Cloud 9

Today was a wonderful day. I attended the Blackbird Designs retreat sponsored by Tomorrow's Heirlooms which is in Glen Ellyn, IL. Blackbird Designs consists of Barb and Alma, two friends; each of whom is a genius! They design cross-stitch charts and quilts. I love their work and it was quite an honor to spend the day with them.

Above pictured are my very cool friends, Pat and Theresa. They are showing off the boxes we started making. We received a bare box and then painted, sanded and waxed them. They are going to be the base for one of the cross-stitch pieces started in class.

Below you see myself and Karin. I should have also taken a picture of Katrina! She is a friend of Karin's who came in from Colorado to attend the retreat. That is how great Blackbird Designs are; people come from out of state!!!
As you can see we lined the inside of our sewing boxes with some fabric that Barb and Alma designed.
Above is the table of great ideas that Blackbird Designs (BBD) have done over time. The great thing about Barb and Alma is that they have tons of ideas and lots of enthusiasm. If you get their book Joyeaux Noel you will find out lots of different things you can do with your finished cross-stitch pieces before you frame them.
Pictured above are the three projects we are going to be working on. We have a half day of class tomorrow! Yipeee!
Pictured above are Barb and Alma weaving a wonderful and interesting story.
Ooops, another picture of our project. Sorry, I am having technical difficulties this evening.
Above pictured is a pin cushion with a BBD design along with some cool hammered out vintage flatware with words metal punched in them. Cool!
Another mouth watering view of BBD stuff.
In this shot you can see the inside of my sewing box and the little stitcher's journal that Barb and Alma gave to each of us.
Above is a finished project by Pat. It is not a BBD. It is a Carriage House Samplings pattern that Pat was working on last Tuesday and is now finished! I loved it so much I had to get the pattern when I saw Pat working on it at our last stitch night.
The really inspired idea that BBD had was making color copies of your finished work and then using them in other mediums. Above is a journal page in one of Alma's journals. This is a great combination of stitching, journaling, stamping, etc. that I for one hope to embrace!
Another brilliant idea above and below; picture of finished piece reduced and put in glass with a fabric backing and words from an old book.....now it is a Christmas ornament.
Below is a silver tray found at a Goodwill. Look closely at the magnets.
Yes, pieces of finished project copied and cut down to make a magnet. I loved the Wuthering Heights pages stuck on this. So cool!
Love this old envelope that was put into a journal. Also, I like a part of a page of a chart (that you must purchase and not copy from anyone!!!) inked up and placed in your journal.
Below is an example of more inspired BBD!!!
Below are some darling little sachets with family initials. These were in a basket! So cute. The chart for these is in a new quilting book that BBD just put out. A must have even if you don't quilt. The pictures are gorgeous!
I had such a perfect day!!! There is nothing like spending the day with other stitchers and getting giddy over all of the ideas, designs, threads, gadgets, and talk of future projects. The best part is that there is another half day tomorrow!!!