Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Only One Ewe Retreat - Day 3 (Saturday)

Hey gang! If you are still around, I am continuing my recap of the retreat I attended in Indiana. We are on Day 3 (insert TA DAAAAA)! I woke up Saturday morning excited! Because, this was the day my new bestest friend, Vonna - The Twisted Stitcher, was teaching us a finishing class. I couldn't stand it! LOL!

A couple of months before the retreat, Jan sent us an exclusive pattern she designed, a piece of her hand dyed linen and a skein of thread that was picked based on a color family we wanted to use. It was so neat to see all of the finished pieces ready to be made into a treasure.

Vonna got right to it. Giving us clear, precise directions. Hints and tips that have worked for her. The class was so eager to get started and make our treasure box.

We ironed, cut, glued and got right to work. Vonna's directions and "assembly line" style made the class project steps flow without a hitch. You would think Vonna had taught classes all her life!

And before you knew it, you had a great finished box! Everyone LOVED their finished creation and was so excited to have learned all of the tricks of the trade, first hand, from Vonna.

One of the biggest "lessons" repeated over the weekend was personalizing your stitching. Creating memories and documenting events. This was something I really related to since I am very big into scrapbooking. I had never thought about changing patterns to add information, dates, events, etc., to create a sampler that was unique to me or my family. Vonna suggested that we all sign each other's boxes and maybe put the retreat name and date. I decided to do mine a little different. I am going to take a favorite photo from the retreat and have my framer mat it to the size of the inside lid. I will then add the retreat information to the mat and mount it inside the box. I guess it's my way of merging my two crafting loves together!

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the class and was so honored to have met a new friend!

Even though this was the last day of the retreat, I have one more retreat update that I will share with you tomorrow. Just a little fun wrap-up of the weekend. Hope you'll stay tuned.......

13 comments:

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

YAY! We had so much fun and sure was glad to meet my newest bestest buddy too!
Can't wait to see your box with the Fabulous Three photo in there ;o)

Yvonne..... said...

Vonna - it may be a photo of the Fabulous FOUR in there!!!!

Brenda said...

Love your photos and description of what we did. And I agree, Vonna was AWESOME!

Mouse said...

awww you sound like you had soo much fun .. wish I could have been there and joined in as Vonna's finishes are just FAB :) love mouse xxxx

Karen said...

I've really enjoyed your trip! Such a beautiful piece and you are such a lucky duck to learn from one of the best! Very nice...

Julie M said...

Hi Yvonne! I just realized you were at the same retreat that my friend Carole was at! I just saw her in a couple of your pictures! Sounds like you all had an awesome time! I bet Vonna was an incredible teacher!

Laura said...

Fun!!!!!!!! The project that was designed for the group to stitch is fabulous! And then finishing it too!!! The finish is gorgeous! I am jealous; I would love to have Vonna teach me too! Just fabulous!

Amy said...

Oh, what great pics & I'm so glad a great time was had by all! Yvonne, I'm jealous that you got to meet Vonna - you should have packed her up & brought her home with you! ;-) She would like this south in summer... (ha ha!)

Love the box - very cute!

Mama Joan said...

Yvonne,

Looks like you had a great time. I can't find your email address. Could you email me so I can let you know how I dyed my fabric.

Joan

Faye said...

YIPPEEE~~ You got to meet Vonna in real live person!!! One day.... I know you guys had the best time ever and learned so so much...She has the best tutorials so I can only imagine how fantastic things were in person!

I know meeting YOU in person last year at PALS was one of the highlights of that event for me...Vonna will have a long time friend having met you!

Take care and will be anxious to see all about tomorrows post!

Happy stitching, Faye

Kathy said...

You are so right about Vonna being awesome! I got so much that I could apply to my finishing from her class. What a great idea for personalizing your box!

Jan said...

Oh what a special day that was, Vonna is just truly the bestest at giving a class!! Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

You got some awesome pictures, Yvonne, so glad you did such a great job sharing. I will most certainly be back for your 'wrap-up'!

Charlene ♥ NC said...

The retreat has been Wonderful - oh, I wasn't really there, was I? Well your description has made it feel as close to being there as possible. Thanks for all the great photos and sharing!