Quilter's Retreat in Gaylord

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!!

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

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?

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

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

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

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.