Home again!

Connie and I returned home yesterday afternoon after spending a wonderful time in Shipshewana with about 100 other retreaters. Upon arrival into town on Tuesday, we went straight to Lolly's. It's always great to see Chris and her family. (and the fabrics) Then we went to The Farmstead Inn to check into our room. Priorities.



Can you believe this is the end result of a round robin? It could be a block of the month! It was simply gorgeous and belongs to Claire. I'll show the others in my next post.



Yoder's had a run all week on these colorful and comfy shoes! The stock was almost depleted by the time the retreat ended.



A couple of Hitty gals came to the retreat with their 'moms'. I think these belong to Susan and Carolyn.



After Show & Tell on Friday evening, LuAnn from Loose Threads enjoys the chocolate fountain. Be sure to check for more pictures on her blog.


Darlene buys the Dear Jane book and has Brenda Papadakis sign it for her.



Connie, me, Helen and Darlene pose under the Dear Jane letters at Lolly's.



More soon......

Heading to Shipshewana!

Jasper begged and pleaded. He used his cutest poses, but eventually I was able to get my clothes inside the suitcase instead of a cat. I have enough projects packed to last me the rest of the year. Wonder if it will all fit in the car?

I participated in Paula's 3-2-1 Tote Bag swap. Laura made me a really cute tote where the lining pulls out to give extra height. She included lots of goodies, too. Thank you to Paula and Laura! When I get home, I'll be able to show what I made for my swap partner.

Retreat to Retreat

What a fun time at The Quilted Cottage "Sleep At Home Retreat" this past Wednesday through Saturday! As I unpack the tote bags, I am re-packing for my trip tomorrow for another retreat in Shipshewana, Indiana with the Dear Jane group. My sister and I call this our 'fall tour'. We'll be home the rest of the year. (so far) I hope you enjoy seeing some of the wonderful projects that were finished or worked on at the retreat.

I was, also, the lucky winner of 30s scraps from Jane's Fabrics and Quilts. Isn't it a nice selection!

333 Winner

I found three items to send to Kathie who is the winner of my 333 Giveaway. If you send me your snail mail address, I'll get them in the mail to you. I used a random number generator and it chose 8. Thank you to everyone who played along.

333

If I'm counting correctly, this is my 333rd posting. To celebrate that and the fact that Bloglines is still here, I'll have a giveaway. Not sure yet what to give away, but I'll come up with something. Leave a comment with a way to reach you on this post and I'll draw a winner on Tuesday, November 9th.

I waited until the last day to export my blog list to Google Reader. Each day after, I would check and Bloglines was still there with my blogs. Today I read they are not closing. I am thrilled!

Month 11

It still needs to be pressed, but I have finished sewing the block for month 11 of The Civil War Tribute Quilt. This block measures 36 1/2" square which is like a whole quilt for me. Our club meets Saturday.





We had one knock on the door for Halloween. This is my nephew, Jeremy, his wife, Andi and their adorable girls.

The Quilted Cottage Fantastic Friday Halloween Party

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
My sister, Connie, and I are known as 'the sisters' among our quilting friends. We decided to use the term for our costumes this year. We used old choir robes and made the collars and head pieces. Our sewing buddy, Helen, said she usually didn't dress up for the party. Well, we appointed her "Mother Superior". So here she is with 'The sisters'. Helen found the wooden crosses for us and Connie's husband fashioned the wooden ruler on a leather strap for Helen. We had a terrific time. Some of the comments were, "quilting can become a habit" - "those gals are habitual quilters" and "no nunsense in this area". Many of the gals dressed up for the evening of sewing which began with a delicious potluck, of course. There was a Halloween FQ and candies next to each name tag. Jackie, also, give each attendee a charm (witch hat with dangling pumpkin) to add to our sewing machine pins. Hope you enjoy some of the other costumes, too.

Phantom Postings

I'm doing it again. Writing posts in my head that never reach the keyboard. I imagine the pictures that I'll share and the stories I can relate. Then it almost feels like I did write. Well, this one is for real.

Had a wonderful time in Gladwin last week-end at The Springs. There were about 80 gals
who gathered for fun and sewing. I finished enough blocks for the throw size Starstruck that I started in the class by Bonnie Hunter in September. I can't decide if I want to make it bigger or add a border and call it done. Any ideas for a border?

Tonight is the Fantastic Friday Halloween party at The Quilted Cottage. We are encouraged to dress up for the evening. (in costumes) I'd better get mine on before I'm late.

Here are a few if the projects from the gals at the retreat.










When I returned home on Sunday, Annie immediately jumped on my suitcase and gave me a look.

10-10-10

I intended to post at the beginning of the month. If I don't hurry up, it'll be November.


At the last Moda U Saturday, we were fortunate to have Deb Strain speak to us about the process of how she designs fabric lines and how she began her career. She's been designing for Moda for 13 years and is a talented and very friendly woman. An added bonus was a display of paper items with artwork done by Deb. These included calendars, note pads, bookmarks, recipe cards, etc. She didn't have nearly as much to take back with her when the day was over.

My LQS is starting three new groups. As Stacy tells us, a group has 'a guide on the side, not a sage on the stage' as in a class or club. Group One is The Thursday Morning Divas. This should be a fun time making bright and happy little projects. The second group is Quilt Red which will involve hand work of any kind. We'll be sharing and helping each other learn new techniques and just spending quality time together working with our hands. The third group is Wilma's Woolies. This one hasn't met yet, but will be making things from wool.

Since the Civil War Tribute Club is coming to an end, we have two new clubs starting in January. One is Prairie Women’s Sewing Circle and the other is a BOM that I can't remember the name of right now.

Jim, JJ and I spent last Monday in Grand Rapids viewing many of the entries in the 2010 ArtPrize. Amazing doesn't even come close to the right word to describe this event. The weather was perfect for walking downtown (five hours) and we saw many of the over 1700 exhibits. Chris LaPorte, formerly from Bay City and now living in Grand Rapids, won the top prize money of $250,000 with his 28 foot long pencil drawing (The Cavalry) taken from an old photo found in his father's home. You can read about it here.

The weather outside this past week has been wonderful. It could stay this way for many more weeks if I had my way.