A Wonderful Weekend

I survived and thrived! This weekend was my stitch-in. Thankfully it went really well. I expected attendance to be low because it was short notice but instead I had a house full. I spent quite a bit of time playing hostess and never got around to taking pictures. Several gals did take pictures, so eventually I will have them to share. I did find some time to stitch. Can you believe it?

Friday I cleaned and scurried right up until the last possible moment. (I didn't get the crumbs cleaned out of my toaster oven, but nobody seemed to mind!) Jeanne arrived first. I'm so glad she was here. She usually hosts our stitch-ins and I was able to pick her brain many, many times. She also has a real knack for operating the pumps that blow up air mattresses. Thank goodness, because we had several air mattress issues. Thanks so much Jeanne and bless your heart for staying all weekend! I hope Angel's leg heals soon.

Jeanne brought me gift in honor of my first stitch-in. It is a beautiful wooden box with a sewing theme shadow box on the top.














The inside has kewl dividers. I think I will store some of my sewing thread inside. The box will look great on my sewing table. Thank you Jeanne, I love it.



















Monique brought the most beautiful bunch of flowers. They are so cheery and I think they look great in the pitcher on my kitchen table. Thanks Monique! I love them.



















As a housewarming gift Teresa brought a wonderful set of votive candle holders and yummy smelling Yankee candles to go in them. The votive holders are metal with cut out letters that spell the word "Home".














Thanks so much Teresa! I love the holders and you chose the perfect scents for the candles. (And yes, my bookshelf really is this hideous purple. It is a built-in that takes up an entire wall of my living room. I'll be painting it this fall.)

Saturday morning Meri got up early and went to the farmer's market. She brought back a quart of delicious cherry tomatoes and some of the biggest blackberries I've ever seen. The blackberries went perfectly with the pancakes we had for breakfast and the tomatoes were a welcome addition to lunch. She also bought a present for me. It is a framed collage made from a piece of a quilt, a postcard, silk flower blossoms, floss and buttons.



















Isn't it beautiful? I love to see items like this recycled into something fresh and new. Thanks Meri! It is wonderful. I'm amazed that you found this at the farmer's market!

We set up a shopping area in the sunroom. Everyone with stash to sell brought it along and money changed hands all weekend. Monique's piece of Carnival Cashel that sold for $4 nearly caused a hair-pulling episode. (Just kidding!) I found many bargains of my own, including 5 pieces of fabric, a magazine and 7 charts. I need stash like I need a hole in my head, but it is hard to pass up such great deals.


































Friday night we had a buffet of Mexican food for dinner. It was easy to prepare and clean up. There were 8 of us here overnight. The house hummed while all of the pumps were blowing up the mattresses. Little by little everyone headed off to bed. I finally turned out the lights at 2AM, but heard Mary and Linda B. talking in their room. In the morning we found out they stayed up until 4AM!

Saturday was very busy. Stitchers came and went all day long. We had sandwiches for lunch. The chip bags completely covered my kitchen table! Munching and snacking went on all day long too! Eventually the living room filled to capacity so we moved the kitchen table to one corner of the dining area to make "overflow" seating. I lost track of how many people were here, but I'm sure it was more than 20. We ordered pizza for dinner and Ginger made a yummy Pasta House style salad. I had a craving and munched on hot chicken wings from Wingstop. After dinner I surprised the girls with an announcement. They thought they came to my house for a stitch-in, but in reality they were there for a surprise party. The surprise was on THEM. Nobody knew that my birthday was on Friday the 4th and I threw myself a weekend-long birthday party! They got a good laugh out of it then sang "Happy Birthday" to me. I almost cried. Then it was time for birthday cake!

Two of my campers didn't feel so well and decided it would be best to go home Saturday night. We ended up with 10 here overnight instead of 12. Kathy and Cyndi were good sports and slept in the bedroom downstairs. I tried not to put anyone down there because there is no bathroom and the stairs are steep. They cheerfully agreed to the arrangement anyway, bless their hearts! Four of us sat up VERY late talking. Three of us stayed up all night! It was fun, but it wasn't the smartest thing for the hostess to do!

For breakfast on Sunday we had Cyndi's blueberry coffee cake, muffins, and leftover pancakes. As the morning went on stitchers packed and headed home. Right after lunch (leftovers!) Harriet received a call from her son. He had been in an auto accident. He wasn't hurt, but we packed Harriet up in a hurry so she could get right home. Kathy, Cyndi and Jane stayed into the afternoon. By 3PM Mark was home, the stitchers were gone, and I was busily getting my house picked up and cleaned up. We invited Mark's parents to come for dinner. We needed some help eating the leftovers! Luckily some of it will keep for several more days. I hate to throw it out!

I finally got to bed at 9PM last night. I had been awake for 38 hours and was operating on the 4 hours of sleep I got Friday night. Needless to say, I slept in this morning! I managed to lose 4 pounds over the weekend, too. It must have been all of those trips up and down the stairs. Whatever it was, I'm not complaining.

That concludes my weekend report. It was a fun experience and I plan to do it again in the spring. Jeanne will have her stitch-in in November this year. I can't wait!

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful comments about my finishes and kitchen curtains. Cathy I'm sorry I took so long to reply to your question about the show in Lebanon. Unfortunately there is not a website for information. Please send me an email and I'll be happy to share the info that I have. Ciao for now!