Dyeing to Stitch and Proud Mary (120)

Wow, it is so hard to believe it's the end of April already. The proverbial saying "where does the time go" certainly jumps to mind?

Well, I had a great time at the Dyeing to Stitch retreat. Beth from Heartstring Samplery is darling and provided us with a fabulous sampler and pincushion kit. She gave us a little history about herself and her stitching journey and then we were off stitching. Pat and Ann were lovely hostesses and made sure I was taken under the wing of a regular attendee. At lunch we were gifted some wonderful treasures and we all had to wait and open at the same time...lots of ooohs and aaahs ensued! I met some very nice ladies and was instructed in the use of Instagram.....we'll see how that goes--I'm afraid it will be another "time suck" and keep me from my appointed stitching!!! :) 

This is a little kit by Heartstring Samplery that we received when we arrived to check in at Dyeing to Stitch. They had a reception with refreshments at the shop Friday afternoon and then that evening we could gather in a room at the hotel and stitch together; I got a good start on the pincushion. The chart says "stitch or die"!

I was in the Saturday morning session and this is our class piece called The Stitching Life.

  It was presented to us in this adorable bag which proclaims the verse from the sampler. That's a cute little set of colored pencils in the lower left and corner.

 Between the morning and afternoon class, we all came together for lunch. At that time, we got our above mentioned "gifts", a hand painted box (I love the shamrock), a wooden corner 'measurer' and a thread holder. The 'measurer', for lack of a better word, was hand made by Linda, of Erica Michaels, husband. The grains on the wood are beautiful and it will come in very handy for measuring in for my starting point. The lovely thread holder was made by LaDonna Snellbaker of Black Branch Needlework and features our sampler from class. Sorry, but it's so sweet and tiny, it's hard to see.

Now  to my Stroll piece for this last day of April. It is a favorite of mine, Mary Wigham by Needleprint. I stitched this in 2009-2010 and tried to use fibers from my stash, especially limited edition Sampler Threads. I added the initials of my grandparents, parents, husband, children and my aunts and uncles. At the time, all my aunts and uncles were still alive, still married to their original spouses and most had been married for at least 50 years! Quite an accomplishment nowadays, don't you think? Sadly, not long after, we started losing some of them but I am happy I have a piece dedicated to them.  

Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship! Enjoy your Sunday!

Stasi