What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

How does that saying go: "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"? Well, sometimes SNOW happens too! The best laid plans, one for a retreat weekend with my quilting friends at a not-too-far-from-here state park, was preempted this past weekend for this forecasted snow event. Since the retreat was supposed to commence on Friday I jumped right in at home. Disappointed, but

How does that saying go: "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"? Well, sometimes SNOW happens too! The best laid plans, one for a retreat weekend with my quilting friends at a not-too-far-from-here state park, was preempted this past weekend for this forecasted snow event. Since the retreat was supposed to commence on Friday I jumped right in at home. Disappointed, but

As of this morning, at 6 AM, I have not touched ONE project I brought with me. WOW—can you believe how well I packed? It was another very successful day, and I'm excited. However, I'm also learning (well, I know this) that having a plan is vital! 

In the past - long, long ago - I would flit from project to project. In my "new" life, I'm pretty good at sticking to one thing. I don't get distracted by what others are doing. I'm focused. There has to be a plan, or I will never get ...

I'm happy to report that my neck is feeling better. It's still sore, but it really only affects me when I first get up or when I put my head down, like on the pillow or lying on the floor to do my exercises. I just support my head, and all is good. 

YES - I've been stretching with the foam roller before bed, and I'm feeling much better. I've barely scratched the surface of what I will get into with the new exercise regime. I''m pretty excited about it. It's the bloating in ...

 Oh gosh—I just realized I'm eating my breakfast in front of my new laptop. That means there's going to be a mess of splashed milk! So I must be cautious!!! The bowl is moved off to the side! 

This is the most productive (knock on wood) retreat I've been to in a long, long time. I dug into the second bag of projects as I had finished everything in the first one, and I'll be taking that to the car later today. There is no sense in keeping all this crap in the house, and ...

It's an interesting retreat. Heck, all retreats are interesting, but they are always different. It's never the exact same group of people who attend. It's funny, as when I first started going to retreats almost 20 years ago, we were a set group of nine people, and we went together for years. Then things happened, and that group fell apart. Now, we have a larger group of people; it's never the same mix each time. That makes it interesting! 

How am I feeling? I'm pretty good. I'm realizing that I can't sit well ...

Late—I'm going to be late this morning. No, not because I was sleeping. Oh no—chatting! I accomplished stuff yesterday and actually accomplished what I planned. However, I did my fair share of chatting, and well, isn't that what a quilt retreat is all about? So I'm good with that!!!

I am still thrilled with what I'm accomplishing, and that's all that counts. So what did I get done? Have a look. 

I got all the flannel I brought sewn into squares. There are 107 squares measuring 6 1/2", so that's a ...

 Well, sorry I haven't blogged about 2023 travels yet.  I thought I better hit those before I worry about 2024.  I've had a lot this year and if I put them both together it would be a super long post.

My first big trip in 2023 was to Washington DC with Janice Minyard.  We went in April and we were fortunate enough to be there around the Cherry Blossom time (at least in time for the parade).  We did all the things you need to do in DC.  We toured the White House and visited a lot of ...

 I had a very productive weekend at the guild retreat last weekend.  It was glorious to have three full days to sew--meals provided and no dishes to do!  I added binding to two quilts that are gifts so I can't show those yet, but they are both hand stitched now and ready to gift.  I quilted the table runner I showed last week that will be for sale at our church bazaar next weekend and added the binding this week when I got home. I hope someone will like it enough to purchase it! I also worked on three ...

 Hello Everyone,

The quilts that I'm posting today were made by members of the Independance Hall Quilt Guild who attended my retreat.  We were auditioning border fabrics for Mary Sue's fabulous quilt. 

Next up are Cynthia's two quilts.

Cynthia is relatively new to quilting, but you would never know it when you look at her quilts.  She's a natural.

This is Jocelyn's Lil' Orphan Scrappy block.

Diane made a quilt perfect for mountain life.

 Hello Everyone,

It's been a whirlwind of activity over the last few days and I'm just now getting around to posting pictures from my Sew'n Wild Oaks Retreat at Snowflake Lodge.  The first picture is a beautiful Winterset made by my sister, Gail.  She enlarged the pattern by adding extra blocks and pinwheels.  She is also going to add another border.  She worked hard on it at the retreat to get it to this point.

 Hello Everyone,

The first machine started up around noon on Sunday and the girls started in quilting for the next five days.

Melody brought a quilting puzzle and many joined in putting it together.

At 6pm, we went to my cabin for an appetizer dinner.  Melody made 'Shrimp on the Barbie'.  So cute, Melody and the shrimp!

As always, the girls outdid themselves with wonderful appetizers and desserts.

The snow melted and the weather was beautiful and ...

Hard at Work

You know sometimes all you want to do is sew and boy, have I done that.  Taking Improvisational

 It's true.  My friend, Christine and I have attended two quilting retreats in March, two weeks apart.  (We won't mention that we were away for a week at the end of February at QuiltCon in Raleigh, NC...).  This is the end of our quilting retreats for until November, when we have two more. We are both very productive on the retreats and manage to get lots of sewing done.  It's amazing what you can accomplish over the course of 2 1/2 or 3 days of concentrated time with no cooking, dishes and other distractions!  I spent ...

Last week was our sleep-at-home retreat, and after bragging that I usually get so much work done, this one had other plans for me. I had cut a lot of projects to take with me, and began with the one for the pot handle pads. Ah, yes, best laid plans. Arriving at the venue, I was surprised to see a different configuration of the tables than we have done before. They were set up in a “T” pattern, with two tables long sides together so those quilters would face each other, and two more tables at one end, with quilters ...

This week is our guild’s Sleep-At-Home retreat, and I look forward to going every time we do it. It is three days of sewing time with friends, where we can set up our machines and projects, and leave them overnight while we go home to sleep. In spite of spending a lot of time chatting, and eating, looking at other ladies’ projects, and generally just enjoying the time with friends, I usually get an extraordinary amount of work done. I have run out of projects in years past, so now I take more than I think I can get ...

 Not only did I Quilt and cross stitch this past year, but I attempted some other crafts.  Some of the things I'm going to show will be some items that I didn't make but that I helped or taught others to make.  I also belong to a craft group that meets once a month and there are a few fun things for that.  And others items are just things I thought I'd try.

Craft Group - it's a group of about 14 ladies from my sisters neighborhood (mostly) and we meet once a month and have a ...

Creative Passions Retreat Center in Chesaning, Michigan offers crafters solace from the everyday and adequate space to work on their craft. They cater to crop and quilt retreaters. I traveled to Chesaning for a solo retreat in early December, but spent the days with a group of four quilters from Toledo, Ohio. Another group of […]