Blackbird Retreat!

Alma from Blackbird Designs came to my LNS this weekend! Here is the table display of items she brought with her to show and talk about. We learned so many amazing ways to use your cross stitch for gift making. It was incredible! You can see that there are notebooks, journals, magnets, tiny pictures, ornaments, etc, shown here. Many items were made from color copies of finished needlework projects. Including our project from day one.
We covered the box in front on the left with a color copy of an old sampler. The stitched piece behind it will line the inside bottom of the box. I have put the photo of the finished project there so you can also see the pin keep which will go inside the box with a beautiful pair of scissors that was also in our kit.

On day two, we learned how to paint and antique a box that will be made into a larger pincushion. There is a photo of the finished project shown with my box. Still need to do the stitching but I hope to have it all done in the next few days so I can post photos of my finished items.

On both days we were treated to wonderful gifts made by our shop ladies and from Alma, too. I did take lots of photos but need to check with folks before putting them on-line. This was my first retreat and I have to say I was so overwhelmed with all the fun that I fell asleep almost as soon as I got home on the first day! I really wanted to try and finish the first project but realized that I fell asleep while stitching and had to rip what I did out. Then I wrote in the little notebook we were given all my notes and memories of the day. I learned so much about putting your heart into your stitching and the many things you can make from one stitched piece. I know there are many technical classes out there where you learn how to make perfect stitches and specialty stitches but this class was very different from that. I learned that you don't always have to finish a project before you can turn it into something wonderful. I hope to share more of those ideas in future posts with my own experiments on my projects.

Have a great day!