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.

Retreating Again

The last three days were spent at the February "Sleep At Home" Retreat at The Quilted Cottage. It's difficult to describe how much we all look forward to these days of sewing together. We are so blessed with the opportunity to do this. On Thursday, we were treated to a book signing by Barbara Douglas of Midland, Michigan. (We have so many talented quilters in this area) Her book is titled "Singular Sensations" and features fourteen completely different quilts made from the same quilt block. It was delightful to meet her and see her quilts.

Here she is signing my book.

You can see more of Barbara's quilt at her website.

Connie and I spent most of the retreat sewing on secret projects. I'll have pictures of them at a later date. Yesterday, I did finish a teeny twist 'n turn heart. This was a prototype, as my friend, Alice, would say. I learned that the background fabric is a tad too busy and I shouldn't use a single, dark square at the bottom. A big thank you to Diane (whose finished heart I should have paid more attention to before sewing my squares together) for helping me with the layout. My next one will be much better.

Connie and I will be hanging out at Four Seasons Quilt Shop in Maple Grove, MN next week. If you're in the area, check it out.

Sally Schneider had her "Farmer's Daughter" quilt stolen recently. Bonnie Hunter is spreading the word here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Fleeting February!!

Yikes! Almost two weeks have gone by in February and not one post from me. Really, I've been keeping busy, but most things I can't show just yet.

I did finish a second lacy scarf and purchased a few more skeins of yarn. I tried to take a picture of the scarf around my neck. Maybe the floor was a better shot.

Connie made the sample for February's Prairie Woman's Sewing Circle. It was a lot of flying geese units and turned out so pretty in pinks and browns.

It seems I missed my five year blogaversary! My first post was February 3, 2007. I also hit 100 followers and am close to 400 posts. Those milestones should require a giveaway, don't you think? I'll get back to you on that one.

So long, January!

Saturday, Connie and I attended a small quilt show up north that is held in a former church. Here are a few of my favorites. The first is a Quilt of Valor with an embroidered pillowcase.

Monday was Bee day at Jane's house. We enjoyed pineapple upside down cake as our treat. My finishes were smaller this month, but still finishes. Connie gave me these little waste triangle units years ago and I always wanted to make something from it. Finally, they became a little zipper pouch.

Everyone is making the lacy scarves around here. This is my first one and I don't even knit. Connie showed me how to do it with Red Heart Sashey Yarn and a pair of size 9 knitting needles. One skein makes a scarf.

And, I made one little house!

Pink Lemonade

Lori from Humble Quilts just finished another cute quilt-along. Today I sewed my blocks together. As I was auditioning different yellows, none of them seemed right. Finally, chose one and am happy with it. The color is a tad washed out in the photo. Thank you, Lori, for a fun project!

ADDED: Lori has links now to over 40 Lemonade quilts HERE.

Love A Retreat!

We had a week-end quilting retreat up north at The Springs sponsored by The Quilted Cottage. Just the best way to spend a week-end with friends and fabric.

This is the 12 Days of Christmas quilt that Temecula Quilt Co. posted during December. The number of pieces in each block increases as the days go by. Isn't that a clever idea? I did add an inner border before the final border and used the same fabric for all four sides instead of two different fabrics.

This snowman was made by Judy. He's been on my 'to do' list for awhile so it was fun to watch her finish this. He still needs his embellishments.

Helen brought a stack of blocks as one of her projects and left with a beautiful top!

Connie has a start on the little houses that are sweeping the blogs. Notice Santa in the window? These blocks had everyone oohing and aahing over their cuteness.

Linda brought a stack of Grinch fabrics and made two wonderful Christmas tops with them.

This pile shows 20 big Mickey Mouse nine patches that will be cut into four pieces and become a Disappearing Nine Patch.

Both Jo and Judy made the January quilt from Kim Schaefer's Calendar Quilts patterns.

A dozen more little cheddar bow ties that will be added to the tin that is currently missing somewhere in my sewing room. Don't you hate when that happens.

Here is my ear buds pouch made from the tutorial at Dog Under My Desk. It was fun and easy to make.

Connie showed me how to make the lacy scarf from the Red Heart Sashey yarn. More about that and Pinterest in my next post.

More Progress

I was excited to see that Lori had posted the second step in the Pink Lemonade quilt-along. My fabrics were still piled on the cutting board from last week so I got right to it.

Month 3 blocks for the Cotton Club BOTM are now done. These blocks finish at five inches and are fun to make.

Next is the latest quilt for The Prairie Woman's Sewing Circle. The instructions were to cut squares instead of strip piecing the nine patches. There's a whole lot of room for screw-up and I managed my share. I think this would make a cute table topper.

The last photo is a bonus project. There are several gals at The Quilted Cottage who share their scraps (rather than throw them away) with Connie and me. Last week I received a bag with these HSTs and had to stitch them into a doll quilt.

Bonnie Hunter is linking up photos of cheddar bow ties. If you haven't done so, hop on over and check it out.

New Starts

No, I obviously don't have enough UFOs waiting to be finished as I felt compelled to start a few new projects. First is the Just Take 2 from Brenda Papadakis and Gay Bomers. I've purchased background fabric, but will use the reds in my stash. On the 1st of each month, Gay will post patterns at Sentimental Stitches and on the 15th, Brenda will post patterns on the Dear Jane website. You might want to check it out.

Lori at Humble Quilts is doing another quilt-along. This time I'm not waiting to join in. Finished my six little (4.5") blocks this morning. The pink is not as bright as the photo shows. I couldn't get the camera to cooperate.

I also printed out several pages of the paper pieced little houses from Jeanneke and hope to make a few of those, too.

A couple of other things have been downloaded, but that's as far as I got. Maybe I should be locked up...in a room with my machine and internet and stash!

Ready for 2012

I get very excited each time the new year rolls around. It's a fresh start on making things better, getting organized, finishing those UFOs, etc. This feeling usually doesn't make it through the month of January, but I enjoy the days that are hopeful.

Yesterday, I finally caught up with my blog readings. (over 2500 posts) I didn't leave many comments, but Sunday is a new year!

I'm cutting fabrics to make some DNP quilts in 2012. That pattern is wonderful with novelty prints.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Buttons & More

This adorable, button bouquet was made by my talented cousin, Mary. I am the lucky recipient.

My talented friend, Helen, made this gorgeous towel for me.

And my talented sister, Connie, made this pretty poinsettia pin for me.

Christmas Gifts Done

No, that doesn't mean I have finished my shopping and wrapped all of the gifts. It does mean that Helen, Connie and I have each finished our Christmas Gifts tops. This is the pattern that LuAnn from Loose Threads so kindly wrote the directions for using a charm pack instead of the layer cake. We finished the blocks in Shipshewana and put the top together at our December 'Sleep At Home' retreat. Thanks again, LuAnn. We had lots of fun making these together.

Sunday

It's been a busy week-end. Friday started out with Clothesline Club and then Quilt Red's Christmas party. The theme for CC was yo-yos.

Friday evening was the Fantastic Friday Christmas Party. (more good food) At each table was a Christmas fat quarter, a charm and some candy. I finished the present quilt that LuAnn at Loose Threads kindly gave directions for on her blog here. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and an evening of sewing or knitting.

Have you seen those ruffled scarves? It's almost impossible around here to get the yarn to make them. Luckily, I secured a few skeins while in Shipshewana last month. (and I don't even knit)

Yesterday, I finished the applique for my snowmen noses. Now it's ready to baste and quilt.

And tonight was our Christmas Concert at church. Jim and I sang in the choir and Jim also played hand bells. IMNSHO, it was a very nice concert.

Can you believe there's only two weeks until Christmas? We don't even have our tree up! Anything baked has been taken somewhere, so no progress on that front either. I'd better get busy this week.

Quilter's Knot

Reading through a few of my blog links this morning and I came across Rebecca Silbaugh from Ruby Blue Quilting Studio. She shares how-to versions of the quilter's knot for both left and right handed quilters. There are other tutorials on her blog, also.

The little, felt ornaments are ready to hang on a tree. I really enjoyed making these.

Prairie Woman's Sewing Circle

Connie and I make the quilts ahead of the meeting time for our Prairie Woman's Sewing Circle. This paper-pieced one was fun to do. Here is Connie's on the left and mine on the right. Pinned to the bottom of each quilt top are our month 2 blocks for the Cotton Club BOTM. They finish at 5". I love the fabrics used for this project.

Following PWSC, Wilma's Woolies meets at the shop. We had a work session yesterday after show and tell. I brought an ornament pattern/kit that was purchased several years ago. Now, they are all ready to stitch and one is even finished.