Pals Fall Fling 2010 - Part Two

There's nothing better than spending 4 days with your stitching friends ... well there is something better, exchanging with your stitching friends ... and we had 3 wonderful exchanges this year and I must say everyone did a terrific job of stitching and finishing their exchanges ... it was so fun to see all the ornaments on display and I'd love to share some pictures of them with you ... first is the Halloween/Fall exchange. In this exchange and the Christmas ornament exchange, if you stitch one ornament you get one, stitch two, you get two, etc ... the two ornaments on the right are the ones I stitched/finished ...

and of course what's a Halloween/Fall exchange without a witch in attendance! Isn't she great!! Check out the nails *smile*

Here are the two Halloween ornaments I picked ... they are in my basket on the mantel now ...

Next up are the Christmas ornaments ... just lovely aren't they!

Here are the three Christmas ornaments I stitched/finished ... they are all from Lizzie Kate's Three Blox kit ... they were really fun to stitch. The fabric they are laying on is the backing fabric for Noel and Joy ...

and here are the three Christmas ornaments that I picked ... can't wait to have them hanging on my red tree this year ...

The third exchange was a stitched design finished ... you stitched one and received one ... mine was stitched/finished by Nicole. With this exchange you can trade when it's all over if you want to. I had this, but it was stolen from me ... after the exchange, Beth agreed to trade with me ... we both got pieces that were perfect for us ... I love this!

Here's the pin pillow that I stitched/finished for the exchange. This was the first time I've ever added beads and it was sooo hard to give it away, it really turned out cute *smile* The back says Pals Fall Fling 2010. My new best buddy Diane (aka Juan) traded with Nicole for this one. She had a Fall piece stitched by Karen and wanted one stitched by me ... silly girl ... but it was sweet of her ...

last but not least was our Fall Fling welcome packet ... and Amy put together a wonderful packet for us. Including a design she did for the Fall Fling. The theme was Stitching at the Beach ... I'll be finishing it as a pin pillow ...

Thanks for letting me share this wonderful Fall Fling with you ... I'll finish up with the last of my pictures in a couple of days. I hope the last week of October has been good to you.

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for time with my stitching girlfriends ...

Pals Fall Fling 2010

I just spent a lovely week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at the Pals Fall Fling. I roomed with Karen once again. We've gotten to be really great roommates and she doesn't snore! lol Chris was in an adjoining room with Michelle ... the 4 of us really enjoyed staying together. Here's Chris and Karen in our room ...

and here's Michelle, Chris' roommate ... what a sweet funny woman ...

Here's the view from our room ... can you think of a better reason to visit Myrtle Beach??

Here's another reason I love my time in Myrtle Beach ... hanging with my dear friends ... Karen, Sharon and Chris ...

but here's the big reason I love attending the Pals Fall Fling ... stitchers! Lots and lots of stitchers!! Catching up with old friends and meeting new ones ... and we had a view of the ocean from the convention room that was open from 8am to midnight ... it was a perfect for stitching (lots of light) and visiting ...

stitchers everywhere ...

aren't they cute! Diane, Sharon and Karen smiling and stitching. This was Diane's first Fall Fling, but I don't think it will be her last ... she fit in a might too good too fast! lol

We got to meet Faye!

More stitchers ... that's KarenSC in the pink shirt. It was great meeting Karen, she's my exchange partner on the Friends Stitching exchange blog ... it sure is fun to finally meeting blogging friends ...

I can't tell you how much fun it is to spend 4 days with fellow stitchers ... we laughed and stitched and laughed and ate and giggled and stitched and walked on the beach and stitched and sat enjoying the view and laughed until we pee'd lol

After spending a week on the beach in 80 degree weather ... this is what I returned home too ... FALL! We had a wonderful wind storm all day today ...

I'll be back with more Fall Fling pictures tomorrow.

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for time with my stitching girlfriends ...

More Pals Fall Fling ...

I had the pleasure of taking a class from Jane Timmers of Fancy Work. I've admired her designs for some time now, so when Amy said that Jane was going teach at the Fling, I jumped at the chance to take a class from her. I actually signed up for 2 classes with her. If you ever get a chance to meet Jane and take a class from her, I would really recommend it. She's a lovely person and I really enjoyed her teaching style. Here's my progress on the
Maderia Tin Class ... I say progress because no, I'm not done with it. I ran out of time and patience with the over one stitching, but I will finish it .. I love the pinkeep! Jane didn't want anyone to miss out on how to finish the pinkeep, so she taugh us how to finish the back of the pinkeep, in case some of us weren't done with our fronts!

Here's what the front of the pinkeep will look like, along with my finished back.

The other class I took from Jane was the ornament finishing class. What a valuable class for me! I ok finishing ornaments and other stitching, but I really learned so much from Jane in this class. We were to stitch our ornament and bring it to class. I had been working on this name tree ornament by MDesign for my girlfriend Lisa. I had started it last year, forgot about it, and I'm really glad it's finished now .. I just love it! Lisa real name is Elisa, that's the name on the tree :) Jane taught us how to stitch the two sides together using the ladder stitch and then taught us how to make cording. She then showed us how to attach cording by stitching it on instead of glue. I've stitched cording on before, but never left like it was really secure .. not until now. This way of finishing is definately labor intensive but I will use the techniques again in other finishes. Note to self .. get those finger pads ... I had one sore finger from pushing the needle through all that fabric.

Here's the fabric I used on the back ...

Here's a picture of Jane showing how to attach cording ...

And here's a picture of Jane with the girls that sat at my table with the finished (well almost finished, right Ruth Ann??) ornaments.

Speaking of ornaments, every year at the Fall Fling there is an ornament exhange. Bring an ornament, then you get a raffle ticket and when your number is called, you get to choose an ornament from all the lovely ornaments everyone brings. I took 3 ornaments .. here's the three I got ...

And here's the three that I took ... all three are from this years JCS Ornament issue .. Christmas Bluebird from MDesign (KarenAZ) got this one ...


Lizzie Kate Christmas tree ... not sure who got this one ...


Be Merry by MyMark ... my friend Laurie got this one.

All leave you with some pictures of all the ornaments that were at the Fling ...

I'm grateful for Christmas ornament stitched by friends ...