Nothing much

Here's our little Stephen on his OWN Gator like his Opa's. Now that we are out in the country and there's no traffic, a boy needs his own space, doncha think?

Nothing much to report here in Missouri except the moving still goes on. How much darned stuff can two people have, anyway? I think we only have one more small truckload to go and it's done. At least, it will be done on that side of the state line - more to unpack here on this side of the state line is not thrilling to me at all. I've just decided that I will be like Scarlett in Gone with the Wind and "worry about that tomorrow". LOL!

No sewing at all has been done, except to re-sort more stuff into the stewdio. I've got some quilted denim laying on my cutting table to make slipcovers for my new dining room table pads, but I don't have the gumption for that either, so maybe tomorrow!

We're hanging more pictures, so it's feeling more and more like home, too. Soon, the pool will be closed at the other house, and the need for me to be going over there will be less, and I can focus on my new home. Cutting three acres of grass here and two acres there has been wearing Hubby out! We worked on the first steps of putting the garden to bed for the winter - the step that I dislike the most - pulling out all the plants. The only thing left standing right now are the mammoth sunflowers drying for the seed for this winter. I love hanging them by the bird feeder and watching the chickadees hang upside down in the snow getting their treats!

So that's it for now. Maybe next post will be some sewing, or some pix of the new studio!

And here's mine

Inmy haste to show you part of Gwen's retreat, I forgot to post my own!

I am not usually very productive in a group setting....I'm much more social and looking at whatever everyone else is doing. BUT, for the first time, I actually finished something! This will be for my son who doesn't want a traditional quilt. He will be 37 this October, so this will be his birthday present. I think I will call it "Straight Arrow?" It's about 72" long by 55" wide

She's ba-a-a-ck!

Doesn't this look like it should be a postcard? These are just a few of the quilt tops that were produced at the Beaver Island Quilt Retreat, second session, 2008. Our theme was working with solids - a very difficult thing for yours truly to do.

Here is Carol G. with some of her "orphan" blocks adding a border treatment learned this week.

And below is my new friend, Dawn, with her version of Mexican Hat Dance. Aren't those curved strips great, and it really sings with the cheddar and the orange!

This is a WOWSER, too! Way to go Carole A.!!!!

This is the view out the front window of my "apartment" (I shared with a friend) which was only a few short steps away from the classroom. Even though you can't see that the water is blue, the sun was shining ever so nicely and a breeze was blowing ever so softly, and the reflection from the window washed out the water color! Trust me, though, it was a gloriously beautiful day!

This is about one half of the classroom where we worked freely on whatever we wanted. This year's theme was working with solids, and you can see my friend Carolyn's stack that she was working with to her left....wait....no that was the next table over stash from Kentucky LOL! This picture was taken around the dinner hour so many people had left to eat while we stayed and played.

And of course, we can't have a retreat without a picture of a tired Quiltgranny and Ms. You Know Who!
I can't wait for next year, now! Next year's theme will be pieced and applique together. I already am planning what I am going to take with me.....dreaming the night away!

Of course, it would help if I could just get the boxes unpacked from our move so I could find what I am thinking of! LOL!

And I'm away!

Tomorrow is the big day! I'm off to Elk Rapids, MI to spend a glorious week at the White Birch Lodge with Gwen Marston and the other BIQR (Beaver Island Quilt Retreat)second week campers! This is the 25th year for her retreats, and I've had the pleasure of sharing the last two of them, plus this year. This year's theme is working with solids. Since I am sort of a wild child and I love texture and bright colors, this is going to be a brain challenge for me. I'm not sure what I will come home with, but I will share whatever it is next week.

In the meantime, I DID finish the Fall Crawl sampler quilt. Here's a picture of it on my bed, and you can also see the triple border I used for it. The fabric line is 12 Days of Christmas by Nancy Halvorsen/Benartex. I really am happy to have a seasonal quilt for this time of the year! I hope it makes an exciting sale for the shop(s) while I am gone.


I've been very busy (in addition to moving) getting the last of the garden produce processed for the pantry. Here's just half of the green beans - the jars are three rows deep. Also on the shelf is canned chicken - our local grocery store was having a grand opening, and the skinless/boneless chicken breasts were only $1.87 per lb. How could I not can some of that while the canner was out? Low fat, low salt, and quite yummy, too.

There's a few jars of salsa on the shelf, too, but more has been made. Hubby is in charge of that, though. Here he is with the latest garden bounty after we stopped at all the neighbors and shared with them first. I think he has at least a couple more weeks of picking to do there...unless of course the house sells first.

We met one of our neighbors who walk by our house every morning. In passing, she offered some apples from her tree, and since then, I've canned 8 quarts of pie filling, 10 pints of applesauce and 9 pints of just plain apples. I told her NO MORE! I think we are ready for winter, said the ant to the grasshopper!

And last but not least, we had another birthday quilt day with the Amazing Quilt Babes. We all did paper piecing (the birthday girl's choice) which I am not fond of. But I AM fond of Ibby, our birthday girl, so I pieced along with the rest of them. Aren't the blocks beautiful?