Spoiled!

Life is full of fun events, isn't it?  Well, my life has been very full lately, and I feel very blessed.  Spoiled might be a better word.  As you've probably read on Terri's, and Deb's blogs, we recently returned home from a  vacation in Park City.  A stitcher's retreat, that was held in conjunction with the Shepherd's Bush retreat.
It's taken me a long time to get this post done, as I had to pay the piper when I got home, and catch up on the rest of life.  My husband does a good job "maintaining" things, but I certainly had a lot to do with the kids and school work, and house cleaning too!  (Not complaining, just stating the truth!)

First off, we finally got to meet our dear friends Terri and Julie.  We whisked them off to lunch at the fabulous "Gardner Village" to have lunch and enjoy the "witches."  This place is decked out with fun displays this time of year.

With one of my favorite people ever!  Little Tiny Terri!  She is as sweet and adorable as they get.  I am so blessed to have her in my life.  I heart you Terri!

This is outside Pine Needles, a delightful shop owned by Sandra Workman of Pine Mountain designs.

Julie, Terri, Myself, and Kathryn just "kissed" on the cheeks by the fairies.  Just in case you can't read the sign, it says "Don't pi** off the Fairies."  (Good advice, don't you think?)  In case you are wondering, Deb was on another flight, and Jolene picked her up later, so that's why you are only seeing the 4 of us here.

What fun would a retreat be without presents?  I was blown over (and I mean totally stunned beyond belief) at what Julie and Terri gave me.  This absolutely darling sewing kit.  The kit is originally suppose to be a jewelry box by Vera Bradley, but these cleaver girls turned it into the most complete sewing kit you have ever seen.  It has pins, a tape measure, a needle book with thread, scissors (cool blue storks), with a matching fob, a thimble, pins, button bag, needle minder, and thread winder.  The book was hand made by Julie.  I love this kit so much.  You know, I'll be making a matching bag real soon!  Thanks from the bottom of my heart girls.  I will treasure it always.

And if that wasn't enough...they spoiled us with more presents the next day!  Julie (AKA Miss Talented Extraordinaire) made the darling pin cushion in the box.  I love this idea!  Terri (her sister AKA Miss Creative Universe) made for us the most adorable strawberry and pincushion set.  The wool was from a recycled sweater, and is the sweetest color of red.  The bottom had Park City 2010 inscribed.  Wonderful! (Terri also beaded my daughter a Hello Kitty necklace, that she hasn't taken off since I got home!  I forgot to snap a picture, and will try and do that for the next post.) We were also treated with a bag of goodies from Michigan. Famous chips, chocolates, and dried cherries for our salads...yum!

Here is a little sampling of Jolene's fabulous gifts to me over the past few months.  We are becoming bosom buddies, and I have affectionately nicknamed  her the Spoil Queen!  She loves to give gifts to others.  The dress form above, is probably made for jewelry, but holds scissors perfectly.  Jolene amazes me with her creative mind.  The cute whisk broom is for our upcoming project seen here.  Can't wait to work on this real soon. The darling witch and red fabrics were gifts on this trip.  I'm going to make pincushions from the red fabrics, when I can decide on a pattern!  I am so blessed to have her live near me.  She is my kindred spirit!

Here I am with my new sisters!  Seriously, I want to be adopted by these fabulous ladies.  I don't have any sisters, so I am more than willing to become part of their family!  Karen (Our new friend from Colorado.  She isn't a sister, but a want-a-be like me), Joan (The sew fabulous seamstress.  Do you see the banners in the background?  She just whipped those up to decorate their room!), Simply Fabulous Cari (Yes the real one!), and Cathy (Just as sweet as she can be).  Love these ladies beyond words!  They made our trip sooooo fun.

Here is a sampling of their talents.  We were greeted with these fabulous fabric bags made from Joan.  Cari made the darling hexie pincushions.  All hand stitched and hand quilted!  My heart took a leap when I saw this, as I have been coveting wanting one of these.  She also made this cool pincushion ring.  This is a very useful idea, and I will get much joy in using it!   Cathy made the darling button pin, (which I wore to quilt guild and got tons of compliments on), She also went shopping at a local antiques store to find some goodies for our projects.  I know I'll be using that key on one of my punch projects.  Thanks so much my new sisters!  You are the best!

I was also very excited to meet one of my favorite blogger's and dear friends, none other than Thread Gatherer's Deb.  I am so glad that she decided to join us for our retreat.  She is thoughtful, soft spoken, and so sweet!   Deb's gift was AMAZING too!  Can you see why my post heading says, "spoiled"?  This was better than any Christmas I've ever had.  Deb knitted with her own little hands, this adorable scarf.  I love the colors, and this will look great with many jackets and jeans this year.  Thanks so much Deb!

Her thoughtfulness did not end there, she gave me this darling set of black and white boxes.  I promptly went home and put them to use with my different button collections.  Knowing that one of my favorite colors is red, she filled it with all kinds of red goodies!  Heart buttons, red scissors (my first pair of little gems), a really pretty lady bug pin, mother of pearl thread holders, and a beautiful pin keep.  So fun Deb!  

When I got home, I realized that the pin keep would be perfect with this Needle case that I got at a class from another Park City retreat.  This has sat in it's package since coming home 5 years ago, but I decided to finish it, and put all of my "red" treasures inside.

If you are wondering why I've been MIA for the past 2 months.  (Thanks so much Mylene for asking, you sweet darling thing!)   I had to make something for the girls too.  I wish I would have had time to do these for everyone, including my new sisters, but there is only so much a girl can do.  I made these wool army blanket bags in my quilt guild a couple of months ago.  Jolene and I were racking our brains to think of a good gift to give the girls in our room, and decided that the wool bags would be a great reminder of their Fall in Utah. We spent a few days cutting out the appliques (a wool bird on a vine with a cute acorn) then  I finished the bags, and Jolene punched scissor fobs to match.  I didn't think to take a picture of them, so you will have to look on their blogs to see how they turned out.  They were all different, to reflect their personalities. 

I also worked furiously on finishing my friendship sampler, so that Terri could stitch the little dark haired girl.  This was one of the sweetest gestures that anyone has ever done for me, and I will treasure this sampler always.  If you remember I was coveting Terri's sampler, as she stitched it with 2 threads.  I did mine with one strand, but it really turned out nice.  The colors are soft, and they look great in my sewing room, where this will reside after I get it framed.  Hugs Terri! I love it! I have now passed the threads and pattern on to Jolene, and we will be making a "Friendship Sampler" together.  It is my hope this will be a traveling pattern, to bless many more lives.

It was my pleasure and a real treat to share a little about my religion with my dear friends.  We visited Temple Square after our trip to Shepherd's Bush.  Everyone was so gracious and respectful, which meant a lot to me.  We just had the Semi-annual general conference of the Church for Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  One of my favorite things to do is to stitch and listen.  Here is a link if you want to stitch and listen too. 

I have been the recipient of some wonderful blog giveaway this past month.  I'm so sorry for the delay in posting. First off the Homespun Sampler and the Polly Gayton sampler were from Melissa of Words and Blooms.  She did a private drawing for her blog friends that read her regularly.  I love these samplers, and I am planning a trip to Williamsburg soon, so I was thrilled to see the Governor's Palace sampler.  The Stories to Live by sampler is from my friend Maggie, all the way from the UK.  I have always liked this sampler too.  Thanks for thinking of me, dear friends!  You make my life so meaningful.

It was a fabulous week, with great friends!  Deb put it perfectly...This is the rewards of blogging!  Thanks to all my dear friends who we met this weekend, New and old...I'm so blessed!

I've got some fun things that I'm finishing on the sewing table, and with a renewed sense of motivation, I should have some things to share real soon.  To all of my blog friends, thanks so much for coming to see me!  I would love to meet each and every one of you someday!