WOW! and WOW!

What a fun retreat! My weekend actually started on Thursday morning, my friends Jan, Lynn and Helen and I loaded up and headed out on our road trip to Harrisburg, PA. After a delicious lunch at the Kountry Kitchen Restaurant in Thurmont, MD we finally made it to the Red Lion Hotel in Harrisburg, PA. The evening started with a meet & greet for early arrivals and of course a little stitching. At 9 am on Friday we all got checked in and turned in our exchange boxes (silly me forgot to take a picture of mine first), then the shopping could begin. On my first round I found a few pieces I really needed from Needleworker's Delight & Silkweavers Fabrics.

and these two gorgeous pieces from Hand Dyed Fabric by Stephanie. 

I then moved over to Sue Hillis' corner where I just had to have a few things

 
Including a picture with Sue Hillis.

I worked my way around to Jean Farish for a little more retail therapy where I got this one 

and a picture, saying Hi! Irene with Jean.  Next I hit the donation tables and boy did I score there I rescued these 5 Lavender & Lace and a Told In the Garden all for $1.00 each!

After a little stitching I visited some of the other stitchers and here is just a sampling of the beautiful work being done.

"Eva" stitched by Margaret McGinnis
designed Nora Corbet

"The Traveller" stitched by Renee Bruno
from Cross Stitch Collectables

"Sloth" stitched by Judy Alabek
designed by Jayne Mayhew  
    

"Sharon's Garden" stitched by Cheri Skertick
designed by Wendy KC Designs

Add c"Spooked" by Lizzy Kate

Stitched by Debbie Nicola

Pamela Swisher Linaburg
with her "Sunflower"

Melody Ritenour Smith
with her T- shirt

"Under Prairie Stars" stitched by Stephanie Allen
designed by Linda Myers

"America the Beautiful"
stitched by Patty Waldroup
designed by Sue Hillis

Here is Melita Glavin stitching "Baby Boy Design" designed by her friend here Linda Mitchell.

I can't forget this mother and daughter duo, Victoria Owens stitching A"mazing" Friends SAL by Ursula Michael and Audra Owens stitching a Christmas Tree by an unknown designer.

  

"Butterfly Lace Mandala from Chatelaine
stitched by Caitlin Twigg

"Monogram" by Jean Farish
stitched by Debbie Wallace

"Address Puzzle" stitched by Sharrin Edwards
designed by Jan Houtman

A new stitchy friend all the way from
Nuenburg, Germany- Claudia Gruber

Of course I have to show a picture of my group from left to right

Helen, me, Jan and Lynn.  I have to show my beautiful gift box I received in the exchange

from a new stitchy friend Gina Williams

This is the retreat gift bag and goodies from inside.

I made several trips to the vendors and the donation table where I picked up more goodies

Hand Dyed Fabric by Stephanie

charts from Summer House Stitche Works

I didn't forget to get a picture with Stephanie Bishop of Hand Dyed Fabric by Stephanie and Beth Seals from Summer House Stitche Works.  It was so great to meet them both.

I got this from Jayme Makowski's corner

The rest of these were rescues, I just couldn't leave them there .

 This basket was gifted to me by Debbie Wallace and it is now the home of my grime guards, thanks again Debbie.

Well there was more to the retreat but I think I have gone on long enough in this post so I'll share the rest next time. Right now I think I'll go make a few wonderful little xxs.  Thank for staying with me this long.

Sorry for the tiny print at the top, for some reason it won't let me correct the size of the font.

On the Road Again...

Yes, I can't wait to get on the road again.  In just a little while my local stitchy sisters and I are on our way to Harrisburg, PA for our second Cross Stitch Club Retreat. As you can probably tell I'm a little excited. We will have three guest designers there Sue Hillis from Sue Hillis Designs, Beth Seal from Summer House Stitche Works and Jean Farish from Jean Farish Needleworks.  There will be classes, vendors (lots of vendors) a pizza party even a Halloween costume party and maybe some stitching.

Here are the things I've worked on since my last up-date. I pulled this wip and added another castle and banner. It's the one on the left.

This design is Game of Thones-House and Banners by Cloudsfactory. The next one is a new start.          

This is the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington DC and the chart is from The Posy Collection.

My next is another new start it is called Holy, Holy by Lone Elm Lane. 

My last new start is Elphaba designed by Joe Egan from Keenah's Cross Stitch on Etsy.

Finally Hubby was able to pickup my Anniversary gift from last month, "ruby" for 40 wonderful years of marriage.

Well I have made it to Harrisburg, time for the fun to begin, meeting and greeting new stitchers and maybe even making a few little xxs.

I'm Getting Ready for Halloween

This is my most favorite time of year, even better than Christmas as far as cross stitch goes. This you will see in this post.  I have only worked on one of my older wips since my last post and it is "Needlework School" from Little House Needleworks.

As you recall I made a few small changes, it's my needlework school and it's not in Philadelphia, PA. I like to say it's a complimentary piece to the Embroidery Guild, which was a finish earlier this year.

I also had another finish, it's from a booklet called "Shortnin' Bread" by Alma Lynne. I started a SAL in a stitching group on Facebook and "Susie" as she is called was my choice to stitch. Because of the SAL I was able to stitch her start to finish in 12 days.

As the title says I've been getting ready for Halloween, first with two, that's right, two FFOs.

This one is "Wicked Witch" from LA-D-DA and just love it. It is the words from a song in the Wizard of Oz but it says witch so to me it qualifies as Halloween decor. I especially love the hat, shoes and broom at the bottom. My second FFO is called :The Skeleton Key" by Lee Fisher of Stitchy Fish Design from the 2016 Halloween Just Cross Stitch magazine.

My pillow is slightly different from the magazine model but I love it.

My unfinished finishes are first BOO by Elizabeth Foster of Elizabeth Needlework Designs from 2015 Halloween Just Cross Stitch magazine.

This one I just call Happy Halloween Bookmark, it is originally called Accessorize by Frony Ritter of Frony Ritter Designs also from the 2016 Halloween JCS magazine. I started it to be a new name tag for the upcoming retreat in Harrisburg, PA but it was too big for my ID holder.

These next two don't have anything to do with Halloween but they called to me to be stitched.

HELLO is designed by Diane Williams at LHN as a cover for a smart phone.

Finally, last but not least is my Smiling Pile of Poo.

This one made me laugh the whole time I stitched it. It is a freebie from Plutonium Muffins. And on that note I say thank you for visiting and I need to go back to making some wonderful little xxs.