Jun 18, 2012

Counting The Days

HEALTH
Some of my faithful concerned readers have asked about my shoulder and arm issues. For the most part, the pain in my upper arm is gone but I still have numbness in my thumb. I'm still going to the massage therapist once a week, and am extending the chiro visits out to two weeks (since they don't seem to be doing much).

STITCHY STUFF
I didn't do much stitching last week, but I did manage to get Part 2 done of Fleurs et Papillons.


I tried a little experiment with hand-dyeing fabric.  I bought some opalescent fabric for Winter White Santa and hand-dyed it a sky blue with a slight tint of navy blue and a bit of pink.


While I was at it, I also hand-dyed a piece of 22ct Hardanger.


RETREAT TIME!
I bet you were wondering what's up with the blog title?  I'm going to a retreat!  On Thursday, I'll be leaving for Colorado Springs.  I've helped with the planning this year, which has had me busy!  It's been two years since I've been on a retreat, so I am really looking foward to it.

Until next time,

44 comments:

Berly said...

Glad you're feling better! The fabric came out beautiful!! Have fun at retreat - I wish I was going!

Cindy said...

Love the fabric. Have a great time at your retreat. I'm jealous.LOL

Sue said...

I am glad you are feeling better Meari for your retreat! Have a great time........

Your fabric is just gorgeous; I have been wanting to try dying some myself; maybe when work is finished.

I love your Papillon design! It is looking so pretty and I love the colors you are using.

Have a great time at your retreat; DD Sherri and family are flying out Thursday to Colorado also for their vacation!

Hugs,
Sue

Kaisievic said...

Love your dyeing - the colours look great. Have fun on the retreat.

Carissa said...

Papillons is turning out great and I love the fabric you dyed for the Mira. I hope you have a fantastic time on your retreat!

Bette said...

Glad you're feeling better. The fabric looks lovely. And I'm jealous. I want to go to a retreat too.

Faith... said...

Have fun at your retreat Meari! So glad you are feeling better.

Love the fabric!

Maud said...

Wow you did an amazing job dying the fabric, it's really gorgeous!

Emily in NC said...

Have fun at the retreat, share when you get back but I already know you will. The fabric looks great.

Vickie said...

Glad you have improvement with your arm. Your stitching is great. Wow! You did a fabulous job dying the fabric. I have never been on a stitching retreat. Have a great time. http://astitchersstory.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Your hand-dying looks great! I want to try dying, but afraid I'll mess up the fabric.

Diana-Indiana

Pam in IL said...

Your stitching looks great and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the dyed fabric.

It's hot and humid here too, but we did get an inch of rain on Saturday evening and during the night.

Oh, did I tell ya, I LOVE the dyed fabric?

Denise SA said...

Hope you really enjoy yourself on your retreat. Love the colours in your dyed fabric

Grandma Luvs2DP said...

I love the hand dyed fabric! Hope you enjoy the retreat! I hope your shoulders gets the needed relief they did nerve testing on me for shoulder pain and numbness it's a nerve issue they said maybe that's whats going on with you! Thank you for a great class!

Anonymous said...

The dyed fabric looks great, Meari!

Karin in CA

Anonymous said...

Your WIP is coming along great!!!!! Your hand-dyed fabric is beautiful!!!! Can't wait to see The Winter White Santa stitched on it.
Have a great time at the retreat.
Betty in AZ (ILCS)

Anonymous said...

Your FeP you are working on is beautiful -- how many more parts are there??

Carien

Barb said...

Love your wip. Hope your shoulder continues to do better and your thumb does better.

Anonymous said...

Glad you're feeling better Meari!

Your fabric dying experiment turned out beautifully!!! Both pieces of fabric are gorgeous!!!!

Have a blast at the retreat! I wish I could go! It was so much fun when they did it here and it was great to get to meet everyone! Tell them all hello for me! I miss the group, but I just can't handle the volume of email!

Happy Trails,
Pam K. :o)

Shelleen said...

The fabric is pretty. Hope the thumb will be ok soon and have a great time at the retreat.

htimcj said...

I am glad that your arm is slowly getting back to normal.
Your fabric is beautiful and will look great with the Santa.
Have fun at the retreat.
Heidi-ILCS

valerie said...

So glad you're feeling better! I hope you have a fab time at retreat. I think you did a wonderful job dying your own fabric. I really love the one on the hardanger fabric...love that mottleness! =)

Anonymous said...

Fleurs et papillons looks great Meari. I also think your hand dyed fabrics turned out beautifully.

We could use a little heat up here - night temperatures are in the low 50's and daytime highs are in the upper 60's - and it is light until almost 10pm.

Enjoy your retreat and I will be looking forward to your update.

Tara

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear that the pain in your shoulder has gone.

Your material looks very nice.

Have a great time at the retrest.

Marl

*-* said...

I love the both pieces of fabric you dyed, they look great.
Enjoy your retreat & have fun. K.

Chris said...

Hey Meari!
I am glad that the shoulder is better. I hope that you are 100% soon.
Your fabric looks great. I love your SAL stitching.
Have a great time at the retreat. I am looking forward to hearing about it.

Anonymous said...

Your fabric looks great, Meari. I hope to feel more confident about trying that some time.

Sandy in NM

Nancy M said...

I was just gifted WWS. I'll look forward to seeing you start to stitch it up! Your dying looks great. Is this the retreat that you go to quite often with the same people?? I heard that Mare is going. I told her to say "hi" to you! Have fun!

CJ said...

The fabric looks great. Have fun in Colorado.

CJ

Anonymous said...

It's looking beautiful, Meari! I love the way your fabrics turned out. Have a great time at the retreat!

Hugs,
Lynette

Linda said...

The fabric turned ut beautifully - look how different they turned out, too. Have a grand time in Colorado, too.
Linda

Sandie said...

That fabric dying looks a superb background for Santa. What method do you use for dying? Hope the retreat went well. I do envy you all having such luxuries to go away to - never found one in UK!

Rachel S-H said...

Beautiful fabric! Love the progress.Have fun on your retreat!

Shaunterria said...

Your fabric looks professionally dyed Meari, great job! You are making wonderful progress with Fleurs et Papillons too. We'll miss you while you're on your retreat, but I hope you have an excellent time :)

Felicity said...

All wonderful stuff, as usual, Meari. I love the dyed fabric and Fleurs et Papillons.

Veronica said...

At least the pain is gone. Let's hope the numbness does not last long too.

Fleurs et Papillons is looking great. Really love the colours you're using.

I think you did a great job with the fabric dyeing! Winter White Santa is gonna look great on it.

Hugs,
Veronica.

Katrien said...

I hope you're having fun on your retraet!
The hand-dyed fabric is gorgous

mab3500 said...

Glad to hear your feeling better. Stay safe and enjoy your trip! Beautiful stitches and great job on that fabric, it's lovely!

Kay said...

The fabric looks beautiful! Been ages since I have hand dyed fabric. Love hearing about all the stitchy and crafty fun you have every week. Hope you had a great time at the retreat.

Shelley said...

Happy to hear you are finally feeling some less pain.

Love the hand dyed fabrics!

Have fun at the retreat. How do I find out about these for future reference??

Anonymous said...

Meari -

I love your hand dyed fabric! Your Papillion looks great! Keep up the good work. Enjoy your retreat! I hope that your shoulder and arm continue to get better.

Marge

Anonymous said...

Meari, Where can I see this pattern
Fleurs et Papillons? Rae

Akila said...

Beautiful fabrics. Do you have the how-to in your tutorials?
Enjoy the retreat

glenda said...

love that fabby..it will go wonderfully with the santa (which I also love :)