Shepherd's Bush Trip - day 5

On Saturday, we started the day with our second class.  It was with Jeannette Douglas!  I've had class with Jeannette before and I just love her.  She is the warmest and friendliest person you'll ever meet.

Here she is taking attendance!  She had us laughing the minute she walked into the room.  She's so fun and the best story teller ever!

Here's what the Christmas elf brought us in her class.  A little holly needle threader made out of polymer clay!  Isn't it cute?!  It was wrapped in a little wrapping paper bag shaped like a humbug!

Jeannette made the "Be Merry and Bright" tag you see in the picture.  It's from her class project's bag and happens to be the title of the piece too.

This is Jeannette's project.  I was able to get part of the border on both sides done and the pink row below the hearts done in class.  Her project is worked on a natural linen with wool flosses from Gloriana and Weeks!  I've never worked with wool on cross stitch before.  I think I'm going to like it.  They cover really well.  The last time I worked with wool was back in the days of crewel.  How many remember that?!

Before class started, I notied one of my classmates working on her Santa sack.  She said she couldn't decide which motifs she wanted to put on hers so she did them all over one!  There's an over achiever in every crowd.  LOL!  Seriously though, isn't it cute?

After breaking for lunch at the hotel cafe again and yet another trip through the Christmas Shop, we had Ann and Pat from R & R Reproductions for our afternoon class.  I'm not sure what Ann is telling in this picture but she's really into it!

Here's Pat carrying the class project and their "Mary Poppins" bag.  She was quite the talker throughout the class.  I learned a ton of tips from her during class.  Like which side of the linen to iron.

 

Did you know you are supposed to iron your linen on the side that opens like a book?  Meaning fold marks down.  She said if you iron it the other way you'll put the crease in it permanently even though you think you are smoothing it out.  Who knew?!

 

Here's the gift the Christmas elf brought us before this class got started.  It's a paper ORTs box that slips into a sleeve.  Isn't that the bee's knees?

 

 

Speaking of gifts, here is the gift Pat and Ann had made for us by Liberty Hill!  It's a thread pallet that's painted to resemble the design we will stitch.  As an added bonus we got a painted heart scissor fob too.

Pat told us they have been working to get these for 5 years and the classes at Shepherd's Bush are the only ones that will ever have one of these.  The teachers didn't even get one, only the students!  Talk about exclusive!!!  They are amazing!  I love Liberty Hill's work.

Here's the class project.  Can you see the resemblance to the thread pallet above?  I'm thinking I'll do mine as a pillow instead of a box.  They said you could get the box from Olde Colonial and put holiday keepsakes in it if you wanted to.  I was able to get the bottom border and the first three words done in this class.

 Speaking of boxes, this little pretty is Ann's traveling sewing box.  I like how she took a picture of a sampler piece and attached it to the box top with shellac.

Here's the inside of it.  It reminds me of Blackbird's tulip box.  It gave me an idea for another day.

Pat says she also uses Gingher snips instead of scissors most of the time because she finds it saves time and fumbling with scissors.  She also said she threads up several needles at a time instead of changing colors in one needle.  I do this when I quilt and have done it before when stitching.  I'd just forgotten about it.  Hmm...might have to start doing that again.

I really enjoyed class with these ladies and look forward to the opportunity to spend time with them again sometime!  Hopefully soon!

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I have had some questions about the retreat so I'll take the time to answer them here. 

Q:  "Were they (the cookies) already made for you or was that a project you participated in?"
A:  Parts were done ahead like the measuring tape being attached to the wool and wool circles for the sandwich cookies were all cut out for us but we did the assembly that evening at the various stations.

Q:   "So did the SB retreat get rid of the whole track thing??"
A:  No, they still have "tracks."  You find out who is teaching in what track when they post the brochure in the spring on their web page.  Then you have to choose which track you want to be in and cross your fingers you get it since it's first come, first serve.  The do have a waiting list if you don't get your first choice.

Q:   "Does the fact that there are 178 of you make things feel crowded or claustrophobic or like you're not getting enough attention or anything?"
A:  I didn't really notice any ill effects from a large group.  They broke the tracks into two groups each (1a, 1b, 2a, & 2b) so we were pretty evenly distributed.  I always felt like I got plenty of personal attention in class.  I will say that the Christmas shop was elbow to elbow though.  LOL!

Q:  "Did you ladies bring your own lights?"
A:  Yes, we brought them from home.  They went through security at the airport just fine!

***

Well folks, this one is getting pretty lengthy so I'm going to stop here and continue with the evening's festivities tomorrow! Then that will wrap up the recap of my trip.  I'm so glad you all have enjoyed the posts.  It's always fun to receive such positive feedback!


More tomorrow!

The Inspired Stitcher