Retreat

Nancie, Dianne and I went on a 5-day retreat at a cabin on 6-Mile Lake a little north of Greenwood, MS.  The cabin belongs to Nancie's husband, Jim, and a couple of his friends.  They use it during duck hunting season, and graciously allowed us to use it for our quilting/embrodery "season."  We packed our sewing and embroidery stuff and headed to the cabin.  Here's a picture of Nancie and Dianne setting up:

And here's my spot in a mid-unpacking state:

Our directions to the cabin inclued a picture of this sign:

We were to look for it to know where to turn. Pretty easy to spot, don't you think?

I also noticed this sign, because Wildwood is the name of the church where my weekly group, Faux Pas, meets, so I couldn't resist getting a picture of this to show them.



We unpacked and the went back to Greenwood to eat lunch at The Crystal Grille:

I thought of Bonnie Hunter when I saw their tiled floor.  Couldn't resist getting a couple pictures of it:

On the way back to the cabin we stopped at this church to take a picture.  Nancie informed us that it was the church used in the filming of The Help.

There was also a sign (part of the Blues Trial) commemorating Robert Johnson:





Now, here are the projects I worked on while on retreat.  I concentrated on embroidery projects because Nancie and Dianne have a lot more experience in this area than me, so I hoped to soak up some knowledge while working through a few projects.  I learned A LOT.  I never would have gotten through without their expertise.

My first project was an "All About ME" project from Bernina, The embroidery was part of the program, and the Kindle pattern used is by Whistlepig Creek Productions, and is titled #1208 E-Cozy Palooza.

Here is the Kindle covered opened and in use:

And a second Kindle cover for me:

I then worked on getting some embroidery on a couple of shirts for Susannah (my granddaughter).  I need to get these done before summer was over and before she outgrew them.

The ducks embroidery pattern came with the V6 software, and I am using a Series 8 Bernina 830 for the embroidery.

I made the flowered skirt from a pattern by Butterfly Kisses.  The embroidered flower on the shirt is from the Bold and Beautiful collection.

I also embroidered an airplane on a shirt for Charlie, but didn't get a picture of that yet.  Maybe I'll catch him wearing it soon.

Since I was on retreat on July 27, I started on my Camp Loopy Project Three while there.  Here is where it was as of a couple days ago.  I'm now working on the final section which is all purple (no stripes).  This is the Color Affection shawl:

Since returning home, I've embroidered Charlie's name to his super hero cape (double sided, so name on both sides).  I'll have to get a picture of him wearing it when his birthday rolls around, because it has already gone home with him.

My plan is to try to track projects a little closer from here on out, and post on a more regular basis.  We'll see how that plan works out.