Patriotic Finish & Zip Line

Finished this little quilt yesterday in time for the holiday week-end. This was a little kit given out during the Shop Hop by The Ice House Quilt Shop. Kathy from Canada showed hers here.

A couple of week-ends ago, I attended the May quilting retreat in Gladwin. In addition to working at the sewing machine, several quilters (including me) did the zip line! It is the longest line over water in Michigan, measuring about 1100 feet. We had to climb a platform that was forty some feet high. I loved the experience! If you click on the photos, you can see the platform that I jumped from in the first photo. (look in the center at the top) The zip line is over the Brown Sugar River in Gladwin. The last picture shows my sister, Connie and friend, Marlene who both jumped ahead of me. Once they went, I couldn't back down, could I? Let me explain the green socks. It was the only pair I had along and I didn't want to risk losing my Crocs in the water.

Baby Quilt

Several months ago, my friend, Ruthy, asked me to make a baby quilt for her to give to her future granddaughter. Another friend, Darlene, did a wonderful job of quilting it and the quilt has now been delivered.

Another Wednesday

After the Dear Jane Shipshewana Retreat last spring, a package arrived from Brenda Papadakis (author of Dear Jane and Dear Hannah) containing a fat quarter of fabric with fried eggs on it. My sister, Connie and I were given the name 'Chicken Sisters' many years ago by Deb and JoAnn of Minnesota. Every spring we seem to have a chicken incident. Last year was a doozy. That is why Brenda sent the fabric to each of us along with a challenge to make a wallhanging at least 18" square. She tempted us with a free meal of our choice at the retreat this year if we completed the challenge. From left to right, Deb, JoAnn, me and Connie. We had a delicious lunch at The Garden Gate in Shipshewana. This picture is 'borrowed' from Deb's blog.

Monday I took a bus with ladies from my church to the dinner/theater at Turkeyville. The show was called "Church Basement Ladies, A Second Helping" and was hilarious. Turkeyville is located in Battle Creek and everything on the menu has turkey in it. There's also an ice cream parlor, gift shop, and bakery besides the restaurant and theater. There's a little shop outside behind the tractor that is closing soon. I bought this cute apron made from an old pair of jeans there.

Checking In

Mother's Day was wonderful. Mike, Simone and JJ gifted me with a lovely bonsai tree and then took us out to dinner. A special delivery brought a beautiful bouquet in shades of yellow from Kari, Craig, Abby and Ian. We, also, spent some time visiting with my mom and got in a card game at home later that evening. I was a happy mom.


















We had Bee at my house on Monday and swapped our third set of four inch blocks. Aren't they the cutest! You can click the links to see the first and second sets again if you missed them. Half-way through the year already and the count is at 36 blocks.














Monday was also the day the staff of The Quilted Cottage treated us with a day of sewing and lunch for helping at the Shop Hop. We each received a lovely wine glass filled with Starburst candies and a star charm. (The Shop Hop theme was 'Reach For The Stars') I left shortly after lunch to get home before the Bee ladies arrived.


Then there was a Priority Package from Little Quilts in the mail. It contained the cute fabric I had recently won on their blog giveaway. The week has been good so far.