The Carrot Bunch

I've been absent from blogging, but keeping very busy. Two weeks ago, I attended the March Sleep At Home Retreat. On Friday, MaryJane started working on a carrot table runner. Several of us remembered the free pattern available at All People Quilts several years ago. Next thing you know, we're piling up bolts of oranges. Saturday was spent 'growing' our carrots. What a fun time! I love impromtu projects.

Since their were leftovers scraps, I made six little carrot pins for the gals who shared the tables with me at the retreat.

The carrot sparked a need to make an egg runner, too. Lana drew up an egg shape and Jackie chose fabrics and rick rack for us. Here's Jackie with her finished Easter Egg.

Here's a little quilt that I finished for my daughter, Kari. She is a purple girl, so when I saw this a few years ago, I knew I needed to make it for her. Jackie quilted circles for me so I could get it finished and sent.

Clothesline Club & Rabbits

Tuesday night was Clothesline Club at The Quilted Cottage. Although Darlene Zimmerman is no longer facilitating this club, we continue to meet every other month. Several gals are working on blocks from this magazine.

Others are making Aunt Grace's Garden Party Row Quilt which can be seen HERE.

Lana, who is one talented gal, brought a few of her projects for show and tell. Among her items were these adorable wooden rabbits. She calls them her "Hare Line".
Lana paints the rabbits, carves the shoes and sews their ears and outfits. They are so adorable.

This is Abigail and Broomhilda Hare.

Next meet Holly Hare. She makes her appearance at Christmas.

Gracie Hare and her cute saddle shoes.

Last, but not least, is Woolamina Hare. The accessories with each hare are perfect for the occasion. Woolamina has a basket of wool mittens.

Here's the group together. Click the individual photos for a closer look.

One More Minnesota Post

Vicki wasn't the only visitor who surprised us in Minnesota. Kim, another quilter we met throught the Dear Jane retreats, visited on Saturday.

Celine Perkins from Perkins Dry Goods visited with JoAnn to show her new patterns.

This quilt hangs in one of the bathrooms at Four Seasons Quilt Shop.

Saturday was the last meeting of the Prairie Woman's Sewing Circle - 2. The colors in the photo are a little off, but I loved making this quilt.

We're starting a new project group next month. Have you seen the Lori Smith quilts that measure 12" square? Aren't they adorable? We'll be using Quilt Squares #1 for our first series.

Saturday

While visiting Four Seasons Quilt Shop in Minnesota, we were fortunate to see Sue's Dear Jane quilt top. She had just finished assembling the 169 blocks. It's beautiful.

These little quilts were available as kits or patterns. They were just adorable! I brought home patterns.

A friend whom we met at the Dear Jane Retreats in Shipshewana years ago surprised us one afternoon when she walked into the shop. Vicki is known as Cheddar Queen as she thinks cheddar is a neutral.

More tomorrow...

Stormy Weather

My prayers go out to everyone in the path of the destructive weather moving through the country. The pictures on TV are frightening and difficult to imagine.

The Redwork Club from Four Seasons Quilt Shop has a show of their works every February. They were also retreating at the same time we were visiting so we had a chance to meet, visit and sew with them . If you would like to see the entire show, it is online here.

JoAnn made progress on her Chicken Quilt from a Buggy Barn book. Love the polka dots.

Connie was getting ready for spring with this cute bunny wallhanging.

Phylis had everyone oohing and aahing over her TWO INCH bow ties. Here she shows one block from a pattern in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, May, 2000. We couldn't resist and started making our own little blocks.

More next time... Stay safe.

Hello March!

I'm in a great mood today because it's March! Spring is around the next corner and baseball will be playing in the parks and stadiums. Flowers will be peeking their lil' heads above ground and the earth will green up around here. Life is good.

It was a wonderful trip to Minnesota. Connie and I laughed, sewed, ate, repeat from Wednesday until Sunday. The weather was just like Michigan, mild and not much snow. Our hosts, Stan and JoAnn are the best!

JoAnn owns a wonderful quilt shop in Maple Grove, MN called Four Seasons Quilt Shop.

Upstairs she has a loft area where retreats are held. This is where we spent the majority of our time. Notice the two walls of windows.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of some of the projects from MN. One hint, if you love the 3" bow tie blocks, you don't want to miss the next post.