Monday, April 11, 2016

Wonderful retreat weekend!

This past weekend was the fourth annual Mirabilia Minions Retreat, and it was such a great weekend! I have been in love with Mirabilia patterns since I saw my first one back in about 1996, and it is so amazing to get together with like-minded people. This year there were a total of 166 finished pieces in display, which is almost overwhelming; so much beauty anywhere you looked in the room.

I took Blossom Collector along with me, and did manage to get quite a bit done on her:


Now she just needs her legs, some "swirls" and beads; it shouldn't take too long, but a new model came in just before the retreat so I'm going to work on that for a while. Happily, it's a relatively small pattern, so I'm hoping it will only take three or four weeks to complete.

Nora has designed a new Mirabilia free pattern, which will be released by Wichelt at some point in the future. As a retreat attendee, I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy, along with the silks and beads needed for it:


I'm thinking I'll stitch her up after I finish Blossom, unless the new Mira being released in four days calls to me to start it first. I also have now received all three parts of the Wherefore Art Thou design, as well as the over-dyed threads...I will never live long enough to stitch all the Miras that I want to!

I won a door prize as well, a cute little bobbin needle minder and a pretty needle threader:


As in previous years, Nora brought along some paintings, which were sold by silent auction. Here are the ones I came home with:


The two on the right are from an awesome "series" she did in which she used old newspaper advertisements that her mother drew in the 1970s, then painted over and around them; I absolutely love them!

Here's a picture of the amazing group of women (and Kenny!!) who attended this year (Nora is in black in the front bottom center):


I'm already looking forward to next year's retreat, where the theme is going to be Alice in Wonderland.

Now it's time to catch up on some sleep, get some chores done around the house and then get to work on the model. Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

12 comments:

  1. What a lovely way to meet like-minded people. You must have had a great time. And so nice to have come home with some goodies too! What is it now...? 360 days and counting!! :)

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  2. That sounds like a great retreat! I would have loved to have seen 166 finishes on display. How inspiring!
    Your artwork is really something to treasure. I really like the sketch of the girl wearing the fur hat - it has so much personality captured in it.

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  3. Great progress on Blossom.
    That looks like a great retreat.
    Can't wait to see the new Mira design.
    Marilyn

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  4. It sounds like a wonderful opportunity. I really love her artwork. I especially love the one on the right. It looks like red riding hood wearing a wolf cap

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  5. The retreat looks like a lot of fun! My heart skipped a beat when you said Alice in Wonderland, I think a Queen of Hearts inspired lady would be awesome from Nora! Great progress on Blossom too :)

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  6. Wow thanks for the beautiful reportage
    I also adore Nora and Mirabilia.
    I'm very happy to hear that you had a great meeting. Your stitch is very very great. I look forward to see the new Mirabilia design.

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  8. Beautiful new pieces looks like fun!

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  9. That sounds awesome! Great finds and excellent wins.

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  10. This must have been a fantastic retreat with great people and a great designer. Isn't it wonderful when you can talk with fellow stitchers whoa have the same likes?

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  11. Sounds like a great retreat. Would love to attend one year.

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  12. It was my first Mirabilia retreat and I had so much fun. I can't wait until next year.

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