Quilt Show!

Every two years the Wichita Kansas quilt guilt, Common Threads, has a humongous show. I'd heard about it, but it seemed that I was always doing something else that weekend so I have never gone. Wichita is 3 hours west of where I live, certainly doable as a day trip. As a matter of fact, my very own guild took a bus trip there the opening day!
Because I get motion sickness on a bus, my gal pals, Vicky and Carol and I decided to drive there together and stay all night. We left Friday morning, checked in to our hotel, unloaded our stuff and set off for the show. We stayed at one of the hotels connected to the convention center, so it was a brief walk to the fun!

Vicky, Carol, Sharon

Just so I don't get sidetracked, I'm going to post the pictures of quilts that I AM GOING WANT TO MAKE. For the last year, I've been thinking about the illusion of curves with straight pieces. I don't know just yet which of these it will be, but you can bet that I WILL have one of these on my design wall before the end of 2013. Maybe, if I can get my act together, it can be my winter retreat project! You notice, I didn't say which winter retreat year, right?

Scrappy illusion of white circles

Storm at sea, bold colors

Close up Storm at Sea, soft colors

Storm at Sea, soft colors

No clue as to the pattern name, but there's so much spacing for quilting!

No illusions on the Lil Twister, just lots and lots and lots of pieces!  Did I say lots of pieces?

Lil Twister

And I bought the template - now to sort my fabrics!

That's what I love about going to quilt shows. You get lots of inspiration for your own work! With about 500 quilts at this show, there was LOTS of inspiration, for sure! Anyone who knows my quilts, knows that I love scrappy, 
scrappy, scrappy, and lots of colors. Any one of these fits the bill, but the last one I am showing you today is a definite long term project that is now on my list!!

My favorite of the show, by Janet Ghilino Bates

This is huge!

Shirting samples were used 

You know I have shirtings!

Can you see the block?

I have many more pictures to share, so that's for another post later today. Right now, I still need to unpack my goodies, and get ready for a sew day tomorrow. Enjoy this little show now, and check back later for more!

HOORAY, HOORAY!

Look what's happening at my house today!

Can you believe this?

Coming AND going!

I've had so many things going at one time time, I wondered if I was in the circus, juggling and running through the flames, and dodging the running horses! But, no, it's just my crazy life.

I absolutely love our new home. We have wonderful neighbors, the walking trails are gorgeous, and the house just suits us for just about everything we need/want. You notice, I said just about everything? Well, I couldn't get a house built around my strewdio, and we haven't finished the downstairs area, so my stewdio is where ever I find a spot. Right now, it's in the dining room/sun room, and I am liking it just fine. Remember way back when I took over the sun room at the BIG house? I have to keep reminding myself that this room IS the dining room, and I can't have it permanently. I'm still mulling over how I will get myself arranged.

In the meantime, I've taken a part-time job which I love a lot, too. I merchandise flowers for 4 different stores in a 181 mile radius from my house. I get paid hourly, and my car makes almost as much as I do, since I am paid mileage, and I drive a Prius! One normal weeks, I spend about 20 hours total checking in the inventory twice a week, and keeping the kiosks full and fresh. Then there's those holidays that require lots and lots of work and effort to keep the flowers moving from the coolers to the floor. I just finished Mother's Day, and my boss who is long distance away in another state reminded me that it is only about 37 weeks away from Valentines Day. I'll have a little bump in hours around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but Valentines Day and Mother's Day are real killers with 15-18 hour days. The moolah is nice though, and I've totally paid for my two quilt retreats this year, as well as new outdoor porch furniture!

So that's it from this neck of the woods where you never know when it will flood (pictures in another post) or be a perfect sunshiny day! Onward to a girl's best friend....diamonds!

Soon to be donated to the local Juvenile Diabetes Foundation

Happy Spring, Happy Easter!

Just a few of my own quilts that I love! Enjoy!

Why, hello there!

So, I guess it's been 5 months of Sundays since you last heard from me. And here I thought I was going to be able to get back to my regular Sunday posting. Well, what do they say? Best laid plans of mice and women! Thanks to everyone who has emailed me wondering if I was OK. I feel like Sally Field when she said "You LIKE me, you really LIKE me!" LOL!

Yes, everything is OK. As with everyone, I've had my shares of ups and downs over the last five months, and it was difficult to sit down and say what I wanted to say without saying anything at all. So, I didn't....say anything at all. Now, that period of my life is over, and without further ado I am back, and hopefully here to stay!

So what's been cooking? I'll start with the most recent things first and make my way backwards if I can't find anything else, OK?

I just came back from our Guild's second annual retreat that was held at Tall Oaks Retreat Center in Linwood, KS. This is a beautiful older facility that sits on 340 acres of Tall Oaks. The weather was gorgeous on the day we arrived, but then it rained, and rained, and rained, and rained, and then rained some more! It rained so hard that one of the 100' tall oaks fell down across the road, and into the parking lot where our cars were. No cars were damaged, though, thank heavens, and unfortunately luckily they got it all cleared away by the time we had to leave!

There were so very many projects completed and started while we were there, and it was so energizing to be with so many talented quilters. And just plain fun, too! We celebrated two birthdays with birthday cake, and we got to walk a few miles before it started raining.

I think this is the first night - the last one stitching - Donna who also got the most projects completed!

As usual, I took more projects than anyone could ever complete in just four days. I didn't want to run out of anything to do, right? A couple of the projects I took were made with Honeybun pre-cuts. I got the idea for these two quilts from Jenny from the Missouri Star Quilt Company who was recently at our guild as a program speaker. If you've never been at their website, or if you aren't signed up for the Daily Deal from them, OR if you've never watched one of their tutorials on YouTube, you are missing a wonderful experience. It's OK - go there now, but be sure to come back here to see more pictures of the quilts from retreat.

This is called Keyhole, and it's made with one Honeybun roll.

This is the pastel version.  

Both these quilts will be donation quilts for Juvenile Diabetes. They aren't finished yet, of course, because what you see in the blocks sticking out at the top and bottom will be cut in half and used to fill in the blank places. There will also be an "expansion" area with some appliqué on it. If you look on the Missouri Star Company's tutorial under "Keyhole Honeybun", you can see what I mean. BTW, I am showing off a pair of my socks in the last picture that everyone was laughing at.

Silliness after midnight

Have any of you made baskets with the wrapped clothesline? You can see my finished one, and I was determined to use up the last of the wrapped rope since I intend to NEVER make another! I love them, but I don't love making them! So....what you see here is my extreme frustration that I kept coiling the rope the wrong way EACH time I tried to make the basket. It didn't help that the center of each start happened to be a lighter color wrap than the outer part of the circle. Oh well.....LOL!!!

Our guild also does a mystery quilt each year. Guild Projects Coordinator, Nancy reveals her version here. Isn't it just beautiful?

She also worked with EQ to swap the blocks around to make a second look.  I believe this is Kaye's quilt.  I love it too!

Are you ready for another look of the same block? This is Mary Lou's classy version.

And the last one up again....is she working or sleeping?

So that's the highlights of the retreat.  Alas, it was over way too early and we made our way home.  The next day, bright and early I participated in a 5K that benefited Running Girls.  It was the second annual Diva Dash, and I made my best time ever!  I did it in 50 minutes, and for once, I wasn't in the last group.  We had timing chips, and there were still about 130 gals behind me AND they were ALL younger than yours truly.  I have another one scheduled for April, and I hope to make it in 45 minutes or less.  We'll see.....

At the Finish Line

Until next week (or maybe sooner?)...........

Sunday, Sunday (Part 1)

So it's Sunday again. Now, I did intend to get a post out every Sunday since the last one, but I guess I didn't say WHICH Sunday, right? LOL! Life has certainly been busy, and the weather has been beautiful every day since I last posted, while I was gone to Michigan AND every day since I've been back. It's sort of difficult to get to the computer instead of being outside on the porch or walking the trails in the neighborhood.

My trip to Michigan was absolutely wonderful.  It was so clear as we arrived; this is the first time I could get a good picture from the air.

This is the approach to Traverse City Airport

Grand Traverse Bay

I got to spend time again with my California friend, Wendy, and as usual, she was a delight. It's a good thing her car was upgraded to a Jeep, because between me, Carol, and Wendy, it was packed to the gills!

Wendy and Carol

Each morning and afternoon, she would blow these BIG beautiful bubbles across the lake. It was so peaceful and relaxing....how could you not smile?

Morning bubbles

Afternoon bubbles

Dedicated bubble maker

We swam most afternoons, and yes the water was cold, but that only slowed us down!

We also had others join us in the water, too!

Carol and I in the water.

This is the view in the morning on the way to our work room, which is actually the dining hall at White Birch Lodge in Elk Rapids, MI.

The sun was just barely up.

This is the view from our condo, and where I sat each afternoon while Wendy made bubbles.

Elk Lake

 Look at that sky!  I never tired of seeing this view, and the bubbles...oh the bubbles!

This photo is not enhanced.

Blogger doesn't seem to want to cooperate with me any more tonight.  Next installment will be Part 2, the places we went, and the things we made at the workshop.  Enjoy!

Finally here!

This has been a really, really, hard few weeks. Non-stop moving, up and down stairs, and the HEAT! Oh my, the HEAT! But all the moving in is over, and now the putting away continues.

As I am putting things away, I am discovering that I didn't get rid of enough things. Instead of cramming them somewhere, I am pricing them, re-wrapping them, and packaging them for our community garage sale in September. Now, I will be gone on my annual Gwen Marston quilt retreat then, so Hubby gets to take care of that. Since I handled the move while he was at Mayo for his annual review, I think that's only fair, don't you? LOL!

I don't have any pictures of the house since we moved in, but here are a few of them taken just after we signed the contract.

Front of the house

Back of the house with our screened in porch

We actually have both cars parked in the garage now, and the kitchen is just about complete. The bedroom and bath area is also just about finished. The guest room? Full of pictures, lamps and other assorted things I just don't need! The downstairs? Too full to walk through. I have a lot left to do! But, there's plenty of time in the world, and soon I will be able to sew again! Hooray!

The last quilt I posted was made from Hubby's shirts, and it was for his nephrologist at Mayo Clinic. Here's a picture of her with it, and from her phone call to me, I know she loved it. We will be going back this Wednesday for a small procedure, so I will get to see her in person.

Dr. Monico and "Shirt Tales"

That's it for now. I'll try to get some more pictures up in a few days, after we return from Rochester, MN.

This was the last sky picture from my old house the night before we left it. Even though we have a clear sky view, it's nothing like in the country. I have to honestly say this might be the ONLY thing I miss from the other place:)

Round One and then some....

Just a quick note to let you know that the packing is just about done. This is the first picture (late at night) with the first round of fabric. Those are almost all 58 quart tubs, and the way I figure it, I have about 1,856 quarts of fabric there.  

The POD is now about 3/4 full and I think I have just another day's worth of sorting and packing. Then I'll do it all in reverse. The MOOVERS come on Wednesday for the big furniture pieces, the POD is delivered on Thursday, and the MOOVERS boys will come back and unload the POD on an hourly basis on Friday. Sonny Boy came over today and worked for about 7 hours loading the POD with more junk stuff, and then loaded three cars with kitchen stuff, my china and quilts. Then, at the new house after he unloaded all that, he and Hubby put together temporary shelving units in the unfinished daylight basement so I have some place to put all my quilts. I plan on using the length of shelving with the quilts as a "wall" to for new temporary stewdio. We'll take bids on the finishing in the fall, so it will be a while before temporary turns into something different!

Hubby will leave for his annual checkup around noon on Friday and I plan on sleeping a lot getting things unpacked while he is gone.

The computers are both going to be unplugged Tuesday, but my new IPad will keep me in touch if I can find the time. Keep stitching for me!