What did you do over the weekend?

How was your weekend? Mine was very hectic. We are in the process of getting a new roof on our house and the crew spent all day Saturday and Sunday working on the roof. I now know what a 6 - 12 pitch is!! Steve spent his time removing shingles, delivering wood and shingles to the roof with the tractor and he even made lunch for the workers on Saturday while I was at work. Son Greg and grand dog Reggie helped out too. I made lunch for the guys on Sunday and helped to pick up shingle, tar paper and wood scraps. I also got in a little bit of sewing. But the best part was Pat Sloan's virtual retreat. It was a lot of fun reading all of her advice on making labels and joining in on the discussions about favorite snack foods for retreats and dream trips for quilters. I also visited a couple of new blogs. And ........ I even won a prize from Pat. After reading about the labels and cool new ideas I started thinking about all of my quilts that don't have labels. I am going to make a promise to myself to try to make 1 label every day for my completed quilts and also to make a label for each quilt as soon as I finish sewing the binding on. The label I will make today will be for my Dresdan Star Quilt from a class I took with Edyta Sitar last September.

An afternoon at the Park

Yesterday afternoon the temperature reached 80 degrees in Hillman. Our community has a beautiful park with lots of slides, swings and fun things for the kids. Our grandson London and I made a visit to Tiger Paw Park. Of all the fun things at the park London's favorite are the red and blue cars. He loves to climb in and drive the cars. While there we also took a walk along the Thunder Bay River. And of course, being all boy, London had to throw sticks and acorns in to the river. We also went home with a couple handfuls of acorns.

Wild flowers in our back yard

Last fall Steve and his brother tore down an old shed in our back yard. This spring Steve worked the soil up with the rototiller. I had wanted to plant some asparagus roots or raspberry bushes in that spot but just never got around to doing it. Steve found a package of wild flower seeds in the garage and decided to scatter the seeds in the area and see what happens. He was a bit more optimistic than I was. We have both been pleasantly surprised with the results. I guess I should have spent a little more time out there doing some weeding but it truly does look like a field of wild flowers. This is what we see from our kitchen windows.

My Current Quilting Project

Those of you who know me know that I love to hand quilt. We are having some beautiful, warm days here in Hillman but the nights get a bit chilly. I don't do much hand quilting in the summer so when the weather turns chilly I enjoy having the warmth of the quilt on my lap while I am hand quilting. About a week and a half ago I pulled this quilt out from my pile of quilts to finish. This quilt, Glory, was made during a Quilter's Retreat here at Thunder Bay Resort in October 2006. Amy Davidson of Humble Bee Quilt Works was our instructor and this is her original pattern. I know you can't tell by the picture but this is a very large quilt. I truly enjoyed the class, Amy is a wonderful instructor. She will be back to Thunder Bay Resort on October 23 - 26 and will be teaching another one of her original designs, Mad For Plaid. We still have room if you are interested in joining us. I spent the first week hand quilting the center section of the quilt. I usually quilt for a couple of hours in the evening. I find it very, very relaxing. If you look close enough at the photograph you can see the little brass pins I use for pin basting. Yesterday after work I pulled out my box of hand quilting stencils and picked out two of them that I will be using to finish the quilt. I would love to have the quilt done before Amy comes back to Thunder Bay but I don't think that will happen. But I guess I can dream, cant't I?

Do you belong to a Quilt Guild?

Yesterday I took a class at my Quilt Guild. The class, Double Wedding Ring, was taught by Dee, a fellow member. Carol, a fellow Guild member (and my sister!) is diligently working on her table runner. She chose some beautiful fall colors. I decided to just make one ring and it will be a little gift for our grand daughter Allie. I had issues with the arcs meeting on the outer edges so I have decided that the jumbo rick rack will make a great embellishment! Our Guild is over 20 years old and we have approximatley 60 members. We have members at all skill levels, from beginners to master quilters, hand quilters to long arm quilters. We hold a business meeting once a month, a class once a month and then sit and sew a couple of times a month. Our Show and Tells are always so awesome. If you do not belong to a Quilt Guild I highly recomend you check with your local Quilt Shop or your quilting friends for a Quilt Guild in your area. The friendship of fellow quilters is a great blessing.

HELP

I need some help. My sewing room is such a disaster right now. We are having a class at our Guild tomorrow and I had an awful time finding my supply list. I know what I should do. I should just take some time to clean and organize my sewing room. Here is my problem though - I have very limited time in my sewing room so when I do get a chance to spend any time in there I just want to sew. Anybody identify with that dilema? I am open to any and all suggestions.

Folded Fabric Sampler taught by Pam Hively

Pam Hively from Fort Wayne, Indiana will be our guest instructor during our Oct. 16 - 19 Quilter's Retreat at Thunder Bay Resort. Pam designed this wall hanging using nine folding techniques from easy to more difficult with helpful hints to make your quilted wall hanging stunning. We have room for you if you are interested in attending the retreat. We also have room for a few day trippers if you would like to just come to Thunder Bay Resort for the class.

Fall in northern Michigan

Northern Michigan is a great place to be in the fall. The leaves have already started to turn beautiful colors. And here at Thunder Bay Resort the bull elk have begun bugling. Bugling is the elks way of serenading the "ladies" in the herd. I invite you to join us for a Quilter's Retreat, a round of golf or our Elk Viewing Gourmet Dinner Ride. If none of these activities will fit into your schedule please just take a ride to our beautiful area of the state. You won't be sorry!!

Edyta Sitar is coming to Thunder Bay Resort!

Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts will be at Thunder Bay Resort as the guest instructor for the Quilter's Retreat on Oct. 9 - 12. Edyta will be teaching an Applique Medley, 3 different methods of applique. She will be supplying a kit for the class, all you need to bring is your sewing machine, a pencil, a pair of paper scissors and a pair of fabric scissors. We still have spaces available if you would like to attend our 4 day/3 night Quilter's Retreat. Included are the welcome dessert reception with wine tasting, 3 full breakfasts, a pizza party, our elk viewing gourmet dinner ride with wine tasting, deluxe lodging, vendors, show and tell, a mystery project and a few surprises. Please contact our front desk at 800-729-9375 to make your reservation. We also have a few seats available to day trippers if you would just like to take the class on Friday, October 10. The fee will be $55.00 per person and will include Edyta's kit. Please call the front desk to make your reservation. Please feel free to call me at 989-255-3862 if you have any questions.

Steve's first quilt

My husband has been a perfect Quilter's husband. He has always been very supportive of my obsession. We have traveled to lots of Quilt Shows and Quilt Shops together. He is always willing to make suggestions when I ask for his advice. In March of 2007 we traveled to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for the Mountain Quiltfest. While there we visited a couple of Quilt Shops. One of the Quilt Shops was having a drawing so we both entered. Shortly after we returned home Steve received a letter stating that he had won a $100 gift certificate. So in March of 2008 we went back to the Mountain Quiltfest and back to that Quilt Shop to claim his prize. We both had fun checking out all of the fun things and spending his money. He found a kit to make this small wall hanging. This is his first quilted wall hanging and I am so proud of him. He decided that he wanted to include pictures of his deceased parents. Since I have not worked with any of the photo transfer techniques, he was strictly on his own. I think he did a great job. He gave this wall hanging to our son Mike and daughter-in-love Tasha on July 26th as a wedding gift. His next project is a cutting horse silhouette on a batik background. I think I had better start hiding my quilting tools and supplies!!!!

September Quilter's Retreat

We just completed a wonderful Quilter's Retreat with Gyleen Fitzgerald of Colourful Stitches as our instructor. Gylenn taught her Spider Hexagon class and it was a great hit among the retreaters. This picture shows some of the retreaters and their quilts and table runners in various stages. I hope that the retreaters will send me pictures of their completed projects. I managed to complete 15 of the hexagons. Yesterday afternoon I cut the remaining pieces out and plan to do some sewing later this week. Congratulations to Flo Schneider, our Grand Prize winner.

We are busy here at Thunder Bay Resort getting ready for a retreat that begins today and will end on Sunday. Gyleen Fitzgerald from Maryland will be out guest instructor. She will be teaching her Spider Hexagon class. Being the Last Minute Lucy that I am I dug into my stash last night to pull fabrics for the class. I pulled out some totes that had been buried on the bottom of my shelves for a long time and had fun pulling some really old fabrics. It also made me a little bit sad that I don't have more time to quilt. Some day it will happen, right??