Quilter's Retreat

A Great Retreat

2012-01-31T17:34:00.008-05:00

I was very fortunate to be able to attend another Quilter's Retreat last weekend and I had a great time. I was able to spend three days with two of my sisters, 3 friends from Atlanta (neighboring town) and my sewing machine. We did lots of laughing, chatting, sewing and sharing. And all of us managed to get quite a bit of sewing done.

This was my work station and where I spent many, many hours.

I finished putting together this quilt top at the retreat. Actually this was the 3rd retreat for this quilt. It is the final project from the Prairie Women's Circle I was involved in last year. I really had fun working on it. All of the bow ties are scrappy. I love the color blue and most of my quilts have blue in them. I decided that I wanted to do a project and challenge myself to not include any blue. I am very happy with the way ot turned out.

My sisters Connie and Carol are very intent in their projects.

Sue and Sue are working on projects. I wonder where Mary is? Maybe making dinner. The retreat was held at a Quilt Shop and I know I told myself that I had to use some restraint until I could get some stuff used up here. Well ...... the Quilt Shop had a sale corner of $3 per yard fabric. Who can resist that? Not me, I bought 1 yard of fabric just because and 6 yards of fabric for a backing. I also bought a cute pattern and a cute pin cusion/thread catcher. I have one that I made many years ago but forgot to take it with me. So I guess I didn't do toooooooo bad. Before our retreat was over we talked about when we can get together to do another retreat. I have to admit that I was pooped when I got home. I think I am finally caught up on my rest.

I am a very lucky quilter!

2012-01-26T08:14:00.003-05:00

I am a very lucky quilter and also spoiled by my husband. I am on my way to another Quilter's Retreat first thing tomorrow morning. This retreat is held at a Quilt Shop about an hour from home. Guild friends who have retreated there before invited 2 of my sister and I to join them this weekend. I am really looking forward to going and I totally appreciate my husbands support. I got most of my packing done yesterday and am taking the bow tie blocks and the honey bee blocks that I started awhile ago. I took both of them to the camp last week but ran out of fabric to finish them. Hopefully I can make some progress on both of them. I also threw in a bag of squares that I have accumulated and started making 9 patch block just in case I need another project. And I think I will throw in some yarn in case I need to take a break from the sewing machine. Now comes the challenge - I will be sleeping and spending 3 days at a Quilt Shop. And remember my issues of not buying anything until I get some things finished up? What is a girl to do? I will make my confession when I get home!!!!!

A New Adventure

2012-01-23T19:10:00.003-05:00

I have been a member of the Michigan Quilt Network for several years. Last year I was the secretary for our region. For several years I had a desire to get involved on the state level but it just was out of reach with working two or more jobs. Now I am working just one job and keeping busy with it but when the opportunity came last fall to run for a seat on the board I decided it was just as good a time as any. I was elected to the board last October and we had a short meeting after the retreat. This past weekend was the first quarterly meeting for 2012. We gathered at the Days Inn in Grayling on Friday afternoon. After dinner we met for a couple of hours to discuss the retreat to be held in October. I am a member of the retreat committee and am in charge of instructors. Our meeting continued on Saturday morning and ended around noon. I had no idea what all was involved in running a state wide organization. I had a real eye opener and I have to tell you that by the time we left my head was spinning. I really enjoyed meeting the other board members and I look forward to getting to know all of them and working together for the Michigan Quilt Network. This pictures shows all of the board members except one who wasn't able to attend the meeting. The quilt is the raffle quilt that will be raffled at the retreat in October for a fundraiser. I will have tickets if anyone is interested. The pattern is Dresdan Stars by Edyta Sitar.

Some Random Pictures

2012-01-22T17:40:00.006-05:00

Our desk top computer was "out of order" then in the "fix it" shop for a week. We now have it back and it seems to be working very well. I was able to use the lap top but didn't want to deal with posting pictures from the lap top. These are just some random pictures.

This is the only Arnold Line boat running between St. Ignace and Mackinac Island right now. Steve and I rode the boat over to the Island on December 14 to attend Allie's first school Christmas program. Her pre-school class sang "Hark the Herald" and they did a great job. All of the school kids on the Island participated in the program and we really enjoyed it. We were able to make a second trip over a couple of weekends ago. The boat is still running as of today but as the temperatures stay cold and the ice forms the boat will be shut down before too long.

Allie, our 4 year old grand daughter loves to put on plays and dances. She is quite a performer and as you can see she is also quite a "ham".

The kids bought me a docking station for my I-Pod. I won this I-Pod at a conference along with an I-Tunes gift card in June of 2010. In December Rachel came over and showed me how to down load songs. She helped me download 5 songs and I have worked with it and now have 13 songs down loaded. The docking station changes colors and works perfect in my sewing room.

When we celebrated Christmas at my parents house (41 of the 43 family members were in attendance) a sister and my brother hired a friend to bring out his team of horses and wagon. Quite a few of us went for a wagon ride. It was very cold that day, alth0ugh there wasn't any snow to speak of. We had lots of blankets and did some snuggling.

Both Steve and I love Christmas and we love to decorate. This year we did a little bit different with our decorating as we have four 1 year old grandsons right now. The nativity set was set up high and the Christmas village stayed in the boxes this year. We always keep our tree up as long as possible and we just took it down last Sunday. We would have left it up longer but it was that day or some time in February.

Just a little update

2012-01-12T07:53:00.003-05:00

Still using the lap top so I don't have any pictures to share yet. I finished machine quilting the first UFO last week and even have the binding finished. I found out that it was a Guild project from 2010 so I will get a label made for it. I have been machine quilting a second UFO and have that about 3/4's done. Last night I started hand quilting on a Raggedy Annie hand embroidered BOM from last year. Yesterday several of us met at the LQS for a day of sewing. I am working on some scrappy blocks with my featherweight and got a couple more done. It is a slow project as I am using it as a travel project. Darned work is getting in the way today. I have to take a break from sewing and go to the office. I need to get all of the W-2's and 1099's printed up and mailed up. And I received notification that the absent voter ballots for the Presidential Primary are supposed to be here this week so that will keep me busy too. And I have a meeting tonight but I am hoping for an hour or so at my machine sometime today. Oh wait, I have some home work to get done for a class I am teaching at Guild next week.

Still Alive and Doing Some Quilting

2012-01-05T09:00:00.004-05:00

Well, we survived the beautiful Christmas holiday season and a nasty bug that seemed to go through most of our family. Some how even our desk top computer was affected. We have been using our lap top for a couple of weeks now and I sure miss the desk top. Our computer repair guy has been very busy becoming a daddy for the first time, congratulations Brian! I have managed to get some sewing done and will share pictures once we get our computer back. I managed to get myself caught up on the Wildflower Rhapsody Block of the Month. Yesterday while at the Quilt Shop I picked up the December and January blocks and was happy to learn that I just have one more month to go. This BOM has been a bit different than any I have ever done. Not only do you get the blocks each month but you also get additional components of the quilt. It is a very beautiful quilt and thanks to Sandy D's Quilt Shop all of the block pieces are pre-cut. During the New Years weekend Idid some major cleaning and organizing in my sewing room, moving some storage shelving and throwing out some stuff that I haver no intenton of using. I am also going through a huge pile of magazines and sharing the ones that I will never use. One thing that I learned in the process is that I do not need to purchase any fabric, patterns, magazines, books, gidgets, gadgets or kits for at least ten years. And I definitely do not need to start any new projects for a very long time. Ya right, I went to my LQS yesterday and started a new BOM quilt with some family members and friends. But I am serious, I need to finish up some projects before starting anything new. I found a really cute panel that was sandwiched and waiting to be hand quilted. I finished quilting it this week (it is small) and am anxious to get the binding on it. I can't remember that last time I did any hand quilting. And I have a UFO on my sewing machine that I started quilting yesterday. Once that one is done I have another one ready to go. I love this time of year when there isn't much to do outside and I can do lots of sewing. How about you?

Families

2011-12-21T16:57:00.006-05:00

Last night I went with my parents to a funeral home for a visitation of a family that has been friends of my family for many, many years. The man who had died was married, had 5 children, some grandchildren and great grandchildren. I hadn't seen any of the family members for many, many years. When I read the obituary in the newspaper I knew that I needed to go to the visitation. It was a real eye opener for me and I have thought about their entire family all day. I never knew that this family had so many issues. One of the sons wants nothing to do with his parents and he didn't attend the visitation and had no intention of attending the funeral today. Two of the other sons and their daughter have very little to do with their parents and one of the sons told me he hadn't seen his sister in over 10 years. I just can not imagine a life like that. I still have both of my parents and one grandmother. I am the oldest of five children, all but one of us is married, we all have children and two of us have grandchildren. Lots of people tell me that I am very lucky to have such a close knit family and after last night I am seeing that in a different light. We certainly aren't The Waltons, we do have issues at times although in the whole scheme of things they are very small. And I am sure the Waltons had their problems too. I am so thankful for my family and I thank God every day for them.

A Bit of a Crazy Week

2011-12-21T11:36:00.004-05:00

This week has been a little crazy for me. I usually consider myself a "Last Minute Lucy" and at this time I am usually in a panic to finish up my Christmas sewing, gift wrapping and cooking. Other than pumpkin rolls I don't do any Chritmas baking so that is not an issue. Anyway, we had two family Christmas parties last weekend so it seems as Christmas is all over. On Saturday we had a family party at my parent's home with 46 of the 48 family members in attendance. It was a wild time and also a very fun time. The day included breakfast, gift opening, games, snacks, horse drawn carriage ride, more games, more snacks and then dinner. Then on Sunday Steve and I celebrated Christmas here at our house with our family, all 14 of us, plus my parents. It was a fun day of family time (7 grandchildren, including 4 - 1 year old boys), gift exchange and dinner. It was so good to have everyone home at one time. I have been able to kick back a little bit and have enjoyed it. Yesterday after volunteering at school and an office party I finally got back to piecing a block from the Block of the Month that has been cut and waiting for probably a month or better. This morning I made made another block for the BOM and started on the 4 corner blocks. It has been fun to just relax and do some sewing. In fact as I write this post it is almost noon and I am still in my jammies. I have a couple of loads of laundry to fold and put away, then I need to get ready to go to a Christmas party with my Grandma at the nursing home here in town. I told Steve that it felt kind of wierd this week since we have already celebrated Christmas with our kids and grandkids and he agreed. He said he had been thinking about it too and was glad that we have two Christmas programs at our grandkids schools this week. Oh, and I need to add that we will be celebrating Christmas this weekend with Steve's family. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

A Confession and an Excuse

2011-12-13T20:42:00.002-05:00

Ok, so in a post a week or so I said that I needed to be more selective in my fabric purchases. Steve and I went Christmas shopping in Saginaw last weekend, about a 2 hour drive from home. We had a great time. Our first stop was the JoAnn Etc store there. I have to confess that I bought 19 1/2 yards of fabric, but I can explain. Seventeen yards of that fabric are for Christmas gifts and the gifts have already been made and wrapped. The other 2 1/2 yards will be used for a Christmas Block of the Month quilt we will be doing at Guild next year. We did some major power shopping on Friday and Saturday. Saturday evening we had tickets for a concert featuring the Oak Ridge Boys. They sang several of their original songs for an hour, took a short break, then sang Christmas songs for about an hour. On Sunday morning we attended a german worship service at a Lutheran Church in Frankenmuth. It was pretty neat although the only word I recognized throughout the entire worship service was Amen. That Church was offering a Christmas Concert that afternoon so we decided to stay in town for the concert. It was great. I am very lucky to have a husband who likes to do those kinds of things.

A Fun Day of Sewing

2011-12-08T07:32:00.003-05:00

I enjoyed a fun day of sewing yesterday with my sister and a friend. Last winter we met at a Church here in town on Wednesdays to sew. The location was convenient but the heat didn't get turned up until we got there and it was always very cold. Actually by the time it was time to go home the room was finally warm. I mentioned that perhaps we could sew at Sandy D's Quilt Shop. It is located 4 miles from Hillman, Sandy is a wonderful lady and friend, she is open every day and she has a large class room area. So yesterday was our first day to sew there. We had a small crowd but that was ok. Carol worked on adding the borders to her quilt for her son Cody. Jessica worked on her block of the month quilt from Sandy D's. I had planned to do that too but had a change of plans and sewed on a stash buster quilt. It was so nice to be able to spread our stuff out, visit with each other, visit with Sandy and visit with the customers. We decided to meet every Wednesday, beginning in January to sew and socialize.
After dinner last night I sewed 3 small Christmas gifts.

Another Great Quilt Camp

2011-12-05T08:20:00.003-05:00

I was so lucky to be able to attend a wonderful Quilt Camp last week. Our camp was held at the Julka and Hardies cabin in Hulbert, in the upper peninsual of Michigan. Five of us drove up on Friday afternoon. Four of us headed home on Wednesday afternoon. Throughout the camp we had some campers who had to leave early and some who had to wait and come up a little bit later. At one point we had 9 campers in attendance including my Mom, my 3 sisters, two nieces and a family friend and her daughter. We had such a wonderful time. My Mom has been having some health issues and she did so well this time. We sewed, ate, laughed, ate and sewed some more. In fact we wore our jammies for the entire camp, except for the three who made a little trip to the Quilt Shop. I made these two pieces while at camp. The bottome picture is of a Block of the Month that I hand embroidered. I also made a jacket and will have to get a picture to share. We had such a great time and I hope we will be able to have this camp for many, many more years.

A Disease?

2011-11-22T10:09:00.003-05:00

I am afraid I have a very serious disease? I have spent many hours during the last few days sorting through my stash and cutting fabric for a project. I am drowning in fabric - HELP. I can not make myself throw fabric away. I am cutting pieces as small as 1 1/2 inch square as I have a really neat quilt that uses pieces that small. The project I am cutting for uses 1 1/2 inch and 2 1/2 inch squares and I want the project to be scrappy so I am trying to make all 120 blocks different fabrics. And I am trying to challenge myself to not use any blue fabric. Blue is my favorite color and I seem to use it in most of my projects so of course I have a huge blue collection. And of course I do not have them all sorted and organized so it means sorting through many, many totes of fabric. I am having fun but I am wondering if I am the only one with this disease. A self diagnosed prescription is to not buy any more fabric unless I really, really, really need it for a specific project.

Iron Caddy

2011-11-21T07:40:00.005-05:00

This was my project yeterday afternoon. It is called Caddy Pad by Sister's Common Thread. It is an ironing pad that folds up to carry an iron. I have seen these patterns before and finally decided I needed one. I had a little difficulty figuring out part of the pattern. Thanks to my husband and his advice we got it figured out. I am looking forward to using the caddy for classes and retreats. As a matter of fact I am going to our family quilt camp this weekend and am really looking forward to it. I had hoped to do some project packing yesterday but that just didn't work out. Why is it that when you have time to sew on weekends the days go so fast? Oh well, back to work today and hopefully this evening I can start some packing. I did make up a list of what I want to take to work on.

Some of my retreat projects

2011-11-21T07:32:00.004-05:00

I thought I had better share some the of projects that I worked on at the retreat last weekend. I don't want you to think I am a slacker! Actually, I finally remembered to take some pictures. These blocks are part of a block of the month from Sandy D's Quilt Shop from a few years ago. Of course I am behind, but am picking up speed a bit. I used fusible web and now am machine appliqueing the pieces. I use my Janome 760 because I really like the button hole stitches the machine makes. Then I pull the threads to the back, tie then off, then weave the ends under some of the stitching. That is the tedious part of the job but I really like the way it looks.

I also finished a few more tote bags. These bags were made with the fruit lady fabric and I will be "gifting" them to some special people.

Baby Shower Gifts

2011-11-18T19:55:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow I am going to a baby shower for our niece Michelle who is expecting her first baby. She and her husband have decided not to find out the sex of their baby until the birth. I like that. A cute little poem was included in the invitation asking us to give the baby a book instead of buying a card. I had this little book panel so I made this book up this afternoon.

I made this baby quilt this week and am very happy with the way ot turned out. I always say that I am strictly a pattern person, but maybe not. I had these little panels that I thought would be cute in a baby quilt. I took them to the Quilt Shop to buy coordinating fabrics. I machine quilted this quilt. I hope the momma and the baby like it.

Another Great Quilter's Retreat

2011-11-15T07:09:00.003-05:00

My husband Steve and I attended a Quilter's Retreat last weekend. This was Steve's 2nd time attending this retreat and I have been there 7 o 8 times. It was so nice visiting with many old friends, making new friends and spending quality time with my hubby and my sewing machine. My machine was acting up so I used Steve's machine (one of my older ones). He spent most of Friday working on my Janome 760. It is not perfect yet but is working a lot better. Then on Saturday he tried working with the little scanner be bought to scan photographs onto a memory card, then later move them to the computer and a cd. Well, he had lots of problems getting the scanner to work so he put it away. He had taken a box of T-shirts that he wants to use to make a T-shirt quilt so he got those cut up. Just on a whim I threw in the fabrics for this 10 minute table runner he had bought during the summer. He made this table runner for a family member. I had fabric for 2 Christmas table runners so he also made those. I finished putting together several small tote bags for a craft show to be held in December. I also got three sides of the piano key borders done before I ran out of fabric. Then I did some machine applique on some flower Blocks of the Month that I probably started 4 or 5 years ago. When I machine applique using the button hole stitch I use a self threading needle to pull the threads to the back, tie them off, then snake the threads through some stitches to hide them. It is a tedious project but I like the way it turns out. Thank you to Sylvia and Delphine for hosting a great retreat.

On another note I have had some women tell me that they would not share their quilting hobby with their husband. I am enjoying sharing quilting with Steve and I feel it has some advantages. He has been interested in quilting for a very long time and he has been to many quilt shows and lots and lots of quilt shops. I don't have to explain or justify expenses as he knows what quilty things cost and why I need them and what they are used for. He has his own rotary cutter, scissors and fabric. In fact he has quite an extensive stash of fire fighter fabric that he has been collecting. I have found some patterns for his fire fighter fabric and I always get the same comment, "But then I would have to cut my fabric!" I love it and I also remember when I had that same thought. We both have totally different interests in techniques and projects so it is interesting. I have absolutely no interest in making T-shirt quilts so while at the retreat he got some advice from women who had made the quilts. I also have no interest in photo transfers and he has figured that out and made several wall hangings using the photo transfers. He puts many hours in at his job in the forestry industry so he doesn't have alot of time to quilt right now but I see it happening some day. Today he is hunting as this is opening day of white tail deer season here in Hillman.

Quilt Donation

2011-11-10T07:40:00.003-05:00

Remember this little quilt? I made it from blocks made by our grandson's parochial school class. It sold at the Annual Fall Gala fundraiser auction for $110.00. I was very happy. I talked with the Mom who bought it and she said her daughter (a student in the class) was sleeping with it but she wanted to get it hung up on a wall to preserve it.

On a different note yesterday was a very rainy day and the only thing I had planned to do all day was sew. Well, we all know that plans don't always work out. One phone call in the morning and my plans were all changed. All is well and I am not going to go into details but it was a stressful morning. And what do quilters do when we are stressed? Well, I went to a Quilt Shop and had a good time. Our niece is expecting her first baby and the baby shower snuck up on me so I am in a rush to get a baby quilt done for next weekend. I had an idea and just needed a little more fabric for the project. And I found exactly what I was looking for at the Quilt Shop. And I was also able to get an adjustment from my chiropractor. Then I came home and did a little sewing both before and after dinner. Today is open sewing at Guild and I am all packed and ready to go. Tomorrow my husband and I leave for a 3 day Quilt Retreat. I have most of my sewing projects and supplies packed and I have laundry going this morning. The rain has stopped and I can see a little bit of blue sky. It is going to be a great day. And as a finale we have our family craft night tonight so I am looking forward to that too.

Block of the Month

2011-11-09T07:49:00.002-05:00

This was a Block of the Month from Guild probably 4 or 5 years ago. I pulled it from the shelf last week to see how far along it was. I discovered that I just had to do a little hand embroidery and then put the blocks together. Thanks to some rainy weather and a little free time I was able to get the blocks together. It is laying out on my living room floor right now. I do that quite often so I can enjoy seeing my projects. As I was talking with a friend on the phone last night I discovered that I have a couple of blocks out of order. But you know what? I am not going to make any changes, aka unsewing. I like it the way it is. I cut several strips for a piano key border. They are 2 inches wide and 5 1/2 inches long. I am going to a retreat this weekend so will sew the strip borders together there. I know I have several more UFO's in my sewing room and plan to work on them this winter.

A Quilter's Retreat Center?

2011-11-04T09:12:00.002-04:00

On Wednesday I was on a mission for Michigan Quilt Network. My partner in crime Sandy suggested that we meet at Sunshine Quilt Shoppe in Oscoda. I told her that was a perfect idea. On my way to Oscoda I drove through the little town of Greenbush. I noticed a sign along the side of the road that said, "Resort For Sale - Let's Make A Deal." Well, that set my brain just a spinning for the rest of the drive to Oscoda. I could buy that resort and host Quilter's Retreats. It would be a great time. My mind was going 100 miles per hour thinking about projects, classes, demos, acitivites (you get the idea?) And when we didn't have quilters we could host family reunions and I am sure the current owners have a clientele list. On the way home I decided to pull into the driveway. There is a circle drive with the house in the middle and 7 cabins across the driveway of the house on one side and 7 more cabins on the other side and it is all on the shore of Lake Hurron. The cabins looked like they were pretty good sized. There was no building for quilters to gather and sew but it did look like a very large room on the back of the house. The mind started spinning again. Then I started thinking about things like a mortgage, we haven't had one of those in over 20 years. And I can't even imagine what the property tax bill would look like. And there is no way I want to be that far away from our kids and grand kids (two hours). So it was a fun dream/fantasy while it lasted.

Where Does The Time Go?

2011-11-02T17:45:00.003-04:00

Sometimes it just seems like time flies way too fast. I always have good intentions of keeping up with my blog postings but for various reasons it just doesn't seem to happen. Sounds like my quilting lately too. I am so glad that I was able to go to a retreat a couple of weeks ago and was able to bond with my sewing machine as I've hardly seen it since I got home. To tell you the truth I don't really know what I have been doing to be so busy, except it seems as though I have spent a lot of time on the road. This is an extremely busy week. But ...... as part of my road trip today I was able to visit two Quilt Shops. It was great to visit with the owners and employees and even a former Thunder Bay retreater Paulette. And yes, I did make a couple of purchases. Hopefully after the dinner dishes are done tonight I can get a little sewing time in. And tomorrow is our monthly business meeting at Guild so I need to get some things ready for that. What have you been doing lately?

Dragging!!!

2011-10-25T18:30:00.003-04:00

I feel like I am dragging my tail today. I had a wonderful time at the retreat last weekend and still haven't caught up on my sleep. I told myself that I wasn't going to let myself get so worn out but you know that doesn't happen. I am sure it is a combination of things but I am going to blame my brain surgery and not my age. I got a few projects done at the retreat and will post pictures when I get a chance. My Mom had a medical proceedure at the hospital early this morning and everything went real well. She has had so many problems over the last few years, I really hope she can get a break for awhile.

A Free Day

2011-10-19T18:08:00.004-04:00

Today was a totally free day for me. I was called for Jury Duty so kept today and tomorrow cleared on my calendar. When I called yesterday I was told my services would not be needed, thank you. So, today I gave the house a D & C (dusting and cleaning), washed a couple of windows, cleaned the bathroom and even mopped the floor in there. I have to admit that I don't mop as often as I should and boy the bathroom sure looks nice now. I even managed some time in my sewing room. I made this carrying bag for my sewing table. Last fall I bought one of the sewing tables from JoAnn Fabric and I just love it. But it didn't come with a cover and as much as I haul it around I wanted some protection for the table. I had this upholstery fabric and thanks to Guild member Pearl some strapping. I just laid the fabric down, did a little folding, tucking and pinning and started sewing. I like the way it turned out. I may put some velcro on it yet. I consider myself a pattern person, give me a pattern and I am good to go, but not real creative on my own. Although this was a rather simple project it may be proof that I don't give myself enough credit or maybe I don't have enough confidence in myself. Tomorrow I am taking my Mom in for a ultra-sound in the morning and in the afternoon will finish packing for a retreat that starts on Friday.

A Very Productive Weekend

2011-10-16T19:43:00.004-04:00

It has been a very long time since I have been able to spend so much time in my sewing room. The weather here was quite wet and windy the last few days so I enjoyed indulging in my passion. This afternoon I sandwiched two small pieces and the birthday gift. I also made up another one of the little tote bags (this one is for me). I also cut out another 28 bags. They will be used for gifts and for a little craft show that I will be involved in for our school children. I have totally enjoyed myself. I also got another load of laundry done, clean sheets on the bed and made a home made pizza for dinner. This week with be a bit busy but hopefully there will be a little more sewing time. I am going to a retreat this weekend and like to have little "kits" made up so I don't have to do a lot of cutting and thinking. I think I will do a little crocheting this evening.

Donations Items

2011-10-15T19:34:00.006-04:00

The weather here today was quite wet and dreary - a perfect day to do some sewing. The parochial school at my church is having a fundraising gala next weekend. I made two back packs last week, one for a girl and one for a boy to donate. I also made this little quilt (33 X 51 inches). I had the kids in kindergarten and 1st grade draw pictures on 4 1/2 inch blocks, then I sashed the quilt. Today I sandwiched the quilt, got it machine quilted and bound. I still want to make a label for it and would like to include the names of all of the students who made the blocks. I also made 2 Halloween bags for our grandchildren just have 5 more to go. I found a really simple and cute pattern on the internet and already have some Christmas ideas. I have left the table up that I use to sandwich quilts and hopefully tomorrow after Church I can get two small pieces sandwiched and a quilt that is a little bit larger that will be for a special little boy as we celebrate his 1st birthday next month. Along with the sewing I also got two loads of laundry done and cooked some squash in the oven. What did you do today? Now I am off to do some hand sewing and hopefully there will be something good to watch on tv.

A Quilt of Love for Perrin

2011-10-12T14:35:00.012-04:00

In May our brother-in-law Perrin, my sister Carols husband of 31 years was diagnosed with mesotheleoma (cancer of the lung). He has worked in the plumbing and heating industry for most of his adult life. In June Perrin and Carol traveled to Boston to met with Dr. Sugarbaker and specialist in mesotheleoma. The Dr. did a thorough exam and said that he would operate and he felt the outcome would be good. In July Perrin and Carol, along with their 3 children traveled to Boston where Perrin underwent major surgery. His left lung was removed as was his diaphragm and lining of his heart. He spent about a week in the hospital and them 3 weeks in a hotel close to the hospital so nurses could come in and check on him. The Dr. prescribed 6 chemo treatments and he has already had 3 of them. So far he is doing very well. Their life has undergone some major changes but all is well. While they were in Boston our family and close friends hosted a benefit dinner for the family. Along with the dinner was a live auction, a silent auction, various raffles and games. To our surprise and delight we had over 700 people attend. I prepared 4 1/2" quilt blocks, provided fabric markers and asked each family to sign a quilt block and include words of encouragement. I ended up with 159 signed quilt blocks. thanks to my friend Donna for the suggestion I made the quilt reversible and used the quilt as you go method. The sashing on one side is camo and the other side is black. I finally was able to present the quilt to Perrin a couple of weeks ago. Both he and Carol loved it. And of course there were lots of tears. They said they are still having fun reading the names and messages and there are a few blocks signed by people who they don't even know. It is so great to live in a small, loving and caring community.

Strip Club

2011-10-12T13:51:00.004-04:00

No, it is not what you are thinking. In January I thought it would be fun if fellow Guild members participated in a strip exchange. The strips were to be 2 inches wide and at least 22 inches long. Eleven members of the Guild participated and we ended up with over 1900 strips. My sister Carol came over yesterday and we separated and sorted the strips. After discussing how we were going to do it we decided to dump all of the strips into 2 laundry baskets, mix them up, then count them out into piles of 20 strips. It was quite a project but we enjoyed visiting while we sorted, folded and tried to count. We have a class at Guild tomorrow making a table topper using the strips. It should be a fun class and I am anxious to see how the variety work out.

A Little More Canning

2011-10-09T12:30:00.002-04:00

I thought that I was done canning for this year but Steve and I talked about the fact that maybe we needed to can some tomatoes. On his way home from work on Friday he stopped at a little produce stand and came home with two bushels of tomatoes. That was my project for yesterday, getting them canned. Steve worked on cleaning off the garden, bringing in the left overs and getting it tilled. He also helped me with the last 1/2 bushel. We ended up with 35 quarts of tomatoes plus enough for a large batch of chili in the crock pot some day this week. It is a lot of work but I do enjoy the home canned tomatoes. Now maybe I can put the pressure cooker away!

A couple of finished projects!

2011-09-29T19:25:00.004-04:00

Last weekend Steve and I went on a little road trip. We drove to Sault Ste. Marie for a little get away. We had hoped to see a little bit of the beautiful fall colors but I guess we were a little too early for that. We did find lots of beautiful colors at the Flying Geese Quilt Show hosted by the Keepers of the Piece Quilt Guild. The Guild members there shared some very beautiful quilts. The vendors had some very beautiful items there but I was able to resist temptations. I have so many UFO's (Un Finished Objects) and kits that I really need to be concentrating on them before I make any more purchases.
While in the car I was able to finish crocheting this baby afghan. It really is a pretty pink color, my camera just wasn't cooperating today. The pattern is the same one I have been using for the veterans quilts, I just used a smaller crochet hook. I wasn't happy with the way the sides turned out plus I wanted the afghan a little wider. So I added two rows of double crochet to each side of the afghan. As of right now this afghan doesn't have a home but it will sooner or later, either for a baby or a doll.

This is a small wall hanging. In February I taught hand quilting at my Guild. I used this for demonstration purposes. I provided all class participants with a small panel so they could practice. It has been fun to see the finished projects and hear some of them say that they actually enjoyed the hand quilting. On this piece I used muslin and purple hand quilting thread. I decided to add a very thin purple floating border to this wall hanging and I am very happy with the way it turned out.

A Form Of Recycling

2011-09-21T20:50:00.004-04:00

As I was driving to the high school here in town to donate blood yesterday it dawned on me that I was once again involved in recycling (we recycle plastic, cans, paper and cardboard here at home). Any way I started donating blood about 9 years ago in honor of our great-niece Amy. She was born with lots and lots of medical problems and wasn't expected to live very long. She celebrated her 9th birthday in May. She still has lots of problems and has undergone several surgical procedures. She has seizures quite often and pulls through. I am not as prompt in my donations as I should be. Part of the reason is because I am still a little nervous after the brain surgery I had 2 years ago. But I will continue to give when I can for as long as I can as it is such a good feeling to know that you are helping people. And kudos to my husband Steve as he earned his 5 gallon pin last night. If you have never donated before I strongly urge you to give it a try.

A valuable lesson learned

2011-09-19T17:40:00.003-04:00

On Friday after making my blog post I decided to remove some of the pictures from the memory card in my camera. Well, I got a little crazy pushing buttons and ended up deleting every one of the 1150 pictures on the memory card. I was just sick. There were pictures of the births of our 4 youngest grandsons, birthday parties, vacations, quilts, etc and they were all gone. I went over to our son's to see our daughter-in-love and grandsons and she reminded me that she had borrowed my card and had copies of some of the pictures. That did take away some of the pain. I called Wal-Green's and the woman I talked to said they could mail my memory card to a recovery company along with $60 and perhaps they could retrieve the pictures. I asked on face book if anyone else had ever done that and if so was there a solution other than trying Wal-Greens. Our daughter-in-love Tasha did some research and found some recovery software that I could download onto our computer. I got into the site, downloaded the software then hit the button. All of my pictures were retrieved from the card and then I was told it would cost $39.99 to get my pictures. It didn't take me too long to decide that that was what I was going to do. Within a matter of seconds my pictures were downloaded to my hard drive. I am so happy to have all of my pictures. I learned a valuable and will never let that many pictures build up on the card. I knew that I should have been moving them to the computer and to a cd but I just didn't want to take the time.

AHHHH - Finally a little sewing machine time

2011-09-16T08:21:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I got all of the beets from the garden canned - 19 quarts. After dinner I told Steve my next project was going to be in my sewing room. I just haven't had enough time in there lately. I made this U of M back pack for our grandson. London and his parents are going to the U of M game tomorrow in Ann Arbor and I wanted to get this done for him. On the day before school started he told me he couldn't use his camo back pack because that was for hunting. Hopefully he will like this one and will use it. I have a few errands to run today then hoping to get some more sewing machine time in. I pulled out the hexagon quilt that I have been working on for a very long time. I need several more background hexagons. Since I am starting with 4 inch sqaures of fabric I am machine basting the fabric to the papers. I would like to get a few more of those stitched later today. I also have the Guild banners of the month laying out and waiting to be finished. Hopefully I can trade my pressure cooker in for my sewing machine.

Home Canning - A Family Tradition

2011-09-15T12:06:00.003-04:00

Today I am canning beets from our garden. Among other things ti has me thinking about years past. I was raised on a small family fram, the oldest of five children. My parents always had a big garden and my Mom did lots of canning. I can remember her saying that she had to have at least 1,000 jars of food put up to get us through the winter. That sounds like a lot but it really isn't when you are feeding 7 people plus extended company that enjoyed visiting us. When Steve and I got married we planted a garden and have every year. I have to admit that I don't can nearly as much as I did when our kids were home. This year I did not have to can green beans or tomatoes as we had plenty left from last year. I have canned several jars of zuchinni relish and zalsa (salsa with a zuchinni base) and beets. As of right now that may be it. If Steve gets a deer during hunting season I may can some venison. We enjoy the canned venison. In fact dinner tonight is venison stew in the crock pot. This year our yellow summer squash has gone crazy and we have lots of it in the freezer to enjoy this winter. I also chopped up a squash and put it in the stew. In years past I used to can a 50 lb bag of small potatoes. I haven't done that in a really long time and I do miss having them on the shelf. They are a lot of work but worth it. My father-in-law used to go downstate and bring home trailer loads of carrots and sell them for deer feed from his front yard. I would go out and sort through the trailer and bring carrots home to can. I tried making dill pickles but for some reason they just never turned out. With just Steve and I here now I don't seem to can as much as I used to but what I do can I share with our kids.

Motocross Fun at the County Fair

2011-09-07T08:39:00.005-04:00

Our family has enjoyed the sport of motocross for several years now. Our sons traveled quite a bit and raced in their "younger" days. And of course Mom and Dad followed along and cheered them on whenever we could. Our six year old grandson London raced for the first time at the County Fair. Here he is "getting some air".

London is receiving his 3rd place trophy from the race director and his great aunt Amy.

Our son Greg came out of retirement for the race this year. Here he is getting the whole shot, "the first one out of the shoot", beating out all of the teeny boppers. Steve and I were very proud of our racers and also our oldest son Mike who ran the start gate.

County Fair

2011-09-05T12:53:00.006-04:00

Our County Fair was held a couple of weeks ago. County Fairs always hold very special memories for me. I was raised on a dairy farm. I was involved in 4-H showing dairy cattle. Katie was my Mama cow and her babies were Princess and Star. In fact, in the local newspaper last week my name was printed in the Looking Back Section. Forty years ago I won the showmanship sweepstakes at the Alpena County Fair. One of my sister called (almost in hysterics) to tell me she saw it in the paper and of course I didn't find the humor!! Any way county fairs have always held a special place in my heart. Our family was always very involved in volunteering in the fair. Coming from a large family with a small income we knew we couldn't take part in the carnival rides all week and that was ok with us. If I remember right we were able to go on the rides one afternoon during the fair. I went to the Fair this year twice but I never did get to the barns. Our Quilt Guild made and donated the quilt in the 3rd picture to the fair board. I went to the Fair one morning and sold raffle tickets for the Fair. That same afternoon several of us Guild members volunteered to work in the 4-H kitchen for a 4 hour shift. This is the 4th or 5th time I have worked in the kitchen and I really enjoy it. Then the next day I went back and worked with our Quilt Guild on a Charity Sew. We made 132 helmet liners to be used by the soldiers over seas. That evening I helped the the lap counting for the motocross. Our 6 year old London raced for his first time and our son Greg raced for the first time in several years.

Our Guild's Fair Booth consisted of the Challenge quilts we made. All of the quilts were offered for Silent Auction and the funds raised wil be used to purchase toys for area children at Christmas. My challenge quilt is in the middle of the picture with the dark stars. I heard that it raised $30 in the auction. And our Guild earned a 3rd place ribbon for our booth.

This is the raffle quilt made by our Guild.

An All Night Sew-A-Thon

2011-09-02T08:30:00.005-04:00

Sandy Dee's Quilt Shop hosted an all night sew-a-thon last month. We started at 6:00 p.m. on a Thursday evening and ended at 6:00 a.m. on Friday morning. Forteen quilters started out the evening, working on a variety of projects, enjoying a bountiful buffet of sloppy joes, chips, cookies, watermelon, cheese and sausage. Kursten and Courtney presented a wheel of fortune type game and only by luck did I win the game. I wore pj's robe and my bunny slippers. My husband told me he hoped I didn't get stopped by the police on my way to the quilt shop because dressed like that they would surely haul me away!

I made a couple of back packs, this one was a birthday gift for our great nephew Nick. I also made one for myself.

I also worked on the Block of the Month, Wildflower Rhapsody hosted by Sandy Dee's. It is a beautiful quilt. I am still not caught up yet, but I will get there some day.

I would like to extend a big thank you to Sandy, Kursten and Courtney for hosting such a wonderful event. Hopefully we will be able to do it again. Oh, by the way, eight quilters made it through the entire event.

September Already??

2011-09-01T08:39:00.003-04:00

Wow - I can't believe it is September already. Where did the summer go? Fall is my favorite time of year but I would still like some more summer days. August was a busy month for me and I just didn't have a lot of time for posting. My calendar looks pretty hectic, no wonder I am tired. I had two Dr's appointments (all is well), an all night Quilt-A-Thon at our local Quilt Shop, County Fair, trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a wedding reception, a week on Mackinac Island helping with two of our grandchildren, working at my office and doing some canning of produce from our garden. I will get some pictures and posts asap.

2011-08-11T15:36:00.003-04:00

I have been quite busy lately but nothing real exciting to post about, until yesterday. I went out to my parent's house to "borrow" some more yarn from my Mom. We were looking through some boxes in her upstairs and to my surprise and delight we opened a box that had a couple of quilt tops made by her Aunt. I really liked all of them but decided to bring one home to hand quilt some day. And we also found these two little kittie pieces in the same box. Mom told me that she had made these to be used as dresser scarves when I was a little girl. Considering the many times that my parents have moved and their age (ummmmm!!!) I am surprised that they are in such good condition. It was a no brainer that they were coming home with me. My husband suggested that I label them so that some day our kids will know their history. Thanks Mom!!!!

Fun Day with London, Allie and Nana

2011-08-04T16:53:00.006-04:00

Yesterday London named it Fun Day with London, Allie and Nana. We went to Alpena to play at the Bouncy House. We had never been there before so really didn't know what to expect. We got to the Mall at 11:30 and the Bouncy House (not sure that is the real name) didn't open until 3:00. We went to K-Mart as I had a couple of things on my list. From there we went to Dollar Tree and it is easy to burn time there and to get some very inexpensive toys for the kids. After that it was lunch at, where else with a 4 and a 6 year old, but McDonald's. Then on to the playground that is on the beach of Lake Huron. I took bathing suits along for the kids so they were able to play in the water although they said it was a bit cold. The Bouncy House has 4 large inflatable "bouncy things" and the kids had a great time on them. We have already talked about going back there some day.

WIP

2011-08-02T14:07:00.003-04:00

One day last week I pulled out a WIP (work in progress). I thought I took a picture of it but right now I can't find it so you will just have to imagine. It is a hexagon quilt and I may have posted a picture a long time ago. I was involved with 6 other gals in a square swap exchange and I decided to make a hexagon quilt with my squares. Note to self that I need to start writing down the date when I start a project so I can keep better track. Anyway, I saw this project on the shelf in my sewing room and decided to lay it out on the floor and see how it looked. I did do a little hand sewing, adding a partial row to the quilt. Then our daughter and her two precious little ones came for the weekend so I put it back in the shelf. Our grand daughter Allie is staying with us this week so I haven't had a chance to get the hexagon quilt out again, but I plan to perhaps next week. I have been sneaking in a little time at the sewing machine, working on the signature quilt for my brother-in-law. As usual it is a bigger project than I was thinking but I am still glad that I came up with the idea. I was hoping to have it done for him before he came home from the hospital but that didn't happen. He is home and doing well. I will continue on with the quilt as time allows.

Back Packs

2011-07-29T12:44:00.003-04:00

A group in my Church is collecting items for childrens school kits. The list included crayons, pencils, rulers, erasers, scissors, etc. At the bottom of the list they asked for cloth, draw string back packs. I knew right away that I had the perfect pattern for the back packs. A few days ago I cut 4 of the back packs out. Yesterday we had an open sew at Guild. I was able to complete 2 of the back packs and get a good start on #3 there. After dinner I finished #3 and made back pack #4. I would like to make a few more but if this is all that I can get done I will be very happy and proud of myself.

Three More Afghans Delivered

2011-07-28T20:57:00.004-04:00

Today I delivered three more afghans to the gal who distributes them to veterans. The variegated afghan was made from yarn I had here at home. I had started an afghan some time ago, tore it apart and recycled the yarn. The other two are made with yarn scraps from my Mom. I am using this ripple pattern because it goes quick and because I like it. I started one using black, red and cream colored yarn. I think I have enough of my Mom's yarn to make one more multi-colored yarn. Then it's back to Mom's Yarn Shop in her upstairs. I am doing some quilting but it is harder in the summer. I have discovered that it is nice to be able to pick up the crocheting and add a row or two when I have time. It is also a nice road trip project as long as it doesn't get too big.

A Little Bit of Sewing Time

2011-07-27T08:33:00.003-04:00

We were hit with the big heat wave here last week like in so many other areas. I spent a lot of time at my parents pool. But I also set in front of the sewing machine and the fan to finish this charity quilt top. It is the Jelly Roll 1600 pattern. I had to do a little adjusting as I used left over bindings that are 2 1/4 inch wide instead of 2 1/2 inch wide. It was a valuable lesson in the importance of a 1/4 inch. In a previous post I showed pictures of the charity day at Guild where we worked on this pattern. A couple members of our Guild are friends with a couple of gals from another group down state who are making quilts for an orphanage. We decided to offer some assistance in making quilts. A long arm quilter has offered to quilt the quilts. Hopefully some kids will enjoy the "fruits of our labors".

Water Fun Day at Tiger Paw Park

2011-07-20T20:37:00.003-04:00

Our small community is very fortunate to have a beautiful park for families to enjoy. When the Township bought the park several years ago it had 3 base ball fields. With the help from some very community-minded folks several grants were written and awarded and the park now also has a very large playground with lots of fun things for the kids to climb on, swing on and twirl around on. There is also a very nice concession building with bathrooms. Three years ago the Township board began hosting children's activities for the months of June and July. Yesterday was Water Fun Day and about 35 kids participated in the activities. There were able to swim in a small pool, play on a slip and slide, run through several sprinklers, slide down a water slide and enjoy a water balloon toss. Snacks were also provided. Since we in a major heat wave right now the water part of the day was perfect timing.

2011-07-19T09:09:00.003-04:00

I posted a week ago about my brother-in-law undergoing major surgery in Boston. He is doing great. He spent 5 days in ICU, and 3 days in a step down unit. He was released from the hospital and is now staying in a hotel close to the hospital. The nurses go to the hospital to check up on him. Today he sees the Dr. so we are anxious to get the report. Family and friends put together a benefit dinner/live auction/chinese raffle to help my sister and brother-in-law with expenses. It was a crazy day but also a very fun day. We fed close to 700 people and collected a very nice sum of money to help with expenses and bills. Of course, being a quilter I decided that we needed to do a quilt for Perrin. I cut 4 1/2 inch squares of muslin and asked people to sign quilt blocks. Since Perrin is a hunter I decided to used camouflage fabric for the sashings. I was at Delphine's Quilt Shop last week for the Prairie Women's Sewing Circle Club meeting and was telling Delphine and Donna about my project. Donna suggested that I use the Fun and Done - quilt as you go method to complete the quilt. I have two of the Fun and Done patterns but have not tried them yet. Donna showed me a sample in the store. So when I got home I did some experimenting. So far I am liking the way it is turning out, although I have only completed two blocks so far. I am going to make the quilt reversible with camo on 1 side and black on the other. I have to do some un-sewing as I had already started adding sashings to the blocks but that is ok. I think I am going to like this method and the outcome. I was hoping to have the quilt done before they came home from Boston - I guess I had better get cracking.

Do you belong to a Quilt Guild?

2011-07-08T08:30:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was our monthly Quilt Guild meeting. I truly enjoy my Guild and all of it's members. Yesterday we had 37 members and 1 guest attend. We discussed our annual picnic that will be held later this month. We also discussed our annual county fair and the Guilds involvement in the fair. We will have a lecture and a class in August with Klaudeen Hansen of Wisconsin. We also received the dates for our fall camp. And then the show and tell began - I am always in awe of the beautiful items that members share during our Guild meetings. I have to admit that I came away a little "down in the dumps" yesterday. This always seems to be a busy time of year and I have very little time in my sewing room. Our Guild has been doing the Banners of the Month and since I am helping my sister Carol, our project chair I am pushing hard to keep up and get the banners made before each meeting. I do love the summer but also love a little down time and more time for sewing. Do you belong to a Guild? If not I highly recommend you find one to join or start one. I really enjoy the frinedships I have made with fellow Guild members and I always love the inspiration.

Technology

2011-07-07T08:57:00.003-04:00

I do not consider myself up to date on technology, not even close. I won an I-pod a year ago and still don't even know how to turn the thing on. But yesterday proved to be very interesting in the technology department. My brother-in-law had major surgery in Boston. His wife (my sister, their 3 kids, their sons girlfriend and my two other sisters (all from Hillman) were there and still are. I spent the day with my parents here in Hillman intercepting, reporting and responding to texts from my two sisters. I also took my lap top to my parents and read posts that my sister has been posting on www.caringbridge.com It was a wonderful way to keep up with what was going on. My parents even said it was just like being there for the surgery. My brother-in-law is doing very well. He had to have his left lung removed because of mesotheleoma. He is in ICU right now and as he progresses he will be moved to a step down unit and then released. They have to stay in Boston for up to 4 weeks during his recovery. But with phone calls, texts and website we can stay in touch. On a personal note, I had both the cell phone and computer out by my parents swimming pool and was also able to enjoy some pool time with one of our grandsons, one nephew and 3 great-nephews.

Annual Bridge Walk

2011-07-06T07:26:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I think our small town has its disadvantages but I think the disadvantages are far outweighed by the advantages. Last weekend was one of our small town annual events. Lots and lots of events were held for the Mill River Days. Our grandson London and I participated in the Annual Bridge Walk. I am not sure if this was the 4th or 5th Bridge Walk but I have participated in all of them. And I felt very honored to participate in the walk this year with Mr. Willard Klein of Hillman. Willard is 94 years young and is a wonderful man. He and his wife Margaret raised a very large family here in Hillman. And I understand that has applied for an elk permit out west and plans to go on a hunting trip there later this fall.

Another Quilt Guild Charity Sew

2011-07-06T07:12:00.006-04:00

Sixteen members of the Thunderbay Quilt Guild gathered last week for a Charity Sew. We used the Jelly Roll 1600 hundred pattern and it was fun to see how they all turned out so different. Some of the gals used jelly rolls and some just used fabric from their stashes. The idea is to use 1600 inches of 2 1/2 inch strips. We decided that we needed to use more than the 1600 inches to achieve the size we needed. These quilt tops will be quilted by a very generous long arm quilter and then donated to an orphanage at Christmas time. Charity work is always so heart warming.

Shipshewana Vacation

2011-07-06T06:57:00.006-04:00

Here are a few more pictures of our vacation. Because we know that the streets pretty much roll up after 6 p.m. in Shipsi I took my sewing machine along on our vacation. In the evenings I sewed and Steve channel surfed on the TV (just like being at home). I worked on a very scrappy quilt. I didn't get it finished yet but I will. The pattern is called Jelly Roll 1600 and uses a jelly roll. I used left over bindings from my scrap basket. While there we also particiapted in a shop hop involving 8 quilt shops. That was a lot of fun.

We stayed at the Amish Country Inn, a very beautiful hotel. The hotel included an indoor water park but we did not try it out this time.

Beautiful Quilts, Beautiful Quilt Show, Beautiful City

2011-06-28T08:01:00.010-04:00

Here's a little peak of some of the quilts we saw at the Quilt Show in Shipshewana last week. The quilt in the first photo won the top prize at the show. The Sun Bonnet Sue quilt won viewers choice award votes from both Steve and I. It was hand appliqued and hand quilted and just beautiful.

Lilac Festival

2011-06-21T13:14:00.003-04:00

Steve and I were able to travel to Mackinac Island last weekend. The Annual Lilac Festival was winding down and we were able to attend the Grand Parade. Since no motorized vehicles are allowed on the Island all of the floats were pulled by horses, lots of horses. There were many colors and varieties of lilacs and they were still in bloom. Of course, the best part of the weekend was spending time with our daughter and two grandchildren. We also enjoyed a delicious dinner on Saturday evening (thanks Shawn).

A Family Wedding

2011-06-15T10:55:00.005-04:00

My nephew and his fiance Jill were married last Saturday in a beautiful ceremony. Josh's step-dad is a pastor and he performed the ceremony. Both Josh and Jill are into hunting and fishing so the theme of the decorations at the reception was camo, deer and elk antlers and outdoor decorations. Josh works for his Dad in the forestry business. The red machine shown above is a skidder. When the trees are cut the operator loads the logs onto the skidder and takes them to the landing where the semi-driver picks them up. I should add that the company does not do clear cutting, they do select cutting and forestry management. My husband works for the same company. Anyway, the skidder was used to transport the bridal party (all 20 of them!!) from the Church to the Community Center for the reception. The food at the reception was great, the music was good and it was great to spend the weekend with family members. One of my sisters did the count and Jill makes #48 to our family, beginning with my grandmother. Since my sisters have a small catering business, of course we did the cooking all day Friday along with the decorating. On Sunday we went back to the hall to watch the gift opening, eat wedding left overs and clean the hall. A great time was had by all and I am still trying to catch up on some rest. Our daughter Heather and her two little ones were in town for the wedding. Her 4 year old daughter Allie is staying with us this week and we will take her home on Saturday. We are having a great time although I forget what it is like to have a 4 year old in the house.

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun (Or Busy)

2011-06-07T08:12:00.006-04:00

Where has the time gone? I haven't had time to post for quite a long time. Since my last post a few of my activities have been Little League games, kindergarten graduation for our grandson London, track and field day for our grandson Cameryn, mowing the lawn several times, attending the Memorial Day Services here in Hillman along with all of the normal activities of work, housework, laundry, cooking meals, etc. Life does get a bit crazy sometimes. My sisters have a small catering business and I helped them on Saturday with a wedding reception. Our Community Center seats 500 people and in its 25 + years it has seen many, many activities. And since I have a key to the building (my office is there) I have seen lots and lots of decorating there. I have to say that I think this past weekends wedding was the most elegant I have seen there. The cake had a layer of butter cream frosting on it, then was covered with strips of white chocolate that were about 1/4 inch think. It was beautiful and delicious. The family and the decorator used 500 yards of fabric to drape the ceiling. My husband teased me yesterday about dumpster diving to see if any of the fabric was in there. The yellow table runners and chair bows were a perfect accent with all of the white. The bridesmaids dresses were purple and the groomsmens tuxes were grey. Everything was absolutely beautiful. Oh, and the family tree included wedding pictures of several generations of both families. My nephew is getting married this weekend and the reception will be held at the same building. Their theme is camouflage so it will be interesting to see how it all turns out. My sister Connie, the grooms mother, has beautiful tastes and decorating ideas so I know it will be beautiful too. Since our family caters we will be doing the cooking all day on Friday along with the decorating. They have a couple of friends coming in on Saturday to finalize the meal, serve and do the clean up. We Cinderellas will be able to enjoy the party. I am looking forward to some great family time this weekend.

My sister Carol's husband Perrin has recently been diagnosed with mesotheleoma and it has been a very rough time. A friend of theirs did some very thorough research and found a Dr. in Boston who specializes in this type of cancer. They have appointments on Monday and Tuesday in Boston and hopefully we will know by next Tuesday what the plan will be. We are in the process of planning a benefit dinner/live auction/Chinese raffle for them in July. And since we live in a very small, close knit family the whole community wants to help. I have put 9 jugs out in different locations asking for donations. I collected from one business on Sunday and collected $90 after 5 days. I thought that was very good. Today I plan to make 3 more jugs up and get them out too. Small towns have their disadvantages but I think the advantages far out weigh the disadvantages.

An Update and Some Tid Bits

2011-05-26T09:58:00.004-04:00

The day after I posted about the robins nest I went out to check on it. Now there is only 1 egg in the nest. And I haven't seen a bird sitting in the nest since then. So I don't know if the cats got the eggs or what happened. I will continue to keep an eye on the one egg and the nest. I hope we get at least one little bird.
Last weekend we visited my sister-in-law at her home in Frankenmuth (about a 2 hour drive from here). The lilacs were all in bloom as were several other flowers. We enjoyed spending Saturday night with her. Sunday afternoon we headed to Lansing (another 2 hour drive further south) as I had a meeting there on Monday. We got to Lansing, got checked into our hotel room and decided to do a little shopping. Well, wouldn't you know I spotted a Quilt Show sign. So we decided to follow the signs. We arrived at the Quilt Show at 3:40 and it closed at 4:00 o'clock. We decided to make a quick run through the show. In the parking lot was a VW that was covered with a quilt using all bug fabric. I had planned to get a picture when we came out of the show but of course is was gone. We did a speed walk through the quilts and saw some beautiful quilt and some ideas for future projects. It was great to see a couple of vendor friends that I met through the Thunder Bay Resort retreats. The show featured 48 vendors and it looked like they had some beautiful items for sale. It was probably a good thing we didn't have a lot of time. We did manage to go to a Quilt Shop in Frankenmuth and one in Lansing. And of course I did spend a little bit of money.

A Pleasant Surprise

2011-05-20T19:50:00.004-04:00

We don't use our front door real often. Earlier today I opened the front door to get some fresh air into the house. Imagine my surprise when I saw a robins nest on our deck and the four beautiful blue eggs inside. I had no idea we had some busy birds creating a temporary home on our deck. They are using the ledge where the flower boxes go, we took them off last fall and haven't got them put back up yet. We have a lot of neighborhood cats here. I appreciate their efforts in keeping the mouse population down in the neighborhood. But I am worried that they will find the eggs and the baby birds. That happened to one of our neighbors last year and he wasn't very happy. I will do my best to "guard" the nest when I can.

A Great Day of Mushroom Picking

2011-05-17T09:01:00.003-04:00

Steve and his brother had a very successful day of morel mushroom picking on Saturday. This is a very small portion of what Steve brought home. Sometimes we dry the mushrooms and sometimes we pre-cook them and freeze them. Steve decided that this time he would pre-cook and freeze the mushrooms. He did all of it by himself and even cleaned up the kitchen when he was done. Am I a lucky girl, or what?

Northern Michigan is not for sissies

2011-05-14T21:23:00.003-04:00

Today was our Little League opening day. The morning started with a parade of all of the players and coaches. The parade was led by a group of VFW members carrying flags. And of course in a small town a fire truck and an ambulance is always involved in the parade. As I posted earlier it was raining this morning and it just so happened that it has rained all day long. I spent 3 hours at the ball park watching two of our grandsons play baseball. London played his first ever T-Ball game and did a great job. Cameryn played baseball and got a couple of nice hits and also pitched for an inning. The rain didn't seem to hamper any of the kids spirits. Umbrellas, carharts, hats, hoodies and gloves seemed to be the attire of the day. When I got in my car to come home I noticed that the temperature on my car's dash said 49 degrees. No wonder I felt chilled to the bone. This was one of the most colorful umbrellas I saw. And the playground equipment was too wet for the kids to enjoy today.

When I got home I changed my clothes and tried to put a little curl in my hair after wearing my hoodie all morning and then headed to a bridal shower for a nephew's fiance. The shower was very nice and I feel I went from one extreme (carharts and hoodies) to the other (beautiful bridesmaids all dressed up). All in all it was a fun day despite the rain. And it is a good thing Steve got the lawn mowed last night. Once the rain stops and we get a little sunshine it will be time to mow again.

Rain, rain, go away!

2011-05-14T08:49:00.002-04:00

I know we need the rain but couldn't Mother Nature hold off till later this evening? Today is the big Little League opener here in Hillman. The kids participate in a parade, then the ball games begin. London has his first T-Ball game and Cameryn plays kid pitch baseball. I really hope the weather straightens up so the kids can have their special Little League day. After the games I have a bridal shower to attend. Then maybe a little sewing time will be the next thing on the agenda. Steve got our lawn mowed last night and it looks great. He got up early this morning to go mushroom hunting. He definitely has more drive and will power than I do. I am not an early morning person and especially when it is raining. I enjoy mushroom hunting but I do get a little creeped out in the woods. I like to keep an eye on the road and/or the vehicle. I have heard too many stories about people getting lost in the woods. In fact, about three weeks ago the fire department was called out to help find two people who were lost in the woods. They had a cell phone that was on it's last amount of battery power. The firefighters found them just before dark, thankfully. But that does make me a bit nervous. Steve is a logger and spends 5 days a week in the woods and he also has an excellent sense of direction. And hopefully he will have a successful mushroom hunt today. Fresh morels sound great today!

2011-05-11T19:49:00.000-04:00

Life gets a bit crazy at times. I know all of you know that too. Unfortunately my blogging gets shoved to the bottom of the pile when there just doesn't seem to be enough time to do everything. I really enjoy blogging but sometimes it just can't be helped. I had a wonderful time at my retreat last week. It seemed like I did more laughing and visiting than I did sewing but sometimes we just need to do that. I machine appliqued 6 more of my blocks of the month and finished the May banner of the month. I also finsihed the binding on this log cabin quilt. It is part of a series for a group I joined at Delphine's Quilt Shop in Gaylord. Prairie Women's Sewing Circle meets every other month and today was our third meeting. We have home work between meetings and the log cabin quilt was our most recent homework. I really enjoyed making it and have plans to make another one, perhaps bigger next time. I hand quilted this quilt too. It was fun to see the other quilts today. Our next assignment is titled At Mama's Knee and is supposed to be 17 inches square. I am anxious to get it started but it will have to wait for a little while.

On another note spring has finally sprung here in northern Michigan. It is so nice to see green grass and trees budding. The daffodils and tulips are in full bloom and I even saw a few trilliums out today. Little League season starts on Saturday and we have 2 grandsons playing this year so this Nana and Papa will be spending lots of time at the ball park during the next couple of months. We are so glad that we can enjoy the kids activities.

Packed for Quilt Camp

2011-05-01T13:07:00.003-04:00

I am leaving for our Guild's spring quilt camp in a few minutes. Hopefully everything that I will need is packed. In fact, Steve is loading the car as I am typing. I have 2 sewing machines, one for myself and one for my niece Lana. And I have two sleeping bags, one for myself and one for my sister Connie. When I can I like to take my own chair as it is very comfy for all of those wonderful hours of sewing. I also love my sewing machine table. My plan is to machine quilt and bind my May Banner of the Month, do some more machine applique on the Blocks of the Month and I threw in a bag of 2 inch squares that I am randomly sewing into 4 patches. I will report on my progress when I return. A big thank you to my husband for his understanding, love and support. And fortunately for me I have a part-time job and I can name my own hours. As of right now my next retreat won't be until November.

Two More Completed Projects

2011-04-30T21:17:00.004-04:00

I recently finished these two projects. The first quilt is for the Pioneer Women's Club that I joined. I have worked with some log cabins in the past but I really enjoyed the way this one turned out. While sorting through my stash I have been cutting fabric for several quilts and I have a large plastic tote of strips cut for more Log Cabin quilts. I may use this same lay out as I really like it. The name of the orange quilt is Sweet Dreams and it was done as a mystery quilt with my Guild last year. I machine quilted this quilt using all over stippling. I am very happy with the way it turned out.

Tomorrow afternoon I am heading out to our Guild's spring camp. Three wonderful days of sewing and fellowship, bonding and laughter with fellow guild members and friends including 2 of my sisters and one of my nieces.

We Survived the Storm

2011-04-20T19:55:00.004-04:00

We survived the late winter storm. As of this morning (April 20) at 7:30 we had 5 1/2 inches of snow on our back deck. We have received rain and light snow all day and right now it looks as though it is raining. All of the schools in the area were closed today and there were lots of reports of power outages in the area. I am thankful that we didn't lose our electricity. I had a great day here with Gavin and Grady. They were so good and are so cute. Papa Steve ended up coming home from work early so he got a chance to spend some time with them. And Gavin said Papa several times so that was very exciting, although I kept reminding Gavin that my name is Nana. I didn't get any sewing done yet but if I can gather up enough energy I will do some hand quilting tonight.

Taking Advantage of Mother Nature

2011-04-19T19:25:00.003-04:00

For the past 24 hours or so we have been warned that we are under a winter weather advisory here in Hillman. Predictions are for rain, sleet, thunder storms and snow (and it has been snowing here for over 2 hours now and it is just beginning to stick to the ground). Predictions are that we could get up to 6 inches of snow. Today was an almost winter day with very cold temps and high winds. I decided to take advantage of Mother Nature and do some sewing. Of course my husband very lovingly tells me that I don't need a reason to sew. I recently purchased a sewing machine table from JoAnn Fabric and I really like it. I don't need it here at home as my sewing machine sets in a counter top but I have used the table at a couple of retreats. Today I set the table up in our family room along with another table. I did some meandering quilting on this quilt. The name of the quilt is Sweet Dreams and it was made last year as a mystery quilt at Guild. I also machine stitched the binding on this quilt and another one that I recently hand quilted. I like to attach the bindings by machine and then hand stitch the binding down on the back side of the quilt. While I was sewing I started thinking about the television programs about hoarders. I have never seen any of the programs but have heard about them and can only imagine. This made me think about the mess in my sewing room. I should mention that the reason I set up my sewing station in my family room today is because my sewing room isn't big enough for this type of set up and the counter for my sewing machine isn't big enough to quilt a large piece. So then I decided that before I quilt the second quilt tomorrow I was going to go into my sewing room and see what I could do to organize it a bit. I would much rather be creative with fabric than try to organize but I decided I would give it a try. Well, our son called and asked if I could watch our twin grandsons tomorrow. Hmmm, big decision - have fun with our 13 month old little guys or shuffle things around in my sewing room. No decision there - but maybe while they are napping I can work in my sewing room a little bit. I have always told the grandkids that that was Nana's No No room. So far the twins haven't discovered it yet as I keep the door closed when they are here. Oh, and when my husband came home from work he very lovingly (again) teased me about taking over a second room in the house!!

Retreat Projects

2011-04-15T10:23:00.005-04:00

While at my retreat last weekend I made an Easter 10 minute table runner.

I also machine quilted and put the binding on another signature quilt from one of the retreats at Thunder Bay Resort. I think I still have a couple signature quilts to make yet.

I also did the machine button hole applique on seven blocks from a block of the month that is about 3 years old. The pieces in the blocks are quite small so it is a bit of a tedious job but still enjoyable. I am planning to go to another retreat in a few weeks so hopefully I can get a few more blocks appliqued. I am not sure but I think there are a total of 24 blocks in this quilt. Of course, while at the retreat I saw several projects that I wanted to make and of course I did have to buy a book that had a couple of beautiful quilts in it. But first.......I want to finish up a few more pieces before I start anything new.

Spring may have finally sprung here in northern Michigan and I was able to enjoy a beautiful day outside earlier this week. I cleaned out flower beds and raked up some sticks from under one of our willow trees. It has been quite windy for the last few days and the wind is quite cold. Yesterday I started sewing on some Easter gifts and hopefully I can get those finished today.

Quilter's Retreat in Gaylord

2011-04-10T17:12:00.003-04:00

I just returned home from the Quilter's Retreat in Gaylord. My Mom has had some health issues for quite some time now. I convinced her that it would be great for her to go and visit with some fellow quilters and even do a little quilting. She took a scrappy quilt that she has been sewing by hand and I think she really enjoyed herself. I managed to sew two small tote bags (one for my Mom and one for me) from the kits we were given there, I machine quilted and bound a small signature quilt and I machine appliqued 7 intricate blocks from a block of the month from about 2007. I am very please with my accomplishments plus I got some quality time with my Mom. I have my suitcase unpacked but haven't touched the sewing bags yet. And I don't think they will get unpacked for a few days.

Busy time!!

2011-04-06T09:00:00.003-04:00

We have been quite busy around here and I just haven't made the time for blogging. I apologize for that. As you can see in the picture we have a re-modeling project going on here. When we bought our house in 1978 we could see that the ceiling tiles in the living room were crooked. Then since it is an older house that was built before any codes the ceiling started to sag in spots and we had a leak in our roof that eventually got into the ceiling tiles and caused some staining. So since we have a new roof, this was the time to replace the ceiling tiles. Of course it ended up to be a bigger job than my husband had expected. We lived for several day with climbing over furniture and a mess in the house. The project isn't finished but at least we have a little bit of organization here in the house. All of the prep work is done and I think the plan is to begin installing new tiles this weekend. Once that is done we plan to replace carpet in a couple of rooms. A couple of weeks ago we made a trip to Indianapolis to attend a trade show for firefighters. We had a very good time. I attended the show for the first afternoon. Steve went back on the second day and I stayed in the hotel and did some hand embroidery, some hand quilting and some crocheting and also enjoyed a couple of walks. The weather wasn't real warm but at least there was no snow. Speaking of snow, we still have some here and received a couple of brief snow showers on Monday and Tuesday. I have had some great times with all seven of our grandchildren and their parents recently. I have been doing some sewing too. I am hand quilting on the 4th side of the border of a rather large quilt (a UFO) and am anxious to get it finished. I made the top for the Prairie Women's Circle Club and have it ready to begin hand quilting. Today's plans are to clean the bathroom, hopefully vacuum out my car and pack for a Quilter's Retreat this weekend. My Mom and I are planning to go and I am really looking forward to it. My Mom has had some health issues lately and I think it will be good for her to go. She has plans of just working on some hand work. I have some blocks of the month that are several year old now that have been yelling for some attention. They are fused applique and I plan to machine button hole them. My plan was to just take them but of course I have decided that I need more of a variety so I have a small piece ready to be machine quilted and I have some piecing that I plan to pack. Am I the only one that seems to hop around on projects and have way too many things going at one time?

Just One Star

2011-03-18T09:02:00.005-04:00

Just One Star can comfort a soldier. Everyday brave men and women are injured in the line of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan as they fight for our nation's freedom and security. Moda is extending an invitation to quilters to help with their newest challenge. The challenge is to piece, quilt and bind 100 quilts in 100 days. They need 1800 star blocks to complete their goal. The star blocks are very simple to make and the instructions are very clear. Stars are to be made using a medium red or blue and a cream background. I made my block yesterday and it didn't take very long at all. The blocks are to be sent to Dallas, Texas and the deadline is May 1, 2011. Please check out their website and get involved.

How was your weekend?

2011-03-14T17:25:00.004-04:00

I hope everyone had a great weekend. We did although I didn't get much sewing time in. We celebrated our little twin grandson's first birthday with a big birthday bash. We also had company and did a little shopping. Awhile ago I lost my 6 inch square ruler. I didn't realize how much I used that ruler until it came up awol. So while shopping on Friday I used my coupon at JoAnn Fabric and bought a new ruler. I can't get over how clear all of the numbers are on the new ruler. Today was a busy day in the office and I have a meeting tonight. I managed to get a binding sewn onto a small quilt after work and before starting dinner. The next few days look pretty busy so I don't know if I will get back to any sewing for a few days. How about you? What are you working on?

My Blizzard Bunch Quilt

2011-03-11T10:17:00.003-05:00

This quilt was a block of the month that we did at Guild several years ago. It is just such a fun quilt and always make me happy when I look at it. I used fusible web and button hole stitched all of the appliques. Then I hand quilted it. I love all of the colors and the fun snow people. Do you have "happy" quilts?

Prairie Women's Sewing Circle

2011-03-10T08:56:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I attended the second meeting of the Prairie Women's Circle Club at Delphine's Quilt Shop in Gaylord. This club meets six times, once every other month for the year. We are exploring the lives of women from about 1840 to the turn of the century. It is very interesting. We have a home work assignment after every class. The first quilt we made was named Leap of Faith. The size if 17 inches by 21 inches. I machine pieced my quilt and hand quilted it and I am really happy with the way it turned out. One of the things we talk about is the fact that women made do with what they had available to make quilts for their families. Some members of the class are trading fabric and using the fabrics in their quilts. I have decided that my make do will be to use fabrics from my stash (and perhaps from my Mom's stash too). Our new home work assignment is to make a log cabin quilt that will be 38 inches by 38 inches. I really loved the sample that Delphine made and I am anxious to get started on mine.
Today is open sewing at Guild and I have decided to take some hand work to do. I am just not in the mood to haul my sewing machine and all of the things I will need to take. Plus I am at a point with my scrappy quilt that I need to cut more 1 1/2 inch squares.

Cuter Than Two Bugs In A Rug

2011-03-09T18:36:00.003-05:00

Our twin grandsons Gavin and Grady will be one year old this weekend. It is hard to believe. I watched them one day last week and they were so cute. I laid Aunt Heather's hand quilted sunflower quilt on on the floor before Dad brought them in. He just laughed when he saw the quilt and said that the boys are now into power crawling. And that is exactly what they did. The only time they used the quilt was at nap time. Dad is a huge Cubs fan so their other Grandma made the fleece blankets for them before they were born. The blankets were even used in the NICU to cover their isolates. Hard to believe that was almost a year ago already. Both of them have several teeth and as of this moment neither is walking but they aren't very far from it. Happy Birthday to our sweet little guys.

Trail Mix

2011-02-26T17:19:00.003-05:00

I finished this quilt last fall and had it quilted by A Plus Quilting of Midland. The name of the quilt is Trail Mix and it is king sized. I love the way it looks on our bed. I think I posted about this quilt quite awhile ago. I pieced all of the blocks together on our Singer Featherweight ( I love that little beauty) during scrappy sew days at Guild. It took quite awhile to complete the quilt as I only worked on the quilt one or two days a month. Many of my friends thought I was crazy for using so many scraps and because the light colored squares started out at 1 1/4 inches. I love the final outcome. This week I started another scrappy quilt at Guild using 1 1/2 inch squares, using a pattern I found on the internet. It has been fun to dig into some boxes and pull out some scraps of fabric that I forgot I even had.

Christmas Gifts

2011-02-25T09:17:00.010-05:00

When I became a Nana 9 years ago our grand children received quilts from me every year for Christmas and their birthdays. This past Christmas I decided to do something different. I bought travel pillows and made pillow cases for each of the seven grandchildren. It was a lot of fun choosing fabrics for each of them.
This is Allie's pillow case.

This is London's pillow case.

This is Grady's pillow case.

This is Cameryn's pillow case.

This is Gavin's pillow case.

This is Kingsley's pillow case.

This is Liam's pillow case.

A Quilt for Kingsley

2011-02-25T09:04:00.003-05:00

Our daughter asked if I would make a quilt or 2 for our grandson Kingsley who is now 5 months old. I found this fabric at Hobby Lobby and thought it would be great for a little boy. I used flannel for the backing and machine quilted the quilt. I sent it to Kingsley along with a fleece Minnesota Vikings blanket (the kind where you layer two pieces of fleece, cut the edges into strips and then tie them). Both Kingsley and his Dad loved the Vikings fleece. I have an order for another robot quilt so hope I can still get the fabric when I can get back to Hobby Lobby.

Computer fixed - yea!!

2011-02-25T09:01:00.003-05:00

We have had some major computer problems for quite some time now. The finale was a bad hard drive. Thanks so much to PC Medic we now have a new hard drive and the computer "works like a charm". We have a lap top but I was just having trouble getting the hang of using the key board. Now that we have our desk top back I hope to get back to blogging. Stay tuned.

Modern Technology

2011-02-05T17:33:00.003-05:00

I love my computer, especially when everything works well. During the last couple of weeks we have had some technical difficulties with one of our programs. And we changed internet providers so that created some hassles too. During the last couple of weeks I spent more time on the telephone with "tech" people than I did with my sewing machine :( I spoke with some very friendly people from the Phillipines and from India and even Janet from Ohio in the good old US of A. Hopefully we have everything back up and running. I still have to do some installations on our lap top but am avoiding that for the time being.

In November my Mom and I dug through her fabric stash looking for fabric to use to make Christmas gifts. While in her upstairs I found boxes, baskets and bags of balls of yarn of all sizes, all left overs from some of her knitting and crochet projects. I gathered a large amount of the balls and brought them home. I found a crochet pattern for an afghan, Blazing Ripple Throw. I can do basic crocheting and read very simple patterns. This pattern called for a dc3tog stitch. I had a terrible time trying to figure that stitch out. Finally I realized a wonderful source for such problems -- the internet. It didn't take long to find the stitch instructions and figure it out. I used my Mom's left over yarn and made 5 afghans. My only expense was a size N crochet hook. Because the hook is so big it doesn't take very long to get an afghan made. I am still quilting but have found that I really enjoy crocheting too. I have taken my crocheting in the car and found that I don't have to deal with pins, needles, thread, scissors, etc. Quite awhile ago I read an article in our local newspaper about a woman in a neighboring town who collects afghans and delivers them to Veterans homes. Since both my Dad and my husband are Veterans I thought that was a very worthwhile cause. A week or so after Christmas I delivered 2 afghans to the delivery location, a beauty shop, then last Thursday I delivered these 3 afghans to the same beauty shop. I have enough yarn here to make 2 more afghans, then I will be checking out my Mom's stash to see if she has any more left over yarn.

Where Has The Time Gone?

2011-01-18T09:43:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that it has been over a month since my last post. Things have been very crazy here. Along with all of the usual chaos before Christmas with shopping, gift wrapping, decorating, baking, Christmas partys and programs I was fighting a nasty cold that just didn't want to give up. Then two days before Christmas one of our twins was diagnosed with whooping cough. He and his family were given anti-biotics and were quarantined to their homes. Since we had all been together before the diagnosis all of our grandchildren were checked, given antibiotics and quarantined. So were weren't able to see our children and grandchildren for Christmas. That was very hard for me, especially since everyone lives so close. Fortunately my sister-in-law and her family from all over the country were here in Hillman for almost a week so we were able to spend time with them. Shortly after the whooping cough passed the stomach flu hit several of us. As of this very minute everyone is healthy again. We were able to have Christmas with our daughter and her family on January 1 at a hotel in St. Ignace. Then we had Christmas with one of our sons and his family on Saturday evening and we gave gifts to our other son and his family on Sunday afternoon. I certainly hope we never have another Christmas like that. I have managed to do a little bit of sewing and some crocheting. Before Christmas I was going through my Mom's fabric stash pulling fabrics to help her make pillow cases for her great grandchildren (14) and 4 grand children. I found boxes, bags and baskets of small balls of yarn. I brought home a large bag of yarn scraps and started crocheting afghans. I have 1 done and 2 in the works. There is a lady here that collects them for a veterans home and I am happy to make the donations. I am in the process of hand quilting a quilt and right now I am trying to decide what I want to do with the final borders. I am hoping to have this quilt finished for show and tell at my Guild on the first Thursday in February.

Have you been bit by the 10 minute table runner bug?

2010-12-15T16:31:00.005-05:00

I have never been real fond of table runners, maybe because our table is round. Anyway I have been enjoying making these fun little runners. They take 1/4 yard of focus fabric and 1/2 yard of background fabric. And although I haven't actually timed myself I am sure there is a little more than 10 minutes involved. I made a fall runner for our table and enjoyed it so much that I made a Christmas runner and we are enjoying that. Our grandson London attends kindergarten at a parochial school. I thought it would be fun to make table runners for the kids to give to their parents. I provided the pre-cut centers and asked the teachers to have the kids use finger paints to put their hand prints and names on the fabric. Then I took them home and finished the table runners. They will be used tonight for the kids Christmas program, then each child can take theirs home, all 23 of them. We also have 7 table runners for gifts in various stages right now and hope to get them finished by the weekend. As I have mentioned before, my husband has been doing some sewing. Six of the seven table runners are his project and he has been working on them. He also helped me with the table runners for the school kids. He did a lot of the ironing and I did the sewing. I thought it was a perfect match.
PS - I can't take credit for the hand print idea. I owe a huge thanks to my friend Donna from Gaylord who shared with me a similiar project she had going. I was thinking that it would be fun to make these featuring the kids art work or rubber stamps or . . . . . . . . The possibilities are endless.

A Little Family Christmas Tradition

2010-12-14T10:08:00.005-05:00

Before I started quilting I dabbled in lots of differents crafts including macrame, crocheting, counted cross stitch and plastic canvas items. Many, many years ago I decided to make these tree ornaments for my parents with the names of their grandchildren. As of today they have 14 grandchildren. Five of the grandchildren are married so their spouses also have their names on the tree. And once the great-grandchildren started arriving they couldn't be left out. As of today they have 14 great grandchildren (and 7 of them are ours). This year we had 5 new babies join the family and 4 of them were ours. I recently finished name tags for all of the new babies for my parents tree and for our tree. I made our grandchildrens ornaments in gold and white. All of my siblings have ornaments with their childrens names for their trees and my sister has ornaments for her 7 grandchildren. WOW - that is a lot of ornaments. Some day I will have to sit down and do a count to see how many I have actually made - or maybe I don't want to. With the additon of 5 more name to my parents tree I am anxious to see if they have room for any other ornaments.

Thunderbay Quilt Guild Christmas Party

2010-12-10T11:00:00.005-05:00

Yesterday approximately 50 members of the Thunderbay Quilt Guild gathered at the Brush Creek Mill in Hillman for the annual Christmas party. My sister Carol did a wonderful job of organizing the party and preparing a delicious lunch. My sister Connie and our friend Karen helped with set-up, serving and clean up. The afternoon started with socializing and enjoying wonderful appetizers prepared by Carol, Connie and Karen. Then the girls served a delicious salad, followed by 2 types of lasagne - one a traditional lasagne with a few extras and the other a seafood lasagne, with grilled vegetables and rolls. Secret sisters were revealed and several ladies "wowed" us with show and tell. Members received the resolution cards we made in January and that brought a lot of laughter to the group. A few members (myself not included) did very well keeping their resolutions. Members decorated a Christmas tree with hand made ornaments to be included in the Christmas tree decorating contest at the mill. A delicious raspberry pastry dessert rounded out a wonderful afternoon. A big thank you to Carol for organizing the party, for the favors and door prizes and to Connie, Mom and Karen for all of your help too. Oh, and as part of the party we were all invited to bring fat quarters in and we were given a ticket for each fat quarter we brought in. The large basket of fat quarters was won by Carol - the perfect recipient.

A Quilt Shop Funny

2010-12-09T08:27:00.003-05:00

I forgot to add to my post yesterday something funny that happened at the Quilt Shop. My cash register experience is very limited. I did work at a party store many, many years ago just as a fill in when my sister (the manager) need some last minute help. For me cash registers can be a bit intimidating. I had told Sandy that the cash register was the only thing that worried me. I have been hanging around quilt shops for almost 30 years so I figured I wouldn't have too much trouble. Don't you know my first customer was a very good friend who recently closed her Quilt Shop due to health issues. Sandy left excellent instructions for the cash register so I didn't have any problems but I was a bit nervous, especially the first time. Then my second customer was a gal who works at JoAnn Fabric in Alpena and has for many years. She bought fabric to make some new pillows for her living room. And she wanted 1 and 1/8 yards. Ok, so my math skills aren't all that great. Again Sandy left a very detailed list of the fractions so I made it through that. Talk about intimidation. The only problem I had was that I forgot to print off a second receipt from the credit card machine for a customer (sorry Claudine). At least I hope Sandy doesn't discover any other boo-boos.

A Wonderful Day

2010-12-08T19:49:00.003-05:00

Today I helped my friend Sandy in her Quilt Shop, Sandy D's, here in Hillman. It was a lot of fun. All of the fabric was such beautiful eye candy. I loved visiting with the customers that came into the shop. You can always learn something from another quilter. Along with waiting on customers I also cut some fat quarters, made up some snap bag kits and even got to do some of my own sewing. I also straightened up some of the fat quarters and I can see that that can be a never ending job. Hopefully I will be able to go back and help again some time. I have to admit that it was a true test of will power. I did buy 2 fat quarters. I had bought yardage of this same fabric for an ongoing project and I thought that I had bought all of that fabric that was in the shop. When I spotted the 2 fat quarters I knew they had to come hone with me, just in case I need them.

The Pumpkin Rolls Are Done

2010-11-23T19:39:00.003-05:00

Pumpkin rolls with cream cheese filling are on the list of family favorites for the holidays. I have discovered that a big can of pumpkin and a 3# box of cream cheese from GFS will make 6 pumpkin rolls. Since I already have the mess going in the kitchen it just make sense to make 6 at one time. I have a request for pumpkin rolls for Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house and we will also enjoy them at Christmas time (they freeze real well). I still remember the first time I tasted pumpkin rolls probably about 30 years ago. We were at a family Christmas gathering down state. One of my aunts had made pumpkin rolls as part of her dishes to pass. I still remember my grandma "scolding" my aunt. The words that I remember my grandma saying were, "Oh honey, you and Dale (my uncle) are always struggling with weight issues, why would you make something like that". Although my grandma has been gone for many years now I can still hear her saying that to my aunt. I should probably listen a little closer to grandma's scolding.

Papa and London

2010-11-20T12:47:00.003-05:00

Papa Steve is a logger and also a foreman. The company he works for does a lot of thinning of forest lands and not clear cutting. Steve operates a skidder, picking up logs from the trees after they have been mechanically harvested. Steve hauls the logs to the landing where the semi truck driver picks them up and takes them to one of several mills. Our 5 year old grandson knew that Papa worked in the woods but I know he didn't realize what Papa did. Around here there is a lot of hunting so I think he figured Papa just hunted every day (wouldn't Papa love that?). We had a couple of days of beautiful weather last week so I told London we would go for a ride and visit Papa. I am so geographically challenged that after our second attempt to find the crew I told London it was time to give up. He very promptly told me that his Dad says never give up. After a few chuckles I headed for home. After we got home Papa returned one of the many calls that I had made while in the woods. He gave me a little more detail in directions so London and I headed back out to the woods. This time we found Papa driving his big skidder. He hiked London up into the cab and they went into the woods to pick up a load of logs. Papa let London drive the skidder and I don't know who was more proud. It smelled so good out there, they were cutting balsam. Hopefully I can get the rest of the grandkids out to drive Papa's skidder as they get bigger.

A Wonderful Quilter's Retreat

2010-11-16T07:48:00.004-05:00

My husband and I recently attended a Quilter's Retreat in Gaylord. The retreat was co-hosted by the Alpine Lodge and Delphine's Quilt Shop. This was the 5th annual retreat held in Gaylord and the 5th time I attended this retreat. This was Steve's first retreat and although he had to miss the first day because of work I think he enjoyed himself. He was involved in most of the retreats at Thunder Bay Resort for five years but never as a retreater. He took a sewing machine and added bindings to three wall hangings. One is hanging on the wall in the first picture. He found this pattern when we were in Tennessee several years ago. It was made with batiks and I am not a batik fan. Because of the background fabric he used on this wall hanging you can't really see the two doves in the upper right hand corner. He said when he first saw the pattern it made him think of his parents. He decided that he wanted to try photo transer and add pictures of his parents to the wall hangings. Since I know nothing about photo transers (and I am not interested in learning) I told him he was on his own. The picture of his Dad was taken about 15 years before the picture of his Mom. He did a great job in editing the photos and getting them onto fabric. He also did a great job in machine appliqueing and machine quilting the wall hangings. He made 7 or 8 wall hangings and has a few more to make yet. While at the retreat we tagged teamed to finish some Tiny Miracle (preemie quilts) tops. Steve did the machine quilting and I add borders. It was fun doing it that way. We also tag teamed and made two pillow cases using kits provided by the Quilt Shop to be donated to a local charity. I wasn't sure how the women would feel with him attending the retreat but they were all so supportive of his quilting venture. I also accomplished a few things at the retreat and I will post about that at another time. PS - Steve has a pattern for a deer head that is paper pieced. He thought about taking that to the retreat but I said no. I have only done a little bit of paper piecing and I told him that I was not going to be the teacher during the entire retreat, that we would have to work on that here at home some time. Maybe I should have had him take the deer project and maybe someone there would have taken pity on us and helped out.

A new hair do

2010-11-11T17:26:00.004-05:00

I got a hair cut and a "new do" yesterday and I am very happy with it. When I turned 40 I decided to fight it by letting my hair grow. Every once in awhile I would get a perm but still kept my length. Forty, came, then fifty and fifty five hit several months ago. I decided it was time to make a change. I was pretty nervous but I totally love my hair. The only down side is that this morning I couldn't make it look like the hair dresser did yesterday with the curling iron. I know I will never get it to look like that I am not going to give up and I will try it again tomorrow. I did buy a new curling iron today so I will see how that works out. Now ...... I may have to get up the nerve to get something done with all of the little grays.

Nursing Capes

2010-11-09T07:37:00.002-05:00

Last weekend I totally enjoyed some time in my sewing room. I made two Nursing Capes (a.k.a. Hooter Hiders) for our new Momma and Baby. I have made these for both daughter and daughter-in-love and they have been well used during the last 8 months. They are made with 1 yard of fabric. I modified the pattern slightly.

First Annual Fall Gala

2010-11-07T16:41:00.004-05:00

Last night Steve and I attended the Fall Gala hosted by the parochial school that holds classes at my Church. The room was decorated with art work made by the children including the life size scarecrows. It was a fun evening with a delicious dinner followed with a live auction. Several raffles were also taking place. We did not purchase anything at the auction but had fun visiting and laughing with family and friends. I donated a 10 minute table runner and 4 placemats and they sold for $40. I was very happy with that. I realize that there are several different opinions about parochial schools and I respect those opinions. I just know what I have seen with two grandson attending the program - 1 for a year of pre-school and another for a year of pre-school and now as a kindergartener there. Both boys learned so much and really blossomed during their experiences.

A New Baby Grandson

2010-11-07T16:34:00.002-05:00

Last week we welcomed Liam Samuel Roy into our family. Congratulations to Dad, Mom and big brother London. We now have 7 grandchildren, 6 boys and 1 girl. And 4 of the grandsons were born in the last 32 1/2 weeks (yawn, smile, yawn, smile). We have truly been blest. While Mom was in the observation room being monitored and prepped for c-section I noticed that there were several very tiny quilts framed and hanging on the walls. The quilts aren't any more than 4 inches square. Have you ever noticed that quilts and quilt related items just seem to find us quiltmakers?

It is official!!

2010-10-29T15:38:00.003-04:00

I am no longer employed at Thunder Bay Resort. The decision was made to discontinue the Quilter's Retreats due to declining attendance numbers. My boss said that once the economy picks up the retreats may be re-instated. For me this is the first time in 25+ years that I am working at just one job. And so far I am liking it. My other job is that of Township Clerk, an elected position. I will soon begin my 3rd year of a 4 year term. I have been Clerk here for almost 22 years. I have several responsibilities but the one that takes up most of my time is administering elections. We have an election on Tuesday and I have been very busy with that. Once the election is over I will have lots of free time. I am planning to spend time spoiling our 6 and soon to be 7 grandchildren. I hope to get some things caught up here at home that have been ignored for far too long and I plan to do lots of sewing and quilting. I would like to continue with my blog. Any suggestions for a "catchy" title? Please give it some thought and send me suggestions via "comment". Thanks!!

The Orphan Train Rider

2010-10-26T11:18:00.003-04:00

Ann Zemke of Crocus Lane Quilts was the guest speaker/instructor a couple of weeks ago here at Thunder Bay Resort. She gave a very interesting and informative talk about her grandmother and many, many other children who were loaded on oprhan trains and sent off to points unknown. She also taught her Big bag class to our retreaters. I didn't get a chance to make my bag yet but I do intend to do so. If you are looking for an interesting speaker for your group (it doesn't have to be quilters) I highly recommend you contact Ann.

New baby, road trips, busy, busy

2010-10-13T14:51:00.007-04:00

It has been a long time since I have made a post and I apologize. Life has been very crazy for the past 5 weeks or so. We welcomed our newest grandson, Kingsley into our family on September 23. Congratulations to Heather, Shawn and big sister Allie. It seems like I have spent an awful lot of time in the car lately. Kingsley was born in Petoskey, about 80 miles west of here and we made a couple of trips from here. He also had a Dr's appointment in Cheboygan, about 80 miles north of here. Steve and I traveled to Lansing for the Michigan Quilt Networks Annual Showcase and I drove to Gaylord for our MQN Region 2 meeting. The colors have been absolutely beautiful this year and I have really enjoyed being a "leaf peeper." I also totally enjoyed a 3 day quilt camp with one of my sisters and several of my quilting buddies and two trips to the apple farm with two of our granchildren. Today was the day to get things finalized for a retreat that starts here at Thunder Bay Resort tomorrow. This will be our second to the last retreat. We will host a UFO retreat here next weekend, then we will close the retreat doors. I have truly enjoyed meeting so many wonderful people and making some great friends along the way. I will try to do a posting during or right after this weekends retreat.

2010-09-22T12:17:00.007-04:00

Last weekend the Michigan Quilt Network held its annual Showcase in Lansing, MI. The Showcase started on Thursday and featured a quilt show, classes, lectures, and vendors. Steve and I managed to get there and enjoyed about 2 hours of the show on Saturday before it was shut down. We were also able to attend "Two Men and a Trunk Show" by Dan Burke and John Putnam. Both men are quilters and both have totally opposite quilting styles. Dan is very much into paper piecing and designing. John is much more traditional and enjoys using other peoples patterns (that is my style too). All of the quilts were beautiful. Sunday morning was the annual business meeting. During the meeting I received the Volunteer of the Year Award from president Sherrie Jaqua. I thank all involved and truly appreciate the honor.

A Trip To The Apple Farm

2010-09-22T11:59:00.004-04:00

Last Friday our daughter Heather, grandchildren Allie and London and I made a trip to Knaebe's Apple Farm in Rogers City, about a 30 mile trip from home. The weather was great and the kids enjoyed the petting zoo and the playground. We wandered through the gift shop, bought some apples and discovered some delicious apple cider donuts in their kitchen

Fall Has Arrived

2010-09-15T15:17:00.003-04:00

Fall has definitely arrived here in Hillman, Michigan. The temperatures have cooled down and the colors on the trees are turning very fast. Our downtown went through a total face lift, including a new bridge, new streetscape and 3 of these beautiful pocket parks. Doesn't this look inviting? I would love to sit in one of these parks and soak up some sun and do some people watching. I wonder what would happen if I took along some hand sewing. Do you think anyone would notice? No time for sitting and soaking up sun right now. I have been busy enjoying time with our daughter Heather and our 3 year old grand daughter Allie. Allie is going to be a big sister most any day now. We do not know yet if it will be a brother or sister and I like it that way. We are anxiously awaiting the big day. I have also been busy doing some more canning and spending time at both offices. Last night Steve and I presented our Trunk Show to a group of about 25 ladies at a local church. There were just a couple quilters in the bunch and everyone was very complimentary of our quilts. Maybe this evening I can sneak in a little time for some hand applique.

2010-09-10T11:21:00.004-04:00

Ann Zemke of Crocus Lane Quilts will be our guest instructor at our next Quilter's Retreat. The date is October 14 - 17 and the place is Thunder Bay Resort in Hillman, Michigan. Ann will present her lecture/trunk show, Orphan Train Quilts and then teach a big bag class. Additional details can be found on our website, Thunder Bay Quilter's Retreats. I would just like to remind

you that the retreats at Thunder Bay Resort will come to an end this year. We will hold the Oct 14 - 17 retreat and the final retreat on October 21 - 24. That retreat will be a UFO retreat where retreaters are invited to bring along UFO's (unfinished objects) to work on or a quilt that you have been anxious to start. This is a perfect time and place to work on both UFO's and new projects as there won't be any interuptions by husbands, kids, pets. Let us prepare your meals and even make your beds and you can just spend 4 glorious days sewing and creating. We have room at both of these retreats and we would love to have you come and join us.

Mission Accomplished

2010-09-08T17:25:00.003-04:00

I acomplished my mission this afternoon. I sandwiched 4 Thunder Bay Resort Quilter's Retreat signature quilts (nopw just 2 quilts behind) and 3 Tiny Miracle quilts. I have a Guild camp coming up in a few weeks and I think I will take these to quilt at the camp. Now after dinner off to my sewing room to pack a sewing bag for Scrappy Sewing Day at Guild tomorrow.

Sandwiching Small Quilts

2010-09-08T10:59:00.004-04:00

Here is how I do it: I use my table from JoAnn Fabric that has a smooth finish. I use brown tape to tape the quilt backing to the table, stretching the fabric as much as I can. Then I lay the batting on top of the backing. Then I tape the quilt top to the batting and backing, again stretching the top as much as I can. I use little brass safety pins and pin the three layers together. I probably use more pins than I need but I want to make sure nothing moves. Once all of the pins are in place I am ready to hand or machine quilt the small pieces. I have used this method for a long time and it works for me. For large quilts I use my frame to sandwich and then pin the three layers together. Last night after dinner I pinned three Tiny Miracle (preemie) quilts. My plan is to sandwich 4 retreat signature quilts and a few more Tiny Miracle quilts this afternoon and evening. As of right now I plan to machine quilt all of these quilts when I have time.

We had a very busy weekend so there wasn't much sewing time but that is ok with me. We enjoyed visiting with out of town relatives, attended our twin grandsons baby dedication at their church, did a little shopping, canned salsa and beets and even squeezed in a little time for relaxation.

A Mystery Quilt Project

2010-08-30T13:44:00.006-04:00

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

2010-08-30T13:35:00.005-04:00

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.