All Day Quilt Retreat

Yesterday I was at an All Day Quilt Retreat at my friend and Quilting Mentor, Wendy Rieves' church. It was so much fun. We made these chicks...Jen is going to send me a picture and perhaps she is going to post it on her blog! They were so fun and easy to make unlike the quilt below. I had it all pieced, layered and the quilting begun...this is my nephew, Ethan's quilt. It is a really cute quilt and I am glad it is finally done! I finished quilting it and for some reason it took quite a while....it stuck to the bed of my machine, the thread had issues about clinging to the foot and wrapping around other things....all in all it just didn't want to get done...but I persisted. I love the fabric for this quilt and the backing is fun, fun, FUN!





For some reason this quilt waves! I am not sure why and it was suggested that I try steaming it but I just didn't want to do that. I figure it is a kid's quilt and it will be dragged around etc. I might try to steam it over the next few weeks but I am still unsure.

Okay I also got a block done for the BOM...two to go. I did cut out a bunch of 3" squares for a scrappy quilt I am making for my sister-in-law Terry. I know she will like it. It is all 3-dimensional box tie blocks. Needless to say it will take a lot of bow tie squares to make a quilt. I think that is all I got done but it is a lot when you think about all the putzy work that goes into the bow tie blocks. I did get 3 more of those blocks done.

All in all it was a good time...I sat at a table with Jen and really enjoyed myself! Okay the chicks we made were darn cute.

I'm Following Through

I am following though on one of my goals...I am blogging tonight! When I look out my window I can't believe it is snowing. I know it was predicted but I am just not wanting it to snow again. I love the snow but I don't like to drive in it. Depending on how much we get depends on how hard it will be to drive to work in the morning. I have a Camaro and it is not a snow car. Because of the snow Emma is feeling very snugly. She is cuddled up between Mark and I. She sure does like being between us and snuggling.

Yesterday I read others blogs and commented on them ... Yeah. It's been hard with not feeling well. I can't believe this cold is holding on ... I was really dizzy today and still feeling that way tonight. I hope this cold goes away soon.

Well tomorrow is BOM at Frank's. I can't wait ... I love going... there are so many wonderful people there. I hope I am feeling better so that I can enjoy myself.

This weekend I am going to go to a Sew Day at Wendy's church. I am going to finish my winter flannel quilt. When I worked on it at Jen's Sewing Day I didn't have enough fabric to put the top and bottom border on... I will be able to sew two pieces of fabric together and add the order. I have the backing and once I have the top done I will be able to pack it and layer it and quilt it.

Wow it's been awhile

So I have been working on the kitchen project. My mom came over and helped me rip down the wallpaper that was in our kitchen....there were many problems and many types of walls underneath the wallpaper such as mud (for drywall), drywall, primed but not painted walls, unprimed walls, you name it I think we had it except for plaster. Since that first day my mom, dad and I sanded the walls and washed the walls. Mark and I put this product called Gardz up to protect the drywall (it's for porous surfaces). Next came priming and painting. We painted all the walls a color called Capri Coast...it's a cream color similar to the color of sand on the Capri Coast...hence the name.

I have also gone to a quilt retreat at Jen's house which was a lot of fun! I loved the panel she gave all of the attendees!!!! She made wonderful chili and stuffed green pepper soup. There were also a ton of treats. I think the companionship was the most fun!

I also had a Lia Sophia jewelry party at our house. It was nice...my mom made these delicious banana bars. She is so wonderful...she came over and helped me clean.

Emma went to the groomer before the party and was given a English Springer Spaniel cut with her ear hair cut shorter so her ears would not hang in the water.

Anyways, I finished the top for the block of the month except for the piping and borders...I can't wait to get that done and I can't wait to get it quilted. I also worked on a Take 5 quilt which was fun...I did not have enough fabric to finish the border but the quilt shop sent me some so I can hopefully finish that part of the top this weekend.



Well there is so much more that has happened but I am getting tired and will write more in the days to come. I also have to figure out how to post some of the pictures that Jen sent me that she took of the Quilt Retreat at her home.

Take care and happy quilting.

4 Day Quilting Retreat

Wow it has been a while since I posted but four of those days I was in Elkhorn, WI at Lutherdale at a Quilting Retreat. I did not make either of the projects but brought about 15 projects and completed 10!!!!

I was called a prolific quilter by some of the ladies in our group at the quilting retreat. There were 41 of us and I was in the group on the lower level. Obviously there was a group on the main level. Well the first night I made Kristie (one of my roommates and quilting friends from before going on the retreat) a runaround bag and wonder wallet. Prior to this and a while after I arrived I met my other roommate and quilting friend from before the retreat - Kathy and she introduced me to Carol. We three of us went out to dinner and had Chicken pot pies. I should say we had pot pies which the chickens ran through to give it flavor and very little chicken...but what was there was good.

Friday morning I lost my mind and decided to try paper piecing again. I did it once or twice before but this time it was a much harder project and I think I have paper pieced myself out for the rest of my life ... or until I forget the pain I was in when I was paper piecing ... whichever comes first. Okay I made a wall hanging with two pumpkins and a cat wearing a mask...it is adorable but there are millions (okay a tiny exaggeration) of pieces. I told Kathy and Kristie that they could smack me upside the head if I ever get it in my mind that I am going to paper pieces again. When that painful experience was over I then worked on an Origami bag. This did not take long and all the ladies on our floor loved it and wanted the pattern. Many of the ladies made the bag and it was the hit of the retreat. I was told that next year I need to bring another easy project. Several of the ladies told me I should be teaching quilting and projects as they thought I was quite good at it. Ohh my me teach!!!!! I don't know about that but I took it as the compliment it was meant to be. Linda heads the retreat and last night (Saturday) I mentioned the comments that were made and she said that she thinks I should be teaching as well. Wow how is that for a compliment!!!!!

Okay the bag doesn't take too long and that was with reading the directions and making it for the first time. I then worked on some two table runners....before you know it - well it was late and time for bed - Late is somewhere between 1:30 and 2:30 a.m. Okay before I went to bed I tried to make an easy project...a pillowcase...somehow this is just not the project for me. I sewed it according to the directions and Kristie told me it didn't look right and suggested I rip out all the work I did ... well I hemmed and hawed and finally ripped it all out...fixed it and proceed to sew the seams...somehow I broke two needles and one of them was titanium. Kathy tried it on her machine and it was fine....I just think I was too tired but who knows.

Suddenly I wake up and it's Saturday...well after breakfast I decide to work on making a top for a table runner I have wanted and just never gotten around to. Well I run into a snag because well I forgot it uses triangle paper. Okay well lucky for me we are going shopping later so I cut out all I can and then it's time to go. We went to Backyard quilts where I check out how to make my flannel and chenille quilt that suddenly I just couldn't remember which is supposed to be the binding (blue with snowflake), inner border (white) and outer border (fabric with words in blue). Okay this is also a reminder for when I decide to finish the quilt because you know I will forget by then. Well anyways I wander the store and end up buying a book and a bunch of fabric that is used on the samples in the book. I decide that I have fabric at home that I will make a tree skirt someday for my mom which is in the book. Then we stop at Sammy's Pub and I have Italian beef (which Carol and Kathy tell me is delicious and ohh were they right)! After that we head over to Milton to Loose Threads. There I buy more of the delicious fabric that I started to buy at Backyard Quilts. Ohh I am a fabric junkie. I think when we got back I laid down for an hour or two because I was fighting a migraine all the long weekend. Then I finished the table runner and was ready for show and tell. Ohh the first night I finished the hand binding on my mother-in-law's quilt and early on Friday I finished the First BOM Block for Wendy's group. Ohh is it beautiful. After show and tell I started cutting the chenille and flannel. Ohh was that a pain and I asked Linda for some suggestions as to how to cut some of it and square it up. This morning I finished cutting the fabric into squares so that later on I can finish this quilt! So needless to say I was quite busy. When I got home I dumped all my stuff in the living room and here it still sits. I left Lutherdale at about 10 AM and arrived home about 11 AM. Emma was very happy to see me and is now laying on my hip to tell me it is bed time...so I better finish this post.

When I got home I talked to Mark and then slept because my migraine medication was kicking in. When I woke up an hour and a half later it was time to get up and I ate a hot pretzel...not much for lunch but I wasn't feeling too good still. I laid down with ice on my temple because my headache was revving up and well I just didn't want to end up in the ER this weekend so it was nap time again. Then when I woke up Mark took me to the Machine Shed. I have been soooo lazy today and I can't believe it is almost 10 PM. Ohh well it is off to bed for me and I hope you all had a great weekend. I know I did. I made several new friends and one of the ladies Frannie and I talked for an hour and a half or so one night ... I got up at 2:30 AM to go to the bathroom and just checked to see if anyone was sewing and she was so I sat and chatted with her. What a great time I had but I did miss Mark and Emma and was glad to be home as well. I did miss seeing Michelle and her group when they came and visited Jen and Cindy and I did miss the Wendy's BOM group that meets at Frank's Sewing Center.