Dyeing To Stitch Retreat - Open House & Day 1

We're like kids waiting for Christmas with these retreats we attend each year.  The year drags by and then suddenly it's here!!!  And just as suddenly it's over.

I drove the 7 hours to Norfolk last Tuesday and stayed with our former babysitter and her family overnight.  She has a precious almost 3 year old who I hadn't seen since she was an infant.  She has dubbed me "Nonni B".  After a yummy dinner out (at HK on the Bay . . . yummy She Crab Soup!), a great visit and a comfortable overnight stay, I headed for the Norfolk airport to pick up Myriam (our newest addition to The Fun Girls).

Myriam and I grabbed a hot dog and got to the Dyeing To Stitch shop shortly after the Open House began.  (We could have had better food for lunch with the snacks they had in the shop!)  We scoured the shop, greeted Ann, Pat and Wendy and picked out some "goodies" to purchase . . . let the shopping begin!!!  The other two Fun Girls arrived and we had to make another round through the shop greeting and finding more goodies to purchase.

There is also a great quilt shop (What's Your Stitch 'n Stuff) in that same shopping center and we had to stop there as well . . . more fat quarters to add to my fabric stash!

We checked into the Cavalier Hotel, had dinner in their restaurant and got caught up on each others' lives . . . none of us live in the same town . . . not even the same state anymore.  Here's the "new" part of the Cavalier Hotel (soon to be torn down we hear) and the view from our 4th floor room:


We had been invited to breakfast by Terri (from Shepherd's Bush) and met the group of about 20 in the lobby Thursday morning.  Entering the Pocahontas restaurant  from the parking lot in the rear, you enter through a teepee . . . really cute!  Breakfast was delish!  Met some wonderful women from Utah at our table!

The Fun Girls:
Front:  Barbie & Jenny  (sisters)
Back:  Myriam & Me


After breakfast The Fun Girls helped me set up my models and charts in the retreat shop.  Ann had told me last year at the Shepherd's Bush Retreat that they would have room for me at their retreat shop as well . . . HOW SWEET!!!  I set up my display on half a table between Sherpherd's Bush and Stacy Nash . . . WOW! What an honor to be between them!!!!

I previewed my newest design "Hope" at the retreat shop.  "Hope" came about from a suggestion from Meg Ripple (a retreat friend that we met at our first Shepherd's Bush retreat in 2006).  Meg asked several of the designers at the last Shepherd's Bush Retreat and me if we would design a pattern with words of encouragement and inspiration for her fellow cancer patients.  It just so happened that of the 6 other people at our table that evening 4 of us are cancer survivors . . . me included.  Although Meg lost her battle with cancer this past January I've decided to carry on her vision with this pattern.  I'm calling these patterns (I intend to do more) "Ripple Effect Patterns" and will donate my profits to the American Cancer Society in Meg's memory.  I hope to get more designers involved in the "Ripple Effect Project".


Registration was Thursday afternoon where we received our bright yellow tote bags with lots of trinkets inside, the schedule and a welcome piece to work on until the project "reveal".


The Reveal!  Drum roll please . . .

Sweet, sweet Jeannette (Jeannette Douglas Designs) with "A Banner Occasion" and "Joy" . . . we get TWO pieces (we're in her class)!!!!!

Then came precious Paulette (Plum Street Samplers) with "Jack's Birthday" and "Jack's Bash" . . . we get two designs from her as well (we're also in her class)!!!!

Next up . . . Pam from Olde Colonial Designs with her cute piece that includes a wooden pen (her husband . . .  who was also there . . . makes the most amazing boxes and frames . . . a 4th generation wood worker):

Last, but not least . . . Tina and Terri from Shepherd's Bush . . . what can I say . . . two of the dearest people ever:

Their piece is adorable . . . sorry these last project pictures are not very clear . . . I need a new camera!

All the pieces are super cute and it's so hard to pick which track you want to be in before seeing what's in store.  Of course, it would have been just as hard to pick after seeing the pieces too . . . why can't I be in two places at once . . . I want to do them all!!!!!

There's so much more to tell . . . tune in tomorrow . . . gotta go stitch!!!!

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