Thursday, October 28, 2010

PALS retreat in Myrtle Beach!

I am home (for a few days now) from the PALS retreat in Myrtle Beach SC. What a blast it was! We had such a great time stitching, laughing, exchanging, laughing, a little more stitching and ALOT more laughing! :) Meeting up with old and new friends is just a wonderful time!
Michele and I were roomies again and can say we make great roomies! We had an adjoining room with Chris from NC and Michelle from KS and what a blast it was. A wonderful view from our rooms and the conference center we were all in for stitching and fun.
Michele and I decided to do a "little something" for some old & new friends. I made some pincushions and pins and Michele made the scissor fobs and we bagged them up all "beachy". Everyone really enjoyed them and it was fun to see them using them throughout the week. :)
On Thursday night it was the Halloween and Fall exchange and I participated in both. For the Autumn exchange I stitched the freebie Autumn from The Stitcherhood and made it into a pillow. For the Halloween exchange I stitched up a Homespun Elegance design into an ornament and also stitched Hallow's Eve (but can't remember the designer off teh top of my head right now). I rec'd in the exchanges, for autumn a beautiful flatfold finish by Tracy FL in a Brittercup kittie fall finish. I love it! and the Halloween exchange I rec'd the "pumpkin face" by casey bourgainu(sp) stitched by Michele and an un-published design by Cherished Stitches (louise henderson) in an ornament. Louise said this design should be ready by next fall in case you go looking for it. :) Diane got my Autumn pillow, here we are:

Here is the brittercup flatfold i got from Tracey for the Autumn exchange

The ornament i picked for the Halloween exchange, from Michele

and the ornament from Louise of Cherished Stitches

And here are the two i brought for the Halloween exchange
And here is my Homespun Elegance ornament

By the end of the week, we had laughed so hard and made so many great friends, Diane A. (aka Juan Cornholio Frijoles) for one. we laughed, snorted, laughed until we cried and our sides hurt, etc. This was Diane's first retreat with PALS and she fit right in from the moment she got there.
In this picture: back row: me, Michelle from KS, Toni, front row, Michele from WA, Chris and Diane laying across them. :)

One night Michele, Sharon, Chris, Jim, little Josh and I went to dinner on the pier and walked along the pier afterwards. Jim and Josh were both bent down watching the waves and it was just too cute of a pic to pass up.

11 comments:

Nan said...

Howdy!
I can't seem to tire of reading blogs about the Fall Fling. It was such a great time and I so glad I met you. Your Autumn pillow looks great sitting in a basket on my stitching table. Will cherish it always!

robindefender said...

Ha ha! Not only did I get that adorable pillow in the Halloween exchange, but I was the other one who stitched the Homespun Elegance ornament for the Halloween exchange! Can I just say, I think you have excellent taste in your selection of items to stitch for exchanges. ; )

Nicole said...

Thank you again for the very sweet gift!! It was such nice surprise. It was so nice to see you again! I love all your exchange pieces (especially the one I got)! :)

Unknown said...

It was so good seeing you again! Thank you for my goodie bag, I really loved it. It is amazing how much fun a bunch of cross stitchers can have, particularly this bunch.

Hope to see you there next year!

Carolyn NC said...

Pals was a great time, wasn't it? Love those pincushions and fobs you'll made! Wonderful stitching, finishing, and exchanges!

Natasha said...

I love reading all about the Fall Fling. It all sounds like a ton of fun and I am already planing on going to next years. I really look forward to meeting so many blog friends in person. Can I be your guys' roomie too :) LOL

Love seeing all of the beautiful stitching there are some talented ladies.

Take Care

Charlene ♥ NC said...

It was a total blast, wasn't it? Are you already planning for next year? I sure am. I'm happy to have found your blog so I can keep up with all the beautiful stitching you do!

Belinda said...

Looks like lots of fun, and lovely exchanges.

Karen said...

It was great meeting you! I love my little pin cushion...a very sweet gesture. Love all of your exchanges...great job as always.

Marianne said...

What an awesome exchange! Fall Fling sounded wonderful, so nice to be able to get together with other stitchers! Hey, have a question, the last pillow on your header, it's a witch. Whose chart is that? And what chart is it?

Berit said...

Lovely! Looks like such a great time. :)

The Hallow's Eve pillow is by Betty Dekat of Primitive Bettys if I'm not mistaken--love that one!