Only One Ewe Retreat - Day 2 (Friday)

Friday morning I woke totally refreshed. After getting up very early on Thursday and traveling along, it was nice to have a comfortable bed to curl up in. Which brings me to the hotel....the hotel (Springhill Marriott) was really nice. All of the rooms are suites and include a seperate seating area and a "bar" area with sink, microwave and refrigerator. The rooms were spacious and well lit. All of the comforts of home. And, each morning the hotel serves a hot complimentary breakfast buffet, complete with a waffle iron! So, of course, I had to have a nice hot fluffy waffle with apple juice and milk. The perfect way to start MY morning. After breakfast, I headed down to the conference room to join the group and to start the day.....

Friday's agenda, besides stitching, included an ornament and smalls stitching exchange. I stitched the "Merry" ornament from an older JCS Ornament Magazine. I am pretty sure the designer is Glory Bee. I did change the colors from what was charted and I loved the way it turned out. Hope to stitch another for myself. Diane received it and I hope she enjoys displaying it on her tree.
This is Karen and she got this cutie stitched by Diane. Karen is such a great friend. We text each other almost every day. Karen not only stitches but does lovely finishing work.
This is a perfect opportunity to introduce you to some of my new stitching buddies showing off the ornaments/stitching smalls they received in the exchange. First up is Brenda from Utah. Brenda is such a sweet lady who has a sweet smile and can laugh up a storm BUT you would never know it! She makes no sound. Her husband is a master chocolate maker and we were able to try out his creations. Very yummy to say the least!
This is Carole from Nebraska. Carole is a hoot and is known as the Ort Snatcher - LOL! (she collects orts and gives them to a friend who uses them to stuff into homemade dolls).
Next is Mary from Illinois. Mary is so fun and loves to stitch. She is also a cat lover so what's not to like about Mary. Pictured on the right is Mary's Mom, Sally. Sally is multi-talented and not only does she stitch but knits, sews, crochets, you name it!. And pictured on the left is Kathy from Ohio. Kathy is very quiet but stitches strong!

We also had a show and tell. LOVELY stitching pieces framed, unframed and even finished into a quilt were shown off. Which brings me to introducing you to Judith. Judith is from Louisiana and is a southern belle. I am so happy to have met this gentle lady. And her true love is the color of Brick Red. If you have stock in this color, she will surely help you out! Here she is showing off one of her many pieces.
And of course, I have to introduce you to this girl. You all know her as the Twisted Stitcher and she is my new bestest friend! This is Vonna Pfeiffer and what can I say - I love her!!! Even though she is from Indiana, she understands me! LOL! We just "clicked". I was so excited that she brought in her Prairie Schooler Halloween piece that I had seen on her blog. It was even better in person!
And I can't forget about my other buddy Diane. I met Diane last October in Myrtle Beach and she never meets a stranger! Here she is showing off her newest project, Rose Quaker on 40 COUNT LINEN!!

After "drooling" over all of the lovely stitched work, this gave us the little "push" that we needed to get our needles flying. We stitched, had a lovely lunch brought in from Bob Evans (roast beef and gravy with salad, rolls, strawberry and chocolate pies) and a nice dinner out at Cracker Barrel. Some of the ladies took a little trip to Jan's house to see all of her stitching items for sale. The day was busy but casual. Before you knew it, it was bed time and Day 2 was over with.

I hope you are enjoying these little updates. Stay tuned for details on Day 3 - our finishing class with Vonna!!!