A Mystery Quilt Project

We just completed another fun quilter's retreat here at Thunder Bay Resort. The retreat was a Murder Mystery Quilter's Retreat with a Mystery Quilt. Thank you to Sherrie Jaqua for a wonderful job in writing the murder mystery, designing the mystery quilt and teaching the mystery quilt. The name of the quilt is Storm Over Thunder Bay. Here are pictures of 2 of the quilts that Sherrie showed. Paulette of Morresville, Indiana is shown here with several of her blocks. Paulette and her friend Susan of Wawa, Ontario Canada had never made a quilt. They heard about our retreats and decided it would be fun to give quilting a try. Both of the girls did a beautiful job with their quilts. They both said that they learned a lot and that there is more to quilting than they had realized. Thank you to all 22 of our quilters, to Sherrie our instructor/vendor and to Darlene her helper for a wonderful weekend.

A Murder at the Thunder Bay Resort's Quilter's Retreat

A murder was committed at Thunder Bay Resort on Thursday evening. Coordinator Pam Achatz was strangled with a tape measure. Throughout the next two days 6 suspects were investigated by Inspector Darlene and interrogated by Inspector Sherrie. Following a thorough investigation Sheriff Steve arrested Anna for the murder. Investigators discovered that Anna had a long time crush on Pam's husband and decided it was time to take action.

Before and After

Picture #1 - all set up and waiting for the party to begin!

Picture #2 - The girls have arrived and the party has begun.

My County 4-H Fair Entries

I entered 8 items in our county fair last week. I won 1 blue ribbon, 1 red ribbon and 2 white ribbons. The competition was pretty tight this year so I am very proud of my winnings. And I also received a check for $12.00. Should I add that to my vacation fund or use it to buy more fabric? Decisions! Decisions!

Another Busy Weekend

I thought that after the kids"left the nest" things would slow down a bit, but boy that sure hasn't happened. Friday evening we went back to the Fair so Steve could check out all of the exhibits. Saturday morning I did several loads of laundry and some general housework. I also put our design wall up and managed to sneak in a little sewing time. I worked on piecing a signature quilt from our Murder Mystery Quilter's Retreat last weekend. We also attended a wedding for our neighbor (congrats Jenny & Mark). Our daughter-in-love Tasha was a bridesmaid and our grandson London was the ring bearer. Sunday morning we went to Church, I went back to the fair grounds to pick up my quilts, then Steve and I went to Alpena to buy some canning tomatoes. We both got busy and ended up canning 32 quarts of tomatoes. It was fun working together on the project but was also glad when the final timer went off at 9:30 p.m.

Yesterday was Guild sewing at our annual County Fair. Several Thunderbay Quilt Guild members enjoyed sewing and visiting during a "Sit and Sew" Day. Most members worked on Christmas stockings but there were also a couple of baby quilts in the works. Members of the Guild brought in quilts to decorate our building for the day. Fair attendees stopped by to visit and to see what we were doing. I took in a presidents quilt from 1995. Members of the Guild each made me a block after a year as President of the guild. I put the blocks together and made a wall hanging. Of the 16 blocks in the quilt only one of the women is still in the Guild and 8 of the women are deceased. It made me stop and think about our Guild and how much I enjoy the friendship of so many people. Do you belong to a guild? If not, I highly recommend you find one to get involved in or start your own.

The Montmorency County 4-H Fair

Our annual county fair is being held this week. Our guild, Thunderbay Quilt Guild has a booth showcasing all of the charity projects that we participate in. Shown in the picture are the two raffle quilts we recently completed, more Christmas stockings, pillow cases, baby bibs, quilts for nursing home patients, helmet liners for the soldiers, and preemie quilts. This afternoon I will be heading to the fair to join fellow guild members to volunteer in the kitchen. Then tomorrow we will hold a charity sew day and fair attendees are invited to stop by and visit us and see what we are working on. There will be several different projects going on and I still haven't decided what I am going to work on yet. There is not a lot of prep time left so it will have to be something simple. It is always fun to hang out and sew with my Guild friends. I entered 8 items in the needlework department at the fair. I don't know if I will have time today or will have to wait until tomorrow to see if I won any ribbons. Stay tuned.

A Hometown Celebration

It seems that all small towns have some type of annual celebration. In Hillman we celebrate VJ Day. It is my understanding that we may be one of a few, if not the only community that still celebrates this day in history. Over the years discussion has been held to change the name of the celebration. But to honor the first people who celebrated VJ Day here in Hillman it has been decided not to change the name. Our grand children Cameryn, London and Allie and I participated in the parade with our golf cart. I did some decorating of the cart and the kids totally enjoyed throwing candy to all of the kids along the parade route. Festivities also included a pig roast, an open house with hot dogs, brats and kids games at the fire hall, music, open house at the Brush Creek Mill and fire works. To me there is no better way for communities and neighbors to celebrate than with a small home town celebration.

Another busy week

This is another busy week for me. Steve and I enjoyed a beautiful little get away last weekend. We did a little bit of shopping (and yes, I did buy some fabric, but more on that later) and we got some much needed rest. On the way home we stopped at one of our favorite farmer's markets and bought a half bushel of peaches. Yesterday after a long day at work (at the township office) I checked the peaches out and decided that they needed to be canned last night. So, even though the thermometer said it was almost 90 degrees outside I turned on the stove, got the water boiling, dipped the peaches in the boiling water to help with the pealing process, pealed the peaches and pressure cooked 14 quarts of peaches. It sure didn't take long to heat the house up. I didn't want to can them last night but they were at the perfect stage and I didn't want to waste them. I had one quart that did not seal and that hasn't happened in a long time. We are having our audit at the township office today but I slipped out for a few minutes to come up to the resort office. I have already told the auditors that I won't be available tomorrow. Tomorrow is my quilting day with my Guild buddies. After quilting I am driving north for about an hour and a half to pick up our 3 year old grand daughter Allie. She is going to come and stay with Papa and Nana for a few days. Bet you can't guess what puts a bigger smile on my face - quilting with my buds or time with Allie?

I cracked - AGAIN

My daughter-in-love reminded me that I posted in January that I wasn't going to buy any more fabric until I used more of my stash. So I am going to "fess up" right now. My local quilt shop owner celebrated her 5th anniversary with a big bash and of course a fabric sale. What is a girl to do? I gave in to temptation. But I do have a plan for this fabric. In a couple of weeks we are having a retreat here at Thunder Bay Resort. Sherrie Jaqua from Sunshine Quilt Shop of Oscoda will be our guest instructor. She will be offering a murder mystery along with a mystery quilt. So I will use this fabric for the mystery quilt. Steve helped me pick out this beautiful fabric and I am excited to see how it all goes together. Sherrie taught a mystery quilt here last year too. I have all of my blocks pieced and just have to get them put together. I would like to have that done before she comes back on August 26 but I just don't see that happening. I have a busy next couple of weeks with an audit at my other job, garden to tend and veggies to can and freeze, grand babies to love and spoil, county fair, quilt guild activities and lots and lots of cutting to get done for this mystery quilt. I am planning to do a little shopping this weekend so will let you know if I "fall into temptation" again. Thanks Tasha for the "gentle" reminder.

Life had been a bit crazy around here!

I wear two hats here in Hillman. I am the Quilter's Retreat Coordinator for the Quilter's Retreats held at Thunder Bay Resort. And for almost 22 years I have been the Township Clerk here in Hillman Township. I have several responsibilities including administrator for elections held in my jurisdiction. Yesterday was the primary election. For the past 5 or 6 weeks I have been very busy distributing and processing absentee ballots, setting up the election equipment, attending some mandatory training and in general getting everything set up for the election. I am very proud to say that all of my efforts paid off and we had a very successful day yesterday. All went well during the 13 hours the polls were open and when we were closing up and doing our final paper work. We did a test run using a laptop computer in the voting place and that all worked out very well too. Now I just need some rest, I need to get some things caught up at home that have been put on the back burner and I hope to get some quality sewing time in before it is time to start the process all over again with the November general election.