store.

After the Stitchville another place we love to go is The General Store.  They have a great cafe there that is known for their fresh popovers.  So we had a yummy lunch.  I had soup and a popover with honey butter.  Then we had to shop a bit.  I found a few miscellaneous things.  I wanted to get some nice hand lotion but I was appalled at the price.  I just am not going to pay 32 dollars for hand lotion, I don't care how good it smells.  I found some at a more affordable price.

Now it is almost time to check in at Oak Ridge Convention Center where Spring Fling is held.  The retreat doesn't start until tomorrow so we can relax.  I'm not usually at Spring Fling for the extra night before it starts.  But I have found that having time to relax and recover from our travels made the trip even more fun.  My friend gave me a present.  She is also making Erica Micheal's By the Sea and she had the stuff to put in the locket that she got at Michael's.  She shared it with me and let me choose a tiny star fish.

 How kind of her!  Then we were invited to stitch in the lounge area with other early arrivers.  What we really did was sit around and talk.

Then BFF#2 arrived with Vickie.  They drove together.  Vickie makes the most gorgeous bags. She gave me a project bag she made.  Love it.  (Yes, I already put stuff in it!)

  Then she gave me a bag that has a ton of pockets to hold all the stuff you need while stitching.  Love it.

 Then that bag fits into another bag so nothing falls out while you transport it.  Perfect.  Love it.   The bag has macarons all over it.

 Perfect.  Thank you Vickie!
BFF#2 also gave me a couple of waxers as she knows I collect them.

  How lucky am I?
I was a little sad that I didn't have the opportunity to go to Dolittles with Son#1 tonight.  But we made do by ordering Walleye fingers (my favorite) at the hotel restaurant.
It was a great day and I love my room especially the window seat.

  I have a view of the lake this year.

I plan to walk in the morning.
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See You Next Week

I'm taking off early tomorrow and I'll tell you all about my trip next week.  I printed my boarding pass.  Stitchville here I come!

I have a confession.  After watching too much Flosstube, I decided to order a Quantum Frame.  I just got confirmation that it has been sent - from Estonia.  I imagine it will take at least a week to get here.
I just stitched on what I felt like doing yesterday.  I wanted to work my way down Winter to the blackwork area.  So I did.  I started stitching the blackwork design on her coat with a dark grey.

 I don't know if it will show up very well but whatever.

I'm working on the bird wing with long and short stitch.  I don't like how it looks!  I am just not very good at long and short stitch.  But I am perservering and hope things all work out in the end.

  I saw a saying I would like to stitch and hang in my house somewhere, "Everything is okay" or maybe it is "Everything will be okay".  I find that very comforting.

Have a great weekend!  I know I will.
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Two

Two days until I leave!  I am partially packed.  I'm trying to decide what to take for show and tell.  Oh to be among peeps!

I don't have much to show as I was stitching mainly black lines.  I got the bug to start something I had seen a few years ago.  A lady sitting next to me in class showed this beautiful blackwork project called "Winter".  It was from a Jill Oxton magazine (Jill Oxton's Cross Stitch and Beading Issue 66).  I tracked down the magazine and it has been in the back of my mind to stitch it for a while.  So I went looking for it last night.  It took a while to find.  The pattern calls for 25 count.  I thought I would try 28 count and just see how it looked.  I didn't like it.  Too clunky.  I want smaller and more delicate.  So I tried again with black silk and 32 count linen.  Oh, much better.

This is a pretty big project but all done in black and dark grey.

Then I did some cutting and pasting.  I bought the leaflet "May" from the Cross-Eyed Cricket Collection.

I don't want to stitch "May"  I want to mix up the letters and stitch "Amy" instead.  So I made a copy of the pattern and cut it up and pasted it back together.  Who knows if it will turn out.  But I think it will be fun to try.
It is a gray day here.  The walking and a little shopping is done.  Time for lunch.
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Three

I'm counting down the days now until I leave for Spring Fling.  There is only three days!

I finished stitching the vintage egg.

 I also finished stitching the chest of the Wren.  I love it!

 I changed a few small things.  There was one motif that I thought I would mess up so I did something easier.  I also didn't like some backstitch that I did, the stitches just were not even, so I added a woven thread.

 Three parts are done now.  One more part to go and I can start putting "clothes on my Wren".
I started the wings but there is a lot more to do.

The walking is done, the bathrooms are clean.  I have a list of things to do before I go.
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Something New

I was kitting up a couple of small projects to take with me to Spring Fling.  I kitted up the Just Nan little birdie thing.

Then I kitted up to make one of the vintage eggs from Cross Eyed Cricket Collection.

 I put a few stitches in, made a counting mistake and turned the fabric around and started again on the other end.  I kept going.  The pattern calls for two strands on 28 count but I suspect I'm using 32 count.  The thread is a little thick.  I wonder what 1 strand would look like.  One strand of silk would probably be perfect.  Here is how far I am:

I am not pleased with the background.  It is polka-doted but you can't tell.  The threads are so close together colorwise that you can't see the pattern.  I would like to stitch this all over again using one strand and changing the colors just a bit.

There was good weather for walking this morning.  I'm thinking of starting to pack for my trip. I leave in four days.  Exciting!
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April

I have to change my calendar to April.  I have three events to go to this month.  I probably won't get much stitching done, I'll be too busy having fun and going places.  I have my list made for Stitchville.

I got the Home Sweet Home tray all done. It fits in the box nice and snugly.

 I think it still needs some little ribbon pulls on each end before I can truely call the whole box done.

  I've been thinking of tracing the smalls on to the linen.  I don't even know how many there are.  But they will go pretty fast (famous last words!).

I got the Wren's tail stitched.  I love it.

  I'm not very good at overlapping the metal threads.  But I think it looks okay.  Now I am working on some feathers that go under the beak.  Slowly but surely, I'm getting there.  This will be so fun to put together.

Walking was nice today.  One of these days it is going to be warm enough that I won't need a coat.
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