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?

Coming up for Air

I lifted my head the other day, and I realized it's the end of August! My gosh!!! We've finally gotten the majority of the move done, with the exception of the garden shed tools and garden pieces. We've finally had a few days here at the new house, and we quite enjoy it! Lots and lots to share since the last post!

I DID get to sew a bit, and completed this baby quilt set for a customer's second grandchild. The quilt, bag and changing pad all match. I used the "X-Block" tool, and it's a quick and easy quilt to do. I think there may be more of these in my future!


We planted our "crazy dog" garden here at the new house, minus Crazy Dog who needs some repair. This is the back edge of our 3 acre property where a small creek babbles by. I took a break, and Hubby caught me "loafing" and enjoying the blue birds coming by to take a peek at what was new in their neighborhood.

Today and I am frantically working on red/green sampler block type quilt for the LQS's Fall Crawl (as opposed to the Spring Shop Hop). I've got to have it finished by Tuesday to get it to the quilter in time for the crawl. AND, I am leaving for Michigan a week from tomorrow for a heavenly retreat with Gwen Marston in Michigan.

More about the local ant and the grasshopper and pictures of this current quilt in the next post!

Still working at moving!

Whew! This backwards moving is getting to me!

So far, we've got my husband's office all moved, unpacked and mostly put away. Tomorrow, the satellite internet service will be connected, so we can call his office complete. Of course, my stewdio has been done for a long time. I just haven't had much time to spend in it. I've been slowly unpacking fabrics, and putting them into clear tubs with BIG labels on them. I'll post pictures when I have that completed, too. Hubby made me some "rough" shelving to my specifications, and all we have left there is to install two more lights in the ceiling. Yesterday, we planted 7 shrub rose bushes, and our wind sculpture in the front bed at the new house. We should be able to see it from the living room, dining room, and hubby's office.

The mini-hearth room is all completed, my birdhouses atop the cupboards, and all the birds where they belong. All the china from the formal dining room is waiting in their tubs to be unpacked, and all the linens are in the linen closet, waiting for us to arrive. We've actually established an official date for the move which is Tuesday, August 6th. It will be good to have the big stuff there, so I can start putting away all of it for good. The kitchen will wait until next Monday to be packed and unpacked. The cats are the last to go - they will go with me before the movers come, so they can feel a little more comfortable in their new digs.

I went to a consignment furniture store the other day to see if I could find a small table for hubby's computer. In addition to that piece of furniture which was pretty easy - look at what else came home with me:


I'm sure it doesn't have a high monetary value, but I LOVE it! It sort of matches my Granny's Martha Washington sewing cabinet, so of course, it had to come home with me.

I'll close this post with pictures of my favorite summer flowers at the house we are selling. They are perennial hibiscus and we have them in white, pink and red. They are just gorgeous! And no, we have had no offers on this house....yet.

I'm really still here!

We are slowly, but surely, getting things moved from one house to the other. It is so different this time around, easier in some ways, but tiring all the same.

Because we want to leave as much furniture here as possible to show this house, we are basically moving all the non-essentials first. That means the cupboards are empty, but the open shelves are normal. Some rooms, have larger pieces of furniture, while we take the smaller things like some tables and some chairs, and leaving others.

We've had a couple of really good showings, too! The most recent is a family who is in love with the house, and really want it. Yesterday they spent a long time here (while we were moving books to the new house) with 10 of their family members and our realtor. They want to make an offer, but they have to wait until they get an appraisal on their home. We're not sure about taking a contingency at this point, and they know that, so I'll be interested to see what comes in.

At any rate, I am getting a little sewing done every time we go to the new house. Pictures in the next post. And I promise! I WILL TRY TO POST MORE OFTEN!

In the meantime, here are a few more pictures from the Minnesota show. I like the combination of this border treatment a lot!
A cat quilt for Amy (who needs some patience and a round tuit)!
There's hidden kitties in the other blocks, too!
And I took a picture of this one to remind me that this would be a good way to use some of my Asian fabrics, without having to cut into them so much. I think it's a Maple Island pattern that is somewhere in my stash!

Hurry, hurry, hurry!

We are back from Mayo at Rochester, MN with great reports for Hubby. A little tweak here, another there, and he's good to go again. I made it to Mill End and I was able to get ALL the fabrics I needed for window treatments and chair upholstery for the new house, as well as some other fabrics at great prices to add to my stash. Have you all considered how every valuable our stashes are these days of ever increasing prices?

I also got to go the Minnesota State Quilt Guild's show which is held in Rochester every four years. In my opinion, it's one of the best!

Here's my favorite from the show - it just took my breath away!



I mostly took pictures of border treatment ideas. Here's something I really liked:

And the other part of the border looked like braid -
This was a funny little wall hanging to celebrate her retirement as a hairdresser. It was in honor of some of her clients. The next picture shows the 3-d rollers, and one of the ladies even has wrinkly hose on. What a hoot!


Not only the quilting but the simple border leaf pattern really made this quilt outstanding!


I loved the way the flowers repeated in the border.

A little bit of embroidery here and there around the applique made it look shadowed and special.

The hurry , hurry, hurry part of the post is because that seems to be my life since we returned. We are moving something to the new house everyday now, and I am hurrying to stay caught up with the packing, the unpacking, the cleaning, and the other things that always seem to pop up. Life is grand, but I sure wish I could slow the turntable down to about 33 rpm!

B-Day Quilt

**NOTE: This blog post has been hanging out in the virtual space where missing posts go since the 22nd of June. I'm sure glad it finally showed up!

Well, another year has passed, and the Babes are still doing our annual birthday gifts to each other...the gift of our time, and a day filled with sewing, chocolate, laughter, gossip, chocolate and sewing! Since there are several of us (me included) with birthdays in April, we decided to "choose" a Babes Birthday day throughout the year to celebrate. That way they are disbursed evenly. My real-age birthday is in April - my Babes Birthday this year was yesterday. How cool is that?

We are leaving in just a few minutes for Mayo in Rochester Minnesota. Hubby has his yearly "tune-up" for his transplants, and it just so happens that the Minnesota State Quilter's Guild has their big show there every four years. I'll be working on a baby quilt and some other small projects while I'm there, as well as entertaining myself at the quilt show. A couple of college baseball games (the Honkers) and Rochesterfest should round out our week.

I thought I would let you see the FABULOUS blocks my Babes made for me. They are 8.5" blocks, and the quilt is 11 rows wide, and 12 rows long. Unless, of course, I add more when I return. A great way to use up those strips and scraps, and charm squares. The official name for this pattern is Waste Not, Want Not, and Bonnie over at Quiltville calls it 16 patches and Pinwheels. Her version is to use smaller blocks, but my strips were already larger, so there ya go!

A little of everything!

Let's get caught up with what's been going on! It seems that life is moving really fast for me these days, and even though I think I am going to get the blog, I just don't quite make it. I think everyone must go through periods of their lives like this. Or at least I hope I'm not the only one, running to try to keep up with myself!



Here are the girls at my new house, sewing up a storm! It was Carolyn's choice for her birthday stitch day. She's in the middle of moving into a new house, too, so she chose to have us make some Hero quilts. We managed to get two of them done. Remember, I have my priorities straight...no kitchen sink or counter tops at the new house, but my sewing stewdio is almost ready. Well, it was ready enough to sew, anyway, right?

The Midwest has sure been pounded by storms. This morning I think I heard the weather radio issue the five hundred and somethingth thunderstorm watch for our area. So far, we've seen them form, lift and then move on. Just keep on rolling!



These photos were taken during the last storm. You are seeing them move from the southwest to the northeast. The first picture is from our back porch; the last one is from the front porch. AND the colors are just about right (on my monitor). There's a sort of moody glow under them.

In the meantime, we still are working at keeping this house ready for showings at a moment's notice. The lookers have slowed down, but are still coming, so it WILL sell before the end of summer, I hope. I've more or less emotionally severed with our pool due to the storms, and I've been spending more time at the new house since I am working on getting my stewdio set up there. That's helped.

Yes, we've closed on the new house, but there are still some things that need to be finished. The builder is also building his house just down the road, so he splits his time between ours, theirs and the one that he is building in the small town south of us. The new counter tops and sink were installed last week, and the additional cabinets are about 1/2 stained and lacquered before installation. The floors will be refinished while we are gone to Mayo next week. Things keep moving.

I talked Hubby into one red wall in the dining room. I love it, and so does he.


In between the storms, little boy and I have played in the pool. That's the only time I've been in the water this year. Of course, that doesn't mean I couldn't - I just haven't! He is 3.5 years old this year, and isn't afraid of anything. He's so much fun to play with now, too!





So, today, I am finally going to work on my birthday quilt - the Amazing Quilt Babes will gift their time to me next Saturday, and I have to have it all prepped. I've chosen "Waste Not, Want Not", but Bonnie from Quiltville calls it 16 patch & Pinwheels. Having moved all my scraps and fabric tubs to the new house has inspired me to really get moving on using it up! So, after next week, you can expect to see a picture of MY birthday quilt and the girls! (Remember! It's not really my birthday - it's just my official Amazing Quilt Babes birthday day that has been assigned to me.)

Let there be Socks!

My mother is the one to blame, I guess. I just can't sit and do nothing, and it never fared well to tell her that I was bored! Only boring people get bored, she would say. So I read, and I sew, and I write letters and read my mail.

And I do love to read! My eyes are tired today, though, with the overcast skies and more warnings of rain and severe weather. The grass is looking great, and the flowers are all starting to bloom nicely - so are the weeds. Tomorrow will find me doing a little weeding here and some planting at the new house, too.

The grand kids were over the last two days in the pool, and the little one is now mostly swimming instead of drinking the water, so it's pretty fun. Today was to be burgers and brats on the grill, but it rained, and they decided to stay home instead. Son and his girls will still come for their Monday night feed in a bit, and I decided to make meatloaf for them. His two girls head back East this coming weekend to visit their mother for a month, and meatloaf is one of their favorites. So meatloaf it is!

I decided that since my sewing is boxed up and most of it is sitting at the new house, I would find something else to keep my hands busy. My friend, Judy, found this book for me, and started me out with understanding what I am to do with this new project. I think I am going to like this! Ask me again after 6" of knitting and purling on these 2 circular needles!

4 + 1

So the holiday is upon us, and I have nothing to report on the sewing front. I DID complete a little RR exchange which I can't show you, and I did manage to complete 2 blocks for another group exchange that I completely forgot to take a picture of.

Since the thorny issue last reported upon, I've been on the move hither, thither and yon. Picking out paint colors, keeping the house spotless for showings, enjoying grandkids when I can, and even working (gasp!) at the LQS 13 miles south of here has made the spring just fly by.

Nothing exciting. Just letting you know that the foot is healed, the heart is happy, and I am still living in one house and prepping the new one. We'll be here in this house until it is sold or until I close the pool in Ocotober. So, in the meantime, here's my lovies of the moment.

These are 4 of my grandkids - the one on the left is an extra one (not mine) but she claims me as hers whenever she can. The next one from the left is oh-so-me it's frightening!

No, Clyde, this is not your sister, Bonnie! Clyde seems to think that this cast iron kitty is HIS to love and lay on. No matter what room I move it to, he finds it and "talks" to it, then curls up by it to take a nap.

Now, this is what I call sibling love. This is how they both take their afternoon naps - mind melding!

A Thorn in my Side (foot)

I was brought to tears last week about this time when I was out at the new house, walking the back perimeter of the property. I was truly enjoying the beautiful day, and discovering that we have a little stream that feeds the East fork of the Grand River when all of a sudden!

OUCH!!!!

I walked right into a patch of black locust trees, and couldn't remove myself without stepping on a HUGE thorn. It went right through the thick sole of my tennis shoe, and got me on the left foot, right at the big toe joint. I pulled the thorn out, and went ahead with our walk, remarking we would have to keep the grand-kids out of this area until we could get it cleaned up.

Within the hour, my toe could hardly move, and by the end of two hours, it was extremely swollen , red and hot to the touch. By the time I could take myself to the doctor's office, they told me to go to ER where I found out that Black Locust trees have toxins on their leaves, bark, thorns and fruit.

So, after a Cat Scan of my foot, and 4 hours of IV antibiotics, I was sent home with Percoset, oral antibiotics and instructions to keep my foot elevated for at least 2-3 days until the swelling went down. I also got the warning that if I got red streaks, or it kept swelling, I should return to the ER upon which I would be admitted for "further treatment".

Put the kabosh on my weekend, let me tell you! But I am happy to report that by the end of the 2nd day, my foot looked pretty normal, and it was only a bit tender. Just think, though, without the wonders of modern day medicine, I would have gone the way of Jake in Lonesome Dove after he got a mesquite thorn in his thumb...off into the sunset.

Tomorrow, the arborists are meeting us to discuss the demise of these nasty trees! In the meantime, I am walking ever so gingerly on the property.

(I just can't figure out what I've done with the font size on this entry, so if it looks like I am screaming, I'm really just confused!)