I gotta tell you, I am so far behind in my blogging. I have hundreds of photos I want to show you from this summer, but alas, I seem to not have time to get on here and share. Well, I keep telling myself, now I'm stockpiled for when I have a dry spell! LOL.
So, I'll just start with recent stuff. Last weekend, Sweet Pea, Papa Pea, and I traveled to Minnesota to visit my BIL. Then, I headed off to my quilt retreat at Gruber's in St. Cloud while Sweet Pea and Papa Pea went visiting relatives.
Here was my pile of crap--er, really valuable sewing stuff--that I took with me on retreat. (I cannot wait to get that tile in our entryway replaced!) Papa Pea commented it was an awful lot of stuff. But I used it all--well, except for that wire basket on top--never did get to that project! I think there was a method to my madness. If I take a lot with me, he won't notice how much I bring home, right? Truthfully, I was pretty well behaved on the shopping front.
I worked on quite a few things. One was my next Quilted Fish idea, so I can't show you that. Another was a blog for my bee, which I'll show you in another post. I spent a lot of time making blocks for my Urban Nine Patch quilt (click the link for the tutorial). I came with three blocks done and left with nine done! Woo hoo! I am going to make four more. I will set them on point like this. I am happy with how it is turning out. I had my friends at the retreat pick my color combinations fo rme. It was fun!
Everyone had cool stuff they were working on and neat show and tells. People were talking about how they don't blog other people's work so as not to steal their thunder. It gave me pause. So, instead of a parade of show and tell, I'll just give you some sneaky peeks at some things people were working on. These are some of the close up photos I took, so as not to spoil their action with the whole quilt.
Mary's Birdie Stitches. (Click the link for the pattern.) Awesome. With Kate Spain's Fandago. I'm working on this one and totally copying Mary.
Another of Mary's fantastic creations.
Michelle made this awesome goodie for her sister, Rene', for her birthday. I LOVE IT. And Michelle is a semi new quilter. Hello. Quite talented!
Here is part of Rene's Peace and Love quilt. I think that's what she called it. It is so wonderful....for her new baby grandson.
A quilt Rene' was working on last year. Wow. I LOVED this one.
Amanda Jean's 36 patch...made for her 36th birthday. How cool is that. How could I do a 47 patch? LOL.
How about some photos of work spaces?
Mary was hard at work on this beauty on her little Featherweight.
Amanda Jean with her beloved Juki...working on little mini trash bins.
Here are some of her little trash bins. Love them. She gifted each of us one! How cute are they?
Terri had this pile of squares she was making numerous projects from. She is quite talented with combining fabrics!
Doris had this cutie patootie bag. I love it. I managed to find the pattern for it. Gotta make one! 'Cause you all know I need another bag!
Doris' workspace. Doris had a lot of fun stuff going on at her sewing machine. Love her little coffee mug.
Terri made a bunch of these little zipper bags. She gifted us each one. They are made with fabric she designed on Spoonflower! Lovely! I'll do a follow up post on all the little gifties.
Here's Rene' as she works on her totally awesome cowboy quilt. I'm going to copy her on this one, too. I hope you'll be seeing that in the future. This photo gives you an idea of our awesome quilting space at the retreat center. We sewed, drank a little wine, ate quite a bit at dinner (we were all good for breakfast and lunch, though), talked a lot...well, you get the picture.
Mary is so adorable. She decided to take up crocheting. She's making a quilt with blocks that you crochet around and connect. Cindy and Amanda Jean are going to do it, too, I think.
It all started in part because Mary won this book on a giveaway on Cindy's blog. I think she looks like a happy hooker, don't you? (C'mon. I mean hooker in the crochet sense!)
On Saturday, we all challenged ourselves to try something new. Here is Cindy, trying out free motion quilting on Amanda Jean's Juki. She said it was FUN! I was doing curved piecing on my Urban Nine Patch. Curves are a challenge for me, so that was good. Others were trying crochet or trying to sew something 3-D, like a pincusion. Others were learning to sew in zippers. I love these retreats, because we all learn so much from each other--about sewing, blogging, pattern design, fabric, child rearing, and life in general!
And there was some shopping involved, of course! This is Michelle's haul. I'll show you mine later.
This shirt Michelle was wearing really cracked us all up!
And here is the gang. In the back, from left to right, is Doris, Michelle, Rene', Terri, and Mary. In the front, from left to right, is Cindy, Amanda Jean, and me. We are posing in front of one of Terri's creations from retreat. Beautiful. We sure missed Shelly and Toni this year. Hugs to both of them. But I had a great time with these gals. I can't wait to see them again next July. They are simply the best. I tell you, if you haven't checked out their blogs, you sure should. They are all so incredibly talented and awe-inspiring. I often wonder what I'm doing there with them! But mostly, they are the nicest, most genuine women I have met. I am lucky to know them all.
And to think. If I had never met Shelly in blogland, I wouldn't know any of these ladies. Last year, Shelly invited me to tag along, I went, and, well...the rest is history. And blogland helps us keep in touch over the rest of the year. Blogland is a beautiful thing! Shelly, I owe you one...BIG TIME!
I had a great time. It was just what I needed.
I need to take photos of my gifties and my goodies that I purchased. I'll try to share that next time. Oh, and I had a nice visit with Brooke along the way, too. I need to download those photos to show you, too. They're on my other camera. Oy.
Hope you're doing swell! It is so dry here, we have only cut our lawn TWICE all summer! We have had no rain in two months. I have kept my plants alive, but my lawn is long dead. Wow. Pretty weird weather this summer!
Until next time,
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