Getting Ready for McCloud

It's hard to believe that the first retreat of the year is only 2 days away. I'm nearly ready but I always seem to wait to the last moment to do my "Grand Prize" gifts. On top of having daily prize drawings I have three really nice gifts to give. Each retreat in the past four years I've given away a framed wholecloth miniature. This year is a bit different as I'm going to give away two...my traditional 5x5" and I'm adding another little one 2x3". The other difference is that I decided to quilt a hankie corner instead of starting from scratch. A student recently gave me a set of four beautifully done hankies. I'm showing a "before" and "after" picture. I fused the Bosal linen interfacing to the back of the hankie to stabilize it and then ditch/echo quilted every detail with Bottom Line thread and added bubbles for the large background filler I went back in and added little beads and mini freshwater pearls. I think it turned out fabulous...I kind of hate to give it away. Oh well...there are three more in this hankie set so I might just have to make one for me :)

I also wanted to show you the pincushion....there's a story here. A couple of years ago I was invited to speak for an amazing guild in Orange County, California. Joyce was the president at the time and she had chicken pincushions that she awarded to those guild members who had gone out of their box to learn something new and challenging...her chickens were her "Brave Awards"...very cool idea. I have picked up her torch and am passing it forward to my retreaters. If there is a particular retreater who was especially brave and went way out of her box she is awarded the "Brave Award" and it is a special pincushion. I have either purchased it or created it...this year I am creating them out of small linen coasters. I have mounted these to cotton fabric, beaded and embellished, sewn them together...filled with crushed walnut shells from the local pet store...and then signed and dated it. I don't always give these out and they aren't always for brave quilting stuff...it can be for conquering a special life challenge, etc. I promise to take pictures during the retreat and share everyone with you. Hugs, Cindy :)