Retreat and back to my fiber art

What a nice weekend I had at retreat. There were quilters from various New Brunswick guilds besides our own,  an interesting mix. We stay at the resource Center in small cozy rooms that used to be inhabited by nuns. It’s quiet and a really nice way to get away from a busy life. All the meals are providing and are homemade by the resident staff. Of course entering the big room where all the machines are going there’s lots of excitement, laughter and conversation going on all hours of day and night. 

Here is a sampling of some of the projects in progress.

I think this pattern was called something like Mariner in a Pickle.

There were a few stack n whacks in the works.

I was working on a couple small items. The Halloween wall hanging which is now ready to quilt. Button eyes and embellishments will be added after that.

And I started a quilted advent calendar for our grandson, Ollie, with coordinated pockets in random sizes.

I made 24 pockets and then started stitching some trims onto them.

The background I sandwiched using the envelope method. The quilting will happen when I stitch the pockets in place which I couldn’t start yet because I need to add the numbers. I bought a number stencil today.

Monday was a catch up day and yesterday, I was able to get back to my birch tree stump with berries.

I continue to cut out fused leaves, berries and stalks. Very time consuming.

I’m ready to stop and add a few more painted details to the birch and then thread paint on it so that I can add the foliage in front of it.

I came home to find that hubby had hung a vintage light that came from a church that I’ve been revitalizing with paint. 

I’m happy with it, especially the shadows it gives off, however; it’s a bit darker than the light that used to hang there. While it’s a nice ambient light,  I have to rethink it as I need good lighting for knitting.