Great retreat . . .

The weekend was full and luscious - filled with fabric, design, yarn, crochet, beads, wire, and soul searching. I will share more pictures of my creations and experiences throughout the week. I walked downtown on Saturday - only a few blocks - and spent time in the quilt shop, the bead store, and the yarn shop. The weather was good on Saturday and then it snowed on and off all day Sunday. It was a magnificent time and I am so sorry I don't have another day, but it is off to work this morning. I have a whole week's worth of stuff to share here and I will add more each day.

This is the fabric I found so I can do some broderie perse on my next quilt. It is part of the "Julianna" collection from In The Beginning. It must be a few years old as it was in the 50% off area and I think it will be good for what I want to do. I also ordered some "Spanish Rose" from Michele Miller through Fabric Depot and I hope they have it as it was my first choice, but it is hard to find in the amount I think I need. It is the second pic. I also bought a couple of fat quarters in another floral so I can practice first. More on that later.

Also a part of my special retreat weekend was from the book study I am doing online with a wonderful friend and quilt artist. We are reading the book, "Women Who Run With the Wolves" by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. It is not a new book, but a wonderful journey to strength and creativity. The part we worked on this weekend is dealing with "taking back the river" and helps uncover and enhance creativity. I will share some here each day this week from this section of the book as well as I have to keep reading it over and over to better integrate it into my being. I need it!

"Here is how to take back the river. Receive nurturance to begin to cleanup the river. Troublesome contaminants in the river are obvious when woman turns away sincere compliments about her creative life" Clarissa Pinkola Estés.