Shepherd's Bush - day 6 & 7

Friday was the first day we actually got to have class.  I'd been looking forward to this for so long.  I'd never taken class with the Shepherd's Bush girls even though this was my third retreat.  I really enjoyed their class.  These two sisters are just so funny together.  They had everyone laughing all through the class.

These girls really know how to spoil a person.  Not only did we get the beautiful sampler that was revealed to us earlier but we also got a super cute pincushion project too.  Terri said this would be a good way to get familiar with the special stitches used in the big project but on a much smaller scale.

I feel like I made some nice progress in class and can see myself actually finishing this one before starting the big one.

Tina also gave us a little fun project to make at the end of class.  Check it out, a super cute felt pumpkin needle keep!  I'd not worked with the memory wire before but it was perfect for those tendrils!  How cool three projects in one class.  I sure wasn't expecting that!

The girls also always spoil us with gifts at the beginning of each class.  Here are all of the gifts we received.  The scissors came during the first class, the floral scissor sheath came during the second and my absolute favorite came during the last class.  Can you even stand that scissor fob?!  I know!

We had the afternoon off to wander around or do whatever we wanted.  We gathered together in the evening for another group project.  We got to make clay buttons with Cecile and her daughter, Rachel of JABCO fame!  This was something I'd hoped we'd get to do.  We were given a nice booklet that explained how to make some basic buttons as well as a little history about JABCO.  More on that later. Check out these cuties I made!

I have a new appreciation for those tiny buttons now!  Wow!  It was fun to see what we could come up with and the Shepherd's Bush girls stayed up until 2:00am "cooking" buttons in the toaster ovens set up outside the ballroom!  Wait till you see how they were returned to us.  Oh my goodness!

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So moving onto Saturday, our morning class was with Linda of Chessie & Me.  As you can see, it is stitched on two different colors of linen.  I've not stitched on two different colors of linen in the same project before.  Linda walked us through how to join the two and what to do afterward.  It really doesn't seem to be too hard.  We'll see!  I really made some good progress in this class too.

Linda told us she likes to work with quality materials so that's how she spent her class budget and that's why her project wasn't as big as the others.  I like that she puts her project in a project bag.  Of course, working with the silks she includes is really nice too.

Check out her gift to us, love that cute little corner square.  So handy to have in your stitch bag!  She told us that this year's project will fit in the same size frame as her project from last retreat!  Lucky girl that I am, I took her class last time too.  Bonus!

We had a break for lunch and then back to the room for our last class.  I liked that we stayed in the same room for all our classes and the teachers came to us.  Our afternoon was spent with the JABCO girls working on our super cute stuffed wool pumpkin and acorn scissor fob.  Many of us got ours done in class!  I was so pleased to be able to take home a completed project from this class.  I did put the six inch "lolly pin" in my checked bag.  I was worried it might not make it through security.  LOL!

It was interesting to learn that JABCO is a "cottage industry."  Cecile sets her button makers up with all the tools and materials they need to make the buttons in their homes.  They get paid by piece work.  She also told us they sell bat buttons year round as well as the peppermint buttons.  The other "best seller" is their monarch butterfly.  I have to say I have a new appreciation for these miniature works of art!

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The final event for the retreat is always the Saturday night banquet.  This year we had a proper Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. We were also given a couple fun surprises!

Remember those buttons we made?  Here's how we received them back!  The girls made these super cute button jars for all of us!  They even included some extra buttons along with the ones we made.  How stinkin' cute!

We also got to exchange our pincushions for the Heifer project. We learned through our participation/donations and the match Shepherd's Bush made, we were able to purchase 16 sheep this year!  How cool!

Here's the one I received!  Isn't it beautiful?!  Thank you, Judith Baldwin.  I only wish I could have met you and thanked you in person.  If you know her, please let her know I got her pincushion.  Since I know you all want to see each and every one.  I snapped pics as I went down the table.  I'll let them speak for themselves!

We also got to play a Richards family tradition...Thanksgiving Bingo.  It was hilarious!  I actually got a bingo and won a piece of candy. Of course I ate it right away!  We were all cracking up during the game.  It really took a lot of thought and preparation too. Each of the "bingo" cards had pictures of things related to the retreat.  Unfortunately, I forgot to get a snap of the cards but if you pop over to the Bush Blog you'll find pictures there.

After the many rousing games of bingo, sadly our time together was over.  We were given one last parting gift of this beautiful sampler kit.  It seems like you anticipate the retreat for so long and then in a flash it's over.  It was fun getting to visit with folks you only see every once in a while and to meet new friends.  I only wish I'd have had a chance to visit more with some folks.  Waves to Jeannette.

Sunday was pretty uneventful, thank goodness.  I get so anxious when I fly these days.   We made it through security without a hitch since all but one of us was TSA pre-checked.  Lucky me, I got to go through the scanner twice because I forgot to take my phone out of my pocket.  Yeah, I hate those scanners.  Once through we found our gate and waited.  The flight went smoothly and before we knew it we were home again.

I hope you all enjoyed my recap posts.  I always love a good adventure and this was a grand one for sure.  If you ever think you might be able to go to one of the Shepherd's Bush retreats, I encourage you to do it.  It's a fun time!  Thanks for stopping by to visit.

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher