Weekend Update part deux

Saturday arrived fairly bright and early. DF Heather and I had decided to skip the huge breakfast downstairs and instead head either to the lovely local java shop across from the hotel, or if they were closed, the Starbucks in the hotel. Unfortunately the local shop was closed. DF Jill joined us and we partook of some nourishment and plenty of caffeine (in my case) to get us ready to tackle Rae Iverson's class.

I am never disappointed by Rae's designs and classes. Sure there are classes that I have taken that I may never finish, or really need a refresher course on, but all in all, I love her designs. This year was exceptional. (For some of us it was more then exceptional...Heather.) Let's just say that when Heather saw the piece she let out a slight scream, or maybe a squeal. You see, the lovely piece has squirrels. Cute, adorable squirrels. Heather loves her some squirrels. Here's some pictures of the main pieces...


The front and back of one piece.


My very blurry picture of the front and back of the cute pin cushion.

Well, there was nothing to do but start on this one in class. It's just adorable. This is what I was able to accomplish while there. I've actually worked on it since then and finished the border you see started and am working on the inside part.


One last look at the cover, you can see all the pieces, including the very cool scissors sheath.

From there we went to Barbara Rokosnik's class (Periwinkle Promises for those who aren't familiar with her name.. She's lovely and the class piece is adorable. The best part of the class was learning a new way to go Queen stitches. I love learning new ways to do stitches, especially when it makes it easier for me. (Plus now I'm stoked about getting the new Ellen Chester purse pattern with all those Queen stitches. This new way of doing them will make it so much easier to I think.) Anyway, Barbara's piece is this cool tin and it's not one of those tins you have to eat candy for (although I personally love that candy and a few of those tins around here just waiting for toppers that I have the patterns for...but that's an entire other posting...). This tin is way, WAY cool. It has holes on the side and you can actually do some stitches on the side. Swanky huh? oh, you want to see pictures....

(Sorry these are smaller, but this is getting to be such a long post. You can click on them and see a larger rendition.) The picture on the right shows you what I managed to accomplish over the weekend. I'm not keen on the bubble-gum pink color she used with the kit, so I'm doing a bit of rearranging color-wise with the kit. I'm going to add in another silk that I think will work as the outer most border of Queen stitches. Yes, those are Queen stitches, eventually there will be 3 rows of them total in the border. Haven't decided what overdyed to use yet. Still looking through my stash and if I don't have something I like I'll have to go shopping for something. I also purchased the companion kits for the tin, a scissors fob and needlebook. Well, I purchased the scissors fob at ASG, thought I'd gotten the needlebook, but apparently I forgot to pick it up. Thankfully Barbara is very nice and has rectified that little problem, probably before I manage to get this posted.

That's it for the classes. Saturday night some people dressed up for dinner. Others of us just wore crazy shirts.
Yeah, that's almost all of the "Stitch Queens". These are my dearest stitching friends...and regular friends too, funny how that has worked out. From left to right: Judy, Jean, Ann, Jill, myself, and lastly (The Magic That Is) Heather. The original group can be seen over on TMTIH's blog in a picture from a few years ago when we originally formed to do a round robin. From there we've grown a bit. But these are my buds, both in stitching and in life.

Sunday morning was fun. Not only was the now obligatory slide show present, but there was also a surprise 40th Wedding Anniversary for Ron & Rae Iverson, who put the whole thing on. It was a great surprise and a wonder the group who did all the work for it was able to pull it off without being found out.

So, that's it. I arrived home safe and sound Monday evening and have been catching up ever since.