Quilt Retreat

Things have been busy here, and we are enjoying being in our new home!  I got the treat of going to a quilting retreat for four days with 10 fun ladies, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone!  Mommies have full-time job that goes 24-7, so it was nice to have a few days of R&R.  It was a definite benefit to our whole family, I came home refreshed and ready to be all that I can for them.

We stayed at a very nice "Quilting Cottage", with a quilting store right next door, it was the perfect little place.  The fabric store was so full that you could hardly walk, much less take it all in; there was about any fabric you could possibly imagine!  They are building an addition on the back, which should be helpful.

 Nice deck that would be quite useful in the summer.

 Right next to the river.

 It was beautiful!

Kris, the maker of this quilt.

Mom and I.

My room..... the bed was extremely comfy, and had such cozy linens!

The sewing area.

More work area.

Each person made some "goodies" for everyone, I did up some "twister block" potholders.

 The backs.

 Shirley had this cute bag, I want to try and make one!

Extra pieces from a quilt I started sometime this year.  Going to make a doll-size hexagon quilt.

More pieces of the same/similar fabrics: to make a "twister block" table-runner.

The finished result, and matching potholder from the leftovers.  All washed up and ready to gift, I'm going to have a hard time letting go of this!

And the backs.

The "twister block" is really quite fun!  I took this (not at the retreat):

And turned it into this.  This is the 10-inch version, which uses layer cakes if you want.

This was for the 5-inch version, but I couldn't bring myself to cut it up!

On the way home we stopped at a fun little store, and I picked up some fancy hot-chocolate mix for the kids.

They were so good while staying home with Daddy!  He also gets extra "brownie points". =)  Here they were making a "bridge".

I tried canning some apple-pie-filling for the first time, and it turned out delicious!  If only I had more apples, I'd have done a lot more.

A couple weeks ago I tried something I've been wanting to for a long time, star blocks from my mothers-day gift book!

Various reds and blues.

From this...

To this.

And this.  It's for a soldier who is in the hospital, the son of one of my friends.  I want to add his name and then another row of stars, and got some soft minkie for the backing.

We had some silk flowers, some of which were coming apart from loving little hands.
So, I took these:

Minus these:

 Plus some of these:

 And came up with these.  There are clips sewn onto the backs, to use for our hair.

Breanna's birthday is coming up, and she needed clothes; so I tried a new skirt pattern.

The first one I told her about, so I could try it on for fit.  I asked her if it was comfortable (after school), and she said "Mom, I forgot I was wearing it".  So, I'm guessing that means yes.

Then I tried this fabric (corduroy):

And this fabric (also corduroy):

 And this (stretchy denim-like):

And added a cute little ruffle to this skirt that someone else had discarded.

 So I think she'll be set for awhile.  And I hope she likes the other fabrics, it was nice to be able to use up more stash!

 I used some pretty green cotton for a dress.

I still have to do the buttons and button-holes, I don't remember when I last made a button-hole.  Definitely not my favorite thing, but she loves the dress so I have to figure it out.

Green is her favorite color, and she's been commenting that she has no green clothes.

Some matching flannel PJ's for the boys.

This is the quilt I finished for my SIL.  I used a tiny stipple and then washed it after attaching the binding, I love the crinkly result!

 The blues are darker than the pictures show, it really is a fun quilt!

Perfect baby gift.

Daddy hooked up the fireplace, and we are enjoying the heat!

 Daddy's helper.

Building a combine with construx.

 These boys spend hours building and playing with farm equipment.

 Sadly, I miss this dear friend.  It was just shy of seven years old, but had been a faithful companion.  I was kindly lent a camera, and have since bought one at Costco; but they just don't compare.  It took great photos, and was simple to use.  Let me know if you have one that you'd like to get rid of!  =)

My new camera has a fun "drawing" setting, which I want to try out some more!

So if you've taken the time to read all this, thank you!  And hope I didn't bore you.  I often think of posting, yet remember how long it seems to take (mostly because I get so behind), so just don't.  Recently I've noticed, tho, that every day there are at least a handful of people who stop by!  So, I intend to make more frequent posts in the future; even if they're short, for those of you who are interested.

I had a wonderful time at the quilt retreat, and was able to do more than expected because I'd cut out so many projects beforehand.  There were some I never got to, and a few I started new.  Anyone want to guess how many projects or quilt-tops I completed?  I've got a surprise in mind for the person/people who can guess correctly; guess will end on Monday morning, November 21st.  I'll also post photos of the projects then.

Ta-ta for now!