I cracked - AGAIN

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

Life had been a bit crazy around here!

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

Last week I enjoyed a ride through Thunder Bay Resort's Elk Ranch with several children in our community through a summer children's activity. Jack, co-owner of Thunder Bay Resort guided the tour along with Al, the teamster. The kids loved seeing all of the elk and riding on the horse drawn carriage. The resort hosts elk viewing gourmet dinner rides throughout the year. If you are looking for a fun activity I highly recommend you check out the event. Thanks to Jack and Al for a fun activities for area children, their parents and grandparents.

Our garden is going crazy

Or perhaps I should say Steve's garden is going crazy. I don't know why but for some reason I wasn't very involved in planting our garden in the spring. Steve did a great job and the weather has been very cooperative too. Last week I picked and froze these 9 bags of swiss chard. This was my 3rd time of freezing swiss chard and we had enjoyed several meal of fresh chard too. And it looks like I need to be cutting it again. I did tell Steve that we may have to dig up a row or two as we will soon run out of freezer space. Last weekend I also put green beans in the freezer. We prefer canned beans but there wasn't enough in the first picking to pull the pressure cooker out. Our zuchinni plants have been producing like crazy too. I have given away several zuchinni and also put some of them in the freezer (I stir fried them before I froze them). So far I have picked just 1 cucumber and 1 picking of pea pods but I need to get out in the garden again real soon. Not much time for sewing but that usually happens in the summer.

Blotto Blogs

Last week I attended our annual Quilter's Guild picnic. Although we had a little rain the comraderie and food were both excellent. A couple of months ago I challenged our members to participate in a red, white and blue log cabin blotto block exchange. Members were invited to make the log cabin blocks and then we would have a drawing. Each member would go home with the same number of blocks they arrived with. Because of circumstances beyond my control I wasn't able to promote the exchange as much as I would have liked. As it turned out I was only able to get two blocks made. And Lenore was the only other willing participant - she made 25 blocks. During our conversation she stated that she had a little problem with coming up with blue fabrics that really read as blue. That started my thought process. I think I will add to my list of "things to do" to make more blocks to make a quilt using the red, white and blue fabrics. I don't know how big I will make it nor when I will do it but I think that sounds like fun. I have managed to get back into my sewing room for an hour or so in the evenings lately. I have 16 more Christmas stockings in various stages. My new goal is to get those finished, thus donating 50 stockings to my Guild.

A Quilting Hiatus

I feel as though I have been on a quilting hiatus (and a blog hiatus) for several weeks now. I have been so busy with family :) and work that I haven't had much time for sewing. I did manage to make 4 more Christmas stockings and 2 little draw string bags for a little auction at our family reunion. My Mom had some extensive surgery last week and has been having some complications with her recovery. I am trying to do what I can to help her and my Dad. My "other job" is Township Clerk and one of my responsiblities is that of election administrator. Since we have a state primary election on August 3rd I am also knee deep in absentee ballots. Last night I did sit down and try to do some hand quilting but was just so exhausted that I didn't get very much done.
While I am taking a little down time with my sewing machine my husband gave my main sewing machine a little D & C (dusting and cleaning). So now she is ready whenever I have a little free time to sew.

Some quilt designs - or not?

Last week I attended a conference for my other job (Township Clerk) at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort. The decor at the facility was absolutely beautiful. These pictures are of the carpet and floor tile. I don't consider myself a designer and I don't feel that I have the eye of a designer - but, I think there could be some inspiration here.